The film fest starts early for me, with press screenings beginning June 15th ahead of the public unveiling of the festival June 16th.
During my coverage of the festival I will try and write reviews for all the films, but I expect that some films will only get paragraph treatments. For the really good stuff I will dedicate an in depth review, but there just isn’t enough time to do that for all the films.
Each day I’ll post a summary of the events, news, and reviews from that day, which will link you to the longer blog pieces.
Also, keep an eye on the twitter bar to the right of the page (or follow me at, RemingtonReview TheFilmsmith). I’ll post little updates when I can’t write a blog post.
Thanks again for your support. Without your regular readership, and the corresponding traffic figures, I would not have received the press pass.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival has just released their schedule for the 12 day long festival, which starts June 16 and ends June 27. Tickets for the festival go on sale tomorrow at noon.
Due to your readership, dear Film Fan, I have secured a Press Pass for the festival. This makes almost all of the screenings free. Without your readership, I would be spending over a 100 pounds trying to cover a fraction of the festival’s events. So thank you.
To honor your support, please look through the festival’s brochure and tell me what films you want reviewed – or simply if I’ve overlooked a great film at the fest. I cannot promise I will be able to deliver all reviews given time restraints, but I will do my best.
There are an insane number of films being shown, so the following are the main titles I’m looking forward to seeing.
22 Bullets
“Jean Reno gets shot 22 times…and he’s not happy about it.” Produced by Luc Besson (Unleashed, The Fifth Element) and starring our favorite hit man, this is high on my list.
BAFTA Scotland Interview: Sir Patrick Stewart
Who would pass up a chance to see Captain Picard?
Cigarette Girl
A dystopia in which smokers are separated from the rest of the city, it looks like a fun B-movie.
Get Low
Robert Duvall plays Felix Bush, an old timer who wants to have a funeral party – while he’s still alive. Throw Bill Murray into this 1930’s period piece and I’m there.
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror
This will be a “audio horror movie,” using the cinema’s sound system to tell Lovecraft’s tale.
Lucky
Documentary from Jeffrey Blitz (Spellbound, Rocket Science) detailing the lives of lottery winners. Given the greatness of Rocket Race and an NPR piece I heard discussing the making of the film, it should deliver the goods.
Monsters
After contact with alien life has gone awry, the Mexican/U.S. border becomes “infected” territory. Monsters received buzz at SXSW and has been compared to District 9. Probably the film I’m most anticipating at the festival.
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?
Directed by Werner Herzog and produced by David Lynch, that’s enough to watch. Adding Michael Shannon (a little known actor who was phenomenal in Shotgun Stories), Michael Pena (Crash, The Shield), Chloe Sevigny, and Willem Dafoe is just icing to the cake.
Outcast
Looking forward to this based solely on the reviews, tagging it as a UK horror that throws out the rules.
R
Described by the EIFF as a prison story that makes A Prophet “look like porridge.”
Red Hill
“This Western-style outback thriller is action cinema at its very best.”
Restropo
“The Afghanistan war film that renders all others unnecessary.” After being embedded for 15 months, the film is supposed to be an unflinching analysis of modern warfare, featuring civilian and military casualties.
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride
It’s 1910 and a young woman is hellbent on returning the body of outlaw Ransom Pride to Texas for a proper burial. Described as a “dark, violent western” reminiscent of Tarantino, Pekinpah, and Sergio Leone, with cameos from Kris Kristofferson, Dwight Yoakam, Jason Preistly, and a shotgun wielding Peter Dinklage, it sounds like a good ride.
The People vs. George Lucas
I posted a blog piece about this that you can read here. Super pumped for this one.
Toy Story 3
UK premiere of Pixar’s latest.
World’s Greatest Dad
Starring Robin Williams in a dark comedy/drama directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, it’s sure to be interesting given Williams abilities showcased in One Hour Photo and Death to Smoochy.
Other film of interest include: Act of Dishonour, And Everything is Going Fine, Au Revoir Taipei, Blank City, Boy, Caterpillar, Chase the Slut, Cherry Tree Lane, Crime Fighters, Evil in the Time of Heroes, Fog, Gravity, Henry of Navarre, HIGH School, Hotel Atlantico, Jackboots on Whitehall, Lucky Luke, Ollie Kepler’s Expanding Purple World, Perastroika, Police Adjective, Postales, Privelege, Putty Hill, Skeletons, Snowman’s Land, Son of Babylon, Soul Boy, The Dry Land, The Hunter, The Oath, The Red Machine, The Robber, The Sentimental Engine Slayer, Third Star, Two Eyes Staring, Vacation, and Went the Day Well?
There are still some costs to covering the film festival, so if you like the blog and can afford to support my work, donate below. If you donate $10 or more, I will send you a DVD of my short films. One finds more value in their work when people are willing to pay for it.
Though the final part of the Ginger Snaps trilogy is weak, it’s not Spider-Man 3 weak. Given the track record of horror film sequels, the entire trilogy stands up pretty well. The real strength of the series lies with the characters, specifically female lead characters. The male cast members are all supporting pieces to the story (though they play bigger parts in Ginger Snaps Back), so we get a fresh perspective as Brigitte and Ginger lead us through female territory: sisterhood, mother-daughter relationships, sex, menstruation, relationships with men, etc. Continue reading →
Now, about the third film. Yes, Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning is set in the 19th century. Yes, that sounds very silly. How in the hell have two girls dealing with werewolves in the modern era suddenly found themselves stuck in the mid-1800’s fighting werewolves at a Canadian trade post? The answer: there isn’t really one. Toward the latter third of the film there are allusions to reincarnation and curses passed through families, but the film doesn’t force this idea and there aren’t any time travel shenanigans. It just is.
So I’ll say this: if you had never seen the first two films and watched this one, it could stand on its own – which is respectable. Continue reading →
Trying to compare Ginger Snaps to Ginger Snaps Unleashed (released in the U.S. as Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed)is like trying to decide between Alien or Aliens: they are both good, but different. Ginger Snaps Unleashed picks up where the first left off. And no, there are no silly gimmicks, there really is continuity between the two (even the same actresses return). Continue reading →
Teenage girls battling werewolves. Nope, it’s not Twilight: it’s another horror gem like The Descent and Carriers.
Katharine Isabelle as Ginger (left) and Emily Perkins as Brigitte (right)
While I was working at a video store, Ginger Snaps was just another straight to DVD horror film: attractive girl, catchy title, some ominous background music, BOOM, you have a cover just like all the other straight to DVD features (right next to Lord of the G-Strings and Santa’s Slay). But as I’ve been working on my dissertation detailing “unsafe” horrors, Ginger Snaps came up enough times to merit a screening. Results? The best werewolf film since Landis’ An American Werewolf in London. Continue reading →
It has been a decade since Russell Crow and director Ridley Scott teamed up for the Spartacus remake, Gladiator and with Crowe’s star status cemented, the two have come together to again mix legend and history in Robin Hood.
In this origin story of the hood Robin, we see the English laying seige to a French castle in 1199. This is the last stop on their way home after a Crusade that has left some, like Robin Longstride (Russel Crowe), feeling they did the Devil’s work, not God’s. When King Richard the Lionheart is killed in battle, Longstride and Company take the news to England under the guise of Knights. When Longstride goes to return a sword to the family of Loxley (whose namesake he has stolen), he assumes Loxley’s position as husband to Marion Loxley (Cate Blanchett) to keep the land from tax collectors (before Robert Loxley left for the Crusade, he failed to have children, and women aren’t allowed to own land at the time). Cue combative, but gradual romantic interest.
Meanwhile, King John accepts the advice of Godfrey (Mark Strong) who is plotting to divide England in order to weaken the country before a French invasion. During this time Godfrey is also trying to track down Longstride, who could reveal him as an agent for the French.
The last major foray into Nottingham Forest was helmed by American Kevin Kostner. It was a fun adventure flick with few British accents and lots of pretty people. With Ridley Scott, however, no one comes out clean – literally. Scott’s attention to the messiness of Middle Age living (and Crusade conquering) makes you want to wipe your hands clean of the mud and blood.
This is why a Ridley Scott film differs from other action films of late: you get to experience realistic events without an overabundance of CGI (that you can see, anyway). The battles are cringe worthy, prompting one to wonder, “How many stuntmen were killed to make this?” So in this regard, Scott knows how to make a good old fashion action movie.
However, the plot is an over stuffed burrito exploding in the microwave. Throw in how Robin Hood has something to do with the Magna Carta and you’ll be poking your neighbor asking for a guide-book.
SPOILER ALERT, SKIP PARAGRAPH
And again with the women needing saving (see Iron Man 2 review): Marion goes off to battle in her father’s armor, but when she confronts Godfrey (who killed her father), she has to be saved by Longstride.
Dear Hollywood: quit giving token empowerment to women. If you’re going to make female characters badasses, then let them do the cool thing at the end before pulling the rug out from under them so the man can make the touchdown instead.
SPOILER ALERT OVER
Largely, the film’s plot is what hurts it the most. It tries to go back and forth between the conflict on the Royal front and the life Longstride is building with bumbling difficulty. Further, the only person I was excited to see in the film was William Hurt, who continues to pop up in random supporting roles (A History of Violence, Mr. Brooks) and God love him for it. Blanchette and Crowe are okay, but Hurt and Mark Strong are the interesting ones (Hurt for his acting, Strong for his hawk head/mean look).
The film is one of those “eh” film experiences; it could have been worse, but it’s not great. For me, the Disney version of Robin Hood remains great and even Kevin Costner’s version might still be better than Scott’s.
My rental suggestions aside, if you’re trying to select a film to see at the cinema I would direct you to the metal of arms of Tony Stark or even Neil Marshall’s Centurion before telling you to see Robin Hood. Just because it stars Russell Crowe and is directed by a Brit don’t make it awesome.
PS
For the love of God do not take this film as history lesson.
M.I.A. of “Paper Planes” fame isn’t a fan of Lady Gaga to say the least. So after Gaga’s “Telephone” mini-movie/music video received so much attention, it seemed fortuitous (though I wouldn’t say planned given the time it takes to make even a short film) that M.I.A. had a mini-movie/music video of her own released a few months after Lady Gaga’s, titled “Born Free.” For this piece, I’d like you watch the two back to back.
Over at Ain’t It Cool News, Harry Knowles is saying that Robert Rodriguez and Danny Trejo stopped by to give him an “illegal” trailer for the upcoming release of once-Grindhouse trailer, now full length feature, Machete.
Evidently the plot of the film is in line with the current anti-immigration fervor in Arizona, so given the political resonance, the trailer is a message for Arizona.
Here was the fake trailer put together for Grindhouse:
Soon after Grindhouse, Rodriguez began making a full movie from the Machete trailer. It will be released September 3, 2010.
The cast for the film is ridiculous: Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Tom Savini, and Lindsay Lohan make up this Mexploitation of awesomeness.
The Filmsmith 