‘Adventures In World Cinema’ Revealed As Theme of Cinecity, The 11th Brighton Film Festival

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Frostie

14 Nov – 1 Dec 2013
www.cine-city.co.uk
Adventures in World Cinema has been announced as the theme of CINECITY, The 11th Brighton Film Festival, which opens on Thursday 14 November with a special preview of Alexander Payne’s bittersweet and award-winning road movie Nebraska.

The festival runs until Sunday 1 December and features a packed programme of premieres, previews, treasures from the archive and free education screenings.

Opening night is always a highlight of CINECITY, which last year featured Colin Farrell in Seven Psychopaths; so there are high expectations for Nebraska, which was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where leading man Bruce Dern was crowned Best Actor.

Tickets for all screenings go on sale on 25 October and events take place across the city of Brighton & Hove; but principal venues are the Duke of York’s Picturehouse and, for the first time, a new two-screen cinema at Dukes@Komedia.

As always the festival celebrates not only home-grown cinema, including films from Brighton-based directors, but looks further afield – and this year’s CINECITY features the most international selection to date, with films from Singapore, Laos, Kurdistan, China, Iran, India, Israel, Mexico, as well as Poland, Czech Republic, Scandinavia, France and the US.

Many of the films come garlanded with awards from major international film festivals including A Touch of Sin, winner of Best Screenplay at this year’s Cannes; and The Rocket, winner of Audience Awards at Sydney, Melbourne and Tribeca Film Festivals and Best First Feature at the Berlin Film Festival.

Continuing the international theme, a major celebration of the work of the legendary Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer is at the heart of the festival – including an exhibition at the University of Brighton that features sets, puppets, costumes, and artwork from many of his acclaimed films including Alice, Punch and Judy and Little Otik that were a major influence on directors such Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam and the Quay Brothers.

To complement the exhibition, CINECITY presents a complete retrospective of Jan Švankmajer’s six feature films and 26 shorts alongside a programme of talks and discussions.

The festival concludes with a screening of The Double, a doppelganger comedy drama from director Richard Ayoade, at the Duke of York’s on Sunday 1 December.

The 2013 Festival sponsors include Carpenter Box LLP, Exhibit Print, Facilitate, Griffith Smith Farrington Webb LLP, La Cave a Fromage, Midnight Communications, Propellernet, Robinson Low Francis LLP, South Downs Solar and are supported by MyHotel, One Digital and The Brighton Film School.

I Play With The Phrase Each Other | 21st Raindance Film Festival

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Daniel McCarthy

Jay Alvarez’ debut feature is being heralded as a genuine first; the first film to be composed entirely of phone calls between characters. With a micro budget obtained via crowdsourcing and Craigslist sales, the filmmakers collaborated with a group of friends, family and first time actors in the Portland area where filming took place. In line with its niche, contemporary framing device the film was shot on an Iphone. It centres primarily on Jake (Will Hand), a young neurotic tempted to the big city by his old friend Sean (Alvarez), a wannabe poet. Sean’s life is far from comfortable and wholesome; he lives in a squalid flat and earns his money by conning naive Internet shoppers. When Jake arrives to find Sean missing and uncontactable he struggles to fit in to the cities bleak, nocturnal landscape as the lengthy phone conversations in each scene detail strained relationships with distant friends, former lovers and forgotten family.

On first impressions, I Play With The Phrase Each Other sounds like its central premise would be an obstacle to connecting with it. There is the danger of being too distant to engage or the incredibly lo-fi shooting style proving too amateurish. Thankfully on a filmmaking level every penny of the fund raising has paid off. Filmed in a stark monochrome against a backdrop of recession stricken America, the film relentlessly probes the nights and urban decay of the characters environment. I was reminded of In Search Of A Midnight Kiss and, to a lesser extent, Clerks in its visual style. Production value and cinematography are terrific and show off the filmmakers skills with such limited resources. Along with the Web Fest also taking place at Raindance this year, its films like this which really show off the advancing availability of resources and technology to today’s independent filmmakers.

Alvarez claims that the films unique structure is ‘ an announcement of youngness’ and that it would ‘scream our modern nausea’. It’s a bold claim that does initially strike very effectively. There’s a swift flow to the opening passages of the film as we are introduced to the key players and the framing device of phone calls creates a sense of distortion and isolation that feels frighteningly contemporary. An early shot boosts a central character’s bookshelf comprised of Hemingway, Thompson and Heller. There’s no disguising the scripts incredibly literary background; the dialogue is at once profane and witty with a fine line of pathos running throughout. Where things do begin to falter somewhat is in the meandering manner of the conversations themselves. Alvarez throws such a large group of characters into the mix that it starts to become difficult to keep track of who is who and more worryingly, who to care about. Characters discuss everything from employment to sexuality, media and the economy yet only a small amount of it sticks. Characters are introduced then dropped completely just as they are starting to become engaging or memorable. The cast of unknowns and first time actors do an extremely impressive job with the material that does work and lingers in the mind. One notable example is hustler Jamario, played with a volatile mix of humour and intimidation by ‘Big Dogg’, an acquaintance of the director. Its a piece of casting that rings with utter authenticity. Another is an unnamed retail manager portrayed by Robert Thrush, featuring in a running series of deadpan vignettes before a climactic and lengthy voice message plays out across a tight close up. Its a beautiful yet uncomfortable scene that really gets to the heart of the notion of disconnect via modern communication. The film is desperately crying out for other scenes of this immediacy and tenderness.

All in all I Play With The Phrase Each Other is an eye catching debut and certainly bodes well for Jay Alvarez. Although ultimately it may be a film that is easier to admire than to love.

R.I.P.D Film Review

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

Concept films either work or they don’t. Luckily R.I.P.D takes a fresh and original idea and runs with it. The film is funny and Ryan Reynolds is a great comedic actor with excellent comic timing, delivering his lines with aplomb. Jeff Bridges is a legendary comic actor. If you don’t believe me then just watch the Big Lebowski. He plays his comedy straighter in R.I.P.D, playing a lawman who died in the 1800s and was eaten by coyotes. (You’ll get it when you see the film)

Laugh out loud funny, the film has a clever plot and great characters. I found it hugely entertaining.

Spoiler Alert

Ryan Reynolds stars as a recently murdered cop who joins a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department. This supernatural comedy film directed by Robert Schwentke is based on the comic book Rest in Peace Department by Peter M. Lenkov.

The fact that Reynolds and Bridges appear to the outside living world as an ‘old Chinese man’ and a beautiful blonde woman brings more comedy. Reynolds is still grieving his life. He misses his wife and he had an attack of conscious after taking and burying the gold he took with his crooked partner, after telling his partner, played by Kevin Bacon, that he is going to turn it in, his partner shoots and kills him. Unable to let go, he goes to his own funeral and tries to make contact with his wife.

The gold has significance and it is left to Reynolds and Bridges to save the world. Will they do it? Well, you’ll have fun finding out.

Four out of five stars.

21st Raindance Film Festival Opening Gala & How To Make Money Selling Drugs Premiere

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Catherine Balavage

The 21st Raindance Film Festival started with a richter scale bang. The great and the good of the International Film Industry congregated at the Vue West End in the iconic film centre of Leicester Square.

Elliott Grove, Raindance founder and champion of independent cinema, was in his element and shiny with success. Elliot looked incredibly happy and rightly so; his achievement is vast.

After the red carpet we were greeted with champagne and mingled.

Deatheater and prominent British Actor Jon Campling

Raindance founder Eliott Grove.

Catherine Balavage, editor of Frost, and James Yardley, Frost Writer.

We then headed into the cinema, grabbed our goody bags filled with popcorn and Pop Chips and waited to watch Michael Cooke’s documentary How to Make Money Selling Drug.

The controversial titled documentary, supported by addiction services is a brilliant satire on how to sell drugs, but don’t worry, it is an anti-drug film. With an excellent format of going from street dealer to kingpin, it highlights the injustice of law enforcement and social economics. I cannot rave about this documentary enough. It completely changed my thinking and is now my favourite documentary. This is a very important documentary and everyone should see it. It starts off in a light-hearted way but it carries a very serious message. It does not shy away from difficult issues. Definitely go and see it.

The Opening Night After Party Gala at Café de Paris from 9pm with a performance from the wonderfully unique and talented band, Pepe Deluxé. was also great. Raindance is now part of the London fabric, a film festival deeply in the very fabric of the British Film Industry itself. Don’t miss it.

21st Raindance Film Festival Launch

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Daniel McCarthy

The Raindance Film Festival , Europe’s largest independent film festival, enters its 21st year supporting and promoting independent filmmakers not just in the UK but around the world. Established by Elliot Grove in 1992 as a unique new voice in British filmmaking, Raindance has grown in reputation and stature with establishments opening in New York, Paris, Berlin, Toronto and many more cities around the globe. The festival has become a staple of the international film community and has seen the UK premieres of the likes of Pulp Fiction, Memento, The Blair Witch Project, Ghost World and Down Terrace. As Grove puts it, ‘There are two kinds of filmmakers in the world. There are those who are allowed into the sacred halls of film funding institutions and allowed to make their movies and then there is everyone else.’ Raindance has served as a platform for this second group for the past two decades. Grove recently took the podium at the Vue Cinema in Piccadilly to announce the the festival’s launch and give the press a taste of what’s on offering this year. Vue Entertainment are the official partners for the festival and are serving as the host venue this year. This year’s festival promises a bulging line up not just in the amount of entrants, but also in the diverse range of cultural background and formats.

The full lineup is comprised of over 300 films submitted from over 50 countries which span a multitude of genres from black comedy, romantic drama, science fiction and documentary. The opening night gala film is the documentary feature How To Make Money Selling Drugs while the closing night is the homegrown sci-fi thriller The Machine starring Toby Stephens. Rather than forcing the submitted films into a main competition against one another, the festival has broken screenings into specific international strands highlighting filmmaking from around the world. These strands include the likes of Reel Britannia, Way Out East, North American Indies and La Dolce Italia. One that has major focus in this years festival is the Mexican Revolution strand. Often overlooked as a country of rich cinematic culture, Mexico has seven feature films and a collection of shorts on offer for its second year at Raindance and is so far the only Mexican strand in a UK film festival. It includes the international premiere of Sugar Kisses by director Carlos Cuarón (brother of Alfonso) and the Cannes Award nominee Fable of A Blood Drained Girl by Alejandro Iglesias Mendizabal. There are also several short documentary films from Syria in competition that cover the ongoing conflict in the region. Grove revealed during the press launch that the director behind one of these films had only just recently escaped from captivity and was in hiding for fear of recapture. As well as a bountiful international selection, there will be a wide variety in the Documentary and Raindance Symphony Orchestra strands, with subject matter covering Youtube sensations, small town Basketball teams and 80’s rock band Skum Rocks.

As well as the main festival, Raindance will be hosting the UK’s first ever Web Fest, a ‘micro-festival’ (running on the 28th and 29th of September) that celebrates the emergence of user generated content online and will feature audience panels covering technical specifications, audience development and the future of web television and crowdfunding. There will also be world premiere screenings of several new web series including Producing Juliet, the new project from Tina Cesa Ward whose previous project, Anyone But Me, got over 35 million views online. It marks a major development in the way that the film industry can approach distribution and audience interaction as well as a thorough indicator of how far technology and accessibility have come in a consumer market, giving more and more people the opportunity to make the projects they want to make. As Grove explains, ‘Filmmakers need to adapt to how everyone consumes media today…we wanted Web Fest to offer guidance as to how to generate and manage your content as well as showcase emerging talent.’

The penultimate day of the festival will see The Raindance Awards Ceremony, where a selected jury hand out awards for categories such as International, U.K. , short, documentary and animation. The jurors come from a varied background of cinema, criticism and interactive media. They include the film critic Robbie Collin, actor Jason Flemyng, author Robert Rankin, singer Beth Gibbons and the journalist and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The later will have DVD’s of the films in competition delivered to him at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. As well as the major awards, one short film will be named

‘Film Of The Festival’ and will be awarded and shortlist position for Academy Award nominees.

During the festival attendants will be able to pick up The Raindance Popcorn Pass, which allows for unlimited access to Raindance screenings at Vue Piccadilly. It costs £100 and comes with £20 pre-loaded for use at the foyer (not on alcohol though!) and also allows for 20% off retail items in the foyer. It is available to purchase until the 25th of September via 08712240242.

The 21st Raindance Film Festival runs from the 25th of September to the 6th of October at the Vue cinema, Piccadilly. For more information visit www.raindancefestival.org or www.myvue.com/raindance

Jack The Giant Slayer Blu-Ray Giveaway | Competition

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Frostie

Jack the Giant Slayer is now available on DVD & Blu-ray.

Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing Jack (Nicholas Hoult), into the battle of this life to stop them and rescue the princess!

Win a Jack the Giant Slayer Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet). Giveaway open to residents of the United Kingdom. To win follow @Frostmag on Twitter and Tweet, ‘I want to win Jack The Giant Slayer’ with @Frostmag’ or like us on Facebook. Alternatively, sign up to our newsletter. Or subscribe to Frost Magazine TV on YouTube here: http://t.co/9etf8j0kkz

You have the power! Control the moving GIFs and power the action in the movie with a swipe of your mouse! The Giant Soundboard lets you compose your own mashup of sounds from Jack The Giant Slayer, which your kids will enjoy for hours! Test your bravery and take the How Brave Are You? QUIZ to see if you’re as brave as our hero Jack.

View the Jack the Giant Slayer Blog App here:

The competition is only running for a week so hurry!

New Hunger Games Film Released Soon

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Frostie

The new Hunger Games film, Catching Fire is the most hotly anticipated film coming out this Autumn/Winter. Released on November 11, 2013, it is the sequel to the mega hit Hunger Games which grossed a staggering $687 million worldwide. To whet your appetite here are some posters, featuring the Oscar-winning lead actress Jennifer Lawrence.

Are you excited?

More Than Honey | Film Review

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Daniel McCarthy

Acclaimed Swiss director Markus Imhoof’s new project More Than Honey has made a noticeable splash in the world of documentary filmmaking, picking up numerous awards including a Lola (German Film Award) for best documentary. It is a simple yet elegantly composed film confronting a frighteningly contemporary issue; the unexplained deterioration of the global bee population. The downward spiralling figures of colonies over the past fifteen years and across nations have left scientists and bee farmers dumbfounded. The long term effects of ‘colony collapse disorder’ (as the phenomenon has been named) could be devastating for both agriculture and economy worldwide. Imhoff travels across the world and meets various beekeepers, business owners and scientists as they explain the disaster confronting them and what they believe to be the causes behind it.

In his approach to what admittedly sounds like fairly dry subject matter, More Than Honey fuses fact and humanity in an engaging and subtle manner that avoids any sense of preaching. The film has running narration from Imhoof referring to his childhood memories of beekeeping in his family and remembering its unique mix of family values and commerce. The English translation is provided by the great actor John Hurt, whose warm tones still have an air of sombre fragility that match the tone of Imhoof’s recollections and findings. Rather than settle on traditional talking head interviews, the film takes its time with every subject, spending time observing them in their specific locale and professions. One of the most memorable subjects, beekeeper Fred Jaggi, is shown in particular methodical detail in his native German countryside, from tending to his hives to terminating rogue queens (ie. queens guilty of infidelity!). There are no hurried edits, no voiceovers layered over his own and no artificial sentiments. As a result there is far more genuine empathy than a lot of other documentaries would be able to muster even with potentially more attention grabbing subject matter. The sight of the old man’s calm yet forlorn face as a lost beehive is burned speaks volumes.

Then there is the astonishing footage of bees themselves, filmed in their natural habitat with micro cameras and in stunning high definition quality. Looming out of their honeycombs and swarming over one another and their queens, the footage captured is at once bizarre, otherworldly and yet oddly beautiful; the smallest aspects of nature blown up to epic scope cinema. Anyone uncomfortable around insects may obviously find this approach not entirely comfortable but it makes a refreshing change from the normal depiction of insects in cinema as a source of disgust or stupidly vengeful nature. Rather the film refreshingly focuses on the unwarranted wrath that we may have foisted upon them.

It is possible to argue that Imhoff doesn’t bring his intertwining threads to a thorough conclusion but since this is an ongoing environmental crisis, a pat ending for comforts sake would ring false. Though there is a sliver of hope provided, Imhoff wants to keep this mysterious epidemic fresh in the viewer’s perspective and get them thinking and talking about something that we take for granted being in genuine danger of disappearing completely. With a clear vision and unfussy style, he has constructed and powerful understated wake up call.

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