Tag Archives: film review

Angelina Jolie's Directorial Debut, Trailer Released.

Posted on by

If there was an award for over-achieving Angelina Jolie would definitely win it, an Oscar winning actor, six children, Brad Pitt on her arm, and an activist.

Layed up with flu for a few days and quarantined from her children, she banged out the script for ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’, her directorial debut. A women of substance, Jolie’s debut is a political film about the war in Bosnia. It looks amazing, and we can’t wait to see it. Check it out below.

In the Land of Blood and Honey opens on Dec. 23.

Frost Interviews Film Director Peter Chipping

Posted on by

Frost: Did you always want to be a director?

PC: I guess so – although I started as an editor & that seemed a great role, like finishing a jigsaw puzzle from a large pile of disparate elements, many of which don’t seem to join together. Then I realised I’d like to create those disparate elements myself, but not make them quite as disparate.

How did you get your start in the business?

I started in theatre & Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford, before enrolling at Ravensbourne for a new TV course, them got my first job at Central TV in Birmingham.

What was your big break?

Editing Crossroads.

What is your favourite thing about working in film?

Teamwork: No matter what ideas I get, there’s always other people who can add to them & make them better.

And the least?

The gaps between projects.

What are you working on at the moment?

Three short interlocked comedies, two 60 minute broadcast documentaries and a feature paranormal thriller.

What is your favourite film?

The Conversation.

What mistakes do actors make at auditions?

Not show the range of emotions that is available in their arsenal.

What projects are you hoping to get off the ground?

A feature paranormal thriller.

Favourite actress?

Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys.

Thanks Peter.

The Hamptons International Film Festival

Posted on by

Now entering its 19th year, The Hamptons International Film Festival was
founded to celebrate independent film, and to introduce a unique and varied
spectrum of international films and filmmakers to its audiences. Set for
October 13-17, the festival is committed to exhibiting films that express
fresh voices and differing global perspectives, aiming to enlighten
audiences, provide invaluable exposure for filmmakers and present inspired
entertainment for all.

For this year’s festival, T&F was responsible for the design and production
of promo spots which began airing widely last week. T&F also did a
tremendous amount of editorial work on its original live-action content —
and audio, leveraging original music and sound designs donated by Copilot.

Here’s the link to see the :15 promo: <http://vimeo.com/29840585>
http://vimeo.com/29840585

“The Hamptons International Film Festival has been going strong for many
years, and for good reason,” T&F partner and director Scott Matz says.
“Though we had a relatively clean slate to build upon, we were tasked with
remaining loyal to the brand equity of the HIFF established last year by
Greenfield & Co. We originally pitched a great deal of creative. Some was
driven by graphic animation and some by live-action storytelling. Our team
ultimately landed on a mix of both for the festival.

“Our team continues to be incredibly passionate about what we do and is
growing in inspiring ways,” Scott adds. “Our work for the HIFF is yet
another testament to the fact that we never compromise great creative
vision, and we firmly believe in only the highest production value.”

For more information, please visit http://hamptonsfilmfest.org.

Midnight in Paris – Review

Posted on by

It’s hard to go into a film fresh, viewing it as a single work, as opposed to comparing it to similar films or previous films from the creator. Especially when it comes to Woody Allen.

 

He is a writer/director who has had, in many critics’ eyes, a very specific golden age. There’s been many calls of a ‘return to form’, but these are often followed up by huge flops.

 

Sweet and Lowdown was followed by Small Time Crooks, Match Point by Scoop and Casandra’s Dream, Vicky Cristina Barcelona by Whatever Works.

 

Everyone wants to see him hit his heights again, and so are constantly comparing his recent output to early greats like Annie Hall and Manhattan. However, this is unfair to Allen, and it’s a point he makes well in his most recent ‘return to form’.

 

While many could see Midnight in Paris as a love letter to a bygone era, it can also been seen as a dig at critics who are always looking for something greater in the past.

 

After all, it’s about a screenwriter who has been successful in the Hollywood system but who is trying to break out in writing something real, a true work of art, his great American novel.

 

Allen has been doing this his whole career – yet he’s been trapped by mainstream success. Even in Annie Hall, Alfie suffered a similar problem.

 

Like the critics who endlessly long for the days of Hannah and her Sisters, Owen Wilson’s Gil longs for Paris in the 1920’s. And, through one of the most simple time travel devices ever, he manages to find it.

 

Hemingway, the Fitzgerald’s, Dali, Picasso and many more all happen to be holidays in Paris and Gil takes a tour of his dream world with the greatest hosts he could imagine. However, it’s when he meets Marion Cotillard’s ‘art groupy’ that things start to get real for him.

 

Not only does she highlight the problems he’s facing with his soon-to-be wife in the real world, she, too, also longs for a different era, declaring Paris in the 20’s to be boring.

 

As a movie, it’s the most fun Allen has been in a while. While not really touching upon some of the bigger issues Allen has handled in the past, it doesn’t matter as its so funny, charming, and beautifully shot.

The Avengers (2012) trailer

Posted on by

There hasn’t been a movie so massive in anticipation and scale since The Dark Knight back in 2008. Now Marvel has completed on introducing our main characters; Captain America, Iron Man and Thor, it’s time for the inevitable team-up that has been teasing us with each end-credits scene. On October 11th, we finally get an official teaser trailer of The Avengers.

The trailer shows us that Tom Hiddleston’s Loki will be the film’s main antagonist, but his motives are unclear (world domination or simply causing chaos?). We also get a glimpse of Captain America’s and Thor’s new costume change (not to mention Thor’s hair extension). Each giving witty comebacks, such as Steve Rogers saying;

Steve Rogers: Big man in a suit of armour. Take that away, what are you?
Tony Stark: Er a genius, billionaire playboy and philanthropist.

This is all to be expected from writer/director Joss Whedon, whose previous works are Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly (we’ll just ignore he wrote Alien Resurrection).

From the look of this teaser, it really does show Loki to be more an intimidating villain than he was in Thor. Then we also get to see Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in action and can’t not have shots of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow doing what she knows best. Although we see both Captain America and Thor battling it out in a forest?

It gives a sigh of relief that Joss Whedon does know what he’s doing and does seem to deliver the spectacle but also great characterisation. Though he’s got some strong competition against Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros./DC Comics with The Dark Knight Rises. All will be revealed when the film is released on 4th May, 2012.

Official website; http://marvel.com/movies/movie/152/marvels_the_avengers?fullscreen=1

The Avengers teaser trailer on Apple iTunes; http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/marvel/avengers/

Raindance Award Winners Announced

Posted on by

There was a 62% Rise in Attendance for the 19th Raindance Film Festival

Some of the winners this yeat included British Indie Stranger Things (Best UK Feature), Croatian/Serbian/Slovenian co-production Just Between Us (Best International Feature), Bulgaria’s Tilt (Best Debut Feature) and Italian
short Reset (Film of the Festival) Raindance Film Festival Awards. The prestigious jury, which included actor Dexter Fletcher, director Gillies Mackinnon, and TV/radio presenter Alex Zane, selected winners in the eight awards
categories.

“There were some outstanding films across the whole line-up so selecting winners was especially
difficult this year,” said Elliot Grove, Festival Director. “This has been a really successful festival – from the heart of London’s West End we’ve screened over 200 features and shorts at the state-of-the art

Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly. Attendance was up by a staggering 62% on last year proving that the
appetite for independent film is thriving.”

The winners were announced on Saturday night (8th October) at the festival venue, the Apollo Cinema,

Piccadilly Circus. The 19th Raindance Film Festival, which started on 28th September and wrapped on 9th October, brought 94 UK feature film premieres and 137 shorts to London, cementing Raindance’s position as Europe’s leading independent film festival.

The other winners were How To Start A Revolution (Best Documentary), the UK’s Monk3ys (Best
Microbudget Feature), Denmark’s Words (Best International Short), and Love At First Sight (Best UK Short). The winning team behind Reset (Film of the Festival) will be offered the chance to film next year’s Raindance Film Festival trailer, with the support of the Independent Film Trust.

Festival Jury
The jury comprised Sally Bibawy of photography company Lomography, actor Dexter Fletcher (Lock,
Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Director Gillies MacKinnon (Hideous Kinky), Julian Richards,
filmmaker and co-founder of Jinga Films, Oli Harbottle from Dogwoof, CŽline Masset, co-founder and artistic Director of the Brussels Short Film Festival, actress Helen McCrory (The Queen, Harry Potter films), Wendy Mitchell, Head of News at Screen International, and radio/TV presenter and film critic Alex Zane.

Festival Awards – nominated films with winners indicated

Best International Feature

Just Between Us / Rajko Grlic – Croatia/Serbia/Slovenia WINNER
No Return / Miguel Cohan – Spain / Argentina
After Fall, Winter/ Eric Schaeffer – USA
Youth H2 “Come As You Are” / Kota Yoshida – Japan
War Games / Cosimo Alemˆ – Italy

Best UK Feature
Stranger Things / Eleanor Burke/Ron Eyal – UK WINNER
Acts Of Godfrey / Johnny Daukes – UK
A Thousand Kisses Deep / Dana Lustig – UK
Flutter / Giles Borg – UK
Hollow/ Michael Axelgaard – UK
Seamonsters / Julian Kerridge – UK

Best Debut
Tilt / Viktor Chouchkov Jr. – Bulgaria WINNER
Synchronicity / Joe Tanaka – Japan
Exteriors / Marie Kristiansen – Norway
On The Way Home / Emiliano Corapi – Italy
Restive/ Jeremiah Jones – USA

Best Microbudget Feature

MONK3YS / Drew Cullingham – UK WINNER
Julius Caesar / Adam Lee Hamilton & John Montegrande – UK
Uspomene 677 / Mirko Pincelli – Bosnia Herzegovina / UK
Meso Cafe / Ja’far ‘Abd al-Hamid – UK
Black Pond / Tom Kingsley & Will Sharpe – UK

Best Documentary

How to Start A Revolution / Ruaridh Arrow – UK WINNER
White Button / Igor Stoimenov – Serbia
The Echo Of Astro Boy’s Footsteps / Masanori Tominaga – Japan
Where My Heart Beats / Khazar Fatemi – Sweden
Heaven + Earth + Joe Davis / Peter Sasowsky – USA

Best International Short

Words / Sven Vinge – Denmark WINNER
The Lady Paranorma / Vincent Marcone – Canada
Martyr Friday / Abu Bakr Shawky – Egypt
Zoltan- The Hungarian Gangster of Love / Justin Reardon – USA
Hemingway’s Pen / Renzo Carbonera – Italy

Best UK Short
Love At First Sight / Michael Davies – UK WINNER
This Side of the Afterlife / Adam Horton – England
God View / Billy Lumby – UK
The Girl Is Mime / Tim Bunn – UK
Rough Skin / Cathy Brady – UK

Film of the Festival (Short)

The winner is offered the chance to film next year’s Raindance Film Festival trailer, with the support of the Independent Film Trust:

Reset / Nicolangelo Gelormini – Italy

The Raindance Film Festival runs from 28 Sept – 9 Oct at the Apollo Cinema in London’s Piccadilly Circus, with the Opening Night premiere of Another Earth at Cineworld Haymarket on 28 Sept.

Now in its 19th year, Raindance Film Festival is Europe’s leading Independent Film Festival showcasing feature films, shorts and docs from around the world and specialising in independent films and directorial debuts.

The festival has a strong legacy of showing alternative, edgy films. Since 1993 Raindance Film Festival has uncovered the hottest new filmmakers to hit the cinematic scene. Raindance-premiered hits include Pulp Fiction, Memento,
the Blair Witch Project, Ghost World and Love Exposure.

www.raindance.co.uk

19th Raindance Film Festival Highlights

Posted on by

After Fall, Winter is a sexy love story about a French dominatrix who falls in love with a New York writer in Paris. It is directed by Eric Schaeffer and has the talented Rebecca Jameson in a smaller role. Well worth a watch.

Some of my favourite films that I saw at the Raindance Film Festival were short films.

Death of A Pop Star was an impressive short about A personal physician and the characters in the home of an ailing celebrity. 

Dying Everyday was a wonderful slice of life short from Spain, a short that managed to entertain the audience despite the fact not much happened.

Gin & Dry is a booze heist film set in an old people’s home at Christmas, Oscar Plewes short is funny and entertaining.

Ketchup was a very good film with a tragic ending.

Russell Harbaugh’s Rolling on The Floor Laughing is a high end short film about two grown sons who return home for their widowed mother’s birthday, only to find themselves competing with her new boyfriend for her attention. A well made film that’s worth watching.

Jeremy Craig’s Terrebonne is a visually stunning film. The lead actress is Jessica Heap is a beautiful actress destined to be a movie star.

The Potential Wives of Norman Mao and Exit were also good short films.

I went to the UK Premiere of Bonsai, directed by Cristian Jimenez. The film is from Chile and I thought it was brilliant. Cristian couldn’t be there but filmed an introduction for the film. It tells the story of young writer, Julio, who turns to the romance he had 8 years earlier with the beautiful Emilia when both were studying literature in Valdivia when he gets dropped from writing for a famous author because his asking price is too high. We’re told from the beginning that Emilia dies and Julio remains alone, but don’t let that put you off. It is a wonderful, sensual film. Catch it if you can.

After Bonsai was the closing night gala after party, I bump into Rory O’Donnell and I met some other talented people. I didn’t get home to 2am, can’t wait until next year.

One To Watch: Leoni Kibbey

Posted on by

On Wednesday 5th of October I attended Short Film Premieres. A premiere of five short films at BAFTA; In the Can, Taken, Ellie, The Unknown and Bird Brain. The short films were well-acted, well-written, well-directed with very high production values.

 

All of the films had a running theme: Leoni Kibbey, she either acted, produced, wrote or cast them. She’s a one women film industry. She is Frost’s One To Watch this month not only because she is talented – the world is full of talented people who do nothing- but because she takes that talent and does something with it, she is one of the hardest working people I know, and she is a working mother! Frost also got a thank you on the Bird Brain credits – which proves Leoni is a classy lady.

 

I previously worked with Leoni on Love Tourettes, a comedy web series I am part of and Frost interviewed her last year. http://frostmagazine.com/archives/688

 

Check out Leoni’s IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3156365/