Alternative Film Guide

AFI FEST 2007 - World Cinema

4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS (4 LUNI 3 SAPTAMINI SI 2 ZILE) DIR: Cristian Mungiu PROD: Oleg Mutu, Mihaela Poenaru EXEC PROD: Florentina Onea. Romania

ALEXANDRA DIR: NICHOLAS KAISER PROD: ANDREJ SIGLE Russia

THE BAND’S VISIT (BIKUR KATIZMORET) DIR: Eran Kolirin PROD: Eilon Ratzkovsky, Ehud Bleiberg, Yossi [...]

AFI FEST 2007 - Documentary Showcase

BIG RIG DIR: Doug Pray PROD: Brad Blondheim USA

BODY OF WAR DIR: Ellen Spiro, Phil Donahue EXEC PROD: Phil Donahue CO-PROD: Karen Bernstein USA
CONFESSIONS OF A SUPERHERO DIR: Matthew Ogens PROD: Matthew Ogens, Jamie Patricof, Charles Gruet USA

LYNCH Featuring: David Lynch DIR: blackANDwhite EXEC PROD: Rips [...]

The 2007 Los Angeles AFI International Film Festival (or AFI FEST 2007, presented by Audi) will run between November 1-11. The festival’s film line-up includes a total of 97 features (69 narrative, 28 documentary) and 51 shorts (43 narrative, 8 documentary), in addition to 8 video art works for a total of 148 films from [...]

AFI FEST 2007 - International Documentary Competition
1000 JOURNALS DIR: Andrea Kreuzhage PROD: Andrea Kreuzhage USA/Germany

AFGHAN MUSCLES DIR: Andreas Mol Dalsgaard PROD: Jesper Morthorst, Michael Haslund-Christensen. Denmark
ATENCO, A CRIME OF STATE (ATENCO, UN CRIMEN DE ESTADO) DIR: Klamve Colectivo Mexico

CHRIS & DON. A LOVE STORY Cast: DIR: Guido Santi, Tina Macara PROD: [...]

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE COMPETITION

THE ART OF NEGATIVE THINKING (KUNSTEN A TENKE NEGATIVT) Cast: Fridtjov Såheim, Kjersti Holmen, Henrik Mestad DIR: Bard Breien PROD: Dag Alveberg. Norway
AUTUMN BALL Cast: Rain Tolk, Taavi Eeimaa, Sulevi Peitola DIR: Vieko Ounpuu PROD: Katrin Kissa. Estonia
CHOP SHOP Cast: Alejandro Polanco, Isamar Gonzales, Rob Sowulski DIR: Ramin Bahrani [...]

AFI FEST 2007 - GALAS

Opening Night Gala – LIONS FOR LAMBS (North American Premiere) Cast: Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Peter Berg, Michael Pena, Derek Luke. DIR Robert Redford PROD Daniel Lupi, Robert Redford, Andrew Hauptman, Tracy Falco, Matthew Michael Carnahan. USA

Centerpiece Gala – JUNO Cast: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, [...]

The 28th American Film Market (AFM), which takes off today, will screen a total of 522 films in the next seven days in Santa Monica, Calif. Billed as "the largest motion picture trade event in the world," AFM 2007 will serve as the launching pad for 106 industry world premieres and 364 market premieres.
Among the [...]

Ramon Novarro and Barbara La Marr in Trifling Women
 
I was just thinking of 1920s and 1930s film star Ramon Novarro, the subject of the biography I wrote several years ago, Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro.
On the morning of Oct. 31, 1968, Novarro, aged 69, was found dead at his Laurel Canyon home [...]

Actor-singer Robert Goulet died Tuesday (Oct. 30) morning while waiting for a lung transplant at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Goulet had been suffering from interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, reportedly a rare lung disease. He was 73.
Born on Nov. 26, 1933, in Lawrence, Mass., Goulet spent much of his youth in Canada. He became a [...]

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Direction: Frank Capra. Screenplay: Robert Riskin. Cast: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Douglas Dumbrille, Lionel Stander, H.B. Warner, Ruth Donnelly, Raymond Walburn
 

Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, Frank Capra
 
By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica:
There is a tendency among some to think that all the art produced by a great artist is great. [...]

44th Golden Horse Awards - 2007
The 44th Golden Horse Award nominees were announced on Oct. 27, 2007.
The 44th Golden Horse Award winners were announced on Dec. 8, 2007.
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Lust, Caution has been nominated for 11 Golden Horse Awards, in addition to a nomination for director Ang Lee as [...]

Prisoners of the World: E.T. wants out. Considering the state of Planet Earth, even as far back as 1982, who can blame him? Standing next to E.T., Henry Thomas wonders if there’s enough room for him in the spaceship.
 
Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, the saga of an outer-space creature that — quite understandably — wants [...]

Jeff Cohen at Vitaphone Varieties:
"Trumpeter, what is the call you play?
Trumpeter, is it the Reveille?
Call them east, call them west,
Call them loud and clear!"
…
"So begins the remarkable pre-title opening sequence of the 1930 musical revue Paramount on Parade, one of the most elusive [of] all the surviving early all-star screen revues — that despite the [...]

Harry Heuser in Broadcastellan:
"Well, I know, we generally don’t regard our movie-comings and-goings as once-in-a-lifetime events, no matter how extraordinary the experience. In fact, we are inclined to opt for a rerun if a film manages to make us wax hyperbolic in our enthusiasm for it. To be sure, not many moving images have this [...]

I never thought I’d post something linking to a Rupert Murdoch rag such as the New York Post, but this is worth a look.
Billy Heller interviews Lynda Carter:
"Lynda Carter says she’s never used the Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth on her two children, now teens. ‘I don’t think it would work on them. But,’ [...]

Saw IV stormed to the top of the North American box office this weekend with an estimated US$32.1 million.
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, the fourth installment in the popular Saw series opened at 3,183 theaters on Friday, slightly surpassing the $31.7 million opening gross of Saw II. The Lionsgate release, however, failed to beat [...]

Cinesation 2007 Reviews: Part I
Some of the Cinesation 2007 reviews below may contain spoilers. Proceed at your own risk!
 
Saturday
Carry on, Sergeant! (1928) In the more recent Cinesation editions, we’ve been treated to several fascinating little-seen gems from Canadian film archives. With so much of our film consciousness centered on the American and European industries, [...]

As we’re so often told, all good things must indeed come to an end. So, as yet another year draws to a close, it’s with a heavy heart and a wistful eye toward the future that I submit this report for the 2007 Fall Cinesation Festival.
Hosted by The Great Lakes Cinephiles Society, Cinesation kicked [...]

2007 Tokyo Film Festival Awards
2007 Tokyo Film Festival: October 20–28, 2007
 

Eran Kolirin’s The Band’s Visit, about an Egyptian police band stranded in a small Israeli town, was the top winner at the 2007 edition of the Tokyo Film Festival. The Band’s Visit has also won the Jury Coup de Coeur Award at the Cannes Film [...]

The Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present "The Next Dimension: 3D and the Movies," a look at 3D motion picture technology, on two consecutive Tuesday evenings.
The first presentation will feature film clips and live 3D demos on Tuesday, November 6, at 8 p.m. at the [...]

Two-time Academy Award winner Jane Fonda and producer Jerome Hellman will be the special guests at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ "Monday Nights with Oscar" screening of Hal Ashby’s 1978 drama Coming Home on Monday, November 12, at 7 p.m. at the Academy Theater in New York City. Fonda and Hellman will [...]

With Deborah Kerr, it’s not the bare shoulders that matter. It’s the eyes.
 
Deborah Kerr, who died at the age of 86 on Oct. 16, has usually been labeled the cinematic embodiment of the English Rose: ladylike from coiffure to pedicure, perfectly enunciated English, a distinctive coolness, poise and class. I won’t argue with that description [...]

The American Film Market (AFM) has announced its schedule of seminars and conferences addressing distribution, budgeting, finance, locations, fair use, production incentives, digital distribution, film adaptation, and mobile. Presented by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and KPMG LLP, 16 sessions featuring executives, filmmakers, producers, distributors, financiers, and talent from the entertainment world will [...]

To qualify in the Animated Feature Film category for the 80th Academy Awards, filmmakers must submit entry forms and supporting materials to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by 5 p.m. PT Thursday, November 1.
The deadline to submit accompanying film prints is Friday, November 16.
Complete 80th Academy Awards rules are available at www.oscars.org/80academyawards/rules. [...]

10th British Independent Film Awards - 2007
The 10th British Independent Film Award nominees were announced at the Haymarket Hotel in London on Oct. 23, 2007.
The 10th British Independent Film Award winners were announced at the Roundhouse in London on Nov. 28, 2007.
British Independent Film Awards - 2007 Winners
("*" denotes the winner in each [...]