Watch Giuseppe Tornatore's nostalgic film about a small Sicilian village cinema that took the world by storm 25 years ago
• Salvatore Cascio: 'Cinema Paradiso is about the power of dreams'
• Cinema Paradiso: the little movie that could
We've given it the big buildup, and now it's time to actually watch it ... the Guardian Screening Room is proud to present Giuseppe Tornatore's 1988 classic Cinema Paradiso for your viewing pleasure.
Despite a slightly rocky reception when it was first released in its home country, Cinema Paradiso went on to become a global arthouse blockbuster, and remains perennially popular to this day. It's been restored for its 25th anniversary, so it's a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in its wonderfully romantic and nostalgic vision of smalltown Italy allied to an unquenchable love of the movies themselves.
As if you needed any more encouragement, the legendary Stuart Heritage will be...
• Salvatore Cascio: 'Cinema Paradiso is about the power of dreams'
• Cinema Paradiso: the little movie that could
We've given it the big buildup, and now it's time to actually watch it ... the Guardian Screening Room is proud to present Giuseppe Tornatore's 1988 classic Cinema Paradiso for your viewing pleasure.
Despite a slightly rocky reception when it was first released in its home country, Cinema Paradiso went on to become a global arthouse blockbuster, and remains perennially popular to this day. It's been restored for its 25th anniversary, so it's a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in its wonderfully romantic and nostalgic vision of smalltown Italy allied to an unquenchable love of the movies themselves.
As if you needed any more encouragement, the legendary Stuart Heritage will be...
- 12/13/2013
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Casting directors are among the most powerful figures in showbusiness, able to make or break careers. But what exactly do they do? Laura Barnett talks auditions, callbacks – and tears
Up in his office on the sixth floor of the Palace theatre, in the heart of London's theatreland, Stephen Crockett is letting me in on a secretive world. The walls are lined with posters for hit shows he has worked on: from Chicago to almost every Andrew Lloyd Webber musical; from Mamma Mia! to Jerry Springer: The Opera. His desk is buried beneath piles of newspapers, CVs and headshots. But – showing me a photograph of performer Dianne Pilkington, just cast in Mamma Mia! – he assures me it's organised chaos. This is the mysterious world of the casting director.
They are rarely interviewed. Few people outside theatre, film and TV know who they are. Yet casting directors rank among the most influential operators in showbusiness.
Up in his office on the sixth floor of the Palace theatre, in the heart of London's theatreland, Stephen Crockett is letting me in on a secretive world. The walls are lined with posters for hit shows he has worked on: from Chicago to almost every Andrew Lloyd Webber musical; from Mamma Mia! to Jerry Springer: The Opera. His desk is buried beneath piles of newspapers, CVs and headshots. But – showing me a photograph of performer Dianne Pilkington, just cast in Mamma Mia! – he assures me it's organised chaos. This is the mysterious world of the casting director.
They are rarely interviewed. Few people outside theatre, film and TV know who they are. Yet casting directors rank among the most influential operators in showbusiness.
- 5/21/2013
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
We still smash and explode vegetables just like the dorky sound engineer in this film about making a low budget horror flick in the 1970s, says sound engineer Adam Mendez
Many vegetables die in the act of making a film. And that's exactly what we see happening in this eerie, sumptuous movie about a dorky English sound engineer, Gilderoy, working on a low-budget Italian horror flick in the 1970s.
We see Gilderoy (Toby Jones) and his assistants smashing marrows to make the sound of a body slamming on to the ground, and making fat sizzle for a scene involving the torture of a nun. We still do much the same sort of thing today. A few years ago, I worked on the horror film Dread. For a scene in which a boy's eardrums burst, we exploded grapes right up against the microphone. More recently, I worked on 127 Hours; for the...
Many vegetables die in the act of making a film. And that's exactly what we see happening in this eerie, sumptuous movie about a dorky English sound engineer, Gilderoy, working on a low-budget Italian horror flick in the 1970s.
We see Gilderoy (Toby Jones) and his assistants smashing marrows to make the sound of a body slamming on to the ground, and making fat sizzle for a scene involving the torture of a nun. We still do much the same sort of thing today. A few years ago, I worked on the horror film Dread. For a scene in which a boy's eardrums burst, we exploded grapes right up against the microphone. More recently, I worked on 127 Hours; for the...
- 9/10/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
A new series of short online dramas take inspiration from the novel A Rage in Harlem. Laura Barnett meets the writers – including hip-hop star Akala and playwright Bola Agbaje – bringing black Britain to life
A man paces up and down his prison cell, recalling the act of revenge that put him there. In a Middlesbrough shopping centre, two brothers fence goods to buy medicine for their ailing mother.
These are some of the stories told by 10by10, a remarkable new project combining theatre and film. Commissioned and directed by Dawn Walton, whose Sheffield-based Eclipse Theatre is one of the UK's foremost black-led theatre companies, the project consists of 10 short films written by and starring some of Britain's brightest young playwrights and actors.
The stolen stuff being sold in Middlesbrough is perfume, which gives its name to the film by Ishy Din; Din grew up there and worked as a taxi...
A man paces up and down his prison cell, recalling the act of revenge that put him there. In a Middlesbrough shopping centre, two brothers fence goods to buy medicine for their ailing mother.
These are some of the stories told by 10by10, a remarkable new project combining theatre and film. Commissioned and directed by Dawn Walton, whose Sheffield-based Eclipse Theatre is one of the UK's foremost black-led theatre companies, the project consists of 10 short films written by and starring some of Britain's brightest young playwrights and actors.
The stolen stuff being sold in Middlesbrough is perfume, which gives its name to the film by Ishy Din; Din grew up there and worked as a taxi...
- 8/29/2012
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
Not many teddies get caught in flagrante, but Ted shows what childhood toys can really mean to people
This film is completely bonkers. It's about a guy, John Bennett, who was given a teddy bear for Christmas when he was eight years old. He wished that the bear, which he called Ted, would come to life – and he did. Now John (played by Mark Wahlberg) is 35, and Ted has turned into the most offensive, womanising character you can imagine.
Ted mentions a couple of times that he was made by Hasbro, the big American toy manufacturer. That certainly fits: he's very much your generic, mass-produced bear, made from lower-quality synthetic plush, with plastic eyes and nose. His arms and legs aren't jointed, so they don't move very well.
None of the bears we make at Merrythought has a button that says "I love you" when pressed, either (something that causes...
This film is completely bonkers. It's about a guy, John Bennett, who was given a teddy bear for Christmas when he was eight years old. He wished that the bear, which he called Ted, would come to life – and he did. Now John (played by Mark Wahlberg) is 35, and Ted has turned into the most offensive, womanising character you can imagine.
Ted mentions a couple of times that he was made by Hasbro, the big American toy manufacturer. That certainly fits: he's very much your generic, mass-produced bear, made from lower-quality synthetic plush, with plastic eyes and nose. His arms and legs aren't jointed, so they don't move very well.
None of the bears we make at Merrythought has a button that says "I love you" when pressed, either (something that causes...
- 8/20/2012
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
At 14, he was acting alongside Gwyneth. At 18, he was in a Woody. And now, after eight years as the star of Scrubs, Zach Braff has written a play. He talks to Laura Barnett about learning to swear like a Brit
About four years ago, Zach Braff faced up to the fact he had developed a fear of flying. Like most nervous flyers, he thought that learning a bit about aviation – "How the hell a plane flies through the air" – would help. But, unlike most nervous flyers, Braff ended up learning how to pilot a plane. "I fell in love with it," he says. "I got my licence two years ago. I have a little single-engine four-seater. It's great for those hour-and-a-half hops around La."
It's an example of the extraordinary can-do spirit that has underpinned Braff's career. Best known for his eight-and-a-half-year turn as the nervy young doctor Jd in...
About four years ago, Zach Braff faced up to the fact he had developed a fear of flying. Like most nervous flyers, he thought that learning a bit about aviation – "How the hell a plane flies through the air" – would help. But, unlike most nervous flyers, Braff ended up learning how to pilot a plane. "I fell in love with it," he says. "I got my licence two years ago. I have a little single-engine four-seater. It's great for those hour-and-a-half hops around La."
It's an example of the extraordinary can-do spirit that has underpinned Braff's career. Best known for his eight-and-a-half-year turn as the nervy young doctor Jd in...
- 1/31/2012
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
Film's favourite Pm, David Cameron, stepped in to give his views on what sort of features deserve lottery funding – the big ones
The big story
What sort of British films do we want? Or, more specifically, what sort of British films does David Cameron want? More commercial, big-box-office ones it seems, as the prime minister carefully primed the media for the publication of the government's film policy review. His "remarks" were fed to the press overnight, in advance of his visit to the James Bond studios at Pinewood – leading to immediate suggestions that garlanded veterans like Mike Leigh were "finished". More films like The King's Speech and Slumdog Millionaire, please, said Cameron – but, as Peter Bradshaw pointed out, when politicians meddle in film-making, disaster is never far away. Perhaps Cameron could reflect on what might happen to a film he claimed to admire, Lindsay Anderson's If..., if it had it been around today.
The big story
What sort of British films do we want? Or, more specifically, what sort of British films does David Cameron want? More commercial, big-box-office ones it seems, as the prime minister carefully primed the media for the publication of the government's film policy review. His "remarks" were fed to the press overnight, in advance of his visit to the James Bond studios at Pinewood – leading to immediate suggestions that garlanded veterans like Mike Leigh were "finished". More films like The King's Speech and Slumdog Millionaire, please, said Cameron – but, as Peter Bradshaw pointed out, when politicians meddle in film-making, disaster is never far away. Perhaps Cameron could reflect on what might happen to a film he claimed to admire, Lindsay Anderson's If..., if it had it been around today.
- 1/12/2012
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
The fate of those four horny sixth-formers, currently on world tour, will tell us a lot about the prospects for British film overseas
In Russia, they're Переростки, in Italy Finalmente Maggiorenni, in France Les Boloss. Pay attention, because this could be important for the future of British film. The Inbetweeners, as we English christened them, are currently on world tour. The Russian translation literally means "children who are older than everyone else in their class", and the Italian "finally adults". But it's the French moniker, a slangy and pejorative splice of "bourgeois" and lopette ("fag") that properly shows how every country brings different cultural expectations to the same film. Premiere magazine's verdict – "The charm of the television vignettes is diluted through the course of a film whose awful comic tempo makes it resemble a fish-and-chips version of Les Sous-Doués en Vacances" [a 1982 comedy] – was typical of a more contemptuous strain of criticism...
In Russia, they're Переростки, in Italy Finalmente Maggiorenni, in France Les Boloss. Pay attention, because this could be important for the future of British film. The Inbetweeners, as we English christened them, are currently on world tour. The Russian translation literally means "children who are older than everyone else in their class", and the Italian "finally adults". But it's the French moniker, a slangy and pejorative splice of "bourgeois" and lopette ("fag") that properly shows how every country brings different cultural expectations to the same film. Premiere magazine's verdict – "The charm of the television vignettes is diluted through the course of a film whose awful comic tempo makes it resemble a fish-and-chips version of Les Sous-Doués en Vacances" [a 1982 comedy] – was typical of a more contemptuous strain of criticism...
- 1/10/2012
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
Guy Garvey, Isaac Julien, Martha Wainwright and other artists give their top tips for unleashing your inner genius
Guy Garvey, musician
• For fear of making us sound like the Waltons, my band [Elbow] are a huge source of inspiration for me. They're my peers, my family; when they come up with something impressive, it inspires me to come up with something equally impressive.
• Spending time in your own head is important. When I was a boy, I had to go to church every Sunday; the priest had an incomprehensible Irish accent, so I'd tune out for the whole hour, just spending time in my own thoughts. I still do that now; I'm often scribbling down fragments that later act like trigger-points for lyrics.
• A blank canvas can be very intimidating, so set yourself limitations. Mine are often set for me by the music the band has come up with. With The Birds,...
Guy Garvey, musician
• For fear of making us sound like the Waltons, my band [Elbow] are a huge source of inspiration for me. They're my peers, my family; when they come up with something impressive, it inspires me to come up with something equally impressive.
• Spending time in your own head is important. When I was a boy, I had to go to church every Sunday; the priest had an incomprehensible Irish accent, so I'd tune out for the whole hour, just spending time in my own thoughts. I still do that now; I'm often scribbling down fragments that later act like trigger-points for lyrics.
• A blank canvas can be very intimidating, so set yourself limitations. Mine are often set for me by the music the band has come up with. With The Birds,...
- 1/3/2012
- by Anthony Neilson, Ian Rickson, Martin Parr, Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
Julian Fellowes will start filming one next year. But we have already had three, haven't we?
Julian Fellowes, writer of Downton Abbey, is to turn his class-obsessed eye on Romeo and Juliet. Shooting starts in Verona and Siena in August; Hailee Steinfeld, star of True Grit, will play Juliet, with controversy already raging over Fellowes' script, which reportedly calls on her to strip off. Burberry model Douglas Booth is Romeo, while Gossip Girl's Ed Westwick plays Tybalt. But do we need another big-screen adaptation, after at least three other sets of star-cross'd lovers?
Laura Barnett
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds...
Julian Fellowes, writer of Downton Abbey, is to turn his class-obsessed eye on Romeo and Juliet. Shooting starts in Verona and Siena in August; Hailee Steinfeld, star of True Grit, will play Juliet, with controversy already raging over Fellowes' script, which reportedly calls on her to strip off. Burberry model Douglas Booth is Romeo, while Gossip Girl's Ed Westwick plays Tybalt. But do we need another big-screen adaptation, after at least three other sets of star-cross'd lovers?
Laura Barnett
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds...
- 11/10/2011
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
She's not a feminist, but says women are born creative. Juliette Binoche talks to Laura Barnett about her spat with Gérard Depardieu, bad reviews – and why acting is like peeling onions
One Sunday a couple of months ago, Juliette Binoche bumped into Gérard Depardieu while shopping in a Paris market. It was the first time the two titans of French cinema had met since Depardieu's bizarre public rant last year, in which he described her as "nothing" and "nobody".
"I just went up to him and grabbed him," she says, "and said, 'Hey, what happened, Gérard? Why are you so aggressive with me? What did I do to you?'"
Binoche turns up her palms and shrugs her shoulders, in that uniquely Gallic expression of frustration. "He said, 'Oh, I'm stupid. Sometimes I just do that, blah, blah.' Later, his agent called my agent to say, 'Gérard is very happy you are reconciled.
One Sunday a couple of months ago, Juliette Binoche bumped into Gérard Depardieu while shopping in a Paris market. It was the first time the two titans of French cinema had met since Depardieu's bizarre public rant last year, in which he described her as "nothing" and "nobody".
"I just went up to him and grabbed him," she says, "and said, 'Hey, what happened, Gérard? Why are you so aggressive with me? What did I do to you?'"
Binoche turns up her palms and shrugs her shoulders, in that uniquely Gallic expression of frustration. "He said, 'Oh, I'm stupid. Sometimes I just do that, blah, blah.' Later, his agent called my agent to say, 'Gérard is very happy you are reconciled.
- 7/31/2011
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
The RSC's legendary voice coach Cicely Berry has taught everyone from Sean Connery to Samuel L Jackson. But can she fix Laura Barnett's diction?
Cicely Berry is not impressed. I'm sitting on the floor, with my back against her legs, jiggling up and down while attempting to perform the "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" soliloquy from Macbeth. The last time I said these words aloud, I was about 12 years old and wearing a school uniform. And I certainly wasn't bouncing up and down at the time.
"You're not moving enough!" says Berry, the Royal Shakespeare Company's voice director. I bounce harder. "That's better! Can you feel the resonance?" I can. My voice has grown deeper, the words shake the pit of my stomach. "Creeps in this petty pace from day to day!" Suddenly, I sound like a proper actor. Almost.
Professional actors do this sort of voice exercise all...
Cicely Berry is not impressed. I'm sitting on the floor, with my back against her legs, jiggling up and down while attempting to perform the "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" soliloquy from Macbeth. The last time I said these words aloud, I was about 12 years old and wearing a school uniform. And I certainly wasn't bouncing up and down at the time.
"You're not moving enough!" says Berry, the Royal Shakespeare Company's voice director. I bounce harder. "That's better! Can you feel the resonance?" I can. My voice has grown deeper, the words shake the pit of my stomach. "Creeps in this petty pace from day to day!" Suddenly, I sound like a proper actor. Almost.
Professional actors do this sort of voice exercise all...
- 7/24/2011
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
Those pesky miniature Belgians are back, the release of the new 3D film The Smurfs this summer triggering blue-themed activity around the globe on 25 June
Saturday 25 June: Coldplay headline Glastonbury, it's the first Saturday of Wimbledon, and . . . Global Smurfs Day. Yes, you read that right: this Saturday is Global Smurfs Day, a celebration of everything small, blue and Smurf-like, and incontrovertible proof that those pesky miniature Belgians are riding the crest of an international wave.
It may have started as a blatant marketing exercise from Columbia and Sony Pictures ahead of the release of their new 3D film, The Smurfs, which is out in the Us next week (we Brits will have to wait until 10 August), but Global Smurfs Day appears to have been greeted with resounding enthusiasm. Fans from all over the world are preparing to don white trousers and caps, daub their torsos with blue paint, and congregate...
Saturday 25 June: Coldplay headline Glastonbury, it's the first Saturday of Wimbledon, and . . . Global Smurfs Day. Yes, you read that right: this Saturday is Global Smurfs Day, a celebration of everything small, blue and Smurf-like, and incontrovertible proof that those pesky miniature Belgians are riding the crest of an international wave.
It may have started as a blatant marketing exercise from Columbia and Sony Pictures ahead of the release of their new 3D film, The Smurfs, which is out in the Us next week (we Brits will have to wait until 10 August), but Global Smurfs Day appears to have been greeted with resounding enthusiasm. Fans from all over the world are preparing to don white trousers and caps, daub their torsos with blue paint, and congregate...
- 6/22/2011
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
'I'm a good person. I have ethics. I haven't let my parents down. And I've run the marathon three times'
What got you started?
Doing amateur dramatics in my spare time. I was working as a secretary, and I didn't take theatre seriously at first. But then people started to say I could be a professional. I applied to drama school and, lo and behold, I got in.
What was your big breakthrough?
Working with Mike Leigh. I've worked with him twice – first on a film for the BBC called Grown-ups, and then on Secrets and Lies. It really opened the door for me internationally.
Which other artists do you admire?
Harriet Walter. Not only is she an excellent actor, she's also a linguist and has written many books. When I was working with her on The Imitation Game, my first film for TV, she gave me a great piece of advice.
What got you started?
Doing amateur dramatics in my spare time. I was working as a secretary, and I didn't take theatre seriously at first. But then people started to say I could be a professional. I applied to drama school and, lo and behold, I got in.
What was your big breakthrough?
Working with Mike Leigh. I've worked with him twice – first on a film for the BBC called Grown-ups, and then on Secrets and Lies. It really opened the door for me internationally.
Which other artists do you admire?
Harriet Walter. Not only is she an excellent actor, she's also a linguist and has written many books. When I was working with her on The Imitation Game, my first film for TV, she gave me a great piece of advice.
- 5/3/2011
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
'I don't like other actors much – they're mostly insecure and needy. I can't bear that "luvvy darling" thing'
What got you started?
Real ale. When I was 15 I joined the Glasgow Youth Theatre. After one of the first sessions, we went along to a pub in the Gorbals, where we were allowed to sit and drink in a secret snug behind the bar. I thought, if this is what acting's all about, make mine a double.
What was your big breakthrough?
Gregory's Girl was the start of it all. But equally important for me was doing my first musical, She Loves Me, in 1995 – I discovered the joy of singing.
What have you sacrificed for your art?
Living in Scotland. My first agent, Duncan Heath, told me I needed to move to London to make my career work. I was 18 when I moved, and I didn't tell my mum and dad.
What got you started?
Real ale. When I was 15 I joined the Glasgow Youth Theatre. After one of the first sessions, we went along to a pub in the Gorbals, where we were allowed to sit and drink in a secret snug behind the bar. I thought, if this is what acting's all about, make mine a double.
What was your big breakthrough?
Gregory's Girl was the start of it all. But equally important for me was doing my first musical, She Loves Me, in 1995 – I discovered the joy of singing.
What have you sacrificed for your art?
Living in Scotland. My first agent, Duncan Heath, told me I needed to move to London to make my career work. I was 18 when I moved, and I didn't tell my mum and dad.
- 1/31/2011
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
Unfortunately, Laura Barnett's report only shows half the dire cultural picture (D-day in Somerset, G2, 10 November). In the Somerset county council-maintained heritage service, savings of £200,000 over three years are planned – about 12% of its already inadequate operating budget. This is the service that operates major public museums in Taunton (due to open next year) and Glastonbury. It recently opened a fine new heritage centre for the outstandingly important records and object collections from the county, and advises on the protection of Somerset's wealth of archaeological sites and historic buildings.
Next year the new Museum of Somerset opens in Taunton castle. This is a key component in the regeneration of the town. Without adequate funding, there is a serious risk that the public benefit of this investment will not be realised.
Max Hebditch
Chair, Taunton Cultural Consortium
• This week Somerset county council is to vote on cutting its arts budget to zero.
Next year the new Museum of Somerset opens in Taunton castle. This is a key component in the regeneration of the town. Without adequate funding, there is a serious risk that the public benefit of this investment will not be realised.
Max Hebditch
Chair, Taunton Cultural Consortium
• This week Somerset county council is to vote on cutting its arts budget to zero.
- 11/11/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
Idontgeddits rubbish Agatha Christie whodunnits, in defence of Dundee, and a heartrending letter on abortion
✒ What is it they say about journalists? First we build people up, then we knock 'em down . . . Last Friday it was Agatha Christie's turn, as Lucy Mangan kicked against nine decades of adulation. "I have tried many times to get into Christie's books," she wrote. "But I have always found her unreadable. There is little to distract the reader from the sense of information being parcelled out at careful intervals by an all-controlling hand. Her characters are ciphers, the dialogue is frequently risible . . ." The so-called masterpieces, she reckoned, are not so much whodunnits as idontgeddits.
Over at guardian.co.uk/g2, Christie's reputation soon had more holes in it than a corpse on the Orient Express. "Hooray," cheered GreetingsfromBerlin. "I'm totally with you on this." So were philobile ("Finally, someone who feels about AC...
✒ What is it they say about journalists? First we build people up, then we knock 'em down . . . Last Friday it was Agatha Christie's turn, as Lucy Mangan kicked against nine decades of adulation. "I have tried many times to get into Christie's books," she wrote. "But I have always found her unreadable. There is little to distract the reader from the sense of information being parcelled out at careful intervals by an all-controlling hand. Her characters are ciphers, the dialogue is frequently risible . . ." The so-called masterpieces, she reckoned, are not so much whodunnits as idontgeddits.
Over at guardian.co.uk/g2, Christie's reputation soon had more holes in it than a corpse on the Orient Express. "Hooray," cheered GreetingsfromBerlin. "I'm totally with you on this." So were philobile ("Finally, someone who feels about AC...
- 10/7/2010
- by Phil Daoust
- The Guardian - Film News
Kung fu teacher Tim Prescott finds that this remake starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith feels less Hollywood-ised than the original
Unlike the original Karate Kid movie, this remake doesn't feature any karate. The martial art we see here is kung fu. It's set in Beijing, as opposed to La, and Jackie Chan, playing Mr Han, is teaching 12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) kung fu – so he can defend himself against playground bullies. The focus on kung fu is a good thing: karate is just one form of martial art, while kung fu encompasses all of them.
Some of the kung fu sequences are pure fairytale. Mr Han teaches Dre a technique called "jacket on, jacket off". He makes the boy stand out in the yard for days on end, taking his jacket off, putting it on the ground, and picking it up again. Then Mr Han attacks him, shouting: "Jacket off!
Unlike the original Karate Kid movie, this remake doesn't feature any karate. The martial art we see here is kung fu. It's set in Beijing, as opposed to La, and Jackie Chan, playing Mr Han, is teaching 12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) kung fu – so he can defend himself against playground bullies. The focus on kung fu is a good thing: karate is just one form of martial art, while kung fu encompasses all of them.
Some of the kung fu sequences are pure fairytale. Mr Han teaches Dre a technique called "jacket on, jacket off". He makes the boy stand out in the yard for days on end, taking his jacket off, putting it on the ground, and picking it up again. Then Mr Han attacks him, shouting: "Jacket off!
- 8/3/2010
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
'Why are there so few women directors? Oh my God,
I want to shake everyone and ask them that question'
What got you started?
My impatience with waiting for life to happen. For seven years, I made films in the cinéma vérité tradition – photographing what was happening without manipulating it. Then I realised I wanted to make things happen for myself, through feature films.
What was your big breakthrough?
The world premiere of Salaam Bombay! in Cannes [in 1988]. It got a 40-minute ovation. I wanted to flee, but they locked the doors.
What one song would work as the soundtrack to your life?
Allah Hoo by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It teaches you to surrender to something larger than yourself.
Why are there so few women film directors?
Oh my God, isn't it just terrible! I want to shake everyone and ask them that question. Making films is about having absolute...
I want to shake everyone and ask them that question'
What got you started?
My impatience with waiting for life to happen. For seven years, I made films in the cinéma vérité tradition – photographing what was happening without manipulating it. Then I realised I wanted to make things happen for myself, through feature films.
What was your big breakthrough?
The world premiere of Salaam Bombay! in Cannes [in 1988]. It got a 40-minute ovation. I wanted to flee, but they locked the doors.
What one song would work as the soundtrack to your life?
Allah Hoo by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It teaches you to surrender to something larger than yourself.
Why are there so few women film directors?
Oh my God, isn't it just terrible! I want to shake everyone and ask them that question. Making films is about having absolute...
- 11/9/2009
- by Laura Barnett
- The Guardian - Film News
Writer-director John Huddles is clearly working out psychological issues in his debut feature, "Far Harbor", which opened exclusively Friday at New York's Quad Cinema.
In this tale of a bunch of Generation X-ers hanging during a weekend marked by emotional confrontations, the central character is a filmmaker filled with bitter resentment at the mega-director whose 120-foot yacht berthed in the town's harbor is a visual symbol of unattainable success. This unseen figure is referred to as "Mr. Spreckman", a name that was used after Steven Spielberg expressed his displeasure over the film's original title, "Mr. Spielberg's Boat".
The boat reminds the bitter young English filmmaker Frick (Edward Atterton) of his own recent failures in the movie business. He finds his friends little comfort. They include: Ellie (Jennifer Connelly), a young woman of fragile emotional stability; her husband Ry (Jim True), and her tough-talking, protective sister, Arabella (Marcia Gay Harden); Bradley (Dan Futterman), a successful New York surgeon, and his younger girlfriend Kiki Tracee Ellis Ross, Diana's daughter); Jordan (George Newbern), an heir to a dairy farm fortune; and his free-spirited friend Trey (Andrew Lauren, Ralph's son).
Feel-good emotions are little evident in this modern-day "Big Chill"; these friends are more likely to attack than comfort each other. Frick, the central character, is a particularly unpleasant creation, a thoroughly repugnant sort who uses hostility as a way to counter his own insecurities. The film is an endless cycle of nasty comments, veiled insults and bitter recriminations, with a minimum of comic relief.
The chief virtue of this laborious effort is the outstanding ensemble cast of future stars. Some -- such as Connelly, Futterman ("The Birdcage") and Harden -- already have extensive film credits but haven't yet hit the right break. Others are newcomers; Ross is just as beautiful as her mother and has an impressive naturalness in front of the camera. And Atterton, a British stage actor, manages the difficult feat of making the obnoxious Frick a compelling character.
FAR HARBOR
Castle Hill Prods.
Director-screenplay John Huddles
Producer Gigi De Pourtales Davis
Executive producers John Huddles,
Gary Huddles, John Wolstenholme
Co-producer Laura Barnett
Director of photography Tami Reiker
Editors Wilton Henderson, Margaret Guinee,
Janice Keuhnelian
Cast:
Frick Edward Atterton
Ellie Jennifer Connelly
Brad Dan Futterman
Arabella Marcia Gay Harden
Trey Andrew Lauren
Jordan George Newbern
Kiki Tracee Ellis Ross
Ryland Jim True
Running time -- 101 minutes
No MPAA rating...
In this tale of a bunch of Generation X-ers hanging during a weekend marked by emotional confrontations, the central character is a filmmaker filled with bitter resentment at the mega-director whose 120-foot yacht berthed in the town's harbor is a visual symbol of unattainable success. This unseen figure is referred to as "Mr. Spreckman", a name that was used after Steven Spielberg expressed his displeasure over the film's original title, "Mr. Spielberg's Boat".
The boat reminds the bitter young English filmmaker Frick (Edward Atterton) of his own recent failures in the movie business. He finds his friends little comfort. They include: Ellie (Jennifer Connelly), a young woman of fragile emotional stability; her husband Ry (Jim True), and her tough-talking, protective sister, Arabella (Marcia Gay Harden); Bradley (Dan Futterman), a successful New York surgeon, and his younger girlfriend Kiki Tracee Ellis Ross, Diana's daughter); Jordan (George Newbern), an heir to a dairy farm fortune; and his free-spirited friend Trey (Andrew Lauren, Ralph's son).
Feel-good emotions are little evident in this modern-day "Big Chill"; these friends are more likely to attack than comfort each other. Frick, the central character, is a particularly unpleasant creation, a thoroughly repugnant sort who uses hostility as a way to counter his own insecurities. The film is an endless cycle of nasty comments, veiled insults and bitter recriminations, with a minimum of comic relief.
The chief virtue of this laborious effort is the outstanding ensemble cast of future stars. Some -- such as Connelly, Futterman ("The Birdcage") and Harden -- already have extensive film credits but haven't yet hit the right break. Others are newcomers; Ross is just as beautiful as her mother and has an impressive naturalness in front of the camera. And Atterton, a British stage actor, manages the difficult feat of making the obnoxious Frick a compelling character.
FAR HARBOR
Castle Hill Prods.
Director-screenplay John Huddles
Producer Gigi De Pourtales Davis
Executive producers John Huddles,
Gary Huddles, John Wolstenholme
Co-producer Laura Barnett
Director of photography Tami Reiker
Editors Wilton Henderson, Margaret Guinee,
Janice Keuhnelian
Cast:
Frick Edward Atterton
Ellie Jennifer Connelly
Brad Dan Futterman
Arabella Marcia Gay Harden
Trey Andrew Lauren
Jordan George Newbern
Kiki Tracee Ellis Ross
Ryland Jim True
Running time -- 101 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 11/25/1996
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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