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•• Foreign Film Edition ••
FRANTZ(2016, FRANCE, GERMANY – French, German)

There is a beguiling plot to the latest film, FRANTZ by FRANCOIS OZON, which is a loose adaptation of the 1932 ERNST LUBITCH drama BROKEN LULLABY. Largely filmed in black and white, the war drama tells the story of a widow named Anna (PAULA BEER) who every day visits the tomb of her fiancé, Frantz (ANTON VON LUCKE), who died in the war in France, and finds her life changed forever when she one day finds another stranger, Adrien (PIERRE NINEY), a young French who has been visiting Frantz’s tomb as well, claiming to have close acquaintance with her fiancé during war. Ozon has dipped his hands in quite a varied range of genre, from the dark comedy musical 8 WOMEN (2002), to the erotic thriller SWIMMING POOL (2003), to the classic Gallic Farce POTISHE (2010). It will be interesting to witness this latest feat from the forty-nine year-old French filmmaker. Selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, FRANTZ was released in September 2016. Watch the captivating trailer here

#Frantz #FrantzFilm #FrantzMovie #FrancoisOzon #EnrmstLubitch#BrokenLullaby #PaulaBeer #PierreNiney #AntonVonLucke#FrenchFilms #GermanFilms #WarDrama #Films #Movies#MovieTrailer #FilmTrailer #Drama #VeniceInternationalFilmFestival

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•• Foreign Film Edition ••
我不是潘金莲
[I AM NOT MADAME BOVARY](2016, CHINA - Mandarin)

FENG XIAOGANG is a commercially successful filmmaker known for his award-winning A WORLD WITHOUT THIEVES (2014), and two other films which won him Best Director at People's Hundred Flower Award in China - ASSEMBLY (2007) & IF U ARE THE ONE (2008). Selected to be screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2016 Toronto International Film festival, Feng's latest I AM NOT MADAME BOVARY, is adapted from LIU ZHENYUN's 2012 novel, I AM NOT PAN JIANLIAN. BINGBING FAN stars in this dark comedy as Xuelian Li, whose plan for a perfect government scam by temporarily divorcing her husband to qualify for singles-only apartment turns against her when her husband goes and marries someone else. Now the angry victim goes on an angry rampage to prove that the divorce is a scam and get her bloody revenge

#我不是潘金莲 #冯小刚 #FengXiaoGang #IAmNotMadameBovary#FanBingBing #范冰冰 #IAmNotPanJianLian #LiuZhenyun #ChineseFilms#AsianFilms #Movies #Films #MovieTrailer #Adaptation #InternationalFilms#TorontoInternationalFilmFestival #AsianMovies #TorontoFilmFestival

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KONG: SKULL ISLAND
[2017, US - English]

I've always had a soft spot for King Kong and Godzilla when it comes to monster films. When PETER JACKSON made a reboot of the 1933 King Kong classic in 2005, lead actress NAOMI WATTS danced her way into the hearts of the mighty ape along with the audience, and together they waltzed all the way to become the fourth-highest grossing film in Universal Pictures history. When Warner Bros released the first installment of the Godzilla-Kong film franchise in 2014, helmed by GARETH EDWARDS, the simply titled GODZILLA catapulted into box office success and garnered positive reviews from critics.

Come March 2017, we will be treated with the second installment of the monster-duo series. JORDAN VOGT-ROBERTS (THE KINGS OF SUMMER 2013) will direct the highly anticipated sequel, titled KONG: SKULL ISLAND. Joined by a stellar cast including TOM HIDDLESTON, BRIE LARSON, SAMUEL L. JACKSON, JOHN GOODMAN and JOHN C. REILY, the film follows a crew of explorers to the titular island, where they encounter hostile natives, difficult terrain and of course the gargantuan ape. Director VOGT-ROBERTS recently offered some hints that his Kong will be the biggest one by far, "The thing that interested me was - how big does this creature need to be, so that when you stand in the ground and you look up at it, the only thing that can go through you mind is: 'That's a god.'"

Watch the trailer here

#KongSkullIsland #KongSkullIslandFilm #KingKong #Godzilla#JordanVogtRoberts #TomHiddleston #BrieLarson #SamuelLJackson#JohnGoodman #JohnCReily #MonsterMovies #Adventure #MovieTrailer#Movies #NaomiWatts #MightyApe

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•• Foreign Film Edition ••
ILO ILO[2013, SINGAPORE - Mandarin, English]

Singaporean director ANTHONY CHEN was only twenty-nine years old when his feature debut, ILO ILO made a smashing premiere at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, winning the critics over and bagged the Caméra d’Or, becoming the first Singaporean film to ever receive the prestigious honor. Simple and decorous, the ninety-nine minutes family drama outlines a linear tale about a family’s growing bond with their newly recruited domestic helper. Inspired by his personal childhood having grown up with a Filipina live-in nanny between the ages of four to twelve, Chen wanted to show this part of the Asian lives which may not be familiar to the rest. “The more I thought about it (domestic helper system), the more I thought about how brutal the system is - where you invite a stranger to your home and spend time with your family, with your kids. After a certain time, they almost become part of the family but what is so cruel and brutal is when at the time where circumstances have changed, the kids have grown up or you are moving house or you ran out of money or you think it’s an excess - you decide "let's send home the maid". What is so brutal is usually because the adults make those decisions but the kids are the ones that have really built that kind of bond with this foreigner who almost become part of the family - Because most of the time, the parents don't know the helper well at all as they are usually at work. It's the kids who spend the most time with the helpers so I wanted to explore that which became the starting point for the film I guess,” said the director who is inspired by Asian filmmakers like EDWARD YANG, ZHANG YIMOU and ANG LEE.

The film centers on pubescent protagonist Jiale (KOH JIA LER), a headstrong and difficult child who resists the welcoming of a Filipina nanny, Theresa (ANGELI BAYANI) into the family. Jiale is a handful, and is not getting enough attention from his pregnant working mother, Hwee Leng (YEO YANN YANN) and father, Teck (CHAN TIANWEN) who is struggling with his career. Amidst shenanigans like wounding himself just to frame the school principal, Jiale continues to make things difficult for the foreigner who is sharing not just his room, but most of the hours of his day in the absence of his struggling parents. Despite a seemingly typical storyline that may appear to be one of those films with the potential hackneyed playing of family drama and emotions, ILO ILO works in many ways. Chen displays a keen sense of relating growth of his characters with the impending financial crisis repercussions that took place in Asian countries in 1997. The dynamics of the family is engaging and the film would definitely bring forth a sense of intimacy which many Asian families could relate to. And it’s even more so for the director himself, where the success of the film has conjured the reunion between him and his nanny, TERESITA SAJONIA whom had not been in contact for sixteen years. Underneath it all, ILO ILO is an honest tale which is neither trying too hard nor pulling off stylistic stunts, it’s the purity that won the critics’ hearts, making it beat heavyweight contenders like WONG KAR WAI and JOHNNY TO in winning Best Film at the 50th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival.

Rating: B+

#IloIlo #IloIloFilm #IloIloMOvie #AnthonyChen#CannesFilmFestival #KohJiaLer #AngeliBayani#YeoYannYann #ChanTianWen #FamilyDrama#FilmReview #MovieReview #Drama#DomesticHelper #Filipino #FilipinoMaid #Nanny#SingaporeanFilms #AsianFilms#AwardWinningFilms #ForeignFilms#InternationalScreens #GoldenHorseFilmFestival#TeresitaSajonia

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LIFE
[2017, US - English]

Swedish director DANIEL ESPINOSA, known for his 2010 thriller film EASY MONEY, is helming an upcoming sci-fi which teams up JAKE GYLLENHAAL and RYAN REYNOLDS as they battle against alien life-form from Mars. The film will also reunite Reynolds with his DEADPOOL writers PAUL WERNICK and RHETT REESE, and centers around a group of astronauts studying a sample from Mars which may be the first evidence of life on Mars, but the alien life-form may not be ready make friendly connections. The film, from Columbia Pictures and Skydance, also featuring REBECCA FERGUSON, ARIYON BAKARE, OLGA DIHOVICHNAYA and HIROYUKI SANADA, and slated to hit theaters May 26, 2017.

#Life #LifeMovie #LifeFilm #DanielEspinosa #JakeGyllenhaal#RyanReynolds #RebeccaFerguson #AriyonBakare #OlgaDihovichnaya#HiroyukiSanada #SciFi #SciFiMovies #Movies #MovieTrailers #Films

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THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
[2016, US - English]

When PAULA HAWKINS’ book THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN became a global bestseller that sold more than 15 million copies and heavily compared to the likes of GILLIAN FLYNN’s GONE GIRL, we knew it was a matter of time it gets an adaptation. Director of the 2011 Oscar-nominated period drama THE HELP, TATE TAYLOR decided to take on the challenge two months after Dreamworks Pictures acquired the film rights in May 2014, and indeed it proved to be a complicated adaptation. Unlike GONE GIRL’s film which was written by Flynn herself, apart from several set visits, Hawkins practically left the adaptation in others’ hands. Scriptwriter ERIN CRESSIDA WILSON has to write a mystery tousled within several characters’ minds, from alcoholic Rachel Watson (EMILY BLUNT), to Megan Hipwell (HALEY BENNETT) who is detached from her marriage to Scott (LUKE EVANS) and feeling entrapped in her life as a housewife, and finally we have Anna Watson (REBECCA FERGUSON) who constantly forebodes Rachel’s intentions as she did after all started her family from having an affair with Rachel’s husband, Tom Watson (JUSTIN THEROUX).

Besides having another book to work on, Hawkins also felt that her novel was in capable hands after meeting the forty-seven year old American director. “I was always confident about their handling of it from the early days, when I met Tate…we went for a drink, and immediately when he was talking about his vision for it, I was thinking, ‘He sees the same sort of things in it that I see.’ He wanted it to be very dark from the start, and I think the thing I was most concerned about was that [the filmmakers] would take away the darkness of it,” she shared. Apart from that, audience is brought into the muddled world of Rachel who is a divorcee struggling with alcoholism, constantly doubting her own innocence as she gets caught in a missing person’s investigation.As we know it will always be much more feasible in writing to bring forth the impact of painting Rachel’sblurry perspective and culminating the suspense. Tate opted for several techniques which may have worked against him when it came to winning the hearts of the critics, including fuzzy narratives, creating a somewhat ‘drunken camera’ effect and lots of close ups. Many are pinning the film down for the weak narrative and its unnecessarily slow-boiling build-up for its plot. I felt it was far from a flaw, as it does give audience the claustrophobic and disorientated feel which Rachel’s character is constantly going through. Hawkins herself admitted that it’s quite a task to bring that into the big screens, where she shared “It’s easier to hide things on the page, because people aren’t actually seeing them. It’s easier to obfuscate and give hints of information without giving the full picture. It’s very important when you’re writing a thriller to drip feed information at the right pace, but you have more space to do it in a book - you only have an hour and a half in a movie.”

I won’t go further into the story as it would inevitably enter into spoilers territory. Suffice to say, Blunt delivers a strong performance as the vulnerable Rachel who painstakingly forces her way into an intricate web of characters amidst the mystery of a possible missing person and murder case, and Tate brought Hawkins’ bestselling novel into film which altered several aspects (including introducing a full blown focus on LISA KUDROW’s character which was not in the book) that worked for me. Granted (since people can’t get away from comparing it to acclaimed GONE GIRL), the suspense is not as staggering, I find myself however not agreeing to the loathing reviews going around about this film. Some of the reasons brought up including the impact of changing the setting of the book from London to the suburban Ardsley on Hudson in New York, is kind of baseless as it doesn’t carry any weight at all to the storyline.

Rating: B+

#TheGirlOnTheTrain #PaulaHawkins #TateTaylor#EmilyBlunt #HaleyBennett #LukeEvans#RebeccaFerguson #JustinTheroux#ErinCressidaWilson #BookAdaptation#BestSellingNovels #Novels #Thriller #Suspense#GoneGirl #GillianFlynn #Movies #Film#MovieReview #FilmReview

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SHUT IN
[2016, FRANCE - English]

BAFTA-winning director FARREN BLACKBURN is bringing a heart-pounding thriller starring NAOMI WATTS as a widowed child psychologist who lives a painful life caring for her paralysed son in an isolated rural location in New England, and when she takes on a new client played by JACOB TREMBLAY, her life sinks deeper into a bigger nightmare when the boy suddenly disappears into a deadly snowstorm, as she begins to suspect that he is haunting her. The film opens in November this year.

Watch the trailer here

#SinkIn #SinkInFilm #FarrenBlackburn #NaomiWatts #JacobTremblay#OliverPlatt #HorrorMovies #Thriller #MovieTrailer #Films #Trailers

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PASSENGERS
[2016, US - English]

Seven years ago, JAMES CAMERON successfully pulled off a romance tale within a sci-fi with his mega-expensive but ridiculously-rewarding AVATAR. Looking to repeat this is Norwegian director, MORTEN TYLDUM, who brought us the Academy Award-nominated historical drama THE IMITATION GAME. What a gem that was, it was in fact my favorite Oscar-nominated film that year. Simply titled PASSENGERS, the film is looking all glossy and spectacular from its trailer, and we have here a pair of studded leading cast, JENNIFER LAWRENCE and CHRIS PRATT, two star travellers who have woken too early from hibernation to discover that their ship and the lives of all 5,259 on board are in grave danger. "For me, it’s a story about what’s important to live a full life. What are the things we need as humans? It’s not afraid to entertain but at the same time it asks big questions about what does it mean to really feel happy. Every generation has its love story. I feel like this is it. I had to do it," Tyldum shared. Co-starring MICHAEL SHEEN, LAURENCE FISHBURNE and AURORA PERRINEAU, the film is slated for a December release this year

#Passengers #PassengersFilm #MortenTyldum #JenniferLawrence#ChrisPratt #MichaelSheen #LaurenceFishburne #AuroraPerrineau#SciFiMovies #SciFi #MovieTrailer #Films #Trailers #Avatar#JamesCameron

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NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
(2016, US - English)

Fashion designer TOM FORD’S 2009 directing debut, A SINGLE MAN was loved by critics, earning multiple award nominations and nearly $10 million at the U.S. box office. His next project, a dark thriller based on AUSTIN WRIGHT's 1993 novel TONY AND SUSAN, stars AMY ADAMS as Susan, a successful art-gallery owner whose ex-husband Edward (JAKE GYLLENHAAL) shows up after nearly two decades of silence, having written a violent novel that’s very clearly about their relationship. In a recent interview, Ford said the Adams' character was based on himself, referencing candidly about his battles with addiction and depression. Also starring MICHAEL SHANNON, AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON, ARMIE HAMMER, ISLA FISHER & LAURA LINNEY, the film won Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and was a breakout hit at the Toronto Film Festival. Loved the book, this is definitely one of my most anticipated films this year. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS opens November 18.

#NocturnalAnimals #TonyAndSusan #AustinWright #TomFord #AmyAdams#JakeGyllenhaal #MichaelShannon #AaronTaylorJohnsom #ArmieHammer#IslaFisher #LauraLinney #Thriller #Movies #Films #MovieTrailer#Adaptation #VeniceFilmFestival #TorontoFilmFestival

Watch the trailer here

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•• Foreign Film Edition ••
DUKHTAR [DAUGHTER][2014, PAKISTAN - Urdu, Pashto]
Having directed short films NADAH (2003), TOBA TEK SINGH (2005) and LONG AFTER (2006), Quetta-born AFIA NATHANIEL's debut feature DUKHTAR premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, turned heads, beat the odds and became Pakistan's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Award. Refusing to acquiesce to Pakistani feature films which tend to cater a lot to Bollywood-themed or "male viewer" dominated preference, Nathaniel went against all odds to tell the story of women's struggles and empowerment. True enough, it took her ten years to source the financing for her film, and being the first female filmmaker in Pakistan certainly didn't help. "In Pakistan itself, what this means is that if your feature film does not have women dancing in it or gyrating on the screen with hardly any clothes on, then no one is going to finance the film. There is no “item number” song in it, so to speak – nothing to cater to the male fantasy. Pakistani feature films are all about catering to the male ego and male fantasy," the forty-two year-old shared. The idea of her film's premise came from a true story she heard in 1999, of a mother in Pakistan who kidnapped her daughters and ran away from her husband to save them from forced marriage. "The story refused to leave me. Her journey of escape was a harrowing tale spread over several years. What remained in my mind was the vision of this one woman and her extraordinary courage. I come from a family of very strong women, women who have endured very tough lives in hopes of a better one for their children," Nathaniel explained.

Similarly, the film DUKHTAR (Daughter in Urdu) is an emotionally resonant thriller which takes us on a ride through Pakistan as a mother, Allah Rakhi (SAMIYA MUMTAZ), risks everything to save her ten year-old daughter Zainab (SALEHA AREF) from an arranged marriage to a much older chieftain from another clan, Tor Gul (ABDULLAH JAAN). The marriage is set up between Tor Gul and Zainab's father, Daulat Khan (ASIF KHAN) with the hope to end the strife between their two clans. Having endured a life resulting from such conditions which place women in near non-existential power, the desperate mother sets out on foot with her uncomprehending daughter, setting a roiled hunt by her own family and the bridegroom's henchmen. They soon find some protection from a truck driver, Sohail (MOHIB MIRZA), who reluctantly shields them from their pursuers, and together they set off on the vertiginous mountain routes towards Lahore, in the hopes of a new beginning.

Amongst its many virtues, what I personally like most, is that the film depicts a journey which is not just for the daughter, but Allah Rakhi's own passage to self-redemption and fulfilment, after living her curtailed life in servitude. Nathaniel handsomely blends her palette of leaden tones in the film with dashes of bright colors throughout. Amidst the bleak winter and barren landscapes of the mountains, informing the mood of the characters and its storyline, we are somehow constantly reminded of hope and courage through a series of contrasting, lively colors, especially seen in Sohail's elaborately decorated truck. Nathaniel shared, "I think we have such a colorful culture and palette within the country that I wanted to stay true to it. Put the camera anywhere and there’s a burst of vibrancy and color. So even just the truck cutting through these mountainscapes and the roads – the truck itself is a bright symbol of any truck driver’s own sense of culture, poetry and art. In our poetry and in our culture, that symbol means something and people use color and symbols everywhere that they can. I wanted this film to be a celebration, even though the film is about a serious topic. The film celebrates the life and the courage of this mother and to me, the palette speaks very honestly about what’s happening." DUKHTAR manages to convey its strong social overtones of the child marriages practiced in tribal regions of the country within a fairly paced thriller functioning with capable performances especially by forty-six year-old actress Mumtaz, and realistically scripted dialogues.

Rating: B+

#Dukhtar #DukhtarFilm #AfiaNathaniel#PakistanFilms #SamiyaMumtaz #SalehaAref#AbdullahJaan #AsifKhan #MohibMirza#ForeignFilms #Urdu #FilmReviews #MovieReviews#Films #Movies#ChildMarriages

FILIPINO FILM MAESTRO LAV DIAZ TAKES HOME GOLD LION AT VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

With several much talked about American films contending including Denis Villeneuve’s ARRIVAL, Tom Ford's NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, Derek Cianfrance’s LIGHT BETWEEN THE OCEANS (together with UK & India) and Damien Chazelle’s LA LA LAND in competition at the 73rd Venice Film Festival, it was Lav Diaz's Filipino drama ANG BABAENG HUMAYO (The Woman Who Left) that nabbed the Gold Lion for best film this year. Clocking almost four hours in length, the black-and-white film is inspired by Leo Tolstoy's 1872 short story, and follows a wrongly convicted schoolteacher's journey after prison as she plots retribution against the ex-boyfriend who framed her.

Holding his Lion aloft, Diaz thanked the jury headed by Sam Mendes, saying “This is for my country, for the Filipino people; for our struggle and the struggle of humanity.” At fifty seven, the man behind MELANCHOLIA (2008) and CENTURY OF BIRTHING (2011) has been adored at the film festivals circuit, where earlier in February he has also brought home the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize for the eight-hour historical epic, HELE SA HIWAGANG HAPIS (A Lullaby to The Sorrowful Mystery) at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.

Tom Ford's revenge story within a story starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal bagged the Grand Jury Prize. The Silver Lion for Best Director was shared between Mexico's Amat Escalante for THE UNTAMED and Russia's Andrei Konchalovsky for Holocaust drama PARADISE.

Emma Stone received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress award for her performance in LA LA LAND, while Best Actor went to Argentina's Oscar Martinez for his portrayal of a Nobel Prize-winning author who returns to his village for the first time in 40 years in the comedy THE DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN. Natalie Portman-starring JACKIE, a study of Jackie Kennedy won Best Screenplay.

#VeniceFilmFestival #LavDiaz#AngBabaengHumayo #TheWomanWhoLeft#DenisVilleneuve #ArrivalFilm #TomFord#NocturnalAnimals #DerekCianfrance#LightBetweenTheOceans #DamienChazelle#LaLaLand #EmmaStone #OscarMartinez#TheDistinguisedCitizen #JackieFilm#AmatEscalante #JakeGyllenhaal #AmyAdams#ParadiseFilm #AndreiKonchalovsky #FilmAwards#MovieAwards #LeoTolstoy#ALullabyToTheSorrowfulMystery