Reel Talk Podcast #16 – CIFF coverage Part One
The latest episode has me sharing Part One of my CIFF (Chicago International Film Festival) coverage! I’ll let you know what I thought of the first four (out of six) films that I saw at the festival. It starts out with some bad viewing and ends up with a film that will definitely be on my year-end list. Demetri also shares what he’s been watching recently. so, that’s seven movies discussed in a little over an hour!
This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (10-23-12)
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
written by: Ben Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar
produced by: Josh Penn, Dan Janvey &
directed by: Ben Zeitlin
rated PG-13 (for thematic material including child imperilment, some
disturbing images, language and brief sensuality
runtime: 92 min.
U.S. release date: June 27, 2012 (limited release)
Here is a film I had been anticipating since I heard its growing praise coming out of Sundance. Each year, there’s a film from a debut director there that receives great buzz and that was given to Benh Zeitlin this year. The film has been described in many ways: beautiful, surreal, harrowing and imaginative, with powerful performances by two non-actors playing a father and his young daughter. The focus is on them and a handful of others as they survive perilous surroundings in the aftermath of a natural disaster, bearing broad resemblance to the post-Hurricane Katrina life in the Gulf Coast. Add all these elements up and my interest is piqued, yet despite respecting and appreciating a few aspects of “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, I’m left wondering why I didn’t like it as much as everyone else.
THE MASTER (2012) review
written by: Paul Thomas Anderson
produced by: Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison, Daniel Lupi & JoAnne Sellar
directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
rating: R (for sexual content, graphic nudity and language)
runtime: 137 min.
U.S. release date: September 14, 2012 (limited) & September 21, 2012 (wide)
On August 18th, I attended a sold-out screening at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago for one of the most anticipated films of the year. The line around the block generated a contagious buzz of eager interest. These people were there with a purpose, as was I. Too much hype? Maybe. But no one could deny the result: a transfixed audience. Something quite rare. No cell phones, no talking and hardly any audible chomping could be heard (at least not to my ears). For those reasons alone, watching writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest in a 70mm screening will likely go down as the one of the most memorable theatrical experience of the year for me. It helped that the film offered a viewing experience that was equally as captivating as its atmosphere, making “The Master” easily one of the best films of the year. Read more…
Reel Talk Podcast #15 – Happy Birthday, Mr. Bond!
We wish the 007 movies a very happy 50th birthday and discuss the longest running film franchise in cinematic history. No, not EVERY film. We’re not bond historians, but we did check out a couple Connery films, his second and his last (official), that are streaming on Netflix. We also talk some Movie News, discuss CIFF (Chicago International Film Festival) and more….
This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (10-16-12)
There are two movies out this week that you probably haven’t seen, one is good and one is awful. I feel compelled to bring attention to both. The good one is 2009’s “Last Ride” with Hugo Weaving, which had a limited run in the States this past summer. It’s a sparse, harrowing drama taking place in the Australian outback, that follows a road trip taken by a boy and his violent father. Stay there and don’t go to Chernobyl for the lame horror flick “Chernobyl Diaries” (the only movie I rated “zero stars” so far this year) which is populated with stupid American tourists (how original) tactlessly visiting a place where real devastation occurred. You’re better off traveling to Europe with the crew from “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” in what surprisingly turned out to the best of those animated features so far.
Keeping It Reel’s CIFF 2012 Schedule
It’s that time of year again in Chicago. When the red carpet is rolled out for films from all over the word. To be specific, the 48th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) will show 175 films from 50 countries. If only I was getting paid to see them all – even then, it would be quite a challenge. Since I didn’t take the time to thoroughly study out the list of films scheduled, I decided to attend the films that grabbed my attention. Below, I will share with you which films they are and why I chose them.
This Week on DVD & Blu-ray (10-09-12)
Ridley Scott’s spinoff/prequel “Prometheus” is finally out on DVD/Blu-ray. However you feel about the film, it’s undoubtedly a beautifully shot, ambitious sci-fi thriller. Unless you have a 3D television at home though, you’re just not going to be able to fully appreciate one of the most divisive films of the year. And then there’s two movies that didn’t do so well, like the film adaptation of the popular musical “Rock of Ages” starring Tom Cruise as a heavy metal rock god and I think I’m ready to catch up with “The Raven” starring John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe. Looking at the rest of the releases this week, finds this week to be quite the load.
The Criterion Completist – The Game (1997)
written by: John Brancato and Michael Ferris
produced by: Ceán Chaffin and Steve Golin
directed by: David Fincher
rated R (language and for some violence and sexuality)
runtime: 129 min.
U.S. release date: September 12, 1997
DVD/Blu-ray release date: March 31, 1998
Criterion release date: September 18, 2012
The 1990s will be remembered as a fertile time for filmmaking, and a number of master-class directors like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, the Coen brothers, and David Fincher all released key, ground-breaking movies during this time. Fincher had already rocked the film world in 1995 with “Se7en“, before releasing “The Game” in 1997, a film fondly remembered by most people, but somewhat forgotten until Criterion’s recent rerelease.
Frankenweenie 3D (2012)
written by: John August
produced by: Tim Burton and Alison Abbate
directed by: Tim Burton
rating: PG (for thematic elements, scary images and action)
runtime: 87 min.
U.S. release date: October 5, 2012
After this summer’s “Dark Shadows” it was time for the Burton/Depp union to take a well-needed hiatus. “Frankenweenie” finds Burton returning to his animation roots, reteaming with Disney for a feature-length update of a live-action short he made back in 1984. It’s a delightful and welcome return to the “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Corpse Bride” stop-motion style with a dash of “Edward Scissorhands” suburbia, home to typically bizarre and exaggerated Burtonesque characters. It’s a clever black and white homage to the Mary Shelley classic as well as the James Whale film and the other monster classics that the director grew up with, the kind where giant turtles terrorize kind townfolk. Sounds like a recipe for a entertaining hit. So, why wasn’t I all that excited about it for so long?
