Tag Archives: EIFF

Edinburgh International Film Festival Schedule Released

Posted on June 2, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 1 comment

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.

You can read through the digital brochure here or go to the film fest’s website here to look through their calendar.

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.

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.

Thanks!

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Posted in Edinburgh International Film Festival, News

Tagged 22 Bullets, A Prophet, Action, Afghanistan, Australia, BAFTA, Bill Murray, Bobcat Goldthwait, Captain Picard, Cigarette Girl, David Lynch, Documentary, Dwight Yoakam, Edinburgh International Film Festival, EIFF, Get Low, H.P. Lovecraft, Horror, Jason Priestly, Jean Reno, Jeffrey Blitz, Kris Kristofferson, Luc Besson, Luck, Mexico, Michael Shannon, Monsters, My Son My Son What Have Ye Done, NPR, Outcast, Peckinpah, Peter Dinklage, Pixar, R, Red Hill, Restropo, Robert Duvall, Robin Williams, Rocket Science, Sergio Leone, Shotgun, Sir Patrick Steward, Sir Patrick Stewart, Spellbound, Star Wars, Tarantino, The Dunwich Horror, The Last Rites of Ransom Pride, The People vs George Lucas, Toy Story 3, UK Premiere, War, Werner Herzog, Western, Willem Dafoe, World's Greatest Dad

Darren Aronofsky: In Person

Posted on June 26, 2009 by The Filmsmith | 2 comments

Darren Aronofsky (<em>left</em>) and the Unknown Interview Lady (<em>right</em>).

As was the same with the Sam Mendes talk: I was able to get a last minute ticket for the Darren Aronofsky event that had been sold out. I secured a front seat and the following video footage below. I did not have enough memory on my camera to cover the entire talk, so the rest is dictated word for word from my old school tape recorder (I really need to buy a digital one…).

Worth highlighting are his thoughts on 3D, music from his films cropping up in shitty trailers and sports events, and why some people hate The Fountain towards the end of Part 6. Please leave your thoughts at the bottom.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Edinburgh International Film Festival, Filmmaking, Interviews

Tagged 3D, Batman, Cinema, Clint Mansell, Darren Aronofsky, Edinburgh International Film Festival, EIFF, Filmmaking, Frank Miller, Hubert Selby Jr., Mickey Rourke, Movies, Pi, Requiem for a Dream, Robocop, Steroids, The Fountain, The Wrestler

EIFF: Away We Go

Posted on June 18, 2009 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

When you first see the trailer for Sam Mendes’ Away We Go you wonder if its going to be another Juno: trying so hard to be cute and funny that all you want to do is start kicking it around like a retarded puppy.

Even the poster makes you think of Juno

This sentiment is misplaced. What Mendes has done is encapsulate an earnest relationship and its struggle to define itself with a baby on the way.

We’re introduced to Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) when they first find out they’ll be having a baby. Six months later, the couple begins a location scouting adventure for HOME after Burt’s parents (the couple’s sole connection to their humble abode) decide to move to Antwerp a month before the child is to be born.

Written by Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida, the film is true to its name, whisking us along from locale to locale in chapter format. At each location Burt and Verona meet up with friends or acquaintances who, as representatives of their city, repel or attract the couple.

Less of a “travelogue” and more of a sampling of various parenting styles (from dismissive apathy to New Age s’mothering), Burt and Verona learn what they don’t want to do (be in the same bed with their child when they have sex) and the type of parents they’d like to be (let their kids be who they want to be).

The writing is superb, giving the cast room to bring on the funny. John Krasinski plays Burt well, spinning between demure and heroic without stealing the show, and who knew Maya Rudolph could bring so much with so little? As the oldest sister who carries both child and questions of identity (“Are we fuck ups?” she asks Burt), Rudolph keeps the film’s gravitas.

Away We Go, in comparison to Mendes’ previous work, trades in the visual pomp for natural compositions that work specifically for the type of intimacy Mendes’ is reaching for. After Revolutionary Road, in which a couple tear each other a part by looking inward, Away We Go presents another answer to the equation of coupledom, as Burt and Verona, together, face outward.

This “togetherness” dynamic keeps the film from being casually tossed into the “Romantic Comedy” bin. The usual rom-com format is boy and girl are together, break up, boy fights for girl, wins her over, end. Burt and Verona are never led down that path of conflict (though Mendes’ track record does give you worry for the couple). Throughout most of the film Burt and Verona are always within the same shot, rarely separated by closeups, enhancing their united front.

The film is simple, but poignant, and will hit you where it counts. As my friend Ben Creech once highlighted, what really makes a film is the audience’s connection to the piece. I personally found myself presented on celluloid when Burt idly speculates, “But what if I’m walking by a construction site and I get hit on my frontal lobe and then I’m a horrible person?” When speculating upon the future our decisions may deliver, everyone has the “what if’s?”. The film’s response, “We’ll take it as it comes, together,” rounds out a mature, nuanced comedy about relationships and what it’s really going to take to stick it out. Evidently, it will take a lot of syrup.