Tonight was a big night for San Jose. Tonight was the big Cinequest Media Launch Party in the Corinthian Grand Ballroom at the San Jose Athletic Club in the heart of Downtown San Jose!
Started in 1990 by co-founders Halfdan Hussey and Kathleen Powell, the Cinequest Film Festival has grown to epic proportions over the years, bring new visions and voices from up and coming filmmakers while bringing new technology and films to the masses. Now in its 22 year, the festival shows no signs of slowing down.
Tonight was also special because it marked my return to Cinequest, and it will be my first time as a film critic. I also ran into my very good friend Jason Wiener, who has a film blog called Jason Watches Movies. I also ran into filmmaker Kathryn Soler (whose film THE ART OF TRAVEL was shown at the festival back in 2008) and to see other friends like Cheri Hughes Thomas, Melanie Fosty, and Christopher J. Garcia, just to name a few.
Cinequest Publicist Brittany Welby welcomed and thanked us for attending this event and introduced Hussey up to reveal this year's theme for the festival. Passion will be the theme and then we were all shown a great video with Hussey telling us how Cinequest has reached out on a global scale to influence the idea that YOU can go out a create your film and have it been seen by people, who will then in turn become transformed by your film. A great message for all future filmmakers!
The Cinequest Film Festival Twenty-Two will be held from February 28 - March 11, 2012. Tickets and passes are now available so make sure you get them now because they are already moving fast. To learn more about the festival, film schedules and events, and to buy your passes, visit their website at www.cinequest.org
Good evening my cinematic thrillseekers! I just finished up my review for the UNDERWORLD TRILOGY: THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION Blu-Ray boxset for the Midnight Horror Sinema Show! With the release of the fourth film UNDERWOLRD: AWAKENING, I thought it would be fun to review this paticular boxset and give you all the details. What's also interesting about this boxset that it includes the exclusive Underworld: Endless War Animated Short Films bonus disc!So what are you waiting for? Click here to read my review, and go buy a copy for yourself. Then rush out to see UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING in theaters today!
Very few films can leave a lasting impression after its final credits roll across the screen. This winter, there have been a select few films that have done this (reason being is that it's Oscar season so all the best, intelligent, and stunning film are released this time of season). But with director Steve McQueen's new film SHAME, I left the theater in a haze of amazement.
Theatrical Movie Poster (2011)
The film stars Michael Fassbender as Brandon Sullivan, a successful and well off man living in New York City. He seems to have it all, but he has a secret life in hiding. Brandon is a sex addict who constantly picks up women, hires prostitutes, views Internet porn daily and masturbates at any given opportunity (even at the office). His addiction affects his day to day life and as a result, he lives a lonely existence. However his life becomes even more complex when his younger and neurotic sibling Sissy (Carey Mulligan) crashes at his place. She interferes with his life, including sleeping with his boss, David (James Badge Dale) and suffers from her own personal demons, which sets Brandon off to tackle his addiction.
British filmmaker McQueen made a major impact on the film world with his his 2008 debut HUNGER (which is available on both Blu-Ray and DVD from the Criterion Collection), and with this film, he continues his examination of the dark side of human behavior. Most filmmakers suffer from what is often referred to as "Sophomore slump," which means that a director's second feature doesn't live up to the high expectations as their first film set. However in McQueen's case, SHAME lives up to his debut film, making it a nice bookend to HUNGER.
Fassbender (who also starred in HUNGER) gives another brilliant performance. It looks as though Fassbender has been playing some very sexy roles. He appeared in David Cronenburg's A DANGEROUS METHOD (read my review for that film here) and now in this film he bares it all. Literally! Ladies in the audience will most likely dreaming about his chiseled physique and sexual prowess. But one must remember that his character is an addict, whose addiction literally controls his life, preventing him to find love and monogamy.
I give Fox Searchlight Pictures major props for getting behind McQueen and his film, releasing it with the stigmatic NC-17 rating. While the film is very frank with its sexual content and dark adult themes, the distributors never altered the director's vision. This makes me very excited for it will allow those adult audience members who wish to see a more adult film rather than the fluffy and unrealistic Hollywood films can now be astounded and moved by this piece of cinematic work of art.
SHAME is a haunting, uncompromising and riveting art house film; a moving cinematic tour de force that shows us how harmful and devesating not just sex addiction is, but all forms of addiction. Once again McQueen has created another masterpiece! Five out of five stars!
SHAME is currently playing in limited theatrical release nationwide, including at the Camera Cinemas here in the Bay Area. To view showtimes, visit their website at www.cameracinemas.com
Yes, I just saw this film Saturday night in 2D at the Camera 12 in Downtown San Jose. And yes, if you read my review, I really enjoyed watching the film. So you all must be wondering as to why would I see the same movies again the very next day? Simple answer really. I had forgotten that a good friend of mine gave me a free movie pass to the AMC Theaters. So while I was looking for a movie to see, I saw that UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING was playing in IMAX 3D! So I thought why the hell not?
Now is it worth seeing in IMAX 3D? Hells yeah it is!! The 3D effects were awesome, the digital surround was incredible, and to see Kate Beckinsale dressed in skin tight black leather while killing in 3D was so damn hot! So if you are a fan of the series and are debating whether to see it in IMAX 3D or not, do not hesitate! Go see this film now!! Just make sure you protect your snacks from Lycans and Vampires.
UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING in IMAX 3D is currently playing in select theaters nationwide, including at the AMC Theaters here in the Bay Area. To view showtimes, visit their website at www.amctheatres.com
After I saw THE IRON LADY at the Camera 7 Pruneyard, I made my way to the CinéArts Theater in Santana Row to see the new Roman Polanski black comedy film CARNAGE, which is based on the play God of Carnage by French playwright Yasmina Reza.
Theatrical Movie Poster (2012)
When two grade-school boys get into a confrontation in the park that results in one boy hitting the other in the mouth with a stick, their parents meet in a Brooklyn apartment to discuss the matter. The parents of the boy wielding the stick, Alan and Nancy Cowan (Cristoph Waltz & Kate Winslet), visit the home of Michael and Penelope Longstreet (John C. Reilly & Jodi Foster), who are the parents of the boy who was struck. What begins as a civilized meeting turns into utter carnage as both sets of parents bicker and fight with one another, thus reducing themselves to childish behavior.
It's been a long time since I've seen a Polanski film. Now what makes this such a genius film is that the film takes place in one location (minus the exterior shot of the park that are the bookends of the film). The entire film is set in the Longstreet's apartment, which is actually a set built on a soundstage. But that's what makes this film so amazing is that we can be contained in one setting for 90 minutes and be utterly entertained. Now it helps to have a great script (which this film has), have four very talented actors (again a plus), then have a legendary film director to bring it all together.
This is what many critics call a black comedy. It deals with real life problems and situations and finds humor in these uncomfortable and confrontational surroundings. Now like I said, it helps to have talented actors to make the characters in these situations believable and funny. Waltz is lawyer we love to hate who is also an absent father who cares very little about what his son did. Winslet is the superficial wife who gets really drunk and throws up during the movie (which by the way, Winslet still looks very sexy while projecting vomit all over the Longstreet's coffee table). Riley is the father that is passive and doesn't give a damn about anything, especially about Foster's obsession to writing her book about the hardship that is taking place in Africa.
Ploanski's directing in the film is perfect. Just absolutely perfect. The framing of his scenes, the over the shoulder shots, the scenes where we see Foster in the foreground but we see Riley in the mirror behind her, which show us that he's on the other side of the room. Just little tricks that he uses to create the space that these people are forced to inhabit in during their get together.
CARNAGE is already my favorite comedy for 2012! You don't get too many great black comedies these days and here's one that is just hilarious to watch! Highly recommended!! Five out of five stars!!
CARNAGE is currently playing in select theaters nationwide, including at the CinéArts Theater Santana Row here in the Bay Area. To view showtimes, visit their website at http://cinemark.com
Welcome back cinema lovers to Phil's Film Adventures! After seeing five films on Saturday, you'd probably think I would take a day off from watching movies. If you thought that, then you haven't been reading my blog for very long. Sunday morning came and I headed back out to the theaters, this time I went to the Camera 7 in the Pruneyard Campbell where I saw the biopic THE IRON LADY, starring the talented actress Meryl Streep.
Theatrical Movie Poster (2012)
In the film, Streep portrays Margaret Thatcher, the first female British prime minister and the longest-serving of the 20th century (she served from 1979-1990). Her strict conservative policies, hard line against trade unions and tough rhetoric in opposition to the former Soviet Union earned her the nickname the "The Iron Lady." The film begins with Steep's elderly Thatcher in the present day, struggling with dementia as she flashbacks to her past while she reminisces with her dead husband Denis (Jim Broadben). She recalls her youth (actress Alexandra Roach portrays young Margaret with sass, determination, and optimism), working in her father's grocery store in Grantham, her becoming interested in politics thanks to her father, her falling in love with young Denis (Harry Lloyd), and her perseverance to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in the male dominated world of politics, with her becoming prime minister and the heavy tolls and sacrifices she had to make, for both England and her own family.
What is so amazing about the film is Streep herself. Is there anyone better to portray Thatcher then her? She embodies the former prime minister. Streep's performance in both extraordinary and fascinating to watch. She brings another side to Thatcher: the human side. While we all know of Thatcher's political career, we know very little of her personal life other than just we've read in books. In the film we really get to know Thatcher on a more personal level, but it's Streep's performance that enables us to feel for her to begin with. Without her acting skills, we the audience wouldn't have been able to sympathize to Thatcher. Just an outstanding acting performance!
The story was well-written, courtesy of Abi Morgan (SHAME) and director Phyllida Lloyd does a great job of bringing the script to life. Lloyd's more famous for helming the 2008 film MAMMA MIA!, which was my number one choice for worst movie released that same year. With this film, Lloyd matured as a director; her vision is more polished, her directing is much cleaner, all these are signs of a director growing into her craft.
THE IRON LADY is a splendid film that I truly enjoyed, as both a film lover and a history buff. People who are into biopics will be pleased with this film. Four out of five stars.
THE IRON LADY is currently playing in theaters nationwide, including at the Camera Cinemas here in the Bay Area. To view showtimes, visit their website at www.cameracinemas.com
The fifth and final film I saw on Saturday was UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING, the fourth installment of the highly successful and popular franchise. However the screening I attended is not the 3D version, as the Camera 12 did not have that version of the film. So the version I saw was the standard 2D version. Just making sure we're all on the same page.
Theatrical Movie Poster (2012)
The film begins with a nice prologue that brings the audience up to sped with the series, then it kicks off on a bleak note. Set six months after the events of UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION, the human race has discovered the existence of the Vampire and Lycan clans. As the result of this discovery, the humans have declared war on both factors, a mass extermination that has been called "The Purge." Trying to escape, Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is captured and frozen in cryogenic suspension. She is awaken twelve years later and escapes from a medical facility called Antigen, who are trying to make an apparent antidote to the virus that creates the Vampires and Lycans. Also escaping Antigen is a young girl named Eve (India Eisley), who revealed to be a hybrid daughter of Selene and her lover Michael, the only other hybrid to exist. Together they fight for survival in a foreign world to them, with the humans hunting them while the Lycans begin to replenish their clan.
Also appearing in the film are Stephen Rea (Dr. Jacob Lane), Michael Ealy (Det. Sebastian), Theo James (David), Charles Dance (Thomas), and Chris Holden-Reid (Quint).
These films are not true horror films, even though they do offer the monsters that have plagued the nightmares of theater audiences for the past 100 years. The UNDERWORLD series are more action than horror, but there are some elements of the horror genre that are predominant: blood, gore, violence, and monsters. But when the filmmakers meld these ingredients with the action/adventure genre, they discovered a had something that was original and unique. Audiences became enthralled with the series since the first film was released back in 2003, and now in 2012, we have the fourth installment to the series.
What I enjoyed with this film is the fact that the filmmakers took our favorite characters and expanded the storyline and took it to a whole new level. Instead of the present day, we and Selene are flung twelve years into the future, where her kind are on the brinke of extinction. Now this was a smart thing to do, and the film fulfills my requirements for sequels: it expands on the story of the series, while also having our characters evolve and grow. Complacency is what can kill off a franchise, rendering it in an abysmal mess and cause its audiences not to come back. Here the story transcends to its next level, our characters are transformed from what they were originally, and the environment they inhabit in has also changed, in this case it has changed for the worse.
Once again Beckinsale is both beautiful and deadly as Selene. While her mannerism hasn't really differed from the previous films, her new role as mother will be an interesting factor to watch. Also let's face it: the woman was born to wear black leather clothes and shoot up werewolves, and she still looks sexy as hell. Also worthy mention is young India Eisley, who really gives a great performance as the hybrid child Eve. Her ability to be cute one minute and a ferocious killing machine must be very trying at times, but Eisley pulls it off. Hope she is recast for the next installment.
Overall, UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING is a worthy entry to the franchise! Whether you see it in 2D or 3D, if you are a fan of these film. then you will not be disappointed with this installment. Definitely worth seeing on the big screen! Four out of five stars.
UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING is currently playing in theaters nationwide, including at the Camera Cinemas here in the Bay Area. To view showtimes, visit their website at www.cameracinemas.com
