La Teta Asustada (The Milk of Sorrow)

A very complex story in an intriguing film that since the very black screen first take tells you to prepare to travel into the magic of indigenous populations traditions and beliefs; and so you do with a full of contrasts images, deep silences that tell all, chilling songs, outstanding performance by lead actress and a horrendous tale of the consequences that war left in some women and mostly in their children. A tale that you will not see one image with something horrendous; but you will feel everything inside of you, in your bowels, in your heart and in your head.

I could totally feel Fausta’s fear –and pain-, almost as if it was happening to me. That’s how good is Magaly Solier performance and how good Claudia Llosas’s directing abilities are. But Llosas’ writing abilities are greater –if possible- as she created a light magical amusing story that at the same time is profoundly horrendous! As someone says, Llosa chose not to show any of the atrocities as even today no one dares to speak about them in their native country; but if you cannot see them, you can absolutely feel them.

What makes this film outstanding is that the story is peppered with urban indigenous special occasions traditions (like weddings), some unbelievable funny lines (one really shock me… but made me laugh loud!), and that makes us “live” the cultural contrasts between the poor urban indigenous population and the upper urban classes. Contrasts that start with different languages and go on up to the abuse that one class exercise into the other. Then there is a very surreal scene of a poor suburb of Lima where you see the house where Fausta lives with his uncle’s family and an improvised swimming pool that is so out of place, but so cheerfully realistic that is amazing and this is just one of the many scenes that just blew my mind.

I imagine that if you ever lived in a Latin American country with large indigenous populations you will probably not like the movie because the story touches a reality that many dare not to speak about and opt to not acknowledge that what we see here happens not only during civil wars, but also during peaceful times.

Anyway, cinematography is excellent and the film has great framing and editing; but the so important to the storytelling songs are chilling, appalling and beautiful; most interesting is to find that some songs are composed by Soler who performs all of them, except for the first one that’s performed by the non-actor that plays her mother.

The film won the Golden Bear at the 2009 Berlinale and was honored at the 2009 Guadalajara fest with Magaly Solier winning the Mayahuel Award for Best Actress and Claudia Llosa for Best Film.

So, what’s the story all about? The film tells the story of one young woman, Fausta, that while she was still inside her mother’s womb, soldiers raped her mother (as told in the chilling first song and later in one of the songs that Soler sings in Quechua). After Fausta was born, her mother’s pain/shame/sorrow was transferred to her daughter when she was breastfeeding her. That’s how Fausta got an illness that is not in any medical book, that’s how Fausta got La Teta Asustada (literal translation is “the frightened breast”) and that’s why Fausta lives in constant fear, fear of men. She’s so sick that to protect herself has a potato in her vagina, as men do not like revolting things and revolting things are the only thing that keep men away (as told in another song in Quechua).

Okay I told you a lot about the amazing story but I had to. I know is a horrendous and shocking story, but the movie is a lot more than what I told you above and you really have to watch this amazing story told in the most amazing possible way. By the way, the end is a very happy finale and there is much stuff I didn’t told you which all refers to her mother burial and that is what really happens along the entire movie.

I love Llosa’s debut film Madeinusa and I love La Teta Asustada that while both films tell indigenous population magical stories, both are very different. Her second film absolutely tells about a more mature director that is developing a very interesting particular directing style that masterfully mixes visual and dialogue narrative to create magical films well beyond the amazing magical stories she tells. Definitively I am looking forward to her next project that I hope comes fast, very fast. Big Chapeau to Claudia Llosa that definitively is one of the most interesting filmmakers that the region has.

I strongly recommend this movie to those that love great Latin American cinema, like to watch unbelievable good women stories and to those that appreciate serious cinema with slow pace, glorious silences, great actors expressions and a very magical story that will shock you, make you laugh, smile, feel pain, be revolted and be hopeful about the future.

Needless is to say that this film grabbed my attention since the very black and long first take and that I was absolutely mesmerized during the entire film; but my hypnotic state was constantly disturbed by shock, laughs, smiles, disgust and the amazing facial expressions of very exotic looking Magaly Solier.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

16th Melbourne International Film Festival

The fest will run from July 24 to August in Melbourne, Autralia. Called by many “the most significant film event in Australia” this year has another large (really large) program with many films organized by categories and here are the categories.

Accelerator Shorts
Animation Gallery
Animation Shorts
Anna Karina
Arts and Minds
Australian Post-punk
Backbeat
Documentaries
Documentary Shorts
Eros + Massacre (interesting!)
Exp/Concept/VideoArt Shorts
Fiction Shorts
Homegrown
International Panorama
Neighborhood Watch
Next Gen
Night Shift
Premiere Fund
Special Events
The End of Europe: New Balkan Cinema (there is one Romanian movie that seems interesting: Munta Muta (Silent Wedding), Horatiu Malaele, Romania, Luxembourg and France, 2008)
The Primal Screen
Vengeance is Mine
Young Blood

To check info about the films go here and/or check the catalogue here.

44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award Winners

Yesterday the fest had the awards ceremony and here are the winners.

Official Competition

Grand Prix – Crystal Globe: Un ange à la mer (Angel at Sea), Frédéric Dumont, Belgium and Canada, 2009

Special Jury Prize: Bist (Twenty), Abdolreza Kahani, Iran, 2009
Best Director Award: Adreas Dresen for Whisky mit Wodka (Whisky with Vodka), Germany, 2009
Best Actress: Paprika Steen in Applause, Martin Pieter Zandvliet, Denmark, 2009
Best Actor (tie):
Olivier Gourmet in Un ange à la mer (Angel at Sea), Frédéric Dumont, Belgium and Canada, 2009
Paul Giamatti in Cold Souls, Sophie Barthes, USA, 2008

FIPRESCI Award: Nije kraj (Will Not Stop There), Vinko Brešan, Serbia and Croatia, 2008
NETPAC Prize: Ddongpari (Breathless), Yang Ik-june, South Korea, 2008
Prize of Ecumenical Jury: Bist (Twenty), Abdolreza Kahani, Iran, 2009
Europa Cinemas Label Award: Applause, Martin Pieter Zandvliet, Denmark, 2009

Prize of Don Quijote FICC: Un ange à la mer (Angel at Sea), Frédéric Dumont, Belgium and Canada, 2009
Special Mention:
Волчок Volčok (Wolfy), Vassily Sigarev (Василий Сигарев), Russia, 2009
Cold Souls, Sophie Barthes, USA, 2008

East of the West Competition

Best Film: Poltory komnaty ili sentimentalnoje putěšestvije na rodinu (Room and a Half), Andrei Khrzhanovsky, Russia, 2008
Special Mention: Rysa (Scratch), Michal Rosa, Poland, 2008

Independent Camera: Eamon, Margaret Corkery, Ireland, 2009
Special Mention: La Tigra, Chaco, Federico Godfrid and Juan Sasiain, Argentina, 2009

Audience Award: Sipur Gadol (A Matter of Size), Erez Tadmor and Sharon Maymon, Israel, Germany, and France, 2009

Special Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema
Isabelle Huppert, France
John Malkovich, USA
Jan Švankmajer, Czech Republic

Festival President’s Award: Antonio Banderas

To check award winners in other categories go here and to read the official press release go here. If you want to see the fest in videos the Youtube fest channel is here.

Little Ashes

I know who Federico García Lorca, Salvador Dalì and Luis Buñuel are and I know very little about their lives -saw only one of them in the flesh (an unforgettable experience in Barcelona)- but definitively know more about their writings, paintings and films respectively. So, knew very little about García Lorca’s homosexuality, Buñuel homofobia and Dalì’s probable affair with García Lorca. My first reaction to the story in this film was surprise and I even asked myself, is this truth? After reading a little in the net, seems that most of what the story shows is true. So you can say that is a biopic inspired in some true events and other events that could be true.

The film should have a name like The Tormented Love Affair between Federico García Lorca and Salvador Dalì as basically that’s what this movie is all about. Luis Buñuel is the third character but his presence in this story is only a reference to truth, in the sense that they were friends and met at the Residencia Estudiantil (students hostel) in the 20’s Madrid. Unfortunately after the Cadaqués moment the story and movie become really tormenting for the characters and for viewers, as starts to move in fragments with broken transitions in the storytelling breaking the flawless flow of the beginning.

Perhaps the director, Paul Morrison, got too much inspiration from Dalì (tried with no success to be surrealistic with his images) but what could have been a very interesting film because of the story became a little nightmarish after a while. Most annoying is the decision of using English with an awful accent (if they wanted to use English, actors should speak “normal” English) and the worst is García Lorca reading or reciting his works in Spanish while an English translation happens at the same time. Truly awful.

But not everything is bad in this movie as I really enjoyed the attention given to details and the great representation of the period with sets and costumes. I also have to admit that Robert Pattinson can act, as his Dalì interpretation has very good moments, especially when Dalì becomes the famous extravagant character that he really was and Pattinson in a few scenes really started to look like him. Javier Beltrán is also quite good playing a man that totally falls in love with another man for the first time.

If I see the movie as only about the love affair between García Lorca and Dalì I have to say that I like the film a lot; but having Buñuel doing nothing, inserting too many useless (to the affair) historic references and the awful use of the English language makes me think that the value of this film is only in the love story of two men that could have been not famous and probably the movie as a whole would have worked better.

I like some of the oeuvre of García Lorca; I really like many of the Dalì’s paintings (used to own one), and definitively believe that Luis Buñuel is a master filmmaker. Their real lives have to be very interesting but from this film you can hardly tell.

Now that I finished outpouring my disappointment about the historic content of this film, I’ll probably surprise some, but I will recommend this film to many that read this blog. Yes, I recommend it as an interesting story about the tormented love affair between two men, that's only if you can sustain the "torment" part.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

2009 Filmfest München Award Winners

Finally the award winners are posted at the official site in English and here are some of the winners.

Arri-Zeiss Prize: Una Semana Solos (A Week Alone), Celina Murga, Argentina, 2007

The Young German Cinema Award: Draußen am See (Losing Balance), Felix Fuchssteiner, Germany. 2009

CineVision Award: Everything Strange and New, Frazer Bradshaw, USA, 2008

One Future Prize: PA-RA-DA (The Clown), Marco Pontecorvo, Italy and Romania, 2008
Special Mention: My Neighbor My Killer, Anne Aghion, France and USA, 2009

Audience Award: Keep Surfing, Björn Richie Lob, Germany, 2009

To check all the award winners go here.

Trinidad

Here is another very worth-to-watch documentary that not only looks and feels like narrative but also will grab your attention immediately as this is the most “normal” (not even one second of sensationalism) transgender document I have ever seen.

I hope you can understand that what I’m about to say is said in the most respectful way, as not often (if ever) you can see ordinary middle age men that are transitioning or had the op. Most docs document the perhaps more colorful world of very queer man becoming female and I understand that in a so diverse community there are many diverse people with diverse attitudes toward life, sexuality and gender. But this documentary was really mesmerizing (for me) as it looks and feels so ordinary and common that I couldn’t take my eyes from the screen and I wanted more when was over. The documentary really motivated me to see transgender/transsexuals not as “oddities” but as real people that solve a real problem and become ordinary people that finally get a more happy life and more than less integrate into that particular and so special community established in Trinidad, Colorado.

The doc tells about Dr. Stanley Biber who pioneered the sex change operation and since his passing in 2006, one of his patients, Dr. Marci Bowens, took charge at the local hospital where the operations now actually pay for the rest of the hospital services.

The doc has been called an “elegant history of the sex change capital of the world” and the description really fits the debut of Jay Hodges and P. J. Raval as directors of an oeuvre that gives us a very compelling, normal, ordinary, realistic and yet, dramatic opportunity to understand better what gender reassignment means to those that do it and according to what some say, there have been around 5,800 gender reassignment surgeries done in Trinidad.

Whether you are or you are not interested in the theme, this is one document that I suggest as Must Be Seen to many that read this blog. Here I reproduce some words from the filmmakers that I find to be relevant to motivate everyone to watch this film. If you feel like reading the complete article go here.

Ultimately, we hope Trinidad helps viewers see beyond surface differences to the deeper elements of who we are as individuals. As Sabrina so eloquently states, "When people look at me, I hope they think, ‘If she has the guts to be who she is, then I should have the guts to be who I am.'" The experience of making Trinidad has certainly taught us that.

Great documentary!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion But be aware that unfortunately the trailer is not good, as presents the doc similar to many other “before/after” documents when is NOT like that at all.

Sonbahar (Autumn)

I found this film to be extremely beautiful to watch but has a story that if you know Turkey's history hits hard and if you don’t, still hits hard as a voyage into the last days of a very ill man -that in my personal opinion- revisits his past and grieves in silence his life.

The film written and directed by Özcan Alper is a complex story told mostly in silence –even when at moments gave excess of unnecessary information- and great expressions by main actors that gravitates around the not so long ago (the 90‘s) incidents that happened in Turkey and an idealist that ends up in jail for ten years only to be liberated because he’s dying, so he returns to his small mountain village only to find that most of the population are elderly people and a few younger ones that feel trapped in the village. Is a story of contrasts, of failure, of lost ideals, of repression and aggression, and most of all, of the reality that many had to face in Turkey during and after the 90’s.

The film has extraordinary cinematography with very poetic views of magnificent mountains that go from fall to winter. The music score is truly outstanding and highly contributes for you to feel the landscapes and main characters emotions. Performances are amazing with special mention to Onur Saylak that plays Yusuf and Megi Kobaladze that plays Eka, the Georgian prostitute.

Definitively not for all audiences and the best reference I can give is that if you enjoyed Nuri Belge Ceylan’s Climates, surely will highly appreciate this film. But here the story is powerful and hard-hitting. The movie won the Best Director at the 2009 Sofia fest and at the 2008 Tbilisi fest and awards are well deserved especially when is Alper’s debut film and definitively does not look or feel like his first oeuvre.

I loved the visuals, liked the story even when I felt it was really hard (but reality is hard) and highly recommend it to those that like great Turkish cinema.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Rutger Hauer Filmfactory News

The more I learn about this program the more I get really interested as seems to be quite a great experience for filmmakers. The 2009 program videos are up and I suggest to all my filmmakers readers to check them. Here is the 2009 Making of video and if you feel like watching the new videos go here.

Outfest 2009 News

The news about frameline33 lesbian interest milestone did not grabbed mass media attention, but today I found in Variety an article that I reproduce here as I find it interesting, especially what it says about distribution of LGBT films. This is the complete article.

Outfest leans lesbian
Gay-male films share roster with female fare
By DAVID MERMELSTEIN

It may not exactly be the Year of the Woman, but this year's Outfest - the 27th iteration of L.A.'s seminal gay and lesbian film festival - leans more heavily toward lesbian fare than any in recent memory, with several key slots occupied by films from distaff helmers.

"We have two centerpieces geared toward women, Tina Mabry's 'Mississippi Dammed' and Lucia Puenzo's 'El Nino Pas,'" says Outfest exec director Kirsten Schaffer. "And the Legacy Project gala is 'Choosing Children' (1984), which is more oriented toward lesbians. We also have Nancy Kissam's 'Drool,' which was a huge success at Slamdance this year. And there's 'Ghosted' from Monika Treut, who has a huge lesbian following."

Diversity is key at Outfest, yet it's an uphill battle for women, if only because there are always so many gay-male pics to contend with. "Any year we have the opportunity to highlight films by female directors we do," says Schaffer. Last year, "there were definitely films that were lesbian, but they tended to be international and smaller films."

This year's shift of balance wasn't exactly premeditated. "There are years when there aren't many lesbians films," Schaffer continues, "and then there are years when there are a bunch and we think it signals a trend, but then it kind of drops off again."

Kim Yutani, Outfest's director of programming, acknowledges capitalizing on the opportunity. "We saw so many strong lesbian films that have potential for wider appeal that we wanted to highlight them," she says, adding E.E. Cassidy's "We Are the Mods," Wendy Jo Carlton's "Hannah Free," Nana Neul's "To Faro," Alison Reid's "The Baby Formula" and Maria Beatty's "Bandaged" to the list of films by which Outfest 2009 will likely be remembered.

"It's a balancing act," Yutani says. "We want the highest quality films possible and also ones that will appeal to our very diverse audience. And it's not easy to do. I think there were a good number of lesbian films that were just stronger this year, especially the storytelling."

Schaffer suggests that changes in technology may help account for the shift. "I would never say it's easy to make a feature-length film," she maintains, "but digital technology has made high-quality filmmaking accessible to more people. So we are seeing generally more diversity among the filmmakers."

She also cites Outfest's own programs as incubators of future success. For example, Nancy Kissam, who directed 'Drool,' was an Outfest Screenwriting Lab fellow in 2006. "That helped propel her career forward," says Schaffer. "And Wendy Jo Carlton, who made 'Hannah Free,' has had a couple short films in the festival, as did Tina Mabry, the director of 'Mississippi Damned.' One of the things Outfest does best is nurture emerging filmmakers. We help them make connections that eventually lead to feature films getting made. "

And there are other shifts occurring in the world of LGBT cinema. Theatrical exhibition is mainly on the wane, with home video and, especially, Web distribution gaining ground. Where that leaves entities like Outfest is unclear, though some insist that even seismic shifts will not compromise such fests as prominent players.

Maria Lynn, prexy of Wolfe Releasing and WolfeVideo.com, which deals exclusively in LGBT fare, is among those who foresee a long and vital future for such ventures. "The gay and lesbian circuit is huge," says Lynn. "It's the biggest niche, hands down. So these festivals - and Outfest is among the biggest - are important for marketing these films. Even if people don't actually see them at the festivals, they are going to be more recognizable later on, when these films come to DVD or iTunes."

For her part, Schaffer is embracing both past and future. "I expect to be investing resources in new media and Web technology," she says. "That's something we have started to plan for but not yet executed. I want to put Outfest at the forefront of new technology, with a year-round presence on the Web. But we'll also continue to be a place people come to in July to experience LGBT culture. I do not want to replace the festival with the Internet."

-end of the article-

I really hope that “web distribution” grows and grows as gives the World -and not only people living in specific cities- an opportunity to watch any-length films.

Остров Ostrov (The Island)

Sometimes you expect a movie to be good and I was really hoping that this movie by Pavel Lungin was good. How wrong I was. This movie is not good, is Outstandingly Excellent!!! The best I have seen in a long, long time and one that I strongly recommend to everyone that loves great storytelling with extraordinary visual and tech specs that create a true cinema masterpiece that has something not common in great cinema as is also surprisingly very entertaining.

I really don’t want to tell you what is about as I believe that knowing anything about the story will help you to experience the surprise of how amazing the story is (especially because is a Russian story). But I can tell you that the story happens in a small Russian Orthodox monastery with some constructions built in small islands connected by man made fragile bridges. Just watching the amazing location is superb with an unbelievably good and visually poetic cinematography. Many things happen in this story that mainly is the story of a very unusual Holy Man that can foretell the future, heal and even do exorcisms. But, you have to remember that this is not Hollywood, this is what I can call Great Russian cinema, so the Holy Man will not likely be as you can imagine. Last, some can see it as a religious story, but not me. I see it as an amazing (and very entertaining) spiritual story.

All right the film is not for all audiences, as has a very slow pace that allows you to gloriously contemplate the magnificent location to the minimal detail. Besides when is in the WWII moment is really dark with the minimum light possible and is really in black and white; then when moves in time to the 70’s lighting gives the impression that the film is still in black and white (which is not) and makes the monks look like branchless trees, dark and tall, just like the famous Russian icons. Really Fabulous! But what is really masterful is the incredible succession of one after another excellent visual compositions. Last, the palette slightly changes to be more real full color as the story reaches the end and the finale is in crescendo with a light saturation take. I simply love directors that take such good care of little details to make the film outstanding.

But the performance by former Russian rock star Pyotr Mamonov is unbelievably outstanding, superb! He really makes Father Anatoli a truly colorful character. Chapeau to Mamonov and Lungin!

Yes, this movie really excited me and definitively makes me extremely happy that Pavel Lungin has 12 movies that I haven’t seen and hopefully I will see eventually. But now more than ever the wait for being able to watch Tsar will be hard to endure.

This is a movie that I strongly recommend to everyone that enjoys serious and great cinema. Bravo!!!

BIG ENJOY!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Michael Jackson

One of the extraordinary things about having blogs is that I can voice my opinions about whatever touches me. Here I do it about movies. But today I stopped everything I was doing to watch Michael Jackson Memorial and I was touched by what many dare to call a show, but I see it as a sober and sad/cheerful ceremony, that impressed me because the respect shown by people who where at the Staples Center.

I still remember the televised ceremony for Princess Diana and the silence that I believed was because they were in a Church. But this was no church and people were so silent, so quiet, so respectful that it touched me. Also some of the people speaking about him -more about the human being and less about the entertainer- really humanized him to my eyes. That was impressive. Then some songs -that seem written for the occasion- were really sad and brought tears to my eyes, most performers were so respectful that their performances were truly remarkable, even when I do not particularly like them in their regular performances. Really touching.

I grew up with The Beatles and Michael Jackson. Both are gone, but their music will live forever. Rest In Peace Michael Jackson.

Revisiting Tarkovsky

Since I started this blog, my greatest pleasure still is the opportunity to watch almost everything by Andrei Tarkovsky and today I learned that some of you that live near New York City will have the opportunity to watch in the big screen a complete retrospective of the master Russian filmmaker. Lucky you all!!

The Film Society of Lincoln Center will screen from July 7 to the 14 the seven (7) feature films by Tarkovsky and besides being sorry for not being able to go to NYC, I’m sorry that they didn’t included his amazing short films.

Anyway you will be able to watch Andrei Rublev, Ivan’s Childhood, The Mirror, Nostalgia, The Sacrifice, Solaris and Stalker. Also the retrospective includes the documentary Meeting Andrei Tarkovsky by Dmitry Trakovsky that’s one of the several Tarkovsky interesting homage documents available and if you feel like watching the trailer go Movie On Companion.

If you feel like checking more information about this great retrospective and learn about showtimes and purchasing tickets go here. Because is a remarkable quote, I’m reproducing here the opening of the retrospective presentation at the Film Society official site.

"Tarkovsky for me is the greatest, the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream." -Ingmar Bergman

If you’re able to attend this retrospective, I know you will be transported to a highly imaginative visual and narrative world not often seen in any-country cinema. Tarkovsky’s mastery is really impressive!

Please do not miss this great opportunity.

Cheers!!!

Duplicity

I found the movie to be uneven as I had a hard time getting involved with the story at the beginning. Well, more than half the movie I was not interested in whatever was going on; but kept watching because performances were good. It is somewhere after half the movie that finally I got interested and started to enjoy the story. So it is not a good sign as I’m really interested in Corporate America stories; but then I also didn’t enjoyed much Michael Clayton the directorial debut film by Tony Gilroy who also wrote and directed this movie. Probably Gilroy’s directorial style is the reason why his films don't move me and easily allow me to get involved with the stories.

The film tells about two spies that decide to leave the CIA (Julia Roberts) and MI6 (Clive Owen) to plan the ultimate con job by infiltrating the counterintelligence of two dwelling corporate CEO’s. The story is told not in sequential order and there are flashbacks to previous years that use a four-split screen as the transition devise. I do not particularly enjoyed the devise and honestly quite annoyed me after the first time it was used as I knew that another plot twist was about to be unveiled and I was not interested in knowing one more twist to this twisted story.

Yes, the story is full of twists that soon enough you know that whatever you’re seeing is not what it seems and even if is not easy to guess what comes next, the problem is that you simply are not interested in knowing or guessing what comes next.

Is when you finally learn what the new product is, that the film becomes engaging as finally you have all the puzzle pieces and whatever plot tricks and twist come after you do not mind, as you are finally engaged with the story.

Some say that actor’s performances do not save the movie, but I tend to disagree as the only reason I kept watching was the pleasure of watching Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti and with a too short screen time, Tom Wilkinson.

The film was a commercial flop that worldwide barely collected the production budget which tells me that the Gilroy’s directing abilities are also not reaching wider audiences at least as much as with his script writing abilities, just remember that general audiences loved the Bourne films he wrote. Film tech specs are good, but I really didn’t enjoyed editing; then costumes and some sets are truly spectacular like Tom Wilkinson character office and his fantastic (fake?) bonsai tree. I particularly loved the scene where he’s trimming the bonsai.

Anyway, I believe that the movie is one heist, caper, thriller, romantic comedy, verbal action, and twisted plot film that you could love or hate. Not many will be in the middle of the love-hate range, like me. But if you like the cast, their performances are quite good and then perhaps you will fall in the middle too.

Enjoy!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

2000 Brussels Film Festival Award Winners

The fest run from June 27 to July 5 and here are the winners that all are movies that I’m really looking forward to be able to watch.

Golden Iris Award: Machan, Uberto Pasolini, Italy, Germany and Sri Lanka
« It is often said that the best stories are written by real life. But it needs a director who is able to tell the story for cinema. Director Uberto Pasolini (and his co-writer Ruwanthie de Chickera) and a great ensemble cast of Sri Lankan actors tell the story in a unique way. A warm hearted, human, incredibly funny film which never forgets the tragedy behind the story… Chapeau Uberto Pasolini ! »

Jury Special Award: La Casa Sulle Nuvole, Claudio Giovannesi, Italy
Best Performance Award (tie)
Hilda Péter in Katalin Varga, Peter Strickland, Romania, UK, Hungary and
Malin Crépin in I Skuggan av Värmen (In Your Veins), Beata Gårdeler, Sweden

Special Mention for Best Scene: Nord (North), Rune Denstad Langlo, Norway

Audience Award: Mammoth, Lukas Moodysson, Sweden, Germany and Denmark
RTBF TV Award for Best Film: Machan, Uberto Pasolini, Italy, Germany and Sri Lanka
BeTV Award for Best Film: Joueuse, Caroline Bottaro, France and Germany
Prime Telenet Award for Best Film: Somewhere Between Here and Now, Olivier Boonjing, Belgium

To check all the awards go here and to read info about all the films in competition go here.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I know that I never wrote about the first Transformers movie, but I did watched in cable and was somehow surprised how much entertaining was. So when the second installment came I knew I was not going to wait until reached cable. Well, the Revenge movie may not have a great plot but has lots of special effects, sound effects (very noisy) and a lot more fantasy than the first one.

Lately seems that most Hollywood action films are following a formula that works as movies make lots of money. They all have very fast pace, lots of special effects and very loud sounds; then they seem to be following clues or looking for someone that read enigmatic clues. I’m thinking about Angels & Demons, National Treasure and this Transformer. The three have similar structure and audiences seem to really like them -for now.

Anyway the movie is pure adrenaline addressed to your ears and eyes and the only thing that was a little boring was seeing too many robots fights when you can hardly tell the good ones from the bad ones…but it’s really not that important as you know that the finale will have the good ones winning, lol!

If you are in the mood for a very fast paced, very loud and noisy, action filled Hollywood movie then this film is for you, but do not expect a well developed plot.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Labor Pains

Well, watched the movie as I couldn’t wait and the film is really “cute”. An entertaining well acted predictable romantic comedy with Lindsay Lohan looking good and acting good.

The film tells the story of Thea Dixon (Lindsay Lohan) that when her boss is about to fire her she tells him that she’s pregnant. Obviously is not true, she does not get fired and the lie grows to really large dimensions that make Thea start to behave like she was really pregnant. The plot has many twists and a typical happy finale.

The film by Lara Shapiro is not a masterpiece, but it does not look like a made for TV movie or a B-Movie at all. Think that decision to go direct to TV and DVD came from all the business problems that the production had –which you can read in the net- and perhaps it help a little the awful media coverage that Lohan gets.

Anyway performances by a good cast are above average, production values are great and Lindsay Lohan performs as her best, like in all her previous comedies. So if you enjoyed her previous comedies, then you should not miss this one.

If you are in the mood for a light, cute, sweet and entertaining movie this film is for you.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

56th Pula Film Festival

The fest will run from July 18 to 25 at this quite nice city in Croatia. Here are the films in the National Competition.

Blizine (Closeness), Zdravko Mustac
Covjek ispod stola (The Man Under the Table), Neven Hitrec
Crnci (The Blacks), Zvonimir Juric and Goran Devic
Kenjac (Donkey), Antonio Nuic
Ljubavni život domobrana (Love Life of Sluggard aka Love Life of a Gentle Coward), Pavo Marinkovic
Metastaze (Metastases), Branko Schmidt
Penelopa (Penelope), Ben Ferris (seems interesting)
U zemlji cudesa (The Land of Wonders), Dejan Sorak
Vjerujem u andjele (I Believe in Angels), Niksa Svilicic
Zagrebačke priče (Zagreb Tales), omnibus by 9 directors

To check info about each movie go here.

With emphasis in French cinema the International Program -or 5th edition of the Europolis-Meridians Program- will screen some new and not so new films; here are some of the films in this program.

Eden à l'Ouest (Eden is West), Costa Gravas, France, Italy and Greece. 2009
Bellamy, Claude Chabrol, France, 2009
La Barbe Bleue (Bluebeard), Catherine Breillat, France, 2009
The Countess, Julie Delpy, France and Germany, 2009 (yep, must be seen with Anamaria Marinca!)
Cheri, Stephen Frears, UK, France and Germany, 2009
Le Tueur (The Killer), CédricAnger, France, 2007
Plennyy (Captive) Alesksei Uchitel, Russia and Bulgaria, 2008

To read about the other films in this section go here.

This year the festival introduces the European Film Directors cycle and the first retrospective is dedicated to Pedro Almodovar with some of his films since 1982 up to 1999.

To browse the fest site go here.