Halloween approaches and with it the desire to revisit some of your favorite horror movie franchise, in order, from start to finish. What better franchise to binge than “Friday the 13th,” the celebrated slasher film series that started with Sean S. Cunningham’s 1980 original before spawning sequels that would introduce iconic killer Jason Voorhees before sending him to Manhattan, outer space and back in time (Ok we made that last one up).
Ostensibly the cornerstone of the 1980s slasher film craze, “Friday the 13th” is one of the more inventive franchises, particularly when the concept was given a little more elasticity. For more than a decade, though, the franchise has been fully dormant – the last movie was 2009’s Michael Bay-produced reboot/remake “Friday the 13th.” A24 did recently announce a “Crystal Lake” series to be overseen by “Hannibal”/”Pushing Daisies” mastermind Bryan Fuller, so at least we have that to look forward to!
Ostensibly the cornerstone of the 1980s slasher film craze, “Friday the 13th” is one of the more inventive franchises, particularly when the concept was given a little more elasticity. For more than a decade, though, the franchise has been fully dormant – the last movie was 2009’s Michael Bay-produced reboot/remake “Friday the 13th.” A24 did recently announce a “Crystal Lake” series to be overseen by “Hannibal”/”Pushing Daisies” mastermind Bryan Fuller, so at least we have that to look forward to!
- 10/13/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Hugh Gibson's The Stairs (2016) is exclusively showing August 9 – September 8, 2018 on Mubi in most countries in the world as part of the series Canada's Next Generation.Hugh Gibson’s feature film debut represents the arrival of a major new voice in documentary filmmaking. The Stairs is a compassionate, unvarnished look at the lives of drug users in urban Toronto—their struggles to help themselves and one another, to change their lives for the better, and above all to maintain dignity in a society that often seems to prefer their invisibility. Gibson’s film avoids the pat narratives and uplifting bromides so often associated with this genre, instead preferring to allow the subjects to speak for themselves. His camera is curious and non-judgmental. Applying a style that is equal parts Errol Morris and Allan King, Gibson combines free observation with direct testimony to produce a vital document of a culture all around us.
- 8/20/2018
- MUBI
Criterion Reflections is David Blakeslee’s ongoing project to watch all of the films included in the Criterion Collection in chronological order of their original release. Each episode features panel conversations and 1:1 interviews offering insights on movies that premiered in a particular season of a year in the past, which were destined to eventually bear the Criterion imprint. In this episode, David is joined by Jordan Essoe, Lauren LoGiudice, Robert Taylor and Trevor Berrett to discuss three titles from the Autumn of 1969: Allan King’s A Married Couple, Michael Ritchie’s Downhill Racer, and Ingmar Bergman’s The Passion of Anna.
Episode Time Markers Introduction: 0:00:00 – 0:06:36 A Married Couple: 0:06:37- 1:08:07 Downhill Racer: 1:08:08 – 1:56:05 The Passion of Anna: 1:56:06 – 2:44:36 A Married Couple (11/6/69)
Guests: Jordan Essoe and Lauren LoGiudice
Criterion FilmStruck Allan King Films (official) YouTube...
Episode Time Markers Introduction: 0:00:00 – 0:06:36 A Married Couple: 0:06:37- 1:08:07 Downhill Racer: 1:08:08 – 1:56:05 The Passion of Anna: 1:56:06 – 2:44:36 A Married Couple (11/6/69)
Guests: Jordan Essoe and Lauren LoGiudice
Criterion FilmStruck Allan King Films (official) YouTube...
- 1/15/2018
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
It’s that time of the year again. Every fall, New York City becomes the focal point for any and every fan of non-fiction cinema, as one of the year’s most prestigious documentary festivals is finally, again, set to take the city by storm. Doc NYC is now in its eighth edition, and this is one of their best, and largest, lineups to date.
Broken down into over 15 different sections and sidebars, Doc NYC 2017 features everything from short films to films looking at art, design, music and social activism, just to name a few. There are sections like Metropolis, a competition sidebar featuring films set in and about New York City, as well as the Short List, a section of the best documentaries curated from the year so far. It’s a dense, broadly reaching festival with films from across the globe and that defy definition.
Besides films from...
Broken down into over 15 different sections and sidebars, Doc NYC 2017 features everything from short films to films looking at art, design, music and social activism, just to name a few. There are sections like Metropolis, a competition sidebar featuring films set in and about New York City, as well as the Short List, a section of the best documentaries curated from the year so far. It’s a dense, broadly reaching festival with films from across the globe and that defy definition.
Besides films from...
- 11/9/2017
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight" is becoming the darling of critics groups. Besides big wins for Dallas Fort Worth Film Critics and San Francisco Film Critics among others, the moving film took the top spot at the 2016 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards. Here's the full list of winners and runners-up:
Best Picture
.Moonlight. (Elevation Pictures)
Runners-up
.Manchester by the Sea. (Mongrel Media)
.Toni Erdmann. (Mongrel Media)
Best Actor
Adam Driver, .Paterson. (Mongrel Media)
Runners-up
Casey Affleck, .Manchester by the Sea.
Peter Simonischek, .Toni Erdmann.
Best Actress
Sandra Hüller, .Toni Erdmann.
Runners-up
Rebecca Hall, .Christine. (The Orchard)
Isabelle Huppert, .Elle. (Mongrel Media)
Natalie Portman, .Jackie. (Fox Searchlight)
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, .Moonlight.
Runners-up
Ralph Fiennes, .A Bigger Splash. (Elevation Pictures)
Michael Shannon, .Nocturnal Animals. (Focus Features)
Best Supporting Actress
Michelle Williams, .Manchester by the Sea.
Runners-up
Viola Davis, .Fences. (Paramount)
Naomie Harris, .Moonlight.
Best Director
Maren Ade, .Toni Erdmann.
Runners-up
Damien Chazelle,...
Best Picture
.Moonlight. (Elevation Pictures)
Runners-up
.Manchester by the Sea. (Mongrel Media)
.Toni Erdmann. (Mongrel Media)
Best Actor
Adam Driver, .Paterson. (Mongrel Media)
Runners-up
Casey Affleck, .Manchester by the Sea.
Peter Simonischek, .Toni Erdmann.
Best Actress
Sandra Hüller, .Toni Erdmann.
Runners-up
Rebecca Hall, .Christine. (The Orchard)
Isabelle Huppert, .Elle. (Mongrel Media)
Natalie Portman, .Jackie. (Fox Searchlight)
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, .Moonlight.
Runners-up
Ralph Fiennes, .A Bigger Splash. (Elevation Pictures)
Michael Shannon, .Nocturnal Animals. (Focus Features)
Best Supporting Actress
Michelle Williams, .Manchester by the Sea.
Runners-up
Viola Davis, .Fences. (Paramount)
Naomie Harris, .Moonlight.
Best Director
Maren Ade, .Toni Erdmann.
Runners-up
Damien Chazelle,...
- 12/13/2016
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Maren Ade’s German comedy won three awards including best director and best actress, while Barry Jenkins’s drama was named best film.
Father-daughter comedy Toni Erdmann was also named best foreign language film. Moonlight won best film and best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali at Sunday’s awards meeting of The Toronto Film Critics Association (Tfca).
Best actor honours went to Adam Driver for Paterson. Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea won awards for screenplay and supporting actress for Michelle Williams.
The Canadian Tire Allan King Documentary Award, which comes with a $5,000 cheque, went to Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson. Zootopia won the animation prize.
The best of three finallists selected for the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award will be unveiled at the Tfca Awards Gala on January 10. They are: How Heavy This Hammer by Kazik Radwanski; Operation Avalanche by Matt Johnson; and The Stairs by Hugh Gibson.
The winner of the Stella Artois Jay Scott...
Father-daughter comedy Toni Erdmann was also named best foreign language film. Moonlight won best film and best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali at Sunday’s awards meeting of The Toronto Film Critics Association (Tfca).
Best actor honours went to Adam Driver for Paterson. Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea won awards for screenplay and supporting actress for Michelle Williams.
The Canadian Tire Allan King Documentary Award, which comes with a $5,000 cheque, went to Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson. Zootopia won the animation prize.
The best of three finallists selected for the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award will be unveiled at the Tfca Awards Gala on January 10. They are: How Heavy This Hammer by Kazik Radwanski; Operation Avalanche by Matt Johnson; and The Stairs by Hugh Gibson.
The winner of the Stella Artois Jay Scott...
- 12/12/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
This was a busy year at Tiff, where I was a juror for Fipresci, helping to award a prize for best premiere in the Discovery section. Not only did this mean that some other films had to take a back burner—sadly, I did not see Eduardo Williams’ The Human Surge—but my writing time was a bit compromised as well. Better late than never? That is for you, Gentle Reader, to decide.Austerlitz (Sergei Loznitsa, Germany)So basic in the telling—a record of several days’ worth of visitors mostly to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienberg, Germany—Austerlitz is a film that in many ways exemplifies the critical theory of Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin. What is the net effect for humanity when, faced with the drive to remember the unfathomable, we employ the grossly inadequate tools at our disposal?Austerlitz takes its name from W. G. Sebald’s final novel.
- 9/20/2016
- MUBI
David’s Quick Take for the tl;dr Media Consumer:
Though it’s far from sadistic or brutal, Salesman is designed to stir up a viewer’s discomfort, even to the point of outrage, with an end goal of rousing our empathy. The merciless exposure of a quartet of traveling door-to-door Bible peddlers (though they’re explicitly told to avoid thinking of themselves in such terms) strikes us as quite funny at first but gradually wears us down to a state of mournful pity as we tap into the grim desperation that pushes them forward to each new sales call, each awkward encounter with a reluctant prospect. In the early going, we’re struck by the refreshingly honest and fairly astonishing footage as we take in this unrehearsed, unscripted record of high pressure tactics used by representatives of the Mid-American Bible Company. We get a rare opportunity to view the...
Though it’s far from sadistic or brutal, Salesman is designed to stir up a viewer’s discomfort, even to the point of outrage, with an end goal of rousing our empathy. The merciless exposure of a quartet of traveling door-to-door Bible peddlers (though they’re explicitly told to avoid thinking of themselves in such terms) strikes us as quite funny at first but gradually wears us down to a state of mournful pity as we tap into the grim desperation that pushes them forward to each new sales call, each awkward encounter with a reluctant prospect. In the early going, we’re struck by the refreshingly honest and fairly astonishing footage as we take in this unrehearsed, unscripted record of high pressure tactics used by representatives of the Mid-American Bible Company. We get a rare opportunity to view the...
- 5/16/2016
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
Take a look at the roots of American campaign image consciousness, and the then-new techniques of cinéma vérité to bring a new 'reality' for film documentaries. Four groundbreaking films cover the Kennedy-Humphrey presidential primary, and put us in the Oval Office for a showdown against Alabama governor George Wallace. The Kennedy Films of Robert Drew & Associates Blu-ray Primary, Adventures on the New Frontier, Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment, Faces of November The Criterion Collection 808 1960 -1964 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame / 53, 52, 53, 12 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 26, 2016 / 39.95 Starring John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert Drew, Hubert H. Humphrey, McGeorge Bundy, John Kenneth Galbraith, Richard Goodwin, Albert Gore Sr., Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Pierre Salinger, Haile Selassie, John Steinbeck, George Wallace, Vivian Malone, Burke Marshall, Nicholas Katzenbach, John Dore, Jack Greenberg; Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy Jr., Caroline Kennedy, Peter Lawford. Cinematography Richard Leacock, Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker,...
- 4/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Bucking the trend, the Toronto Film Critics Association chose Todd Haynes' "Carol" in their yearly kudos although both "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Spotlight" were runners-up. Here's the full list of winners of Toronto Film Critics Association Awards winners and runners-up:
Best Picture
.Carol. (Entertainment One)
Runners-up
.Mad Max: Fury Road. (Warner Bros.)
.Spotlight. (Entertainment One)
Best Actor
Tom Hardy, .Legend.
Runners-up
Leonardo DiCaprio, .The Revenant.
Michael Fassbender, .Steve Jobs.
Best Actress
Nina Hoss, .Phoenix.
Runners-up
Cate Blanchett, .Carol.
Brie Larson, .Room.
Best Supporting Actor
Mark Rylance, .Bridge of Spies.
Runners-up
Benicio Del Toro, .Sicario.
Michael Shannon, .99 Homes.
Best Supporting Actress
Alicia Vikander, .Ex Machina.
Runners-up
Rooney Mara, .Carol.
Kristen Stewart, .Clouds of Sils Maria.
Best Director
Todd Haynes, .Carol.
Runners-up
Tom McCarthy, .Spotlight.
George Miller, .Mad Max: Fury Road.
Denis Villeneuve, .Sicario.
Best Screenplay, Adapted Or Original
.The Big Short., Charles Randolph and Adam McKay; based upon the...
Best Picture
.Carol. (Entertainment One)
Runners-up
.Mad Max: Fury Road. (Warner Bros.)
.Spotlight. (Entertainment One)
Best Actor
Tom Hardy, .Legend.
Runners-up
Leonardo DiCaprio, .The Revenant.
Michael Fassbender, .Steve Jobs.
Best Actress
Nina Hoss, .Phoenix.
Runners-up
Cate Blanchett, .Carol.
Brie Larson, .Room.
Best Supporting Actor
Mark Rylance, .Bridge of Spies.
Runners-up
Benicio Del Toro, .Sicario.
Michael Shannon, .99 Homes.
Best Supporting Actress
Alicia Vikander, .Ex Machina.
Runners-up
Rooney Mara, .Carol.
Kristen Stewart, .Clouds of Sils Maria.
Best Director
Todd Haynes, .Carol.
Runners-up
Tom McCarthy, .Spotlight.
George Miller, .Mad Max: Fury Road.
Denis Villeneuve, .Sicario.
Best Screenplay, Adapted Or Original
.The Big Short., Charles Randolph and Adam McKay; based upon the...
- 12/14/2015
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The 1950s melodrama earned best film and Todd Haynes took the best director prize on Monday.
In other key awards, the Toronto Film Critics Association cited Tom Hardy as best actor for playing Ronnie and Reggie Kray in Legend and Nina Hoss as best actress for Phoenix, which also won the Best Foreign-Language Film prize.
Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look Of Silence won the Allan King Documentary Award. The film is a companion piece to Oppenheimer’s 2013 winner The Act Of Killing.
Tfca membership chose the three finallists for the $100,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award – The Forbidden Room by Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson, My Internship In Canada by Philippe Falardeau and Sleeping Giant by Andrew Cividino.
The winner will be announced at Tfca’s awards gala on January 5 2016 along with the winner of the C$5,000 Manulife Student Film Award and the winner of the C$5,000 Stella Artois Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist.
As previously...
In other key awards, the Toronto Film Critics Association cited Tom Hardy as best actor for playing Ronnie and Reggie Kray in Legend and Nina Hoss as best actress for Phoenix, which also won the Best Foreign-Language Film prize.
Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look Of Silence won the Allan King Documentary Award. The film is a companion piece to Oppenheimer’s 2013 winner The Act Of Killing.
Tfca membership chose the three finallists for the $100,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award – The Forbidden Room by Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson, My Internship In Canada by Philippe Falardeau and Sleeping Giant by Andrew Cividino.
The winner will be announced at Tfca’s awards gala on January 5 2016 along with the winner of the C$5,000 Manulife Student Film Award and the winner of the C$5,000 Stella Artois Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist.
As previously...
- 12/14/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
A Place on Earth: Silver’s Period Commune Channels Cinema-Verite
While his 2014 title Uncertain Terms still awaits theatrical release as it makes the rounds of the festival circuit after premiering last year at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the increasingly prolific Nathan Silver unveils his fifth feature. Stinking Heaven represents a change of pace stylistically and dramatically within Silver’s preferred parameters examining human beings tossed vicariously into strained living situations, where they often wear each other down to an inevitable breaking point. A period piece set within the confines of a well-meaning commune in early 90s suburban New Jersey, the grainy look and feel of Silver’s film lends it a vintage realism that aligns it with the cinema-verite styling of documentary filmmaker Allan King, whose films like Warrendale and A Married Couple focused, unobtrusively, on isolated groups or units of people in similar fashion.
Lucy (Deragh Campbell) and...
While his 2014 title Uncertain Terms still awaits theatrical release as it makes the rounds of the festival circuit after premiering last year at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the increasingly prolific Nathan Silver unveils his fifth feature. Stinking Heaven represents a change of pace stylistically and dramatically within Silver’s preferred parameters examining human beings tossed vicariously into strained living situations, where they often wear each other down to an inevitable breaking point. A period piece set within the confines of a well-meaning commune in early 90s suburban New Jersey, the grainy look and feel of Silver’s film lends it a vintage realism that aligns it with the cinema-verite styling of documentary filmmaker Allan King, whose films like Warrendale and A Married Couple focused, unobtrusively, on isolated groups or units of people in similar fashion.
Lucy (Deragh Campbell) and...
- 12/10/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
As anyone who reads this site probably knows, there's something infectious about seeing one's love of film. It's a little hard to explain, but simply watching one talking affectionately about how various strips of celluloid affected them over the years is a fantastic way to get the blood flowing and your fingers itching to type in Netflix in the next browser tab. So if you haven't already, I highly recommend you check out the Criterion Collection's closet visit series. Whether it's Robert Downey Sr. reminiscing about past conversations with Jack Nicholson, Rudy Wurlitzer and Robert Downey Jr. while looking at copies of Two-Lane Blacktop and Easy Rider, Guillermo Del Toro gushing over their various Blu-Rays, Nicolas Winding Refn getting his day made with a copy of William Cameron Menzies' Things to Come or Bill Hader deep admiration of Nobuhiko Obayashi's House, each of these videos are fun little...
- 6/24/2015
- by Will Ashton
- Rope of Silicon
Enemy, The F Word and Mommy compete for Rogers Best Canadian Film Award.
The Toronto Film Critics Association has awarded three of its top prizes to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. It won best picture, best director and best supporting actress for Patricia Arquette.
The awards were voted by the Tfca at a meeting on the afternoon of December 14. The group announced the three finalists for the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award: Enemy, directed by Denis Villeneuve; The F Word, directed by Michael Dowse; and Mommy, directed by Xavier Dolan.
The 2014 Joe Fresh Allan King Documentary Award goes to The Overnighters; whose director Jesse Moss will receive a $5,000 cash prize.
Albert Shin, director of the South Korean domestic drama In Her Place, was named the winner of the Scotiabank Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist. He also receives $5,000.
As previously reportted, the 2014 recipient of the Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award is Piers Handling who will present a filmmaker...
The Toronto Film Critics Association has awarded three of its top prizes to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. It won best picture, best director and best supporting actress for Patricia Arquette.
The awards were voted by the Tfca at a meeting on the afternoon of December 14. The group announced the three finalists for the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award: Enemy, directed by Denis Villeneuve; The F Word, directed by Michael Dowse; and Mommy, directed by Xavier Dolan.
The 2014 Joe Fresh Allan King Documentary Award goes to The Overnighters; whose director Jesse Moss will receive a $5,000 cash prize.
Albert Shin, director of the South Korean domestic drama In Her Place, was named the winner of the Scotiabank Jay Scott Prize for an emerging artist. He also receives $5,000.
As previously reportted, the 2014 recipient of the Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award is Piers Handling who will present a filmmaker...
- 12/16/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
The Coen brothers latest movie was sweet music to the ears of the Toronto Film Critics Association. Inside Llewyn Davis and its star, Oscar Isaac, were named Best Picture and Best Actor respectively, and the sibling filmmakers were mentioned as runners-up for Best Director and Best Screenplay. Alfonso Cuarón won Best Director for Gravity, and Spike Jonze won the screenwriting award for Her.
In the other major acting categories, Oscar frontunners Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), and Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) won.
Hayao Miyazaki’s animated biopic The Wind Rises won for Best Animated Feature, and...
In the other major acting categories, Oscar frontunners Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), and Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) won.
Hayao Miyazaki’s animated biopic The Wind Rises won for Best Animated Feature, and...
- 12/17/2013
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
I love Paul Driessen. Very long ago (1977!) when I was head of acquisitions and international sales for the Santa Monica based short film distributor Pyramid Films, we had Paul Driessen's wonderful short animation, The Killing of an Egg (02'50 / Holland 1977). We sold it to businesses who were holding meetings for inspiring sales, bolstering morale, to schools and libraries. It became one of our best selling shorts. In 2000 he was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short 3 Misses.
And now the Dragon of Dragons Award, the award for life achievement granted annually by the 53rd Krakow Film Festival to be held May 26 to June 2, 2013, goes to the Dutch-Canadian animator Paul Driessen.
The Krakow Film Festival is one of the oldest film events dedicated to documentary, animated and short fiction films in Europe. Among previous winners there are such well-known artists as Kazimierz Karabasz, Allan King, Albert Maysles, Werner Herzog, Stephen and Timothy Quay, Raoul Servais, Jerzy Kucia and Jonas Mekas. Last year, for the first time a woman - Helena Trestíková, the author of the famous documentary Rene, become a laureate.
Paul Driessen was born in 1940, in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. He drew cartoons from an early age, in 1964 he graduated from the Art Academy in Utrecht and was offered a job as an animator at a commercial animation film & TV studio in Hilversum, near Amsterdam. In 1967 he was invited by George Dunning to work on his Beatles’ story “The Yellow Submarine”, which now is considered a forerunner for modern intertextual animations for adults like “Shrek”, “Futurama”, “South Park” or “The Simpsons”.
In 1970 Paul Driessen emigrated to Canada and started a freelance animation career, working mainly for the National Film Board of Canada. Since 1976 he also animated and directed many of his films for independent producers in The Netherlands. Driessen's unique style can be easily recognised by the incessantly wobbling lines and smooth movements of his characters. As a narrator he often uses split screen technique, while keeping the story integrated.
In the 1980s Driessen started teaching animation at the University of Kassel, Germany, after Jan Lenica. He continued till 2005 and under his guidance two of his student's films, "Balance" (1989) by Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein, and “Quest” (1996) by Tyron Montgomery and Thomas Stellmach, won Academy Awards.
Paul Driessen has won over 50 international awards for his work. He was honored with life achievement awards at the animated film festivals in Ottawa (1984) and Zagreb (2002), in 1987 Asifa Hollywood presented the Annie Award to him for "his distinguished contribution to the art of animation". In 2005 he was given the Special Golden Dinosaur Award at the Etiuda & Anima Film Festival in Krakow. In 2000 his short film, interlocking three tales of damsels in distress, “3 Misses” earned him an Oscar nomination.
Lately he wrote and illustrated a couple of books - “The Fiddle Fumble Stories” series, typical of the style which characterizes the rest of his work. Paul Driessen is currently working on a new animated short, a coproduction between Canada and The Netherlands.
Paul Driessen Website
Filmography:
“The Story of Little John Bailey” (6', The Netherlands 1970)
“Le Bleu Perdu” (7', Canada 1972)
“Air!” (02'00 / Canada 1972)
“Au bout du Fil” (“Cat's Cradle”) (10', Canada 1974)
“Une Vieille Boîte” (“An Old Box”) (9', Canada 1975)
“David” (7', The Netherlands 1977)
“The Killing of an Egg” (2', The Netherlands 1977)
“On Land, at Sea & in the Air” (10', The Netherlands 1980)
“Jeu de Coudes” (“Elbowing”) (6', Canada 1980)
“Home on the Rails” (“Treinhuisje”) (10', The Netherlands 1981)
“Une Histoire comme une Autre” (“The Same Old Story”) (3', Canada 1981)
“Oh what a Knight” (3', The Netherlands 1982
“Spotting a Cow” (“Het Scheppen van een Koe”) (6', The Netherlands 1983)
“Tip-Top” (7', Canada 1984)
“Sunny Side Up” (“Spiegeleiland”) (3', The Netherlands 1985)
“Traingang” (1'), “Getting There” (1') (Expo Vancouver, Canada 1986)
“The Writer” (“De Schrijver en de Dood”) (12', The Netherlands 1988)
“Uncles & Aunts #1” (2', The Netherlands 1989)
“The Water People” (24’ & 13', The Netherlands-Japan 1992)
“Uncles & Aunts #3” (3', The Netherlands 1992)
“The End of the World in 4 Seasons” (12', Canada 1995)
3 Misses (10', The Netherlands 2000)
“The Boy who saw the Iceberg” (12', Canada 2000)
“2D or not 2D” (17', Canada-The Netherlands 2004)
“2D or not 2D -The ShortCut” (12', Canada-The Netherlands 2004)
“Oedipus” (13', Canada-The Netherlands 2011)
Participation:
“The Yellow Submarine” (feature length / Tvc, UK 1969)
“Tiki-Tiki” (feature length / Potterton Productions, Canada 1970)
“The Happy Prince” (27', Potterton Productions, Canada 1974)
“Le Rejeton” (12', Onf, Canada 1977)
“Anijam” (15', International Rocketship, Canada 1985)
“Elephantrio” (9', Nfb, Src, Canada 1986)
“Candyjam” (6', J. Priestly, Canada 1988)
“Pink Komkommer” (11', International Rocketship, Canada 1991)
“Paul Driessen Inside-Out” (52', Documentary, The Netherlands 2002)
“The 7 Brothers” (12', Kaj & Paul Driessen / CinéTé, The Netherlands 2008)
Kff on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/krakowfilmfest
Kff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/krakowfilmfest
Kff on Blip: http://krakowfilmfestival.blip.pl/...
And now the Dragon of Dragons Award, the award for life achievement granted annually by the 53rd Krakow Film Festival to be held May 26 to June 2, 2013, goes to the Dutch-Canadian animator Paul Driessen.
The Krakow Film Festival is one of the oldest film events dedicated to documentary, animated and short fiction films in Europe. Among previous winners there are such well-known artists as Kazimierz Karabasz, Allan King, Albert Maysles, Werner Herzog, Stephen and Timothy Quay, Raoul Servais, Jerzy Kucia and Jonas Mekas. Last year, for the first time a woman - Helena Trestíková, the author of the famous documentary Rene, become a laureate.
Paul Driessen was born in 1940, in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands. He drew cartoons from an early age, in 1964 he graduated from the Art Academy in Utrecht and was offered a job as an animator at a commercial animation film & TV studio in Hilversum, near Amsterdam. In 1967 he was invited by George Dunning to work on his Beatles’ story “The Yellow Submarine”, which now is considered a forerunner for modern intertextual animations for adults like “Shrek”, “Futurama”, “South Park” or “The Simpsons”.
In 1970 Paul Driessen emigrated to Canada and started a freelance animation career, working mainly for the National Film Board of Canada. Since 1976 he also animated and directed many of his films for independent producers in The Netherlands. Driessen's unique style can be easily recognised by the incessantly wobbling lines and smooth movements of his characters. As a narrator he often uses split screen technique, while keeping the story integrated.
In the 1980s Driessen started teaching animation at the University of Kassel, Germany, after Jan Lenica. He continued till 2005 and under his guidance two of his student's films, "Balance" (1989) by Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein, and “Quest” (1996) by Tyron Montgomery and Thomas Stellmach, won Academy Awards.
Paul Driessen has won over 50 international awards for his work. He was honored with life achievement awards at the animated film festivals in Ottawa (1984) and Zagreb (2002), in 1987 Asifa Hollywood presented the Annie Award to him for "his distinguished contribution to the art of animation". In 2005 he was given the Special Golden Dinosaur Award at the Etiuda & Anima Film Festival in Krakow. In 2000 his short film, interlocking three tales of damsels in distress, “3 Misses” earned him an Oscar nomination.
Lately he wrote and illustrated a couple of books - “The Fiddle Fumble Stories” series, typical of the style which characterizes the rest of his work. Paul Driessen is currently working on a new animated short, a coproduction between Canada and The Netherlands.
Paul Driessen Website
Filmography:
“The Story of Little John Bailey” (6', The Netherlands 1970)
“Le Bleu Perdu” (7', Canada 1972)
“Air!” (02'00 / Canada 1972)
“Au bout du Fil” (“Cat's Cradle”) (10', Canada 1974)
“Une Vieille Boîte” (“An Old Box”) (9', Canada 1975)
“David” (7', The Netherlands 1977)
“The Killing of an Egg” (2', The Netherlands 1977)
“On Land, at Sea & in the Air” (10', The Netherlands 1980)
“Jeu de Coudes” (“Elbowing”) (6', Canada 1980)
“Home on the Rails” (“Treinhuisje”) (10', The Netherlands 1981)
“Une Histoire comme une Autre” (“The Same Old Story”) (3', Canada 1981)
“Oh what a Knight” (3', The Netherlands 1982
“Spotting a Cow” (“Het Scheppen van een Koe”) (6', The Netherlands 1983)
“Tip-Top” (7', Canada 1984)
“Sunny Side Up” (“Spiegeleiland”) (3', The Netherlands 1985)
“Traingang” (1'), “Getting There” (1') (Expo Vancouver, Canada 1986)
“The Writer” (“De Schrijver en de Dood”) (12', The Netherlands 1988)
“Uncles & Aunts #1” (2', The Netherlands 1989)
“The Water People” (24’ & 13', The Netherlands-Japan 1992)
“Uncles & Aunts #3” (3', The Netherlands 1992)
“The End of the World in 4 Seasons” (12', Canada 1995)
3 Misses (10', The Netherlands 2000)
“The Boy who saw the Iceberg” (12', Canada 2000)
“2D or not 2D” (17', Canada-The Netherlands 2004)
“2D or not 2D -The ShortCut” (12', Canada-The Netherlands 2004)
“Oedipus” (13', Canada-The Netherlands 2011)
Participation:
“The Yellow Submarine” (feature length / Tvc, UK 1969)
“Tiki-Tiki” (feature length / Potterton Productions, Canada 1970)
“The Happy Prince” (27', Potterton Productions, Canada 1974)
“Le Rejeton” (12', Onf, Canada 1977)
“Anijam” (15', International Rocketship, Canada 1985)
“Elephantrio” (9', Nfb, Src, Canada 1986)
“Candyjam” (6', J. Priestly, Canada 1988)
“Pink Komkommer” (11', International Rocketship, Canada 1991)
“Paul Driessen Inside-Out” (52', Documentary, The Netherlands 2002)
“The 7 Brothers” (12', Kaj & Paul Driessen / CinéTé, The Netherlands 2008)
Kff on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/krakowfilmfest
Kff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/krakowfilmfest
Kff on Blip: http://krakowfilmfestival.blip.pl/...
- 4/8/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Canadian critics chose the winners of the 16th annual Toronto Film Critics Association Awards and Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" took the top prize. The film also won Best Director, Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Here's the complete list of winners; for winners/nominees of other award-giving bodies, click here:
Best Film: "The Master"
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "The Master"
Best Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, "The Master"
Best Actress: Rachel Weisz, "The Deep Blue Sea"
Best Actor: Denis Lavant, "Holy Motors"
Best Supporting Actress: Gina Gershon, "Killer Joe"
Best Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"
Best First Feature: Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild;" Panos Cosmatos, "Beyond the Black Rainbow" (tie)
Allan King Documentary Award: "Stories We Tell"
Best Animated Film: "ParaNorman"
Best Foreign Language Film: "Amour"
Rogers Best Canadian Film Award Finalists: "Bestiaire," "Goon," and "Stories We Tell"...
Here's the complete list of winners; for winners/nominees of other award-giving bodies, click here:
Best Film: "The Master"
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "The Master"
Best Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, "The Master"
Best Actress: Rachel Weisz, "The Deep Blue Sea"
Best Actor: Denis Lavant, "Holy Motors"
Best Supporting Actress: Gina Gershon, "Killer Joe"
Best Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"
Best First Feature: Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild;" Panos Cosmatos, "Beyond the Black Rainbow" (tie)
Allan King Documentary Award: "Stories We Tell"
Best Animated Film: "ParaNorman"
Best Foreign Language Film: "Amour"
Rogers Best Canadian Film Award Finalists: "Bestiaire," "Goon," and "Stories We Tell"...
- 12/26/2012
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Director: Evan Kelly. Writer: Josh MacDonald. Cast: Stephen Chambers, James Gilbert, David Patrick Flemming, Matthew Amyotte, Glen Matthews and Mary-Colin Chisholm. It is always surprising to remember that Canada has only created approximately 1500 films since 1911. This is surprising because there have been so many great Canadian films created over this time such as David Cronenburg's Naked Lunch or Allan King's The Last Season. Now, director Evan Kelly and Josh MacDonald's can add their Nova Scotian shot feature, The Corridor, to this excellent cadre of films. The Corridor begins as a thriller which transitions into a science fiction film. Along the way, five friends must confront a force that alters their minds. The corridor also changes their behaviours as friend turns on friend in a murderous fashion. The Corridor creates enough tension and enough mystery to leave viewers with questions and interpretations. The abstract elements are what stayed with this.
- 8/7/2012
- by noreply@blogger.com (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
The Toronto Film Critics Association and the Houston Film Critics Society unveiled their choices for the year’s best films — and didn’t agree on anything. The Toronto critics honored Terrence Malick for Best Director and his The Tree of Life won Best Picture. Michael Shannon (Take Shelter) won Best Actor, Michelle Williams was named Best Actress (My Week With Marilyn), and Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Jessica Chastain (Take Shelter) were honored for their supporting turns.
The Houston critics preferred Alexander Payne’s The Descendants for Best Picture. Drive’s auteur Nicholas Winding Refn topped Payne, though, for Best Director.
The Houston critics preferred Alexander Payne’s The Descendants for Best Picture. Drive’s auteur Nicholas Winding Refn topped Payne, though, for Best Director.
- 12/14/2011
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Brad Pitt in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life
Best Picture: The Tree of Life
Runners-up: The Artist, The Descendants
Best Foreign-language Film: Mysteries of Lisbon
Runners-up: Attenberg, Le Havre, A Separation
Best Director: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Runners-up: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist, Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
Best Actor: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Runners-up: George Clooney, The Descendants, Michael Fassbender, Shame
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Runners-up: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Runners-up: Albert Brooks, Drive, Patton Oswalt, Young Adult
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
Runners-up: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life, Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Screenplay: Moneyball, written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin, based on the book by Michael Lewis
Runners-up: The Descendants, written by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, based on...
Best Picture: The Tree of Life
Runners-up: The Artist, The Descendants
Best Foreign-language Film: Mysteries of Lisbon
Runners-up: Attenberg, Le Havre, A Separation
Best Director: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Runners-up: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist, Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
Best Actor: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Runners-up: George Clooney, The Descendants, Michael Fassbender, Shame
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Runners-up: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Runners-up: Albert Brooks, Drive, Patton Oswalt, Young Adult
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
Runners-up: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life, Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Screenplay: Moneyball, written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin, based on the book by Michael Lewis
Runners-up: The Descendants, written by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, based on...
- 12/14/2011
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
With big names like Cronenberg and Polley already announced a couple of weeks ago, it came time this morning to announced the rest of the home team for the Toronto International Film Festival. This morning, they filled in some of the gaps in the Special Presentations, Vanguard, and Real to Reel sections, and at the same time presented the full line-ups for their Canada First! and Short Cuts programmes, the former highlighting feature debuts, and the latter comprised of a whopping 43 Canadian short films running anywhere from 4 to 28 minutes long. We saw the announcements of Maddin's Keyhole and Vallée's Venice Days entry Café de Flore coming from a mile away. Invariably, almost all any given year's Canada's Top Ten list (a prestigious, juried selection of the ten best Canadian films of the year) have appeared somewhere in Tiff's Canadian categories. Also from Venice, we have the non-Canadian helmer Mary Harron...
- 8/9/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
While most people may only know the man for his insanely entertaining fever dream House, director Nobuhiko Obayashi is still alive, kicking and making films.
Toronto J Film Pow Wow has revealed (via Tokyograph) that the director will next direct a film entitled Kono Sora no Hana. The film, his 41st, will be set in Nagaoka, during the area’s annual fireworks festival. With the hopes of promoting world piece, the festival has been in existence since 1946. Obayashi’s film will star Yasuko Matsuyuki.
Personally, as a huge fan of House, this is definitely one film that I’d love to see hit stateside or at least through The Criterion Collection on DVD. Obayashi is a director that I’d love to see more of within the Collection, so maybe this could be a part of a time spanning Eclipse set like The Allan King set. I think the premise sounds really intriguing,...
Toronto J Film Pow Wow has revealed (via Tokyograph) that the director will next direct a film entitled Kono Sora no Hana. The film, his 41st, will be set in Nagaoka, during the area’s annual fireworks festival. With the hopes of promoting world piece, the festival has been in existence since 1946. Obayashi’s film will star Yasuko Matsuyuki.
Personally, as a huge fan of House, this is definitely one film that I’d love to see hit stateside or at least through The Criterion Collection on DVD. Obayashi is a director that I’d love to see more of within the Collection, so maybe this could be a part of a time spanning Eclipse set like The Allan King set. I think the premise sounds really intriguing,...
- 7/6/2011
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
A few weeks ago I began a four-part miniseries here, reviewing Eclipse films that deal with the topic of marriage. My first selection was Ernst Lubitsch’s One Hour With You, published almost exactly a year after I covered a different Lubitsch film, Monte Carlo here in this same column.
Now, even though I ran out of time to complete the series in June as I originally intended, the concluding installment, The Model Couple from Eclipse Series 9: The Delirious Fictions of William Klein, is unleashed one year after Mr. Freedom was the object of my attention over the Independence Day holiday weekend. I don’t know that these coincidences portend any particularly deep meaning, but they provide a lead into this review, so as far as I’m concerned, they serve a purpose.
Better yet, The Model Couple also makes a great follow-up to last week’s film, Allan King’s A Married Couple.
Now, even though I ran out of time to complete the series in June as I originally intended, the concluding installment, The Model Couple from Eclipse Series 9: The Delirious Fictions of William Klein, is unleashed one year after Mr. Freedom was the object of my attention over the Independence Day holiday weekend. I don’t know that these coincidences portend any particularly deep meaning, but they provide a lead into this review, so as far as I’m concerned, they serve a purpose.
Better yet, The Model Couple also makes a great follow-up to last week’s film, Allan King’s A Married Couple.
- 7/4/2011
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
When I mentioned in this column a few weeks back that I planned a short series of reviews on the topic of marriage, anyone possessing more than a passing familiarity with the Eclipse Series probably could have guessed that the film I’m writing about this time around would be part of the scheme. I mean, it’s right there in the title - A Married Couple, part of Eclipse Series 24: The Actuality Dramas of Allan King. And as a follow-up to the first two installments in this four-part exploration, A Married Couple builds logically upon the themes of its predecessors. One Hour With You took a comical, light-hearted look at the temptations of infidelity, while Street Without End examined the tensions between a mismatched couple who got together for the wrong reasons, only to discover after the marriage had taken place that their ideals had misled them and...
- 6/29/2011
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
A little late this week, mainly because of my own random b.s. that one goes through when attempting to juggle too many things at once. Try not to do it kids, because it means a Hulu article gets sidetracked a bit. A ton of stuff was added since I last was here, but unlike last week’s where I focused on 10 specific films that weren’t in the Collection, this time it’s a bunch of familiar (and not so) faces, be it in their great Eclipse sets or in Criterion’s own pantheon.
A huge thanks to who have already used this link to enjoy their own Hulu Plus and in turn keeping this series of articles up and running. We can always use the help, so please sign up using that specific link. Every little bit does keep this nice and polished. But enough about that. You...
A huge thanks to who have already used this link to enjoy their own Hulu Plus and in turn keeping this series of articles up and running. We can always use the help, so please sign up using that specific link. Every little bit does keep this nice and polished. But enough about that. You...
- 5/28/2011
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
It’s the time again, my friends. When I go through Hulu’s Criterion page and give you what’s new, what’s exciting and what might be a hint at a future release within the collection. There’s even a ton of new supplemental material from various films that are worth getting into. If you like this series of article, please sign up for your own Hulu Plus account. Every little bit counts and is much appreciated.
Let’s just get right to it then. Remember, all the links will be included with each listing. We make it as easy as possible for all of you. First up is a film that isn’t in the collection but I can easily see it being welcomed with open arms.
La Cérémonie (1995), a Claude Chabrol film, is about Catherine (Jacqueline Bisset) who hires a new maid by the name of Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire), an illiterate woman.
Let’s just get right to it then. Remember, all the links will be included with each listing. We make it as easy as possible for all of you. First up is a film that isn’t in the collection but I can easily see it being welcomed with open arms.
La Cérémonie (1995), a Claude Chabrol film, is about Catherine (Jacqueline Bisset) who hires a new maid by the name of Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire), an illiterate woman.
- 5/13/2011
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
DVD Playhouse September 2010
By
Allen Gardner
The Girl Who Played With Fire (Music Box Films) Follow up to the hit The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo finds Lisabeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) joining forces once again as Blomkvist is about to break a story on Sweden’s sex trade, which leads unexpectedly to a dark secret from Elizabeth’s past. Starts off well, then quickly nose-dives into sensationalism and downright silliness, with a pair of villains who are straight out of a Roger Moore-era James Bond film. A real letdown for those of us who felt Dragon Tattoo had finally breathed life into the cinema’s long-stagnant genre of the thriller. Bonuses: English language track; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
The Killer Inside Me (IFC Films) Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of Jim Thompson’s classic, and notorious, novel about the psychotic mind of a small town sheriff (Casey Affleck,...
By
Allen Gardner
The Girl Who Played With Fire (Music Box Films) Follow up to the hit The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo finds Lisabeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) joining forces once again as Blomkvist is about to break a story on Sweden’s sex trade, which leads unexpectedly to a dark secret from Elizabeth’s past. Starts off well, then quickly nose-dives into sensationalism and downright silliness, with a pair of villains who are straight out of a Roger Moore-era James Bond film. A real letdown for those of us who felt Dragon Tattoo had finally breathed life into the cinema’s long-stagnant genre of the thriller. Bonuses: English language track; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
The Killer Inside Me (IFC Films) Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of Jim Thompson’s classic, and notorious, novel about the psychotic mind of a small town sheriff (Casey Affleck,...
- 9/25/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Another Tuesday has passed, another week of awesome DVD and Blu-ray releases to help relieve you of all of your hard earned cash. This week I take a look at incredible silent film collection being released by our friends at Kino Lorber, a surprisingly funny show from HBO, and a ton of stuff that I haven’t see yet, but am interested in.
I’m linking all of the covers to their Amazon counterparts, and will include Netflix options for those titles worthy of a rental instead of a purchase. By purchasing the discs through our site, you’re helping us out!
I obviously skipped several of the bigger titles like Robin Hood, for various reasons. I wasn’t sent any of the big stuff to review, and for the titles I wasn’t sent, I wanted to weed through all of the junk, to find the real gems.
Let...
I’m linking all of the covers to their Amazon counterparts, and will include Netflix options for those titles worthy of a rental instead of a purchase. By purchasing the discs through our site, you’re helping us out!
I obviously skipped several of the bigger titles like Robin Hood, for various reasons. I wasn’t sent any of the big stuff to review, and for the titles I wasn’t sent, I wanted to weed through all of the junk, to find the real gems.
Let...
- 9/24/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
For Criterion's Current, Michael Koresky writes extensively on each of the five films in this week's Eclipse package, The Actuality Dramas of Allan King: Warrendale (1967), A Married Couple (1969), Come On Children (1972), Dying at Grace (2003) and Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company (2005). "King's early nonfiction features are generally considered part of the 1960s cinema verité and Direct Cinema schools of filmmaking, named alongside works by such pioneers of those movements as Jean Rouch, Richard Leacock, Da Pennebaker and the Maysles brothers. King shared with these artists a desire to capture life as it happened, as well as a questioning of the ethics of that desire and a self-reflexive acknowledgment of the camera's inherently mediating presence. But King's films... stand out from the field for their sheer sense of drama... From moments out of time, captured as unobtrusively as possible, King sculpts narratives with the finesse of a great scenarist.
- 9/22/2010
- MUBI
A look at what's new on DVD today:
"Calvin Marshall" (2010)
Directed by Gary Lundgren
Released by Passion River
Steve Zahn exemplifies the adage those who can't do teach as a college baseball coach who never was quite good enough to make the majors who sees something of himself in an enthusiastic but unskilled player (Alex Frost) that he keeps on the team in writer/director Gary Lundgren's feature debut.
"Chelsea on the Rocks" (2009)
Directed by Abel Ferrara
Released by Hannover House
"Bad Lieutenant" director Ferrara compiles a biography of the famed Chelsea Hotel in New York through archival footage, reenactments and interviews with the many artists who have stayed there throughout the years from Milos Forman and R. Crumb to Ethan Hawke and Gaby Hoffman.
"Claang the Game" (2009)
Directed by Stefano Milla
Released by Triumphant Entertainment
A game of "Claang," a strategy-heavy match of wits, leads to a discussion...
"Calvin Marshall" (2010)
Directed by Gary Lundgren
Released by Passion River
Steve Zahn exemplifies the adage those who can't do teach as a college baseball coach who never was quite good enough to make the majors who sees something of himself in an enthusiastic but unskilled player (Alex Frost) that he keeps on the team in writer/director Gary Lundgren's feature debut.
"Chelsea on the Rocks" (2009)
Directed by Abel Ferrara
Released by Hannover House
"Bad Lieutenant" director Ferrara compiles a biography of the famed Chelsea Hotel in New York through archival footage, reenactments and interviews with the many artists who have stayed there throughout the years from Milos Forman and R. Crumb to Ethan Hawke and Gaby Hoffman.
"Claang the Game" (2009)
Directed by Stefano Milla
Released by Triumphant Entertainment
A game of "Claang," a strategy-heavy match of wits, leads to a discussion...
- 9/21/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
Criterion's December release announcement is brief, but sweet. David Cronenberg's Videodrome is coming to Blu-Ray while Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray.
The Videodrome Blu-Ray seems to be sourced from same master as the 2004 Criterion DVD. Extras are largely same. Cronos is newly restored and packed with extras, including a previously unreleased short film called Geometria. Check the links in the calendar for full specifications.
Finally, as mentioned in the last Criterion Column, the DVD release of the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story comes out on December 14th. The Blu-Ray will be released on November 23rd.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (January through December 2010, up-to-date as of September 16, 2010)
December 2010
David Cronenberg, Videodrome, Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
Guillermo del Toro, Cronos, 2-disc DVD & Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
November 2010
Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times, 2-dsc DVD & Bd, 11/16/10, Us & Canada
Charles Laughton, Night Of The Hunter, 2-disc DVD & 2-disc Bd,...
The Videodrome Blu-Ray seems to be sourced from same master as the 2004 Criterion DVD. Extras are largely same. Cronos is newly restored and packed with extras, including a previously unreleased short film called Geometria. Check the links in the calendar for full specifications.
Finally, as mentioned in the last Criterion Column, the DVD release of the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story comes out on December 14th. The Blu-Ray will be released on November 23rd.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (January through December 2010, up-to-date as of September 16, 2010)
December 2010
David Cronenberg, Videodrome, Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
Guillermo del Toro, Cronos, 2-disc DVD & Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
November 2010
Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times, 2-dsc DVD & Bd, 11/16/10, Us & Canada
Charles Laughton, Night Of The Hunter, 2-disc DVD & 2-disc Bd,...
- 9/16/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Rachel Weisz in The Whistleblower The Toronto International Film Festival has added even more films to their line-up today as the complete line-up was announced, which ended up causing the festival's server to crash, but I was lucky enough to get in and get out before missing out on the information.
First off, the festival's Mavericks line-up is quite interesting, which includes a series of guest presentations and this year will see Edward Norton interview Bruce Springsteen, NBA All-Star and native Canadian Steve Nash will present his hour-long film Into the Wind, Apichatpong Weerasethakul will talk with the audience as his Cannes Palm d'Or-winning film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives was just added to the Masters programme, Ken Loach and Paul Laverty will be interviewed by Michael Moore on politics and cinema and Philip Seymour Hoffman will have his own panel. Also on hand will be Bill Gates,...
First off, the festival's Mavericks line-up is quite interesting, which includes a series of guest presentations and this year will see Edward Norton interview Bruce Springsteen, NBA All-Star and native Canadian Steve Nash will present his hour-long film Into the Wind, Apichatpong Weerasethakul will talk with the audience as his Cannes Palm d'Or-winning film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives was just added to the Masters programme, Ken Loach and Paul Laverty will be interviewed by Michael Moore on politics and cinema and Philip Seymour Hoffman will have his own panel. Also on hand will be Bill Gates,...
- 8/24/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
In November, The Criterion Collection is set to release an eclectic mix of American classics with a bit of European transgression thrown in. A newly restored version of Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times is planned for DVD and Blu-Ray. Charles Laughton's stunning black-and-white noir/horror tale Night of the Hunter (1955) is also on the schedule for DVD and Blu-Ray. Lars Von Trier's Antichrist will invade home video players everywhere.
Those are great releases, but highlight of the November list is the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story box set, which features 6 films from Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider's production company Bbs during the 60s-70s. Titles include: Head, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Drive He Said, The Last Picture Show, and The King Of Marvin Gardens. Think about the scope of this release for a second. This is six films by Dennis Hopper, Henry Jaglom, Jack Nicholson Bob Rafelson,...
Those are great releases, but highlight of the November list is the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story box set, which features 6 films from Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider's production company Bbs during the 60s-70s. Titles include: Head, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Drive He Said, The Last Picture Show, and The King Of Marvin Gardens. Think about the scope of this release for a second. This is six films by Dennis Hopper, Henry Jaglom, Jack Nicholson Bob Rafelson,...
- 8/21/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The organizers at the Toronto International Film Festival have put together one hell of an impressive line-up that has grown significantly since my first list announcing the Galas and Special Presentations, a pair of lists that have also grown since then.
The lists have grown to include Massy Tadjedin's Last Night starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes and Guillaume Canet, which will serve as the closing night film.
It's also grown to include Danny Boyle's 127 Hours starring James Franco. Boyle recently spoke about the film at Movie Con and told the audience there it may be a challenge to watch saying, "It's a lovely way of doing a new kind of filmmaking, really. We want it to be a challenge to you [the audience] to see if you can sit and watch it."
In the film Franco plays real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston who ended up trapped under a...
The lists have grown to include Massy Tadjedin's Last Night starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes and Guillaume Canet, which will serve as the closing night film.
It's also grown to include Danny Boyle's 127 Hours starring James Franco. Boyle recently spoke about the film at Movie Con and told the audience there it may be a challenge to watch saying, "It's a lovely way of doing a new kind of filmmaking, really. We want it to be a challenge to you [the audience] to see if you can sit and watch it."
In the film Franco plays real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston who ended up trapped under a...
- 8/17/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
As usual, the Toronto International Film Festival sticks to one of its mission: promoting Canadian films to the world. In fact, the complete line-up of Canadian films has been revealed today. Moreover, the festival will be held from September 9 to 19.
Galas
A Beginners Guide to Endings (Jonathan Sobol) World Premiere
Previously announced Canadian Galas include: The Bang Bang Club (Steven Silver), Barney’s Version (Richard J. Lewis), Casino Jack (George Hickenlooper), and Score: A Hockey Musical (Michael McGowan).
Special Presentations
Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie (Sturla Gunnarsson) World Premiere
Good Neighbours (Jacob Tierney) World Premiere
Incendies (Denis Villeneuve) North American Premiere
Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats) (Xavier Dolan) English Canadian Premiere
Repeaters (Carl Bessai) World Premiere
Trigger (Bruce McDonald) World Premiere
Canada First
Daydream Nation (Mike Goldbach) World Premiere
Amazon Falls (Katrin Bowen) World Premiere
High Cost of Living (Deborah Chow) World Premiere
Jaloux (Patrick Demers) World Premiere...
Galas
A Beginners Guide to Endings (Jonathan Sobol) World Premiere
Previously announced Canadian Galas include: The Bang Bang Club (Steven Silver), Barney’s Version (Richard J. Lewis), Casino Jack (George Hickenlooper), and Score: A Hockey Musical (Michael McGowan).
Special Presentations
Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie (Sturla Gunnarsson) World Premiere
Good Neighbours (Jacob Tierney) World Premiere
Incendies (Denis Villeneuve) North American Premiere
Les amours imaginaires (Heartbeats) (Xavier Dolan) English Canadian Premiere
Repeaters (Carl Bessai) World Premiere
Trigger (Bruce McDonald) World Premiere
Canada First
Daydream Nation (Mike Goldbach) World Premiere
Amazon Falls (Katrin Bowen) World Premiere
High Cost of Living (Deborah Chow) World Premiere
Jaloux (Patrick Demers) World Premiere...
- 8/11/2010
- by anhkhoido@hotmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
The Toronto International Film Festival announced their complete slate of Canadian titles today, including the first announced midnight title in Michael Dowse's Fubar II. The Canadian slate this year looks to be a pretty compelling slate of newcomers and familiar names. Check all the news below!
Galas
A Beginners Guide to Endings Jonathan Sobol, Canada World Premiere
Raucous, charming and very funny, Jonathan Sobol's comedy A Beginners Guide to Endings follows three sons as they deal with their gambler father's somewhat complicated legacy. Featuring the legendary Harvey Keitel, the film also stars Scott Caan, Paolo Costanzo, Wendy Crewson, Tricia Helfer, Jason Jones, and J.K. Simmons.
Previously announced Canadian Galas include: The Bang Bang Club, Steven Silver; Barney's Version, Richard J. Lewis; Casino Jack, George Hickenlooper; Score: A Hockey Musical, Mike McGowan.
Special Presentations
Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie Sturla Gunnarsson, Canada World Premiere
At 75 years old,...
Galas
A Beginners Guide to Endings Jonathan Sobol, Canada World Premiere
Raucous, charming and very funny, Jonathan Sobol's comedy A Beginners Guide to Endings follows three sons as they deal with their gambler father's somewhat complicated legacy. Featuring the legendary Harvey Keitel, the film also stars Scott Caan, Paolo Costanzo, Wendy Crewson, Tricia Helfer, Jason Jones, and J.K. Simmons.
Previously announced Canadian Galas include: The Bang Bang Club, Steven Silver; Barney's Version, Richard J. Lewis; Casino Jack, George Hickenlooper; Score: A Hockey Musical, Mike McGowan.
Special Presentations
Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie Sturla Gunnarsson, Canada World Premiere
At 75 years old,...
- 8/10/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The October 2010 batch of Criterion titles brings a few surprises. Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory is hitting DVD and Blu-Ray as is Ingmar Bergman's film The Magician. Criterion continues its relationship with Wes Anderson by releasing The Darjeeling Limited on Blu-Ray and DVD. Ok.
Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai is headed for Blu-Ray with a new restored high-def transfer. If the quality of Criterion's other Kurosawa Blu-Ray discs (e.g. Kagemusha, Sanjuro and Yojimbo) are any indication, it is time to ditch the DVDs. This one should look spectacular.
Finally, Nobuhiko Obayashi's House is making its way to Blu-Ray and DVD just in time for Halloween. There are a few things to note here. First, the fact that Criterion is releasing this on Blu-Ray with a restored transfer and uncompressed mono sound is kind of a surprise. This is a very good thing. The other curious thing is the extras.
Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai is headed for Blu-Ray with a new restored high-def transfer. If the quality of Criterion's other Kurosawa Blu-Ray discs (e.g. Kagemusha, Sanjuro and Yojimbo) are any indication, it is time to ditch the DVDs. This one should look spectacular.
Finally, Nobuhiko Obayashi's House is making its way to Blu-Ray and DVD just in time for Halloween. There are a few things to note here. First, the fact that Criterion is releasing this on Blu-Ray with a restored transfer and uncompressed mono sound is kind of a surprise. This is a very good thing. The other curious thing is the extras.
- 7/17/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Today, the nominations for Canada's 2010 Directors Guild Awards have been announced. These awards are meant to give awards for some people who work behind the camera to give outstanding films and TV series. Besides, the gala will be hosted by Canadian comedian Dave Foley. So, without further ado, here are the nominations.
Best feature film:
* Cairo Time.
* Chloe.
* The Trotsky.
* Love & Savagery.
Best television movie/miniseries
* Darwin Darkest Hour.
* Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story.
* Sea Wolf.
* The White Archer.
Best dramatic TV series:
* Being Erica.
* Flashpoint.
* Sanctuary.
* The Bridge.
Best comedy TV series:
* The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town.
* G-Spot.
* Less than Kind.
* Little Mosque on the Prairie.
Best family TV series:
* Degrassi: The Next Generation.
* Heartland.
* How to Be Indie.
* Overruled!
Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary:
* Ballet High - Elise Swerhone (Director), Robert Lower (Picture Editor).
* The Experimental Eskimos -...
Best feature film:
* Cairo Time.
* Chloe.
* The Trotsky.
* Love & Savagery.
Best television movie/miniseries
* Darwin Darkest Hour.
* Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story.
* Sea Wolf.
* The White Archer.
Best dramatic TV series:
* Being Erica.
* Flashpoint.
* Sanctuary.
* The Bridge.
Best comedy TV series:
* The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town.
* G-Spot.
* Less than Kind.
* Little Mosque on the Prairie.
Best family TV series:
* Degrassi: The Next Generation.
* Heartland.
* How to Be Indie.
* Overruled!
Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary:
* Ballet High - Elise Swerhone (Director), Robert Lower (Picture Editor).
* The Experimental Eskimos -...
- 7/9/2010
- by anhkhoido@hotmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
The September releases of Breathless on Blu-Ray and The Thin Red Line on Blu-Ray and DVD aren't so much of a surprise. A high-def Breathless release was inevitable and the Malick title leaked out a while ago. Also, Charade is the sort of classic Hollywood auterist fare that Criterion often deals in. No, the big surprise here is Oshima's Happy Birthday Mr. Lawrence. Both this release and the recent Oshima DVD box indicate that Criterion is seriously intent to digging deeper into the director's filmography. Finally, it would be a mistake not to mention the Eclipse box set of Allan King films. The Canadian director's documentaries have never been readily available in the U.S. so this box should expose his work to an entirely new audience (including this writer).
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through September 2010, up-to-date as of July 7, 2010)
September 2010
Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless, DVD & Bd, 9/14/10, Us...
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through September 2010, up-to-date as of July 7, 2010)
September 2010
Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless, DVD & Bd, 9/14/10, Us...
- 7/8/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Here we are, another 15th of the month, another group of amazing releases from the Criterion Collection announced on schedule. Being so obsessively attached to rumors and gossip on Twitter and forums and the like, many of these titles have been hinted at in one form or another.
Way back in March, we got a somewhat obvious clue in the monthly Criterion Collection e-mail newsletter, in the form of a thin, red lion, and after some back and forth as to which movie it was referring to, many came to the conclusion it was in fact Terrance Malick’s The Thin Red Line. Criterion’s recent Blu-ray release of Malick’s Days of Heaven was an incredible production, with a transfer that cannot be beaten. The Thin Red Line was also teased at in a twitter picture post that Criterion sent out back in March, giving further proof to the...
Way back in March, we got a somewhat obvious clue in the monthly Criterion Collection e-mail newsletter, in the form of a thin, red lion, and after some back and forth as to which movie it was referring to, many came to the conclusion it was in fact Terrance Malick’s The Thin Red Line. Criterion’s recent Blu-ray release of Malick’s Days of Heaven was an incredible production, with a transfer that cannot be beaten. The Thin Red Line was also teased at in a twitter picture post that Criterion sent out back in March, giving further proof to the...
- 6/16/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
It's the 50th anniversary of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless and along with Rialto Pictures's restoration that was recently released in four theaters and will expand throughout the year, Criterion will be releasing the film on Blu-ray on September 14 and the rest of the month holds a lot in store as well. The features will mirror those on the 2007 two-disc DVD edition, but for a complete list click here.
As has been known, it is now confirmed Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line will be released on a two-disc DVD and single-disc Blu-ray on September 28. I saw Malick's adaptation of James Jones's 1962 novel about the World War II battle for Guadalcanal for the first time last November and loved it and on Blu-ray, as with any Malick film, this will look amazing. Among the features you will get an audio commentary with director of photography John Toll, production designer...
As has been known, it is now confirmed Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line will be released on a two-disc DVD and single-disc Blu-ray on September 28. I saw Malick's adaptation of James Jones's 1962 novel about the World War II battle for Guadalcanal for the first time last November and loved it and on Blu-ray, as with any Malick film, this will look amazing. Among the features you will get an audio commentary with director of photography John Toll, production designer...
- 6/15/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
New York's Museum of Modern Arts (MoMA), in association with Telefilm Canada, will organize the seventh annual Canadian Front. This event will be held from March 17 to March 24, 2010. Moreover, New Yorkers will have the chance to see nine Canadian films.
Obviously, this event should help Canadian films to find a U.S. distributor and allow New Yorkers to see Canadian films that were completed over the last 18 months. As a matter of fact, it was the Canadian Front event that allowed Bruce McDonald's brilliant zombie film Pontypool to be distributed in the USA by IFC Films for instance.
This year, the Canadian Front has in store two comedies, two dramas, two coming-of-age stories, two documentaries and an old classic. Speaking about that classic, the film in question was directed by Allan King, a Canadian director who left us in June 2009 and whose work was the subject of a MoMA retrospective in 2007. So,...
Obviously, this event should help Canadian films to find a U.S. distributor and allow New Yorkers to see Canadian films that were completed over the last 18 months. As a matter of fact, it was the Canadian Front event that allowed Bruce McDonald's brilliant zombie film Pontypool to be distributed in the USA by IFC Films for instance.
This year, the Canadian Front has in store two comedies, two dramas, two coming-of-age stories, two documentaries and an old classic. Speaking about that classic, the film in question was directed by Allan King, a Canadian director who left us in June 2009 and whose work was the subject of a MoMA retrospective in 2007. So,...
- 3/3/2010
- by anhkhoido@hotmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
Documentarians carve stories out of the ebb and flow of real life, making the struggles of a Canadian metal band into a rousing tale of standing by your dreams, or finding echoes of "A Chorus Line" in the backstage process of putting together a Broadway revival of the show. So it's no surprise that the 2010 Cinema Eye Honors, which took place on Friday in New York, were filled with their own anecdotes about nonfiction films and the process of making them.
The venerable Albert Maysles, in a salute to influential Canadian filmmaker Allan King, who passed away earlier this year, told the crowd how his first date with his wife was to see King's 1967 doc "Warrendale." Editor Sloane Klevin, presenting the award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing, in turn recounted how the back of her apartment faces that of Maysles, and how she often sees him at night, washing dishes,...
The venerable Albert Maysles, in a salute to influential Canadian filmmaker Allan King, who passed away earlier this year, told the crowd how his first date with his wife was to see King's 1967 doc "Warrendale." Editor Sloane Klevin, presenting the award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing, in turn recounted how the back of her apartment faces that of Maysles, and how she often sees him at night, washing dishes,...
- 1/19/2010
- by Alison Willmore
- ifc.com
Toronto -- "Passchendaele" continued its winning ways Saturday night at the eighth annual Directors Guild of Canada Awards as it picked up the best feature film team trophy.
The Canadian war epic earlier this year picked up six trophies, including best Canadian movie and a slew of craft awards, at the Genies, Canada's film awards.
"Passchendale," inspired by the World War I trench combat, also earned a production design trophy for Carol Spier.
Spier, best known for her longtime collaboration on nine David Cronenberg films, also picked up the 2009 Dgc lifetime achievement award.
Cronenberg was on hand to introduce a nervous Spier, insisting there wasn't any tension or envelope beforehand as she'd already been tapped for the tribute.
"Imagine if there was a competition for a lifetime achievement award, and you lost?" the Toronto-based director joked.
On the TV front, the CBS/CTV series "Flashpoint" picked up the best TV drama team award,...
The Canadian war epic earlier this year picked up six trophies, including best Canadian movie and a slew of craft awards, at the Genies, Canada's film awards.
"Passchendale," inspired by the World War I trench combat, also earned a production design trophy for Carol Spier.
Spier, best known for her longtime collaboration on nine David Cronenberg films, also picked up the 2009 Dgc lifetime achievement award.
Cronenberg was on hand to introduce a nervous Spier, insisting there wasn't any tension or envelope beforehand as she'd already been tapped for the tribute.
"Imagine if there was a competition for a lifetime achievement award, and you lost?" the Toronto-based director joked.
On the TV front, the CBS/CTV series "Flashpoint" picked up the best TV drama team award,...
- 10/25/2009
- by By Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The news hasn't spread beyond the media of his native Canada, but it appears that documentary filmmaker Allan King has died at his Toronto home, at the age of 79. Torontoist has posted an obit with a brief but strong overview of King's important works, which he referred to as "actuality dramas", and which include his breakthrough 1967 feature Warrendale, 1969's stunning look at domestic discord A Married Couple, the drama Who Has Seen the Wind, and his recent 147-minute nursing home epic Dying at Grace, which controversially contained eerie footage of actual patients at their moments of death. Some multimedia: In 2007, <a href=" ...
- 6/16/2009
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
TORONTO -- Canadian filmmaker Allan King, who pioneered the use of direct interviews in 1950s TV documentaries, will be honored with a retrospective of his films at the Museum of Modern Art in May, it was announced Tuesday.
MOMA will present 22 fiction and nonfiction works by King to celebrate his 50 years in film, said Laurence Kardish, senior film curator at the New York-based museum.
"King, has perfected a style, at once straightforward and nuanced, that allows his subjects, buffeted and strengthened by life's natural stresses and challenges, to retain their dignity while revealing their pain, confusion, and joys," Kardish said in a statement.
Notable King films to screen at MOMA include "Warrendale" (1966), a cinema-verite film shot in a home for emotionally disturbed children, and "A Married Couple" (1969), what the filmmaker calls an "actuality drama" portraying a couple negotiating their marriage as it collapses around them.
The retrospective is scheduled to run May 9-30.
MOMA will present 22 fiction and nonfiction works by King to celebrate his 50 years in film, said Laurence Kardish, senior film curator at the New York-based museum.
"King, has perfected a style, at once straightforward and nuanced, that allows his subjects, buffeted and strengthened by life's natural stresses and challenges, to retain their dignity while revealing their pain, confusion, and joys," Kardish said in a statement.
Notable King films to screen at MOMA include "Warrendale" (1966), a cinema-verite film shot in a home for emotionally disturbed children, and "A Married Couple" (1969), what the filmmaker calls an "actuality drama" portraying a couple negotiating their marriage as it collapses around them.
The retrospective is scheduled to run May 9-30.
- 4/25/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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