The American Film Institute (AFI) and Camelot Theatres will once again join forces to present the ninth annual “AFI PALM SPRINGS SHOWCASE.” Seven award-winning and critically acclaimed films from the 2008 AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival (AFI FEST) will be screened beginning Friday, November 14 and continuing through Sunday, November 16, 2008. AFI FEST Artistic Director Rose Kuo said of the program, “We are honored to present these diverse and innovative films from emerging talent as well as masters at our annual showcase in the Camelot Theatres.”
The seven films selected range from DOUBT, directed by John Patrick Shanley, who brings his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play to the screen, to Director Erick Zonca’s JULIA, a story about an alcoholic who kidnaps a child, starring Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton.
AFI FEST presented by Audi, is the longest-running film festival in Los Angeles and one of the most influential film festivals in North America. Each year the Festival presents one of the world’s most anticipated showcases of international film, demonstrating AFI’s commitment to celebrating the art form. This year, a portion of the proceeds from the Palm Springs Showcase event will benefit the Palm Springs Cultural Center.
Tickets for all screenings will be on-sale beginning October 31: $10 for adults, $9 for Seniors, and an “All Access” pass is available for $55. For more information, please contact the Camelot Theatres box office at 760/325-6565 or visit www.camelottheatres.com.
THE LINEUP INCLUDES:
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 – 7:30 PM
DOUBT Director: John Patrick Shanley
John Patrick Shanley brings his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play to the screen as a gripping story about the quest for truth, the forces of change, and the devastating consequences of blind justice in an age defined by moral conviction. Starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15 – 1:00 PM
THE CLASS Director: Laurent Cantet
This Palme d’Or-winning tale of a young teacher in a tough, multiracial Paris high school uses a documentary-like approach to explore the themes of redemption, tough love, and community dynamics, with Cantet (HEADING SOUTH) finding the delicate balance between grit and inspiration. Stars Francois Begaudeau, Nassim Amrabt, Laura Baguela, Cherif Bounaidja Rachedi. (French with English subtitles)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15 – 4:00 PM
OF ALL OF THE THINGS Director: Jody Lambert
In the 1970s, songwriter Dennis Lambert had four songs in the top 100 at once, a feat previously accomplished only by the Beatles. Now retired, and selling real estate, Lambert’s discovery of an unlikely cult following-in the Philippines!! -lures him back on tour. This hilarious doc captures every note.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15 – 7:30 PM
THE KINSEY SICKS: ALMOST INFAMOUS Director: Ken Bielenberg
ALMOST INFAMOUS takes us backstage with The Kinsey Sicks, a spellbinding drag a cappella performance troupe that has become a phenomenon in the U.S. and abroad. We glimpse the depth, humor and political savvy of the guys behind the girls, as they head to Las Vegas for an opened-run and a shot at infamy. But is Las Vegas ready for The Kinsey Sicks’ brand of edgy, raunchy and ruthlessly honest material? The documentary is a roller coaster ride of concert footage, archival performance footage and “confession cam” interviews that take us behind-the-scenes as the group fights for their artistic freedom, their relationships and their sanity, as they make their way to opening night in Sin City. Featuring Ben Schatz, Irwin Keller, Chris Dilley, and Jeff Manabat.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16 – 1:00 PM
EVERLASTING MOMENTS Director: Jan Troll
Sweden’s greatest living filmmaker affectionately tells the poignant story of a woman who, to help cope with her at-times brutal family life, turns to photography. “The pictures take me over,” she tells her friend, as she snaps photos that put her, for at least the flash of the shutter, in control of her world. Stars Maria Heiskanen, Mikael Persbrandt, and Jesper Christensen.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16 – 4:00 PM
TWO LOVERS Director: James Gray
A suicidal young man (Phoenix) is caught between two women: the daughter of his father’s business associate (Shaw), and a gorgeous blonde socialite (Paltrow). With its sincerity and rich characters, this very modern ode to the complications of romance radiates a streak of Golden Age Hollywood moviemaking. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, Joaquin Phoenix, and Elias Koteas.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16 – 7:30 PM
JULIA Director: Erick Zonca
Moving easily between the most challenging art films and mainstream movies, always bringing intelligence, passion and a psychological edge to her roles, Tilda Swinton has proven herself one of the most versatile, compelling performers of her generation.
Posted by Lucio Maurizi on October 30, 2008 under Documentary, Uncategorized | Comments are off for this article
On November 1, 1946, in the opening game of the fledgling Basketball Association of America (BAA), Ossie Schectman scored the opening basket for the New York Knickerbockers against the Toronto Huskies. Schectman and his teammates Sonny Hertzberg, Stan Stutz, Hank Rosenstein, Ralph Kaplowitz, Jake Weber, and Leo “Ace” Gottlieb went on to win the opening game 68 – 66 and finish the season with a 33 – 27 record. In 1949, the BAA became the National Basketball Association (NBA), and Schectman’s shot is considered the first basket in the NBA.
In fact, several of the BAA and NBA teams had evolved out of the semi-pro teams, settlement houses, playgrounds, schoolyard and community center leagues, and college teams that sprung from the Jewish inner-city neighborhoods of the early 20th century. While the era of Jewish professional basketball players has passed, the story of these sports pioneers illustrates how the American 20th Century was shaped by the experiences of many immigrant groups.
The First Basket, produced and created by David Vyorst and released tomorrow, follows these Jewish basketball experiences, from ash cans placed on the stoops of brownstones, to the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.
The movie shows Basketball as a reflection of the inner city and examines its social factors that led urban Jewish youths to basketball, and their notable success in basketball from the 1920s through the early 1950s. This sport had a big role as a middle ground for second-generation eastern European immigrants as they established their own American identities, and the corresponding conflicts between old world tradition and American culture.
This documentary also brings some light on the Anti-Semitism and Jewish stereotypes in the face of Jewish success in basketball from the 1920s through the early 1950s and, eventually, the declining presence of Jews in professional basketball from the early 1950s onwards and the CCNY point shaving scandals of 1951, both against the backdrop of 1950s America, the globalization of basketball, and its immense popularity in Israel.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on under New Release | Comments are off for this article
The directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York is being called “unquestionably the most ambitious American film of the year.” The film scored $172,194 from just 9 screens in the US but is having difficulty landing distribution internationally.
Synecdoche, New York is a grand statement on life, art, death and ageing by a film-maker who has just turned 50. At its core is Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a hypochondriac theatre director living in the New York borough of Schenectady but rushing headlong into a mid-life crisis. As his partner, artist Adele (Catherine Keener), takes their daughter with her to a gallery opening in Berlin, Caden is dogged by a series of repulsive physical complaints, rotting gums and all.
So self-absorbed is Caden, he barely notices the attentions of Samantha Morton’s box-office worker, Hazel. Instead, he dives into his work. In a hangar, he embarks on building a scale-recreation of Manhattan, complete with actors playing its inhabitants. An idea that suggests Kaufman’s been playing too much Grand Theft Auto IV, which digitally attempted to recreate the same experience, Caden becomes increasingly obsessed with his life’s work as the film skips through the years.
The second half of the film is as daring as it is difficult. Blurring the lines of fiction and reality so much it makes your eyes hurt, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson and Michelle Williams play actors cast by Caden in his masterwork to play versions of himself, Hazel and Adele. By the end, it becomes impossible to tell what is real and what is not. [Reviewed by James Mottram]
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on October 29, 2008 under Documentary, Television | Comments are off for this article
Rapper T.I., real name Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr., was arrested just over a year ago, on the afternoon of October 13, 2007 in Atlanta. The ATF executed a search warrant at his home. T.I. was arrested on federal gun charges just hours before he was scheduled to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards, according to federal authorities.
The rapper/actor/entertainer was arrested in a federal sting Saturday after his bodyguard-turned-informant delivered three machine guns and two silencers to the hip-hop star, according to a Justice Department statement.
Authorities said that Harris, 27, provided the bodyguard $12,000 to buy the weapons, which Harris is not allowed to own because he is a convicted felon. Court documents said Harris was convicted on felony drug charges in 1998, and a federal affidavit said he has been arrested on gun charges in the past.
T.I., was sentenced earlier this year, and as part of the sentence must complete at least 1,000 hours of a total 1,500 hours of community service, talking to youth groups about the pitfalls of guns, gangs and drugs. He will also be sentenced to serve about 12 months in prison after completing the community service, officials said.
On Sunday, the film, “Walking With Guns,” presented by the Andrew Young Foundation was shown at the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta. It includes extensive footage of the Grammy-winning artist T.I. visiting a rehabilitation hospital in New York to meet patients paralyzed by gang violence. The film also shows T.I. and Young telling young people how to avoid violence, and also follows the life of Hank Carter, a former New York gang member who is now a social activist. The film also features still images by Atlanta documentarian and photographer Shannon McCollum. source
The film explained the story from T.I.’s point of view and detailed him having his best friend and confidante Philant Johnson killed in 2006 which led him to fear for his own life thus purchasing machine guns and silencers and subsequently being arrested hours before the B.E.T. awards in 2007. source
The film will be shown on Atlanta’s WSB-TV on Sunday, November 2nd at 1pm.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on under Coming Soon | Comments are off for this article
Last night at the Castro Theatre, was the sold-out, one-night-only, world-premiere benefit screening of “Milk,” the hotly anticipated new film about the life, times and tragic death of controversial San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. The feature, directed by Gus Van Sant, opens in theaters Nov. 26. Sean Penn, plays the title role in a richly textured performance sure to evoke visceral memories of one of the first openly gay people to win major elective office in the country.
The two-hour movie follows Milk from New York to San Francisco, where he opened a camera shop on Castro Street and used his political savvy and a surging liberation ideology to win a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Less than a year after being elected, Milk was shot and killed in City Hall by the recently resigned supervisor Dan White, played by Josh Brolin in the film. White also assassinated Mayor George Moscone, who is played by Victor Garber, on that “Black Monday” in November 1978.
The film tells its story in fatefully somber, operatically enhanced flashback, with Milk speaking into a tape recorder in eerie anticipation of his possible assassination. Van Sant, whose films include “Good Will Hunting” and “My Own Private Idaho,” hews closely to Milk’s political career, which included several unsuccessful runs for supervisor. The film also depicts Milk’s love life and the burgeoning gay sensibility and rage ignited in San Francisco and beyond by this galvanic figure.
“Milk” joins a stream of previous works on the subject, including Rob Epstein’s Oscar-winning documentary, “The Times of Harvey Milk,” which premiered at the Castro Theatre in 1984. Milk’s life and the double assassination have been explored in numerous books, stage plays and an opera.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on October 28, 2008 under Box Office, Uncategorized | Comments are off for this article
Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom, soared to the top of U.S. theatrical independent film box office with an estimated opening weekend gross of $161,302, or approximately $32,261 per screen.
Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom is a sassy, funny and fierce look at the lives of a close-knit quartet of African-American gay men who discovered their real family when they found each other.
When Noah (Darryl Stephens), a young screenwriter from Los Angeles, agrees to marry his partner Wade (Jensen Atwood) in a small ceremony on Martha’s Vineyard, he invites his three closest friends, Alex (Rodney Chester), Ricky (Christian Vincent) and Chance (Doug Spearman) to travel cross-country with them for a weekend of revelry. What he gets instead is a weekend of revelations where secrets and lies are exposed, hearts are challenged and friendships are turned upside down. Based on Logo Network’s landmark television series, Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom is a sexy, funny and often insightful celebration of love, family, friendship and self-discovery.
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on under Coming Soon, Documentary | Comments are off for this article
Jay Sebring, the Hollywood hairstylist murdered by Charles Manson’s followers in 1969, will be the subject of a documentary directed by his nephew. Read more
“Weeds” star Mary-Louise Parker will begin a May/December romance with Michael Douglas in “Solitary,” an indie drama co-starring Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito and Jenna Fischer. The story revolves around an ex-auto dealership owner (Douglas) whose career and marriage have collapsed because of his less-than-ethical behavior. Parker will play a high-powered society belle. Read more
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on under Awards | Comments are off for this article
The nominations and jury members for the eleventh annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) were announced today, Tuesday 28 October at Soho House in London.
The nominations this year reflect the up and coming and internationally renowned on and off screen talent and also demonstrate a strong multicultural presence.
Elliot Grove, founder of Raindance and the British Independent Film Awards says: “The nominations reveal an unparalleled number of new and young film talent across the various categories. Together with more established film industry names, these nominees mark a refreshing eleventh year.”
The films receiving the most nominations are Hunger and In Bruges tied with seven nominations each. Slumdog Millionaire follows with six, Shifty one of the first from the Film London Microwave slate receives five nominations, Somers Town, Son of Rambow and The Duchess hold four nominations each. Other films with multiple nominations are The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Happy-Go-Lucky both receiving three, and Man on Wire, The Daisy Chain, Eden Lake and The Escapist receiving two each. There is an unprecedented number of twenty-three other nominated films throughout the categories.
First time BIFA actor nominees include Colin Farrell, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sienna Miller, Vera Farmiga,, Alexis Zegerman, Sally Hawkins, Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, Brendan Gleeson, Riz Ahmed, Daniel Mays, Dev Patel, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Bill Milner, Hayley Atwell, Will Poulter and past Variety Award recipient Keira Knightley. Asa Butterfield
This year sees repeat nominations for actors Samantha Morton, Eddie Marsan, Emma Thompson, Kelly Reilly, Thomas Turgoose – who is the youngest ever Best Actor nominee – and Ralph Fiennes who receives a double nomination this year in the Best Supporting Actor category. As well as a few behind the camera nominees, such as directors Danny Boyle and Shane Meadows and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle.
The BIFA pre-selection committee (of 70 members) viewed more than 150 films, out of which they selected the nominations
BIFA Directors, Johanna von Fischer & Tessa Collinson say: “We are delighted to be able to highlight such an eclectic range of new British film talent this year with the pre-nomination debut director category being the most competitive BIFA has ever had. We are also proud to honor two outstanding British acting talents and careers with The Richard Harris and The Variety Awards.”
From his breakthrough role in Mike Leigh’s Naked through to his most recent role as the Father in this year’s BIFA nominated The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, David Thewlis, a nominee in BIFAs inaugural year 1998, will be honoured with the Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor. Also this year, The Variety Award for bringing the international spotlight to the British film industry, goes to the star of Frost/Nixon, Michael Sheen.
BIFA’s new jury is comprised of sixteen professionals and talents from across the British film industry including: Producer and Chair, Simon Relph, Actresses Anne Marie Duff and Eva Birthistle, Actors Mark Strong and Christopher Simpson, Director Joe Wright, Photographer/Director Rankin, Writer/Director Paul Andrew Williams, Writer Abi Morgan, Producers David Lawson, Gina Carter and Cat Villiers, Xavier Marchand Distributor (Momentum), Casting Director Shaheen Baig, Agent Tor Belfrage and Col Needham, Founder and Managing Director of the Internet Movie Database.
The much anticipated 11th awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 30 November at the Old Billingsgate Market in London and will be hosted by James Nesbitt.
BIFA are proud to announce the following nominees for this year’s awards:
BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
Hunger
In Bruges
Man on Wire
Slumdog Millionaire
Somers Town
BEST DIRECTOR
Sponsored by The Creative Partnership
Mark Herman – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Steve McQueen – Hunger
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Shane Meadows – Somers Town
Garth Jennings – Son of Rambow
THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR]
James Watkins – Eden Lake
Rupert Wyatt – The Escapist
Steve McQueen – Hunger
Martin McDonagh – In Bruges
Eran Creevy – Shifty
BEST SCREENPLAY
Sponsored by BBC Films
Enda Walsh, Steve McQueen – Hunger
Martin McDonagh – In Bruges
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Paul Fraser – Somers Town
Garth Jennings – Son of Rambow
BEST ACTRESS
Sponsored by M.A.C
Vera Farmiga – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Samantha Morton – The Daisy Chain
Keira Knightley – The Duchess
Kelly Reilly – Eden Lake
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
BEST ACTOR
Michael Fassbender – Hunger
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Riz Ahmed – Shifty
Thomas Turgoose – Somers Town
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emma Thompson – Brideshead Revisited
Hayley Atwell – The Duchess
Kristin Scott Thomas – Easy Virtue
Sienna Miller – The Edge of Love
Alexis Zegerman – Happy-Go-Lucky
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sponsored by Tiscali
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess
Eddie Marsan – Happy-Go-Lucky
Liam Cunningham – Hunger
Ralph Fiennes – In Bruges
Daniel Mays- Shifty
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Asa Butterfield – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar – Slumdog Millionaire
Bill Milne – Son of Rambow
Will Poulter – Son of Rambow
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
Sponsored by Recorded Picture Company
The Daisy Chain
The Escapist
Hush
Shifty
Telstar
RAINDANCE AWARD
Clubbed
Flick
One Day Removals
Zebra Crossings
BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Sponsored by Skillset
Wardrobe – Michael O’Connor – The Duchess
Cinematography – Sean Bobbitt – Hunger
Editing – Jon Gregory – In Bruges
Music – Harry Escott, Molly Nyman – Shifty
Cinematography – Anthony Dod Mantle – Slumdog Millionaire
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Sponsored by Chapter Media
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures
Derek
Man on Wire
Of Time and The City
Three Miles North of Molkom
BEST BRITISH SHORT
Sponsored by Dailymotion
Alex And Her Arse Tuck
Gone Fishing
Love Does Grow On Trees
Red Sands
Soft
BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You So Long
Persepolis
Waltz With Bashir
THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD (for outstanding contribution to British Film)
Nominated for an Oscar® for Best Documentary, and named Best Non-Fiction Film by the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics, Charles Ferguson’s exacting documentary carefully explores the aftermath following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Half a century ago, suburbia was hailed as the solution to urban decay. Now, in the light of diminishing oil supplies, economic woes and unsustainable lifestyles, many concerned citizens are rethinking their options.
Employing an intricate narrative with flashes forward and backward, actor-turned filmmaker Keith Gordon follows the story of a rising politician (Billy Crudup) whose career is cast into doubt when he is haunted by memories of an activist (Jennifer Connelly) he loved during the Vietnam years.
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk has revolutionized the sport and catapulted it to unprecedented international popularity, while becoming a household name in the process. Iron Man directorJon Favreau is a Hollywood success story whose achievements range from acting to writing to directing. Experience big ramp skating, take a tour of a renowned industry special effects studio, and discover their shared passion for redefining the mainstream landscape and giving back along the way.
Mike Leigh’s award-winning film is a touching comic examination of family dynamics and identity, centering on Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), a middle-aged factory worker who is contacted by a daughter (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) she gave up for adoption three decades earlier.
In the spirit of other classic films about the joys, comedy and family chaos of weddings, Mira Nair offers an invitation to a rollicking and colorful Delhi ceremony.
The film “SHOOT ON SIGHT” which released on 17th October, 2008 in India, has reportedly won the critics’ & the Indian audiences’ heart in all the ways. The film is directed by Jag Mundhra of Provoked and Bawandar fame and casts Indian veteran actors Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Gulshan Grover along with Hollywood actors like, Greta Scacchi, Brian Cox, Laila Rouass and Sadie Frost. The film released both in English & Hindi Versions.
Shoot on Sight is a political thriller which deals with the difficult dilemna of mostly peace loving Muslims, in these turbulent times, when a cosmopolitan society, especially London, is gripped by fear of Islamic extremism, racial profiling and Islamophobia during the aftermath of underground bombings in July 2005.
The film is a fictional drama dealing with the London Police order of “Shoot On Sight” after the underground bombings in 2005. The film unfolds the turmoil in the life of Tariq Ali, a Muslim police officer at Scotland Yard.
Commander Ali, born in Lahore and married to an English woman, is tasked to investigate the police shooting of a suspected Muslim terrorist in the London Underground. Distrusted by both his superiors in the police, and his fellow Muslims, he finds his inquiry hampered from all sides. When evidence surfaces pointing to the slain man’s innocence, as well as the existence of a terrorist cell operating in his own backyard, Tariq must face the realization that sometimes the right decision is the hardest one to make. (via film website)
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Rapper T.I., real name Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr., was arrested just over a year ago, on the afternoon of October 13, 2007 in Atlanta. The ATF executed a search warrant at his home. T.I. was arrested on federal gun charges just hours before he was scheduled to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards, 
