Morphine (Morphia) Mubi Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net, linked from Rotten Tomatoes by Harvey Karten Director: Aleksey Balabanov Screenwriter: Sergey Bodrov, from short stories by Mikhail A. Bulgakov Cast: Leonid Bichevin, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Andrey Panin, Svetlana Pismichenko, Katarina Radivojevic, Yuri Gertsman, Aleksandr Mosin Screened at: Mubi.com The folks in the rural Russia of 1917 may […]
The post Morphine Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Morphine Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 6/11/2022
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Franz Kafka is to film what lightning is to a bottle: many filmmakers try to capture him, but few succeed. Courageous men like Michael Haneke and Aleksey Balabanov have attempted the feat of translating Kafka's final work, “The Castle,” into the medium of cinema, only to end up with a square peg in a round hole. Now, we have a couple of new brave souls. Darhad Erdenibulag and Emyr ap Richard are co-directors from Inner Mongolia, who have chosen to tackle the labyrinthine world of bureaucratic abyss in Kafka's seminal novel as their sophomore feature. A supreme undertaking, and a valiant effort, ultimately, “K” is a resounding failure and a butterfingered attempt to capture the essence of a literary genius. For those unfamiliar with Kafka's work: firstly, I must implore you not to watch Erdenibulag and Richard's interpretation as an introduction. Secondly, the plot is wonderfully basic at its core.
- 3/23/2015
- by Nikola Grozdanovic
- The Playlist
The acclaimed Russian director Aleksey Balabanov has been found dead at the age of 54 after suffering a seizure at a sanatorium just outside St Petersburg. Despite immediate assistance, he did not regain consciousness. The news comes just as Balabanov's film The Stoker hits UK cinemas.
Balabanov, who has made 16 feature films and won numerous awards, was recently the subject of a retrospective at the Bradford Film Festival and it was hoped this might herald a breakthrough into western markets. Despite his relative youth, his work has been compared to that of giants of Russian cinema like Tarkovsky.
Born in Sverdlovsk, Balabanov had been a resident of St Petersburg for just over 20 years. He had been ill for some time but was still working, developing a new script at the time of his death. He is survived by his wife, Nadezhda Vasilyeva, and their two sons....
Balabanov, who has made 16 feature films and won numerous awards, was recently the subject of a retrospective at the Bradford Film Festival and it was hoped this might herald a breakthrough into western markets. Despite his relative youth, his work has been compared to that of giants of Russian cinema like Tarkovsky.
Born in Sverdlovsk, Balabanov had been a resident of St Petersburg for just over 20 years. He had been ill for some time but was still working, developing a new script at the time of his death. He is survived by his wife, Nadezhda Vasilyeva, and their two sons....
- 5/17/2013
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Full of idiosyncratic, almost suicidal directorial choices, yet weirdly this film cuts to the heart of its country
Not to be confused with the recent Park Chan-wook/Nicole Kidman curio, but a return to UK cinemas for Russian provocateur Aleksey Balabanov, whose Of Freaks and Men gained a cult reputation in 2000. His latest is no less bizarre: a pitch-black allegory about an Afghan war veteran employed as a factory stoker. In exchange for paper on which he tentatively pecks out a novel, the stoker (Mikhail Skryabin, wryly touching) allows local heavies to burn corpses in his furnace – at least until matters get personal, and the deal requires renegotiation. It's full of idiosyncratic, almost suicidal directorial choices – a noodly guitar score, inexpressive, doll-like actors – yet weirdly cuts to the heart of a country that's been taken over by such unlovely characters. In materialistic structures, Balabanov suggests, subterranean workers and artists risk being crushed.
Not to be confused with the recent Park Chan-wook/Nicole Kidman curio, but a return to UK cinemas for Russian provocateur Aleksey Balabanov, whose Of Freaks and Men gained a cult reputation in 2000. His latest is no less bizarre: a pitch-black allegory about an Afghan war veteran employed as a factory stoker. In exchange for paper on which he tentatively pecks out a novel, the stoker (Mikhail Skryabin, wryly touching) allows local heavies to burn corpses in his furnace – at least until matters get personal, and the deal requires renegotiation. It's full of idiosyncratic, almost suicidal directorial choices – a noodly guitar score, inexpressive, doll-like actors – yet weirdly cuts to the heart of a country that's been taken over by such unlovely characters. In materialistic structures, Balabanov suggests, subterranean workers and artists risk being crushed.
- 5/16/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
News.
A new issue of one the most essential film publications, La Furia Umana, is now available online. As always, alongside a rich collection of disparate texts, the issue has separate dossiers devoted to specific filmmakers, including ones on René Vautier (edited by Nicole Brenez) and Ida Lupino with Claire Denis. The amount of must-read coverage is daunting: included, too, are homages to Chris Marker and Stephen Dwoskin, a new video by David Phelps, and much more to explore.
In this issue, our pride and joy is to be found in the monograph-length dossier on Hollywood auteur William A. Wellman, a dossier edited by Gina Telaroli and Phelps. Our editor Daniel Kasman has contributed anoverview to Wellman's filmography; Telaroli has an incredible image-based piece on Good-bye, My Lady (alongside "scraps" and "findings" pointing the way for even more coverage of this filmmaker's wide oeuvre), filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier has a new piece,...
A new issue of one the most essential film publications, La Furia Umana, is now available online. As always, alongside a rich collection of disparate texts, the issue has separate dossiers devoted to specific filmmakers, including ones on René Vautier (edited by Nicole Brenez) and Ida Lupino with Claire Denis. The amount of must-read coverage is daunting: included, too, are homages to Chris Marker and Stephen Dwoskin, a new video by David Phelps, and much more to explore.
In this issue, our pride and joy is to be found in the monograph-length dossier on Hollywood auteur William A. Wellman, a dossier edited by Gina Telaroli and Phelps. Our editor Daniel Kasman has contributed anoverview to Wellman's filmography; Telaroli has an incredible image-based piece on Good-bye, My Lady (alongside "scraps" and "findings" pointing the way for even more coverage of this filmmaker's wide oeuvre), filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier has a new piece,...
- 10/8/2012
- by Notebook
- MUBI
The last day of Fantastic Fest is often the most relaxed. Many have left to return home, and the Alamo patio feels like a ghost town compared to the first few days. Instead of five screens, films were playing on only three. Still, many of the best shows remained to be seen, including several fan-favorites with added screening times such as A Boy and His Samurai.
The day began with a South Korean thriller reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's Wait Until Dark. Blind is the story of Min Soo-Ah, a no-nonsense police academy trainee. Min's brother has a habit of getting into trouble of a criminal nature, and fed up with his latest exploit, she arrests him and handcuffs him to the car. The ensuing sibling catfight ends in a disastrous wreck, leaving Min blind and her brother dead. Min is expelled from the academy, not for her handicap, but for her irresponsible actions.
The day began with a South Korean thriller reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's Wait Until Dark. Blind is the story of Min Soo-Ah, a no-nonsense police academy trainee. Min's brother has a habit of getting into trouble of a criminal nature, and fed up with his latest exploit, she arrests him and handcuffs him to the car. The ensuing sibling catfight ends in a disastrous wreck, leaving Min blind and her brother dead. Min is expelled from the academy, not for her handicap, but for her irresponsible actions.
- 10/1/2011
- by Mike Saulters
- Slackerwood
More Holiday Preview: [Theatrical Calendar]
[Repertory Calendar] [Anywhere But a Movie Theater]
On Demand
IFC Films (with whom, full disclosure, we obviously share a parent company) will be delivering new films all holiday season to homes across the country through their Festival Direct and Sundance Selects labels. These include the cross-cultural romantic dramedy "I'll Come Running" (Nov. 4), Josiane Balasko's farce "A French Gigolo" (Nov. 6), the Inuit tribal drama "Necessities of Life" (Nov. 11), the Brit crime thriller "Adulthood" (Nov. 18), the Indian love story "Return to Rajapur" (Nov. 25), the Christopher Masterson-Bijou Phillips celibacy satire "Made for Each Other" (Dec. 2), "Harry Potter" helmer David Yates' gritty two-part drama "Sex Traffic" (Dec. 2 and 9), the Korean comedy "Night and Day" (Dec. 23) and "The Ghost" (Dec. 30).
Meanwhile, in the newly launched Sundance Selects series, there's a pair of harrowing documentaries VOD premieres: Kief Davidson's coming-of-age boxing doc "Kassim the Dream" (Nov. 27) and the unvarnished biopic "Nick Nolte: No Exit" (Dec.
[Repertory Calendar] [Anywhere But a Movie Theater]
On Demand
IFC Films (with whom, full disclosure, we obviously share a parent company) will be delivering new films all holiday season to homes across the country through their Festival Direct and Sundance Selects labels. These include the cross-cultural romantic dramedy "I'll Come Running" (Nov. 4), Josiane Balasko's farce "A French Gigolo" (Nov. 6), the Inuit tribal drama "Necessities of Life" (Nov. 11), the Brit crime thriller "Adulthood" (Nov. 18), the Indian love story "Return to Rajapur" (Nov. 25), the Christopher Masterson-Bijou Phillips celibacy satire "Made for Each Other" (Dec. 2), "Harry Potter" helmer David Yates' gritty two-part drama "Sex Traffic" (Dec. 2 and 9), the Korean comedy "Night and Day" (Dec. 23) and "The Ghost" (Dec. 30).
Meanwhile, in the newly launched Sundance Selects series, there's a pair of harrowing documentaries VOD premieres: Kief Davidson's coming-of-age boxing doc "Kassim the Dream" (Nov. 27) and the unvarnished biopic "Nick Nolte: No Exit" (Dec.
- 11/4/2009
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
Film festivals are often a conumdrum for me because I sometimes wonder how they get started and, more to the point, who picks the films that get shown at them. My problem is that the films selected for many of the festivals don’t usually seem all that appealing (at least to me) and are often a collection of “art for art’s sake” films overwhelmed by their own sense of self-importance.
Fortunately, I don’t have this problem with the Fantastic Fest in Austin, which runs from September 24th to October 1st. The films selected for this festival represent an eclectic mix of genres and filmmakers and what I consider to be some of the most interesting, innovative and creative films being produced today. Sure, they’re not all potential Hollywood blockbusters, nor are they for everyone, but they are all pretty much guaranteed to be interesting, entertaining and in their own way,...
Fortunately, I don’t have this problem with the Fantastic Fest in Austin, which runs from September 24th to October 1st. The films selected for this festival represent an eclectic mix of genres and filmmakers and what I consider to be some of the most interesting, innovative and creative films being produced today. Sure, they’re not all potential Hollywood blockbusters, nor are they for everyone, but they are all pretty much guaranteed to be interesting, entertaining and in their own way,...
- 7/13/2009
- by Chris Ullrich
- The Flickcast
That's right, the first 32 titles have been announced for Austin's Fantastic Fest and the opening film will be the latest from Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) which stars Jemaine Clement (Eagle vs Shark)! I think I'm going this year!
Also playing will be the likes of...
Nicholas Refn's Bronson (review)
Pieter Van Hees Dirty Mind (review)
Esther Gronenborn's Kaifeck Murder (review coming shortly)
Lawrence Gough's Salvage (review)
Cory McAbee's Stingray Sam (review)
Full list of features and shorts after the break.
42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition
The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it's fifth volume. Here's your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation
Breathless
(dir. Yang Ik-june, 2009, South Korea)
Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos,...
Also playing will be the likes of...
Nicholas Refn's Bronson (review)
Pieter Van Hees Dirty Mind (review)
Esther Gronenborn's Kaifeck Murder (review coming shortly)
Lawrence Gough's Salvage (review)
Cory McAbee's Stingray Sam (review)
Full list of features and shorts after the break.
42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition
The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it's fifth volume. Here's your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation
Breathless
(dir. Yang Ik-june, 2009, South Korea)
Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos,...
- 7/13/2009
- QuietEarth.us
It is time boys and girls, the first wave lineup for Fantastic Fest 2009 has been announced, and we are bringing it to you right… now:
Also, Do Not forget to go buy your damn tickets!
Features:
42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition. The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it’s fifth volume. Here’s your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation.
Breathless
(dir. Yang Ik-june,
2009, South Korea)
Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos, brutality and humor. First-time director Yang Ik-June plays an angry thug named who gets involved in a dysfunctional relationship with a high-school girl. It eventually becomes apparent that the pair are linked in ways that neither of them realize.
Bronson
(dir. Nicholas Winding Refn,...
Also, Do Not forget to go buy your damn tickets!
Features:
42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition. The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it’s fifth volume. Here’s your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation.
Breathless
(dir. Yang Ik-june,
2009, South Korea)
Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos, brutality and humor. First-time director Yang Ik-June plays an angry thug named who gets involved in a dysfunctional relationship with a high-school girl. It eventually becomes apparent that the pair are linked in ways that neither of them realize.
Bronson
(dir. Nicholas Winding Refn,...
- 7/13/2009
- by Scott
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
In its depiction of mid-80s Eastern European Communist social hell, Cargo 200 makes 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days look like Sesame Street. There are plenty of films that use real history as the jumping off point for genre fantasy, but Aleksei Balabanov's brutal, fetid vision of personal sadism and political policy intermingled is the only work of serious, modern social criticism in recent memory that actually made me want to puke. This is a compliment of the highest order. It's 1984, and a professor of Scientific Atheism (academic backup for the Communist state's embargo on religion) leaves the home of his Army colonel brother to visit their mother in fictional Russian broken-down factory town Leninsk. Along the way, his car breaks down, and he seeks refuge in the dismal, nowheresville shack of a bootlegger. The professor an ...
- 1/2/2009
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
The new movie year gets off to a shocking start with "Cargo 200," a wicked black comedy from Russia.
It is directed by the well-known (among cineastes) Aleksei Balabanov ("Brother," "Of Freaks and Men") and allegedly is based on true events.
The story unfolds in late 1984, during Russia's war in Afghanistan. It was a time, Balabanov is saying, of social decay that would lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"I show what filth we lived in," Balabanov, who has been called Russia's David Lynch, told the Wall Street Journal in...
It is directed by the well-known (among cineastes) Aleksei Balabanov ("Brother," "Of Freaks and Men") and allegedly is based on true events.
The story unfolds in late 1984, during Russia's war in Afghanistan. It was a time, Balabanov is saying, of social decay that would lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"I show what filth we lived in," Balabanov, who has been called Russia's David Lynch, told the Wall Street Journal in...
- 1/2/2009
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
By Neil Pedley
After the feast of holiday offerings, there's but a meager smattering on offer for a New Year nibble. This week brings two brand spanking new holocaust movies for anyone who still has the stomach (after the other four released in past weeks) or as a tasty alternative you can enjoy some bloody murder in the former Soviet Union or some bloody murder right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. You decide.
"Angel's Blade"
Depending on your tolerance for ultra low-budget horror, writer/director Robert Stock's debut feature will either delight with its copious amounts of corn syrup-enhanced gore or look like someone had a camcorder out during an intense Halloween-themed session of Larp. Inspired by a supernatural encounter that spooked his infant son while idling on a lonely road one night, Stock was inspired to create this dark legend involving a young girl's spirit haunting the backwoods,...
After the feast of holiday offerings, there's but a meager smattering on offer for a New Year nibble. This week brings two brand spanking new holocaust movies for anyone who still has the stomach (after the other four released in past weeks) or as a tasty alternative you can enjoy some bloody murder in the former Soviet Union or some bloody murder right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. You decide.
"Angel's Blade"
Depending on your tolerance for ultra low-budget horror, writer/director Robert Stock's debut feature will either delight with its copious amounts of corn syrup-enhanced gore or look like someone had a camcorder out during an intense Halloween-themed session of Larp. Inspired by a supernatural encounter that spooked his infant son while idling on a lonely road one night, Stock was inspired to create this dark legend involving a young girl's spirit haunting the backwoods,...
- 12/29/2008
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
In its depiction of mid-80s Eastern European Communist social hell, Cargo 200 makes 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days look like Sesame Street. There are plenty of films that use real history as the jumping off point for genre fantasy (and even a couple of others at this festival), but Aleksei Balabanov's brutal, fetid vision of personal sadism and political policy intermingled is the only work of serious, modern social criticism in recent memory that actually made me want to puke. This is a compliment of the highest order. It's 1984. A professor of Scientific Atheism (academic backup for the Communist state's embargo on religion) leaves the home of his Army colonel brother to visit their mother in fictional Russian broken-down factory town Leninsk. Along the way, his car breaks down, and he seeks refuge in the dismal, nowheresvi ...
- 9/23/2008
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
Date: Thursday, July 17, 2008
Press Release: For Immediate Release
Subject: First Wave of Fantastic Fest content announced
Where: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema South Lamar, Austin, TX
Fantastic Fest, September 18-25, 2008
Contact:
Tim League
(512) 912-0529
info@fantasticfest.com
www.fantasticfest.com
We are proud to announce the first wave of our feature film programming for the 2008 edition of Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. For the past 9 months, we have been scouring the globe for the strangest, the most heart-pounding and the most challenging new genre films. With over 100 films representing over 30 countries, Fantastic Fest is the largest festival of its kind in the United States. We are proud to announce our first slate of 22 confirmed feature films. Also included is information about our signature Fantastic Fest special events and parties.
Feature films:
Art of the Devil 3 (2008, Thailand, director: Ronin Team)
A prequel to one of the most graphic and visually creative horror movies in recent times,...
Press Release: For Immediate Release
Subject: First Wave of Fantastic Fest content announced
Where: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema South Lamar, Austin, TX
Fantastic Fest, September 18-25, 2008
Contact:
Tim League
(512) 912-0529
info@fantasticfest.com
www.fantasticfest.com
We are proud to announce the first wave of our feature film programming for the 2008 edition of Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. For the past 9 months, we have been scouring the globe for the strangest, the most heart-pounding and the most challenging new genre films. With over 100 films representing over 30 countries, Fantastic Fest is the largest festival of its kind in the United States. We are proud to announce our first slate of 22 confirmed feature films. Also included is information about our signature Fantastic Fest special events and parties.
Feature films:
Art of the Devil 3 (2008, Thailand, director: Ronin Team)
A prequel to one of the most graphic and visually creative horror movies in recent times,...
- 7/17/2008
- by Tim League
- OriginalAlamo.com
Date: Thursday, July 17, 2008
Press Release: For Immediate Release
Subject: First Wave of Fantastic Fest content announced
Where: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema South Lamar, Austin, TX
Fantastic Fest, September 18-25, 2008
Contact:
Tim League
(512) 912-0529
info@fantasticfest.com
www.fantasticfest.com
We are proud to announce the first wave of our feature film programming for the 2008 edition of Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. For the past 9 months, we have been scouring the globe for the strangest, the most heart-pounding and the most challenging new genre films. With over 100 films representing over 30 countries, Fantastic Fest is the largest festival of its kind in the United States. We are proud to announce our first slate of 22 confirmed feature films. Also included is information about our signature Fantastic Fest special events and parties.
Feature films:
Art of the Devil 3 (2008, Thailand, director: Ronin Team)
A prequel to one of the most graphic and visually creative horror movies in recent times,...
Press Release: For Immediate Release
Subject: First Wave of Fantastic Fest content announced
Where: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema South Lamar, Austin, TX
Fantastic Fest, September 18-25, 2008
Contact:
Tim League
(512) 912-0529
info@fantasticfest.com
www.fantasticfest.com
We are proud to announce the first wave of our feature film programming for the 2008 edition of Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. For the past 9 months, we have been scouring the globe for the strangest, the most heart-pounding and the most challenging new genre films. With over 100 films representing over 30 countries, Fantastic Fest is the largest festival of its kind in the United States. We are proud to announce our first slate of 22 confirmed feature films. Also included is information about our signature Fantastic Fest special events and parties.
Feature films:
Art of the Devil 3 (2008, Thailand, director: Ronin Team)
A prequel to one of the most graphic and visually creative horror movies in recent times,...
- 7/17/2008
- by noreply@blogger.com (Tim League)
- FantasticFest.com
MOSCOW -- Nikita Mikhalkov, president of the Moscow Film Festival and one of Russia's best-known directors, will play the part of a gangland boss in a new film by director Alexsei Balabanov, Mikhalkov's production studio Tri-T said Wednesday. Mikhalkov -- who last appeared onscreen in the 1998 Julia Ormond starrer "The Barber of Siberia" -- will play mafia boss Sergei Mikhailovich in "Zhmurki" (Blind Man's Buff), produced by award-winning producer Sergei Selyanov's company STV. Shot at Moscow's Gorky Film Studios by Balabanov -- whose credits include such Russian boxoffice hits as gangster movie "Brat" (Brother) and Chechen war drama "Vojna" (War) -- the film, billed as a madcap comedy, is due for release in Russia in early June. Set in the 1990s during Russia's wild post-Soviet days, the movie stars many of Russia's most popular young actors, including Alexei Panin and well-established names such as Viktor Sukhorukov and singer Garik Sukachev.
- 3/17/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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