MIGHTY THOR HAS NEVER LOOKED SO FAMISHED 
"Just tried a new diet/training program called “Lost At Sea”. Wouldn’t recommend it,” Chris Hemsworth wrote as he posted the photo of his radically transformed self on Twitter. The photo of the unrecognizable star of Thor was taken during filming of the epic adventure thriller drama IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, a film based on the non-fiction book of the same name which tells the story of the sinking of an American whaling ship Essex in 1820 that inspired the tale of Moby-Dick. Directed by Ron Howard, the film co-stars Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Wishaw and Brendan Gleeson. Scheduled to be released very soon on December 11, In The Heart is previously featured as MOOVIE GAB's fiLmsToLoOkOutFoR.

#ChrisHemsworth #InTheHeartOfTheSea #RonHoward#BenjaminWalker #CillianMurphy #TomHolland #BenWishaw #BrendanGleeson #DrasticTransformation #WeightLoss #Films #Movies #MobyDick #Thriller #Hollywood #Thor

CATE BLANCHETT’S CAROL LEADS INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS
Earlier on Tuesday the nominations for the 31st Film Independent Spirit Awards were announced, with Todd Haynes’ lesbian love story CAROL scoring a leading six nominations. Both lead stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara will be facing off in the Best Female Lead category. Other nominees in this category include Brie Larson for ROOM, Bel Powley for THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez for TANGERINE.

Tailing behind Carol are BEASTS OF NO NATION with five nominations and SPOTLIGHT with four. All the three films will compete in the categories of Best Feature and Best Director. In the running for these two major categories as well is Charlie Kaufman’s adult animated comedy-drama ANOMALISA. THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL, IT FOLLOWS, JAMES WHITE, MEDITERRANEA, ROOM and SONGS MY BROTHER TAUGHT ME each landed three nominations. BONE TOMAHAWK, THE END OF THE TOUR, HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT, and MANOS SUCIAS each scored two nominations. Jessica Chastain was earlier named the honorary chair at this year's awards, joining past honorary chair holders like Kerry Washington, Tom Cruise, Benecio Del Toro and Angela Bassett.

#FilmIndependentSpiritAwards #IndependentSpiritAwards #CarolFilm #CarolMovie #BeastsOfNoNation             #SpotlightFilm #SpotlightMovie #RoomFilm #RoomMovie #BrieLarson #Anomalisa #CateBlanchett #RooneyMara #TheDiaryOfAteenageGirl #ItFollows #JamesWhite #Mediterranea #SongsMyBrotherTaughtMe #BoneTomahawk #TheEndOfTheTour #HeavenKNowsWhat #ManosSucias #JessicaChastain #TomCruise #KerryWashington #AngelaBassett #FilmAwards #MovieAwards

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ANOMALISA 

Having written critically acclaimed films like BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (1999), ADAPTATION (2002), and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004), Charlie Kaufman has been lauded by critics for his originality in depicting humanity. His perspectives are honestly creative, and often angsty, and he’s back with another non-conforming treat in the form of stop-motion adult animated comedy-drama. Titled simply ANOMALISA, Kaufman wrote and co-directed the film (with Duke Johnson) which stars voices of David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tom Noonan.

Anomalisa follows David Stone (Thewlis), author of best-selling books on customer service, who amidst his business trip to Cincinnati, loneliness and on the verge of an existential free-fall, meets and finds companionship in Lisa (Leigh), a frumpy and low-esteemed fan. Equally unhappy and lost about life, both finds a beautiful connection. Premiering at the Telluride Film Festival in September, the film has already won the Grand Jury Prize at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival and even creating some Oscar-buzz. Scheduled for theatrical release by year end, this adult-animation is contending in four categories in the recently announced Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Female (Leigh).

#Anomalisa #AnomalisaMovie #AnomalisaFilm#animation #CharlieKaufman #BeingJohnMalkovich          #EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind #DavidThewlis #JenniferJasonLeigh #TomNoonan #IndependentSpiritAwards #DukeJohnson #Movies #Films

SYLVESTER STALLONE’S LEGACY

With CREED opening in theatres this week, Sylvester Stallone is basically passing his Rocky-franchise torch to Michael B. Jordan (great choice by the way). Although Stallone reprises his role as Rocky Balboa in this Ryan Coogler directed boxing drama, it will be a supporting role where he trains and mentors Adonis Johnson (Jordan), the ambitious son of his late friendand rival Apollo Creed. So far it’s all good news for Creed as it’s receiving promising reviews, with a rating of 92% (based on 127 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10) on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's consensus reads, “Creed brings the Rocky franchise off the mat for a surprisingly effective seventh round that extends the boxer's saga in interesting new directions while staying true to its classic predecessors' roots.”

Apart from Rocky, Stallone was also recently asked whether who would be his choices to take over his most iconic roles, and here are his picks. Rambo – Ryan Gosling, Cobra – Jake Gyllenhaal, Demolition Man – Channing Tatum, Cliffhanger – Tom Cruise, Over The Top – Dwayne Johnson. With his first two picks, he might just finally make me a fan of full-on action flicks!

Another part of Stallone’s legacy of Rocky is passed on as a musical (yes, it’s unbelievable but it happened!), but the show received mixed reviews and underwhelming office, ultimately forcing ROCKY THE MUSICAL to be closed down after a mere five-month run.

#SylvesterStallone #Creed #CreedMovie #CreedFilm#Rocky #RockyBalboa #RockyMovie #MichaelBjordan#Rambo #JakeGyllenhaal #ChanningTatum #TomCruise #DwayneJohnson #RockyTheMusical#Hollywood #HollywoodNews #Celebs #ActionMovies

- Jennifer Garner, on her upcoming film Miracles From Heaven which is adapted from the memoir of the same name by Christy Beam. When all things fail for Beam and her husband in their attempt to find cure for their 12 year-old daughter Annabel's digestive disorder, they keep their faith going by praying night after night. One day Annabel survived a 30-feet fall from a tree and tells her parents that she has visited heaven – and is inexplicably cured from her terminal disorder. Directed by Patricia Riggen and co-stars Martin Henderson, Kylie Rogers, John Carroll Lynch and Queen Latifah, the film is scheduled for release in March 2016.

Watch the trailer: http://youtu.be/CldGTG6iVrU

#MiraclesFromHeaven #MiraclesFromHeavenFilm#JenniferGarner #ChristyBeam #PatriciaRiggen #MartinHenderson #KylieRogers #JohnCarrollLynch #QueenLatifah #Movies #UpcomingMovies #FamilyDrama #MovieTrailers

- Guy Pearce, on how he feels about the plans by AMBI Pictures to produce the new take on his non-linear psychological thriller Memento. The 2000 film, though only director Christopher Nolan's second feature film, basically has turned heads and made him someone to look out for in the filming industry. Starring Pearce as a tattooed detective with memory loss trying to discover his wife's killer, the film is told in two different sequences interspersed back and forth during the film, a series in color shown in reverse order and another series in black-and-white that is shown chronologically. Still stands as one of my most favourite films of all time, it drags audience into the mental state of Pearce's unique memory loss, whilst brilliantly bringing both the sequences into one cohesive narrative and riveting end. The remake plans have sparked extreme reactions from critics and movie goers, with some agreeing with Pearce on the basis of questioning what's the point since the entire magic of the film's suspense (thus spoiler) is already known by audience, plus it's just too soon for a remake. Some on their other hand are giving support with arguments that not all great remakes need a great deal of lapse, quoting the example that it only took Nolan himself eight years to revisit the Batman franchise after Joel Schumacher left it in 1997. In a statement, AMBI Pictures shared "Memento is a masterpiece that leaves audiences guessing not just throughout the film, but long after as well, which is a testament to its daring approach. We intend to stay true to Christopher Nolan’s vision and deliver a memorable movie that is every bit as edgy, iconic and award-worthy as the original. It’s a big responsibility to deliver something that lives up to the mastery of the original, but we are extremely excited and motivated to bring this puzzle back to life and back into the minds of moviegoers.”

#Memento #MementoRemake #ChristopherNolan#GuyPearce #AMBIpictures #Batman #JoelSchumacher #MovieRemake #Movies #Films#CelebQuotes #HollywoodNews

“After all these years and all the fan demand, I do believe I can stand and firmly say an unequivocal no”
- Bette Midler, finally sealing the speculation on Disney’s sequel to its Halloween-set comedy Hocus Pocus with a big, sad no. 
Midler plays witch Winnie Sanderson alongside Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy in the 1993 Kevin Ortega directed comedy which despite the negative reviews generated some sort of a cult following. 

#HocusPocus #HocusPocusSequel #BetteMidler#SarahJessicaParker #KathyNajimy #KevinOrtega#CelebQuotes #HollywoodCelebs #HollywoodNews#Witches #Comedy #Movies

CHARLIZE THERON RETURNS AS EVIL QUEEN RAVENNA, AND SHE HAS A SISTER

Forget about Kristen Stewart, the spinoff of Snow White and the Huntsman is getting a glossy star-studded cast. Titled as The Huntsman : Winter's War, it reunites Charlize Theron as Ravenna and Chris Hemsworth as huntsman Eric, with the addition of Emily Blunt as ice queen Freya and Emily Blunt as Hemsworth's love interest and warrior, Sara. The story starts way before Ravenna and Eric met Snow White, where Ravenna's sister left their kingdom after a betrayal and shut herself in a remote wintry palace, raising a legion of huntsmen. When two of Freya's prized huntsmen Eric and Sara defy her commands and fall in love, she casts them into the wilderness. Years later Freya returns to the kingdom to claim her magic mirror after learning that her sister Ravenna has been vanquished by Snow White. Given a chance to resurrect Ravenna, the reunion of the two evil sisters soon brings upon a sinister plan that threatens the enchanted land, and it will be up to the banished huntsmen to put a stop to it. Directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, who was visual effects supervisor on the original film, The Huntsman: Winter's War will be released April 22 next year

‪#‎TheHuntsmanWintersWar‬ ‪#‎TheHuntsman‬‪#‎SnowWhiteAndTheHuntsman‬ ‪#‎CharlizeTheron‬ ‪#‎ChrisHemsworth‬‪#‎EmilyBlunt‬ ‪#‎JessicaChastain‬ ‪#‎CedricNicolasTroyan‬ ‪#‎SnowWhite‬‪#‎Movies‬ ‪#‎Films‬

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•• Foreign Film Edition ••
DIFRET (OBLIVION)
[2014, ETHIOPIA - Amharic]

As painfully misogynistic as it sounds, "Bride Kidnapping" actually exists, in several parts of the world including several countries within Central Asia, Causasus and Africa. It basically means abduction of a woman by a man (usually with the help of relatives) for the purpose of marriage. This absurdity is embraced by some communities in the southern region of Ethiopia, known as "telefa", and one particular girl's harrowing real life experience not only inspired the 2014 film Difret, but became a landmark case that changed an age-old law in the country.

Aberash Berkele was only fourteen when she was abducted by a group of men on horses while she was returning home from school. Captured and beaten, she was brought to a hut to be raped by one of them, and told that he would be her husband. Berkele managed to steal their gun as she attempted to run away. Whilst her abductor and his men gave chase, she pulled the trigger and was put on trial for the murder of her abductor. This plundering of innocence and humanity has been translated into the silver screens by producer Mehret Mandefro and writer-director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, with Angelina Jolie signing on as the executive producer with the hope to raise awareness on telefa.

In Difret, we see Hirut Assefa (Tizita Hagere) as the bright fourteen year-old daughter of poor farmers in rural Ethiopia, who has ambitions in her pursuit of an education, which is uncommon for girls in those parts. The trajectory of Difret and Hirut's fate pretty much follow closely of the real story, and soon the family of the demised abductor Tadele (Girma Teshome) is racking up support from the villagers to have her executed for murder, and buried with him. Succumbing to her wretched fate, hope finds its way when Hirut is rescued by Meaza Ashenafi (Meron Getnet), a lawyer helming Andinet Women Lawyers Association, advocating for women’s rights. 

This is a case where the gravity of injustice outweighs the film's narrative. Mehari chooses to "tell" in great lengths as compared to "show", giving the film a semi docudrama appeal instead of allowing more expressive interpretations of the plot. I would have preferred the latter. No doubt at several junctures the narrative does come off slightly punctuated, but all in all an adequate film. Audience will still be able to appreciate Difret's message, and I particularly liked the development of Meaza and Hirut's bond.

Today, Berkele is a mother of a ten year-old son, and works for Harmee, an NGO that aims to eliminate violence against women in Arsii. Her high profiled case managed to make an immediate impact, reducing the abduction cases in Arsii to none for five good years. Sadly, the cases are crawling back to a reported seven to eight cases annually in the past recent years. Meaza on the other hand continues with her devotion in protecting the rights of Ethiopian women and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. Difret has won in Sundance, Montreal, Amsterdam and Berlin film festivals.

Rating: B+

#difret #DifretMovie #DifretFilm #AberashBerkele#MeazaAshenafi #telefa #BrideKidnapping#ZeresenayBerhaneMehari #AngelinaJolie#TizitaHager #MeronGetnet #Ethiopia #filmReview#Movies #Harmee

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HOWL [2015, UK - English]

Truth be told, there are not many great werewolf films around. A low-budget B-grade at best, Paul Hyett's Howl offers a slice of British horror that reminds us of Snakes On A Plane, but this time it's Werewolves On A Train. I have no issues at all with the premise, in fact I have always admired directors who can manage an intense and thrilling film using a single claustrophobic setting with finesse, be it horror, thriller or even drama. However when it's delivered in a dreary sequence of garden-variety gore, scares and clichés, I find Howl an awfully frustrating experience to watch.

To illustrate my sentiments, let's all dwell into the world of everything cliché in monster-horror film making. To begin with, they couldn't have written a more bromidic group of cast. We've seen them all recurring in so many horror flicks, an everyday bloke unaware and forced into a heroic role, an arrogant man (usually it's either a rich businessman or a muscular but dim-witted jock) often arguing his way selfishly against everyone to save his own life, a fat chump who cares about nothing but food and who will always be one of the first victims to be killed off, an annoying teenage brat who's pointlessly angry with everyone, gosh! In this case, Downton Abbey alumnus Ed Speelers plays a train guard who appears to be the laziest protagonist we have ever seen. As he leads a red eye train into a misty woodland where deadly feral presence awaits, the ride takes a sudden halt, making all the passengers sitting-ducks in the middle of nowhere. The dynamic tensions of the endangered group are hastily established – and the biggest problem is, you'd find yourself loathing most of them. As the story unfolds, you will not even be rooting for the hero as he practically does nothing to lead the rest. He basically breathes along heavily throughout the ordeal, doing not much while waiting for others to come up with ideas to survive. In fact, the heroic moments come from two other characters. As the lycanthropes gnaw their way into the train, the group continues to irritate each other besides getting on the audience's nerves. I won't be surprise they would've ended up killing each other even if there were no werewolves!

Every jump scare is almost something we've already seen in other horror flicks. Hyett choses to use tall men in hairy suits coupled with a little CGI, and the results, not to my liking. Except for the legs they look nothing like werewolves. Lastly, it doesn't help when the film is penned by writing duo Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostle who until now, have been best known for their work in children’s television, they should've steered clear from other genres and remain with their Thomas & Friends and Peter Rabbit. Howl co-stars Holly Weston, Elliot Cowan, Amit Shah, Sam Gittins, Shauna Macdonald, Duncan Preston, Ania Marson, Rosie Day, Calvin Dean, Sean Pertwee, Brett Goldstein.

Rating: D+

#Howl #HowlMovie #HowlFilm #PaulHyett #EdSpeelers#HollyWeston #ElliotCowan #AmitShah #SamGittins#ShaunaMacdonald #DuncanPreston #AniaMarson#RosieDay #CalvinDean #SeanPertwee

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•• Foreign Film Edition ••
EINE WEN IGG, DR DÄLLEBACH KARI (SOMEONE LIKE ME)
[2012, SWITZERLAND - German]

Xavier Koller caught our attention when his film Journey Of Hope won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1990, chronicling the touching tale of how a single postcard inspires a Turkish Alevi family to attempt emigrating to Switzerland illegally. Someone Like Me is his next big achievement in 2012 which received one win and five other nominations at the Swiss Film Prize (Oscar-equivalent for Switzerland), including Best Film. The film is based on the life Dällebach Kari, Switzerland's famous figure who is an inwardly torn hero born with a cleft palate, and his tragic love story.

When Kari is born in Bern in the late 1800's, the doctor coldly tells his mother that he should be drowned because of his harelip - that way, the family would have one child less to provide for. Instead, Kari is brought up filled with tender love, and at the same time mollycoddled by his protective mother because of his imperfections. Kari however grows up to be a bright, charismatic man who aspires to have his own barber salon one day. And when he finally does, you would find his salon constantly swarmed with men queueing up for his service; not because of his exceptional skills with his hands, but it was his quick-witted and cheeky jokes that keep them entertained. Kari's charms one day lands him with Annemarie, a beautiful young woman from a middle-class family. Not only does she wants to dance with him at a party when they first meet, shocking her friends who all see nothing but his disfigurement, she's instantly smitten with his fragile and endearing personality. What starts off seemingly as a fairy-tale (finally) for Kari soon falls apart when their relationship is challenged by Annemarie's parents.

Koller was first intrigued to make this film because he found the fact that Dällebach Kari was born with a physical flaw yet chose to be a barber, confronted by mirrors in the salon all day, very fascinating. The Oscar-winning director shared, "If I'm telling the story, I want to do it in a way that it goes under the skin, in a way that it shows the locations, such as Bern, in a light that you've may never have seen before. Basically, you should forget that it is a historical film, it should be a story that we can relate to it today too." And he did it with flying colors. What swept me off about this film is how its simplicity and guileless approach capture every important aspect of the story just right, making the period drama so relatable it's heart-rending. Kari's affectionate relationship with his mother is really moving to watch. With a magnetic score by Balz Bachmann, audience is taken back to the nineteenth and twentieth century Bern, whilst witnessing an honest and endearing romance.

The film's triumph is finally sealed with a strong cast, led by Nils Althaus and Hanspeter Müller-Drossaart, playing the young and old Kari, with Carla Juri as Annemarie which won her Swiss Film Prize for Best Actress.

Rating: A

#SomeoneLikeMe #SomeoneLikeMeFilm#SomeoneLikeMeMovie #DällebachKari#EineWenIggDrDällebachKari #XavierKoller#NilsAlthaus #HanspeterMüllerDrossaart #CarlaJuri#SwissFilmPrize #AcademyAward #GermanFilm#Drama #Romance #FilmReview #MovieReview

“I’m having such a problem with these conversations. I understand why they are coming up but maybe it’s a British thing. I don’t like talking about money; it’s a bit vulgar isn’t it? I don’t think that’s a very nice conversation to have publicly at all. I’m quite surprised by these conversations to be honest, simply because it seems quite a strange thing to be discussing out in the open like that. I am a very lucky woman and I’m quite happy with how things are ticking along.”
- Kate Winslet, on how she felt when being asked about the recent stand taken by a host of actresses on pay inequality in Hollywood, including Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep. Winslet went on to add that it would be 'dangerous’ to discuss comments made by other actresses, and she’d never experienced any overt sexism in the industry personally

#KateWinslet #MerylStreep #JenniferLawrence#PayEquality #PayInequality #HollywoodActress#CelebQuotes #EnglishActress #celebs #titanic#FemaleCelebs

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SPECTRE [2015, UK & USA - English]

The last instalment of the 007 series left us with the saddest departure of M (Judi Dench) and James Bond's hunger for revenge sets us off for another action-packed adventure in the 24th instalment, Spectre. Helmed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty 1999, Skyfall 2002), the film opens with a bang just as all other predecessors. 007 (Daniel Craig) tracks down a villain which ends with an explosion, the crumbling of an entire building and a relentless chase right up to a gutsy fight on a helicopter spinning out of control over thousands of people amidst the Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico City. Impressive opening.

What follows is a series of commendable action scenes mastered by Mendes and coupled with cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema (Interstellar 2014, Her 2013), the film is undoubtedly a visual spectacle. Left with a very shady clue by M, James' unrelenting chase takes him to Rome, Morocco and the Austrian Alps, to track down a mysterious international criminal organization known as Spectre, led by Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz).

Bond movies are in the past mainly engineered based on glossy entertaining escapism where they don't really care if some are silly or cheesy. In each film, the tropes are clearly manifesting the signature; Bond is an alcoholic and a womaniser, who gets the most wicked and coolest toys we can imagine. Craig has been chosen to lead the much-evolved Bond with Casino Royale (2006), being one of the best reboots of an old franchise, finally making me a fan of the Bond series. Kudos to the makers of the recent instalments for breaking away from the "archaic" formula, but something tells me it is the very same factor which has posed a challenge for them to sustain the franchise, making sure each episode is fantastic enough to be both box-office friendly and keeping audience in awe. Skyfall was a big shoe to fill, and true enough I had issues with the scripting and less-convincing plot in Spectre.

Whilst Ralph Fiennes fits in comfortably as the new 'M', we are also introduced to two attractive Bond girls with very weak excuses to be linked to the contrived plot. First we have seasoned eye-candy Monica Bellucci, appearing in the film as an assassin's widow, named Lucia Sciarra, whose brief encounter with Bond results in a steamy sexual encounter, and that was it! The 51 year-old Italian actress' age is the least of the issues here, though some ridiculously questioned the choice. Craig was even forced at one point to straighten out the foolish remark made during an interview claiming that Bond is succumbing to the charm of "older women" in Spectre, quoting, “I think you mean the charms of a woman his own age (Craig is 47) - We’re talking about Monica Bellucci, for heaven’s sake. When someone like that wants to be a Bond girl, you just count yourself lucky!” Bellucci's appearance however amounted to a matter of a few unforgettable minutes, being used by Bond (through an uncomfortable seduction scene) to obtain some info and the next thing we know, she's pouting in the bed purring "Don't leave me James". That’ll be all we get to see of the charismatic actress. Way too easy for the hero’s convenience, and way too insignificant for Bellucci. We are not just talking about evolution in the 007 franchise, audience has also moved on. Gone are the days of plaguing action flicks with shallow bombshells who contribute nothing to the plots except using sex to sell, we shall leave that to Michael Bay. In fact, it was Dame Judi Dench who has swept a recent UK poll to be the nation’s favorite Bond Girl, beating the likes of Halle Berry and Eva Green. Next, we have Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux), Bond’s new love interest. Whilst the Blue Is The Warmest Color star gives an adequate performance, her character’s out-of-nowhere entrance into Bond’s love-life is just simply forced and corny. 

In many ways Spectre is made as a homage to the good old days of Roger Moore’s Bond, a treat for the loyal 007 fans, but to me it’s working more so towards the other direction. Going backwards indirectly makes the film appear outdated and constantly reminding us of the need for another reboot to this franchise. And it doesn’t help when you have glaring flaws and clichés smeared all over your story, villains wasting time explaining their ingenious plans long enough for the good guys to escape, villain’s highly sophisticated systems easily and conveniently hacked in a matter of minutes. It’s too familiar. All in all Spectre is entertaining, but it’s hardly a solid accomplishment.

Rating: B-

#Spectre #SpectreFilm #SpectreMovie #JamesBond#SamMendes #DanielCraig #JudiDench#ChristophWaltz #MonicaBellucci #LéaSeydoux#EvaGreen #HalleBerry #Skyfall #QuantumOfSolace#CasinoRoyale #MovieReview #FilmReview #Movies#ActionFilms #RogerMoore

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•• Foreign Film Edition ••
DEAD MAN TALKING 
[2012, Belgium & France - French]

Directors who are attempting to do genre mash-ups (and fail miserably) should watch Dead Man Talking. This 2012 Belgian comedy-drama film premiered at the Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur on September 29, 2012 and has garnered accolades including eight Magritte Award nominations (winning Best Production Design) and Best Foreign Film nomination at the 39th César Awards. It may be his first full-length film, but Belgian director Patrick Ridremont manages to co-write and even play the lead in this comedy-drama. An audacious attempt, may not be entirely well received by all but I’m in awe.

A death row somewhere in a country with no name. Forty year-old William Lamers (Ridremont), condemned to death by lethal injection, finds himself at lost when he is asked if he has any last words. He is neither prepared nor bothered to protest, but you can tell he's definitely not at peace. He hesitated, then decides to talk about his life.By law, he is allowed to make a last statement but the law does not specify how long it can last. What seems to be another formality of the process in this decrepit prison, soon becomes a lengthy emotional roller-coaster for prison director Karl Raven (François Berléand) and guard Julius Lopez (Denis MPunga). As he narrates the monologue of his life, Lamers suddenly realizes that it will be his last ticket to stay alive for yet another day. This filibuster of telling his story to stay alive, quickly erupts into a political stunt engulfed in a media frenzy.

What an idea. Spinning a modern tale of Sheherazade, with a gutsy take by Ridremont in juggling comedy with drama. In the Arabic myth of One Thousand And One Nights, a king finds out one day that his first wife has been unfaithful to him, and he decides to marry a new virgin each day, only to behead the previous day's wife, so that she would not have a chance to be unfaithful. When the vizier's daughter Scheherazade is forced to be the next bride, she decides to beguile the king by telling him stories, only to stop in the middle of each night, so that she can survive another day to continue with her stories. Such is weaved into a modern fairy tale with a twist. When I say comedy and drama, you will get a good dose of each, carried out in fluid sequences with admirable dexterity by Ridremont. In this case, Lamers life story moves us as we follow his poignant trajectory back into his abusive childhood. As he shares his story each day, you will find yourself rooting for his survival. And when he is finally at peace and ready, you will be the one who's not. Raven and Lopez both have their own share of woe as well, as they are forced to confront their ghosts whilst they attempt their very best to execute the sentence and move on with their lives.

Dead Man Talking also strives in its cast, with just a few taking the main roles but yet such a colorful concoction of geniality, acridity, humor & noxiousness. Apart from Ridremont, Berléand and Mpunga, the rest of the cast's (Virginie Efira, Christian Marin, Jean-Luc Couchard and Olivier Leborgne) performances are all on the ball.

Rating: A

Watch the trailer: http://youtu.be/4f5UXs35Onw

#DeadManTalking #DeadManTalkingMovie#DeadManTalkingFilm #PatrickRidremont
#FrançoisBerléand #DenisMPunga #VirginieEfira#ChristianMarin #JeanLucCouchard #OlivierLeborgne#comedyMovie #dramaFilm #MovieReview#FilmReview #Movies #MovieTrailers #ForeignFilms#AwardWinningFilms #InternationalScreens