A recurring motif in the films of Jia Zhang-ke is the enchantment of watching his extraordinary muse, Zhao Tao, dance — in the glitzy faux-Vegas spectacles of The World; leading a routine to the Pet Shop Boys’ “Go West” in Mountains May Depart; strutting in formation to the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A” in Ash Is Purest White. In the Chinese master filmmaker’s decades-spanning drama Caught by the Tides (Feng Liu Yi Dai), Zhao shimmies around a dance floor to pulsing Edm, unaware that the man in her life will soon leave town, dropping her into a 20-year romantic limbo.
Eclectic music choices have always played an important part in Jia’s chronicles of social change and shifting values in a contemporary China surging forward, driven by cultural and economic expansion, urbanization and globalization, its traditional insularity increasingly pierced by Western influences.
Songs are more present than ever in his new film.
Eclectic music choices have always played an important part in Jia’s chronicles of social change and shifting values in a contemporary China surging forward, driven by cultural and economic expansion, urbanization and globalization, its traditional insularity increasingly pierced by Western influences.
Songs are more present than ever in his new film.
- 5/18/2024
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Amsterdam- and Beijing-based Fortissimo Films is to pre-sell Chinese crime drama “Family at large,” kicking off at the Cannes Market.
The film had previously been announced with sales handled jointly by Fortissimo and Rediance. Now, Fortissimo alone is representing rights worldwide, ex-China.
Directed by Kang Bo, the film is set in the chilly far north of the country. A man, nicknamed “Reindeer,”, is released from prison and becomes involved in a child-abduction case across Northeast China. The man, a pregnant young woman and a mute boy wade into the dense forests of the frozen North in search of an abducted child. The film exposes a family-run human trafficking organization and portrays the underworld of the Northern border of China.
The cast is headed by the in-demand Hu Ge “(“The Wild Goose Lake,” Wong Kar-wai’s TV series “Blossoms”), “Angels Wear White” star Wen Qi (aka Vicky Chen), Yan Ni and Song Jia.
The film had previously been announced with sales handled jointly by Fortissimo and Rediance. Now, Fortissimo alone is representing rights worldwide, ex-China.
Directed by Kang Bo, the film is set in the chilly far north of the country. A man, nicknamed “Reindeer,”, is released from prison and becomes involved in a child-abduction case across Northeast China. The man, a pregnant young woman and a mute boy wade into the dense forests of the frozen North in search of an abducted child. The film exposes a family-run human trafficking organization and portrays the underworld of the Northern border of China.
The cast is headed by the in-demand Hu Ge “(“The Wild Goose Lake,” Wong Kar-wai’s TV series “Blossoms”), “Angels Wear White” star Wen Qi (aka Vicky Chen), Yan Ni and Song Jia.
- 5/9/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
China- and Netherlands-based sales firm Fortissimo Films has picked up the international rights to new Chinese sports feature film “Wild Punch.” It will launch the film in territories outside mainland China next week at the Cannes Market.
Co-directed by well-established director Yu Lik-wai and Wang Jing (“The Best Is Yet to Come”), “Wild Punch is a sports and action drama about a top mixed martial arts athlete who has passed the peak of his career and faces competition from his young and gifted trainee. Both with something to prove, the two will have to face each other in the ring.
Yu has directed four feature films, including Cannes competition title “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and Venice title “Plastic City.” He is also well-established as a cinematographer who has worked on films including “Still Life,” “A Touch of Sin,” and “Mountains May Depart” by Jia Zhangke, Lou Ye’s “Love...
Co-directed by well-established director Yu Lik-wai and Wang Jing (“The Best Is Yet to Come”), “Wild Punch is a sports and action drama about a top mixed martial arts athlete who has passed the peak of his career and faces competition from his young and gifted trainee. Both with something to prove, the two will have to face each other in the ring.
Yu has directed four feature films, including Cannes competition title “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and Venice title “Plastic City.” He is also well-established as a cinematographer who has worked on films including “Still Life,” “A Touch of Sin,” and “Mountains May Depart” by Jia Zhangke, Lou Ye’s “Love...
- 5/6/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
The “Best is Yet to Come” is based on the life of Han Fudong, a young journalist who exposed the fact that the social stigma against people suffering from hepatitis B in China was actually indoctrinated in the system. Considering that the sickness is endemic in China, and that in 2003 around 100 million people had it, the story resulted in a scandal which also made its author a kind of a star reporter in the country. The movie however, focuses more on his story up to that point.
“The Best is Yet to Come” is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema
In that fashion, it begins by showing Han Dong, the protagonist, a high school dropout, trying to get an interview at a newspaper in a job fair, but being completely neglected due to his lack of credentials and experience. The life of both him and his girlfriend, Xiao Zhu, is...
“The Best is Yet to Come” is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema
In that fashion, it begins by showing Han Dong, the protagonist, a high school dropout, trying to get an interview at a newspaper in a job fair, but being completely neglected due to his lack of credentials and experience. The life of both him and his girlfriend, Xiao Zhu, is...
- 9/29/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Winner of Best Picture at the 9th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 36th Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, among others, “Ordinary Heroes” has Ann Hui focusing on another type of boat people, this time the Yau Ma Tei, people who ended up living on their boats for a variety of reasons. As their living circumstances deteriorated at the end of the 70s, a number of protests, both by them and by activists, took place, against the fact that the government had never carried out a tenancy registration for them, which made it very difficul for them to resettle on land. One of the key figures in their fight was Father Franco Mella, who referred cases to volunteers and social workers, bringing more and more NGOs, such as the Society of Community Organization and Kwun Tong Inquiry Service, into the issue, while also helping with their education. The film focuses...
- 7/30/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
This article was produced as part of the Locarno Critics Academy, a workshop for aspiring journalists at the Locarno Film Festival, a collaboration between the Locarno Film Festival, IndieWire and the Film Society of Lincoln Center with the support of Film Comment and the Swiss Alliance of Film Journalists.
While Ken Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake” was surprisingly awarded the Palme d’Or this May, many critics slammed the film (and Cannes judges) for its blunt portrayal of the disenfranchised worker. Few audiences dig being preached at, and Loach’s politics were seen to trump its storytelling. Regardless of how mawkish one may find Loach’s alleged swan song, his concern for a 59-year-old ex-carpenter from Newcastle battling to stay on welfare connected with the George Miller-led jury, highlighting the resonance of Loach’s timely social critique.
It should be no surprise then that the jobless were frequent fixtures at the 2016 Locarno Film Festival,...
While Ken Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake” was surprisingly awarded the Palme d’Or this May, many critics slammed the film (and Cannes judges) for its blunt portrayal of the disenfranchised worker. Few audiences dig being preached at, and Loach’s politics were seen to trump its storytelling. Regardless of how mawkish one may find Loach’s alleged swan song, his concern for a 59-year-old ex-carpenter from Newcastle battling to stay on welfare connected with the George Miller-led jury, highlighting the resonance of Loach’s timely social critique.
It should be no surprise then that the jobless were frequent fixtures at the 2016 Locarno Film Festival,...
- 8/11/2016
- by Annabel Brady-Brown
- Indiewire
Six months after announcing intentions to double the number of female and minority members in its ranks by 2020, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 683 new members to join the organization. Forty-six percent of new invitees are female and 41 percent ethnic minorities, the Academy said, adding that the roster boasts 28 Oscar winners and 98 nominees. The youngest invitee is 24 and the oldest 91. Here is the list of the Asians included.
Actors
Kim Daniel-dae S. Korea
Lee Byung-hun S. Korea
Tatsuya Nakadai Japan
Cinematographers
Peter Pau China
Poon Hang-Sang China
Nelson Yu Lik-Wai China
Zhao Fei China
Designers
Yoshihito Akatsuka Japan
Directors
Hou Hsiao-Hsien China
Naomi Kawase Japan
Kim So-yong S. Jorea
Kiyoshi Kurosawa Japan
Apichatpong Weerasethakul Thailand
Park Chan-wook S. Korea
Documentary
Kazuo Hara JApan
Emiko Omori Japan
Trinh T. Minh-ha Vietnam
Jean Tsien Taiwan
Wang Bing China
Music
Shigeru Umebayashi Japan
Producers
Albert Lee China
Short...
Actors
Kim Daniel-dae S. Korea
Lee Byung-hun S. Korea
Tatsuya Nakadai Japan
Cinematographers
Peter Pau China
Poon Hang-Sang China
Nelson Yu Lik-Wai China
Zhao Fei China
Designers
Yoshihito Akatsuka Japan
Directors
Hou Hsiao-Hsien China
Naomi Kawase Japan
Kim So-yong S. Jorea
Kiyoshi Kurosawa Japan
Apichatpong Weerasethakul Thailand
Park Chan-wook S. Korea
Documentary
Kazuo Hara JApan
Emiko Omori Japan
Trinh T. Minh-ha Vietnam
Jean Tsien Taiwan
Wang Bing China
Music
Shigeru Umebayashi Japan
Producers
Albert Lee China
Short...
- 6/30/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
A decidedly different piece of cinema from his last, breathlessly visceral A Touch Of Sin, legendary Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhang-ke’s latest motion picture, Mountains May Depart is not only one of the auteur’s most accessible works, but despite its sputtering final act, one of his most entrancing.
Despite also having a narrative broken up into segments, A Touch Of Sin’s brutal exploration of violence born out of oppression and vignette-style structure is nowhere to be found here, with Jia Zhang-ke opting for a story that feels far more personal, and far more narratively engaging. Mountains May Depart is a story told over 26 years, with our story touching down in the past (1999), relative present (2014) and the near future (2025). In the first segment, we’re introduced to a schoolteacher named Tao, who is caught in what appears to be a love triangle between she, her closest friend...
Despite also having a narrative broken up into segments, A Touch Of Sin’s brutal exploration of violence born out of oppression and vignette-style structure is nowhere to be found here, with Jia Zhang-ke opting for a story that feels far more personal, and far more narratively engaging. Mountains May Depart is a story told over 26 years, with our story touching down in the past (1999), relative present (2014) and the near future (2025). In the first segment, we’re introduced to a schoolteacher named Tao, who is caught in what appears to be a love triangle between she, her closest friend...
- 2/12/2016
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Titles include London Stories from Hana Makhmalbaf [pictured].Scroll down for full selection
Busan’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has announced this year’s line-up to include Hana Makhmalbaf’s London Stories and Yu Lik Wai’s A Mean To An End.
In its 18th year, the co-production market will showcase 30 projects from 15 countries including the UK, China, Vietnam and Iraq.
Up to last year, Apm selected a total of 442 projects of which 200 were completed and screened at film festivals around the world.
Organizers noted a rising trend of international co-productions tailored from the pre-production stage, not only between Asian countries but also European and Asian countries.
This year’s line-up also includes up-and-coming directors such as 2014 Cannes Un Certain Regard film Titli director Janu Behl with family comedy Agra, a India-France co-production, and 2014 Rotterdam invitee Siti director Eddie Cahyono with The Wasted Land, a story about an Indonesian peasant who is ready to do anything she can...
Busan’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has announced this year’s line-up to include Hana Makhmalbaf’s London Stories and Yu Lik Wai’s A Mean To An End.
In its 18th year, the co-production market will showcase 30 projects from 15 countries including the UK, China, Vietnam and Iraq.
Up to last year, Apm selected a total of 442 projects of which 200 were completed and screened at film festivals around the world.
Organizers noted a rising trend of international co-productions tailored from the pre-production stage, not only between Asian countries but also European and Asian countries.
This year’s line-up also includes up-and-coming directors such as 2014 Cannes Un Certain Regard film Titli director Janu Behl with family comedy Agra, a India-France co-production, and 2014 Rotterdam invitee Siti director Eddie Cahyono with The Wasted Land, a story about an Indonesian peasant who is ready to do anything she can...
- 8/3/2015
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Direct from its world-premiere screening at the Cannes Film Festival, Sff and Vivid Ideas are proud to present the Australian Premiere of the highly anticipated futuristic thriller The Rover and host director David Michôd, actors Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson and producer Liz Watts at the State Theatre on Saturday 7 June. The Rover screens as part of Sff’s Official Competition. Michôd, Pearce, Pattinson and Watts will also give a talk as part of Vivid Ideas at Town Hall on Sunday 8 June.
Actor Cate Blanchett will attend the Festival to introduce a special screening of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 the second chapter of the epic trilogy in which Blanchett is the voice of the character Valka. The screening is held at 2pm on Public Holiday Monday, 9 June, at Event Cinemas George Street.
UK visual artists and film directors Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard introduce Sff’s Opening Night Film,...
Actor Cate Blanchett will attend the Festival to introduce a special screening of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 the second chapter of the epic trilogy in which Blanchett is the voice of the character Valka. The screening is held at 2pm on Public Holiday Monday, 9 June, at Event Cinemas George Street.
UK visual artists and film directors Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard introduce Sff’s Opening Night Film,...
- 5/30/2014
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
A Touch of Sin
Written and directed by Jia Zhangke
China, 2013
Jia Zhangke’s opening scene for A Touch of Sin acts as a device for reintroduction. We have previously seen the sixth generation Chinese auteur craft with slow-paced sensibility and political tinge to win over audiences with Unknown Pleasures (2002), The World (2004), and Still Life (2006). The aesthete continues to creep alongside Jia’s work as his camera quietly pursues a man on a motorcycle, donning a Chicago Bulls skullcap and weighty cargo jacket, manufactured black but padded with a layer of dust. His journey is halted by three axe-wielding thugs demanding that he pay them before continuing. In another work by Jia, the man would have obliged in a symbolic gesture referencing the petty thievery involved in China’s newfound capitalistic empire. The symbolic gestures remain, but this man won’t easily oblige. Instead, he instinctively draws his pistol and fires,...
Written and directed by Jia Zhangke
China, 2013
Jia Zhangke’s opening scene for A Touch of Sin acts as a device for reintroduction. We have previously seen the sixth generation Chinese auteur craft with slow-paced sensibility and political tinge to win over audiences with Unknown Pleasures (2002), The World (2004), and Still Life (2006). The aesthete continues to creep alongside Jia’s work as his camera quietly pursues a man on a motorcycle, donning a Chicago Bulls skullcap and weighty cargo jacket, manufactured black but padded with a layer of dust. His journey is halted by three axe-wielding thugs demanding that he pay them before continuing. In another work by Jia, the man would have obliged in a symbolic gesture referencing the petty thievery involved in China’s newfound capitalistic empire. The symbolic gestures remain, but this man won’t easily oblige. Instead, he instinctively draws his pistol and fires,...
- 4/8/2014
- by Zach Lewis
- SoundOnSight
A Touch of Sin
Written and directed by Jia Zhangke
Japan, 2013
Jia Zhangke rightfully walked away with a Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival for A Touch of Sin, an intricately plotted exploration of violence and corruption in contemporary China. Sin is a grim but poetic crime film, which the writer-director based on four shocking and true headline-making events, while browsing the Internet for stories of violent crimes censored by the government. These stories reveal a growing restlessness between China’s new ruling class and the working class, and paint an artful condemnation of the Chinese state capitalism. All four stories centre around tragedies of a common man or woman, all set in different regions of China, and all ending in bloodshed. The protagonists in each of its subsets are driven to violent ends while living in the world’s fastest-growing economy.
The first story follows Dahai, a...
Written and directed by Jia Zhangke
Japan, 2013
Jia Zhangke rightfully walked away with a Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival for A Touch of Sin, an intricately plotted exploration of violence and corruption in contemporary China. Sin is a grim but poetic crime film, which the writer-director based on four shocking and true headline-making events, while browsing the Internet for stories of violent crimes censored by the government. These stories reveal a growing restlessness between China’s new ruling class and the working class, and paint an artful condemnation of the Chinese state capitalism. All four stories centre around tragedies of a common man or woman, all set in different regions of China, and all ending in bloodshed. The protagonists in each of its subsets are driven to violent ends while living in the world’s fastest-growing economy.
The first story follows Dahai, a...
- 10/23/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
"After an elderly maid for a Hong Kong film producer has a stroke, he finds a nursing home for her to move into," begins Shelly Kraicer in Cinema Scope. "With that simple premise, based on the real life story of producer Roger Lee and his actual family's amah Chung Chun-tao (aka Ah Tao), Hong Kong director Ann Hui has crafted one of her greatest films. This low-key masterpiece of almost documentary realism features big stars and non-professionals: king of Hong Kong cinema Andy Lau plays Roger and the remarkable actress Deannie Yip plays Ah Tao, while the home's elderly residents play themselves…. Ann Hui's brilliant filmography extends back to 1979, and this new work instantly earns pride of place as one of its glories."
"A Simple Life is loaded with cameos by celebrities from Hong Kong's action-packed cinema including martial-arts legends Tsui Hark and Sammo Hung," notes Neil Young in the Hollywood Reporter.
"A Simple Life is loaded with cameos by celebrities from Hong Kong's action-packed cinema including martial-arts legends Tsui Hark and Sammo Hung," notes Neil Young in the Hollywood Reporter.
- 9/7/2011
- MUBI
Tina Mabry's "Mississippi Damned," an independent American production, won the Gold Hugo as the best film in the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival, and added Gold Plaques for best supporting actress (Jossie Thacker) and best screenplay (Mabry). It tells the harrowing story of three black children growing up in rural Mississippi in circumstances of violence and addiction. The film's trailer and an interview with Mabry are linked at the bottom.
Kylee Russell in "Mississippi Damned"
The win came over a crowed field of competitors from all over the world, many of them with much larger budgets. The other big winner at the Pump Room of the Ambassador East awards ceremony Saturday evening was by veteran master Marco Bellocchio of Italy, who won the Silver Hugo as best director for "Vincere," the story of Mussolini's younger brother. Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi won Silver Hugos as best actress and actor,...
Kylee Russell in "Mississippi Damned"
The win came over a crowed field of competitors from all over the world, many of them with much larger budgets. The other big winner at the Pump Room of the Ambassador East awards ceremony Saturday evening was by veteran master Marco Bellocchio of Italy, who won the Silver Hugo as best director for "Vincere," the story of Mussolini's younger brother. Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi won Silver Hugos as best actress and actor,...
- 10/23/2009
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Year: 2008
Directors: Nelson Yu Lik-wai
Writers: Nelson Yu Lik-wai & Fernando Bonassi & Fendou Liu
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Bob Doto
Rating: 6 out of 10
Plastic City is a film about a young man named Kirin (Joe Odagiri) dealing with the future of his knock-off business inherited from his adoptive father, Yuda (Anthony Wong), who is an aging dealer in faux merch, the kind you're inevitably buying on Canal St. in NYC. Kirin's father is simultaneously a strong-arm, and a sad case of lost-his-edge. Interesting and behind-the-scenes politics abound in this world of Chinese / Japanese society living in Brazilian society making for an identity politics mash-up tossed into a corrupt cop salad.
Plastic City is filmed from a cool distance dipped in warm tones uncommon for scenes set in the sometimes gritty indoor mall-ness of Sao Paolo. At times Brazil's seedy smuggling underbelly felt almost cozy, like a place you'd want...
Directors: Nelson Yu Lik-wai
Writers: Nelson Yu Lik-wai & Fernando Bonassi & Fendou Liu
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Bob Doto
Rating: 6 out of 10
Plastic City is a film about a young man named Kirin (Joe Odagiri) dealing with the future of his knock-off business inherited from his adoptive father, Yuda (Anthony Wong), who is an aging dealer in faux merch, the kind you're inevitably buying on Canal St. in NYC. Kirin's father is simultaneously a strong-arm, and a sad case of lost-his-edge. Interesting and behind-the-scenes politics abound in this world of Chinese / Japanese society living in Brazilian society making for an identity politics mash-up tossed into a corrupt cop salad.
Plastic City is filmed from a cool distance dipped in warm tones uncommon for scenes set in the sometimes gritty indoor mall-ness of Sao Paolo. At times Brazil's seedy smuggling underbelly felt almost cozy, like a place you'd want...
- 6/21/2009
- QuietEarth.us
[Our thanks to James Marsh for the following review.]
Nearly a full year after it was fairly savaged at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, Yu Lik Wai’s Brazil-set existential crime drama finally sees the light of day. Heavily criticised for its lack of real narrative, nearly half an hour has been excised from the original version, which now clocks in at a modest 96 minutes. However, I can only imagine what an ordeal the original version must have been as even in this truncated cut Plastic City quickly descends into incoherence.
Nearly a full year after it was fairly savaged at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, Yu Lik Wai’s Brazil-set existential crime drama finally sees the light of day. Heavily criticised for its lack of real narrative, nearly half an hour has been excised from the original version, which now clocks in at a modest 96 minutes. However, I can only imagine what an ordeal the original version must have been as even in this truncated cut Plastic City quickly descends into incoherence.
- 6/12/2009
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
Well this is a surprise. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has just released their picks for best of the year in the usual categories. What’s surprising about it though is that ‘Wall-e’ a film almost universally loved by critics and audiences alike has been named film of the year, beating out stiff competition from the likes of Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Wrestler’ and Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’.
The reason this is such a coup is that animated films are rarely (if ever) recognized as equal it quality to live action features, for example only one animated feature (’Beauty and the Beast’) has ever been nominated for best picture and it is part of the reason they introduced the best animated feature Oscar, so these films would receive some recognition.
So, does this mean ‘Wall-e’ will be nominated for best picture this year? Or can it perhaps even win the award?...
The reason this is such a coup is that animated films are rarely (if ever) recognized as equal it quality to live action features, for example only one animated feature (’Beauty and the Beast’) has ever been nominated for best picture and it is part of the reason they introduced the best animated feature Oscar, so these films would receive some recognition.
So, does this mean ‘Wall-e’ will be nominated for best picture this year? Or can it perhaps even win the award?...
- 12/12/2008
- by Dom Duncombe
- Movie-moron.com
- Does Pixar stand a chance at receiving an Academy Award Best Picture nomination this year? Kudos go to the Los Angeles Critics Assn. for picking Wall-e as the best film of the year and for backing Zhang-Ke Jia's Still Life – a picture that received a limited release in January and is being honored as Best Foreign and Best Cinematography by the group. West coast folks also found plenty of things to like about Brit titles Slumdog Millionaire and Happy Go Lucky. Director: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, "The Dark Knight” Actress: Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky"Runner-up: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River” Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk”Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler” Screenplay: Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky" Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, "Synecdoche, New York" Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and "Elegy" Runner-up: Viola Davis, "Doubt" Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight" Runner-up: Eddie Marsan, "Happy-Go-Lucky" Foreign Language Film: "Still Life
- 12/10/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
As Los Angeles Film Critics Association (Lafca) named the top achievements in 2008 on Tuesday, December 9, "Wall-e" comes out victorious, nailing the coveted title of the Best Picture of the Year. Winning over runner-up"The Dark Knight", the Andrew Stanton-directed film has become the first ever animation movie to be given the title by the association.
In the announcement made by Lael Loewenstein, President of the Lafca, it is also let out that Danny Boyle has been dubbed as Best Director for "Slumdog Millionaire", while Sean Penn has been hailed as Best Actor for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in "Milk". Moreover, other winners also include Best Actress Sally Hawkins, Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger and Best Supporting Actress Penelope Cruz.
Though winners have been revealed, the 34th annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards itself will be presented on January 12 at the InterContinental hotel, Los Angeles. The ceremony are...
In the announcement made by Lael Loewenstein, President of the Lafca, it is also let out that Danny Boyle has been dubbed as Best Director for "Slumdog Millionaire", while Sean Penn has been hailed as Best Actor for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in "Milk". Moreover, other winners also include Best Actress Sally Hawkins, Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger and Best Supporting Actress Penelope Cruz.
Though winners have been revealed, the 34th annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards itself will be presented on January 12 at the InterContinental hotel, Los Angeles. The ceremony are...
- 12/10/2008
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
Photo: Walt Disney/Pixar The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (Lafca) announced their winners today and in a surprise turn the group voted to award Disney/Pixar's Wall-e as their Best Picture of 2008 and astonishingly have The Dark Knight as their runner-up. I say the decision is a surprise only because Wall-e had basically been counted out for no reason other than it was an animated feature, but the La crix have really bumped up against tradition and even including the "it will never be nominated because it's a comic book movie" as their runner-up. A great day if you ask me, it shows some serious growth, but the surprises don't stop there. For Best Actress Sally Hawkins took the prize for Happy-Go-Lucky and we haven't heard much of a peep about her since the film's early October release. Heath Ledger took Supporting Actor with Eddie Marsan, also of Happy-Go-Lucky,...
- 12/10/2008
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
What a nice surprise. The Los Angeles Film Critics have named Wall•E their Best Picture of the year. I'm over the moon. Pun intended. I love it when critics organizations stake their claim boldy on "Best" rather than try and guess what 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences might be thinking. Why else should critics organizations exist? We have pundits and journalists for "predictions"
Pic: Wall•E (runner up The Dark Knight here and in Best Director)
Dir: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Actress: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Good for Sally after that painful snub this morning at the Bfca. My interview with Sally here if you missed it.
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Elegy
Screenplay: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Foreign Language film: Still Life
Documentary: Man on Wire
Animation: Waltz With Bashir
Cinematography: Yu Lik Wai,...
Pic: Wall•E (runner up The Dark Knight here and in Best Director)
Dir: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Actress: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Good for Sally after that painful snub this morning at the Bfca. My interview with Sally here if you missed it.
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Elegy
Screenplay: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Foreign Language film: Still Life
Documentary: Man on Wire
Animation: Waltz With Bashir
Cinematography: Yu Lik Wai,...
- 12/9/2008
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Per Movie City News:
Picture: “Wall-E” Runner-up: “The Dark Knight”
Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire” Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk” Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Actress: Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky” Runner-up: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight” Runner-up: Eddie Marsan, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Supporting actress: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Elegy” Runner-up: Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Screenplay: Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky” Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York”
Foreign-language film: “Still Life” Runner-up: “The Class”
Documentary: “Man on Wire” Runner-up: “Waltz With Bashir”
Animation: “Waltz With Bashir”
Cinematography: Yu Lik Wai, “Still Life” Runner-up: Anthony Dod Mantle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Production design: Mark Friedberg, “Synecdoche, New York” Runner-up: Nathan Crowley, “The Dark Knight”
Music/score: A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire” Runner-up: Alexandre Desplat, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
New Generation: Steve McQueen, “Hunger”
Douglas E. Edwards independent/experimental film/video: James Benning, “RR” and “Casting a Glance”...
Picture: “Wall-E” Runner-up: “The Dark Knight”
Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire” Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk” Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Actress: Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky” Runner-up: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight” Runner-up: Eddie Marsan, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Supporting actress: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Elegy” Runner-up: Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Screenplay: Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky” Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York”
Foreign-language film: “Still Life” Runner-up: “The Class”
Documentary: “Man on Wire” Runner-up: “Waltz With Bashir”
Animation: “Waltz With Bashir”
Cinematography: Yu Lik Wai, “Still Life” Runner-up: Anthony Dod Mantle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Production design: Mark Friedberg, “Synecdoche, New York” Runner-up: Nathan Crowley, “The Dark Knight”
Music/score: A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire” Runner-up: Alexandre Desplat, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
New Generation: Steve McQueen, “Hunger”
Douglas E. Edwards independent/experimental film/video: James Benning, “RR” and “Casting a Glance”...
- 12/9/2008
- by Sasha Stone
- AwardsDaily.com
For the first time in its history, the Los Angeles Critics Assn. honored an animated film as the year's best picture when it chose Pixar's "WALL-E" in its annual voting Tuesday. Curiously, to spread the wealth, the group honored the Israeli "Waltz With Bashir" as its best animated film.
The group did a similar thing in 2000 when it honored the Chinese-language "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as best picture while it selected the Taiwanese film "A One and a Two" as best foreign-language film.
The runner-up for best picture was Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight."
Otherwise, the awards were pretty much all over the place. The group selected Danny Boyle as best director for his Mumbai melody of drama, comedy and emotions, "Slumdog Millionaire." Runner-up was David Fincher for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
Sally Hawkins won as best actress for her role as the irrepressible schoolteacher in "Happy-Go-Lucky.
The group did a similar thing in 2000 when it honored the Chinese-language "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as best picture while it selected the Taiwanese film "A One and a Two" as best foreign-language film.
The runner-up for best picture was Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight."
Otherwise, the awards were pretty much all over the place. The group selected Danny Boyle as best director for his Mumbai melody of drama, comedy and emotions, "Slumdog Millionaire." Runner-up was David Fincher for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
Sally Hawkins won as best actress for her role as the irrepressible schoolteacher in "Happy-Go-Lucky.
- 12/9/2008
- by By Kirk Honeycutt
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Celluloid has signed the contract for the distribution two very interesting Brazilian films that focus on the contemporary social ills that plague the country.
Both the films Birdwatchers and Plastic City are produced by Sao Paulo based Gullane Filmes, one of Brazil’s top production companies.
“Birdwatchers” is majority produced by Amadeo Pagani’s Classic Film. Rai Cinema and Bechis’ Karta Films co-produced the pic, which Ocean will distribute in France.
Plastic City directed by Hong Kong based Yu Lik Wai. The film is based in the Liberdade...
(more...)...
Both the films Birdwatchers and Plastic City are produced by Sao Paulo based Gullane Filmes, one of Brazil’s top production companies.
“Birdwatchers” is majority produced by Amadeo Pagani’s Classic Film. Rai Cinema and Bechis’ Karta Films co-produced the pic, which Ocean will distribute in France.
Plastic City directed by Hong Kong based Yu Lik Wai. The film is based in the Liberdade...
(more...)...
- 8/19/2008
- by John
- ReelSuave.com
The Triad, Yakuza, and Brazilian mafia go head to head in Nelson Yu Lik-wai's Plastic City. "Set in the traditional oriental Liberdade neighborhood in downtown São Paulo, the story of Plastic City revolves around the relationship between Kirin and Yuda, father and son, a young impetuous dandy and an elderly Chinese outlawed. Together they head the pirated goods racket in Brazil. The magnate of false goods and his heir reign over the oriental neighborhood in the midst of rival gangsters, street hawkers, corrupted politicians and erotic dancers. But an empire conquered throughout the years can crumble to the ground in one false step. A politico-mafia conspiracy begins to menace Yuda. Little by little, he loses control of his business and is cast into a phase of decadence, culminating in his arrest. Kirin struggles to re-conquer his father’s honor, fighting this city war single handedly. But Yuda, feeling the years and tired of life,...
- 8/7/2008
- QuietEarth.us
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