Posts Tagged ‘Santa Barbara Film Festival’

Movie Day: “A Cabin in the Woods”

Sunday, April 8th, 2012

Our Cinema Society group started back up over the weekend with a screening of the soon-to-be-released horror film “A Cabin in the Woods.” Our email invite came with a disclaimer in bright red type that read “WARNING: STRONG VIOLENCE AND GORE.” I’m not a moviegoer who scares easily, so while some of my friends stayed away, I was eager to see a film that people have been saying redefines the horror genre.

We were asked not to reveal too much about the story, and there were enough men-in-black security guys from Lionsgate around the theater that I took the request seriously.

That said, this is a movie within a movie – i.e. there’s more going on than a bunch of kids who wind up at a haunted house. It throws every horror movie trope at you and then takes you in a totally different direction from where you thought you were headed.

Is that vague enough?

Okay, what happens is (SPOILER ALERT) there’s a “Truman Show” thing going on and our happy fivesome at the cabin are actually being manipulated by a larger force.

There are zombies and flesh-eating monsters and every manner of ghoul in the movie, along with a healthy dose of humor. I thought it was a lot of gory fun, if that’s not an oxymoron.

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Movie Sunday: “Like Crazy”

Sunday, December 4th, 2011

I finally saw the 2011 Sundance winner today at a Cinema Society screening, and it was every bit as charming as billed. A film that was made for about $200,000 (a shoestring budget, in other words), “Like Crazy” tells the story of two college kids – he’s an American, she’s a Brit attending the L.A. school on a student visa – who fall in love and spend the next seven years trying to negotiate a long distance relationship after she’s sent back home on an immigration violation.

What’s unusual about this film, other than it marks the U.S. debut of lovely young British actress Felicity Jones, who won the Sundance prize for Best Actress, is that virtually all the dialogue was improvised. The writer/director, Drake Doremus, wrote a detailed treatment but left it to the two lead actors to develop their own story. The result is that the whole endeavor feels incredibly real and true.

My only issue with the movie was the ending. There’s been a recent spate of films by young directors who seem to have an affection for leaving it to the audience to figure out what happens to the characters. During today’s Q&A with Doremus, he said that “love isn’t black and white; it’s gray” – or something like that. Which means that it’s not clear cut whether the two lovers end up together after all. Maybe they do and maybe they don’t. That’s the sort of ending “Like Crazy” has. Call me old fashioned, but I like it when we, the audience, is given some sort of clue as to what will happen. But I was in the minority at the screening, as most people thought the ending made sense. Oh, well.

Also at the Q&A was Felicity Jones, and she was adorable.

I look forward to seeing more from her.

 

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Movie Recommendation: “The Ides Of March”

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

I’d been hearing a lot about this one – from the raves at both the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals to all the Oscar chatter – and today I finally got to see it for myself at a screening of our Cinema Society group.

LOVED it. The best movie of the year for me so far. I liked “Moneyball” and Brad Pitt was great in it, but “The Ides of March” is first rate – suspenseful, smart, full of nuanced performances and a combo of a morality play and a political thriller.

Directed by George Clooney, whose body of work as a director gets more impressive with every release, the movie stars Ryan Gosling as an idealistic politico who’s working on the presidential campaign of a governor (played by Clooney). The always brilliant Philip Seymour Hoffman is Gosling’s boss, the veteran campaign manager, Marisa Tomei does a terrific turn as a dogged Washington reporter, Paul Giamatti runs the campaign of Clooney’s opponent and versatile Evan Rachel Wood plays a sexy young campaign intern.

Here’s the trailer.

I predict a Best Actor nomination for Gosling, Best Supporting noms for Hoffman and Clooney and a Best Director nom for Clooney for sure.

Now comes the really good part. Our screening was supposed to conclude with a Q&A with Paul Giamatti. Instead, after the credits rolled and the lights came on, we were told that Giamatti couldn’t make it….but that Clooney was coming instead! I was pysched.

Minutes later, George himself bounded down the aisle of the theater and sat on stage. God, he’s a gorgeous man – even more handsome in person.

And is he ever funny. He had the audience howling when he made jokes about his early days in television – very self-deprecating. He related interesting stories about his father running for office in Kentucky and about his actor friends who appear in the film and about how he was sure that Democrats will love the first half of the movie and Republicans will love the second half. Michael said to me as we were leaving, “Now there’s a guy whose life I wouldn’t mind having.”

Ya think?

The movie opens October 7th. It doesn’t have car chases or superheroes or wizards; it’s a film for grownups. I hope everybody goes to see it.

 

 

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Opening Night At The Santa Barbara Film Festival

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Festival Director Roger Durling/Santa Barbara Independent)

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the start of the 10-day festival here in SB, and tonight was the night. There will be films of all types, including many worldwide premieres. Also on tap will be glittery, star-studded tributes; among the honorees are Annette Bening (Warren Beatty will be along to hold her hand on the red carpet), Geoffrey Rush (Colin Firth will be the presenter) and Christopher Nolan (with Leonardo DiCaprio in tow), as well as Nicole Kidman, James Franco and a host of panels representing screenwriters, directors, producers, even bloggers.

Tonight’s Opener was the American premiere of “Sarah’s Key,” a French film based on the bestselling book.

(courtesy shelfari.com)

Starring Kristen Scott Thomas, who was supposed to appear at the screening but had last-minute scheduling conflicts, the French language film features two parallel tales – one of a young Jewish girl whose family is rounded up during the Holocaust and the other of the journalist who’s assigned to write about that period in France’s history.

Here’s the trailer.

I really wasn’t that eager to see the film, not having read the book, but I was so wrong. “Sarah’s Key” was brilliant – suspenseful, poignant and beautifully acted. Highly recommended if a bit long.

Of course, the movie itself wasn’t the whole point of Opening Night at the Festival. I went with my friend Deborah, whose husband is on the board, and we had special passes allowing us to walk the red carpet and sit in the swell seats of the theater. No waiting in line. No getting stuck in the balcony. My kind of evening.

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And So The Oscar Competition Begins In Earnest

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

(courtesy: moviecultists.com)

I felt very lucky when the Academy Award nominations were announced this morning. Thanks to my membership in the Cinema Society, an off-shoot of the Santa Barbara Film Festival, I always get to see screenings of the sure-to-be-buzzed-about films well before they open in theaters and this year’s crop was no exception. We saw “The King’s Speech” and had a Q&A with its director. We saw “Biutiful” and had a reception for Javier Bardem. (Be still, my heart.) We saw “The Social Network” and had visits from Aaron Sorkin, Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Armie Hammer. We saw “The Fighter” and Amy Adams dropped in by helicopter to talk to us.

I thought the Academy did a good job of selecting the nominees, and I only have a few quibbles:

* Why was “Inception” nominated for Best Picture but its director, Christopher Nolan, snubbed?

* Why were both female directors of Oscar nominated Best Pictures (“Winter’s Bone” and “The Kids Are All Right”) not nominated? Wasn’t Kathryn Bigelow’s big win last year for “Hurt Locker” supposed to open doors for other women?

* Why was young Hailee Steinfeld of “True Grit” nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category when she was in virtually every scene of the movie?

* Why wasn’t “The Town” nominated for Best Picture since they expanded the list to 10 films and it was, in my opinion, a very good movie?

I’m looking forward to the big night in any case. For me, the Oscars are the Super Bowl of award shows; I’m not only glued to the TV for however many hours it takes to hand out the gold, but I usually have friends over to watch. Is it too early to make some predictions? Oh, why not.

Best Picture?

Very tough choice between “Social Network” and “King’s Speech,” both of which I loved. I’m going with “Social Network.”

Best Actress?

Natalie Portman or Annette Bening? Oy. I think Portman will win, but I’m hoping Bening gets the nod. She earned it for “Being Julia” a while back, so she’s due.

Best Actor?

Colin Firth. No contest.

Best Supporting Actress?

Melissa Leo or Amy Adams? Both were great in “The Fighter” and one of them will win. I’m picking Adams. No, wait. Leo. No, wait. Adams. Okay, I can’t decide.

Best Supporting Actor?

It would be a stunner if Christian Bale didn’t win. He gets my vote.

Best Director?

I’m thinking David Fincher for “Social Network.” Just a hunch.

Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind about all of the above.

 

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