tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

- - -

- - -

Kristin Stewart is continuing on her crusade to try and distance herself from the Twilight series, and establish herself as a serious actress.  Last year she did it with Adventureland, and this year, she has a couple films at Sundance.  In one, she plays Joan Jett, and in it has a lesbian love scene with Dakota Fanning.  In the other, Welcome to the Rileys, she plays a 16 year old, runaway, making ends meet in New Orleans as a part-time exotic dancer, and part-prostitute.  Okay, we get it Kristin, you’re a serious actress.  Fortunately, she has some great company in Rileys that makes her look pretty good.

Add a comment

- - -

It was only a matter of time before Philip Seymour Hoffman decided to direct. He’s gained enough cred in the business to warrant giving him a chance.  But it is slightly shocking that he chose to make his debut with a romantic comedy.  Did anyone else see that coming?  His film, Jack Goes Boating is a movie version of a play by the same name.  Hoffman actually played Jack in the off-Broadway production.  He brought along two of his stage co-stars as well, and got Amy Ryan to play his leading lady.  Not too shabby for his first cast.

Add a comment

- - -

Night Catches Us is a mildly interesting first attempt at directing by Tanya Hamilton, an alum of the Sundance Lab. The story (which Hamilton also wrote) takes place in Philadelphia in 1978. It focuses on two former Black Panthers, Marcus (Anthony Mackie) and Pat (Kerry Washington). Marcus returns to Philadelphia, after several years in exile, to attend the funeral of his brother. His reasons for avoiding his hometown aren’t immediately clear. What is clear, is that he’s not welcomed there by many. His former comrades make it abundantly clear that he is no longer welcome, and should leave if he wants to avoid trouble. Pat is the only friendly face in town. But their budding relationship is difficult for friends, and especially for Pat’s daughter Iris (Jamara Griffin).

Add a comment

Starring: Kate Jarvis, Michael Fassenbender
Director: Andrea Arnold
Release Date: January 15, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 124 min
MPAA Rating: NR
Distributor: IFC Films
- - -

Suffocation and boredom have grown extensively perverse for fifteen-year-old Mia, a young woman with an invisible visor shrouding her vision of the real world and who possesses lofty dreams that may not seem so rewarding. The weariness in the uncongenial surroundings of a housing project located in the underbelly of England, her home, overcomes hope and dreams. But there is a ruthless, intense and enlightening discovery to be found in this environment. A lesson that can educate an individual in the subject of Life can be located here. Innumerable individuals can willingly succumb to the realizations of the harsh conditions and descend morally and physically (like Mia’s mother does), or others can challenge and struggle with the unruly conditions to find self-transcendence.

A naïve little girl, cynical in every approach she takes, wants to meet reality and mingle with ideas, forces and individuals who prove to be smarter, sexier, meaner and more cunning than she can ever be. She hasn’t a father, her younger sister is a foul-mouthed little brat and her mother drunkenly mopes around their home, barely clothed, with a cigarette always in her mouth dancing to hip-hop music.  Maybe Mia (Katie Jarvis) doesn’t want to ever come to resemble these characteristics which pervade her life. Maybe she is content with who she is but is just suffering due to her detrimental surroundings. Her window for opportunity is decreasing. If she plans on leaving her fish tank she needs someone to help her pry it open. Help arrives unexpectedly, though, and in an unexpected entity. Add a comment

Océans, the French documentary drama directed by Jacques Perrin & Jacques Cluzaud, has been released in French cinemas this week. The film, shot over four years, reveals inspiring and challenging footage of extinct or endangered marine species around the world.

Viewers are offered a full immersion experience, spinning at 10 knots in the heart of a shoal of hunting tuna, joining dolphins in their wild stampedes, and swimming with the great white shark. See more on the film’s interactive site, oceans-lefilm.com

Watch the spectacular film after the jump!

Add a comment

Amazing movie! The transmedia story of Dreaming in Mono brings to life the rivalries and stereotypes of the Danes, Finns, Norwegians and Swedes in the story of an unlikely group of Nordic people who come together to beat an old ski record, only on one ski: a monoski. The focus of the activity is on McDonald’s guests and their stories and dreams, rather than on the brand or its products.

The story starts in 1974, with Alain Duchamp and his rival Hansi von Spitzmark about to embark on the most important endeavour of their lives, a downhill race to immortality. von Spitzmark ends up victorious. 36 years later, Alain is still mourning his loss and has been all but devoured by ghosts of the past. In a last attempt at satisfaction, and to gain recognition for why he lost that fateful day in 1974, Alain sets out on an amazing enterprise: to gather a team of monoski enthusiasts and break the dream record once and for all.

Add a comment

Starring: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Hichem Yacoubi, Adel Bencherif and Jean-Emmanuel Pagni
Director: Jacques Audiard
Release Date: January 20, 2010 (Limited)
Running Time: 150 min
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Distributor: Celluloid Dreams, Canal +, France 2 Cinema

- - -

Jacques Audiard, who has long been considered a French master, takes his work in a completely new direction with his latest project A Prophet. While I was extremely happy with his previous style (The Beat My Heart Skipped, still ranks in my top ten favorite movies of all time), his new focus is infinitely more broad, and brings a new sense of realism to the table that I could stare at for hours (and ended up doing just that since the film runs around 150 minutes).

What's more impressive, is that Audiard co-wrote the script with Thomas Bidegain. His story is a gritty, and brilliant look at the French prison system (which the European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly condemned, and Nicolas Sarkozy himself called a national disgrace). It centers around a young Arab man, Malik. At nineteen, he's been sentenced to six years for assaulting an officer. It's never clear if he actually did the crime. In fact the matter is settled by one indignant response to the accusation by a prison guard, he claims not to have done a thing. Whether or not he did is of no consequence to the rest of the film, but it seems to me he's innocent, which makes his evolution into a crime boss in his own respect that much more interesting. Malik is played by a virtually unknown actor named Tahar Rahim. His performance is remarkable in all aspects. The film spans six years (where Malik ages 19 to 25). His physical performance is remarkable, as he seems to mature quite rapidly. His face is in a constant state of healing, whether it's his cheek bleeding where a razor blade was hidden, or the marks of a spoon shoved so far into his eyeball, he temporarily loses his vision. Audiard, who frequently enjoys working with some of the best actors in France, couldn't have asked for a better leading man.

Add a comment