London 2009: Amanda Seyfried, Julianne Moore, Atom Egoyan

Actresses Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore pose with director Atom Egoyan and producer (and oftentimes director) Ivan Reitman as they attend the Chloe photocall during the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival at the Mayfair Hotel on October 22. (Photo by Samir Hussein/Getty Images)

Amanda Seyfried, Julianne Moore (Photo by Samir Hussein/Getty Images)

Julianne Moore (Photo by Samir Hussein/Getty Images)

THE SWEET HEREAFTER – Ian Holm, Sarah Polley

The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
Direction: Atom Egoyan
Screenplay: Atom Egoyan; from Russell Banks’ novel
Cast: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Bruce Greenwood, Tom McCamus, Gabrielle Rose, Alberta Watson, Caerthan Banks, Maury Chaykin
 

Ian Holm, Sarah Polley in The Sweet Hereafter
 

By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica:
Some films are well crafted but lifeless. Others err by believing they can too readily make an audience care for a character just by having a traumatic situation beset him early on. The Sweet Hereafter, a 1997 drama by Canadian director and screenwriter Atom Egoyan, suffers from both maladies. It’s not a bad film, but it certainly is not a great film, either — much less ‘the best film of the year’ as Los Angeles Times [...]

THE SWEET HEREAFTER d: Atom Egoyan

THE SWEET HEREAFTER Review: Part I
Nichole is also hamhandedly used as a symbol when she recites Robert Browning’s poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin. The idea of lost children is so obvious in The Sweet Hereafter that the reason Egoyan adds this touch is bewildering, save that he — bizarrely — felt the loss wasn’t evident enough. That begs the question of just how confident Egoyan was in Banks’ original work, for the poem is only one of many elements in the film that are supposed to be significantly different from the book.
Another side story focuses — of course — on the lone man in town, Billy Ansell, who, [...]

Liam Neeson to Star in CLASH OF THE TITANS

Liam Neeson, 56, whose wife Natasha Richardson died last March 18, is set to begin work on a remake of Clash of the Titans.
Neeson will play Zeus, the ancient Greeks’ top god (Zeus is akin to the Latin Deus, God), a role played by Laurence Olivier in the 1981 film.
Louis Leterrier, of The Incredible Hulk, is set to direct the new version, which is scheduled to begin production in the United Kingdom later this month.
Also in the new Clash of the Titans are Ralph Fiennes playing Hades, ruler of the underworld, Luke Treadaway (of Brothers of the Head), Mads Mikkelsen, Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, and Alexa Davalos. This will mark Neeson’s and Fiennes’ first film reunion [...]

Top Ten Canadian Films of 2008

Top Ten Canadian Feature Films of 2008
(in alphabetical order, including future release dates)

Adoration (above) – Atom Egoyan (Entertainment One/Seville Pictures, May 2009)
Before Tomorrow – Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu (Alliance Films, February 2009)
Ce qu’il faut pour vivre (The Necessities of Life) – Benoit Pilon (Entertainment One/Seville Pictures)
C’est pas moi, je le jure! (It’s Not Me, I Swear!) – Philippe Falardeau (Entertainment One/Seville Pictures)
Fifty Dead Men Walking – Kari Skogland (TVA Films, Spring 2009)
Heaven on Earth – Deepa Mehta (Mongrel Media)
Lost Song – Rodrigue Jean
Maman est chez le coiffeur (Mommy Is at the Hairdresser’s) – Léa Pool (Equinoxe Films)
La Mémoire des anges [...]

2006 Genie Award Winners

"I’m touched. This has been something — a crazy experience," remarked director Jean-Marc Vallée upon accepting the best director Genie Award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
Vallée’s film, C.R.A.Z.Y., the story of a gay youth coming of age in the Quebec of the 1960s and 1970s, swept the Genies with a total of ten wins out of 12 nominations. In addition to the best director trophy, other awards that went C.R.A.Z.Y. include best film, best actor (Michel Côté, who beat his young co-star Marc-André Grondin, above), and best original screenplay (Vallée and François Boulay).
C.R.A.Z.Y. has also become one of the most commercially successful Canadian films ever.
Deepa Mehta’s controversial Water — which caused a major political [...]

Genie Awards 2006

2006 Genie Awards
2006 Genie Award winners: March 13, 2006
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Marc-André Grondin (second from right) in Jean-Marc Vallée’s C.R.A.Z.Y.
 

BEST MOTION PICTURE
MEILLEUR FILM
* C.R.A.Z.Y. – Pierre Even, Jean-Marc Vallée
Familia – Luc Déry
It’s All Gone Pete Tong – Elizabeth Yake, Allan Niblo, James Richardson
Saint Ralph – Michael Souther, Teza Lawrence, Andrea Mann, Seaton McLean
Water – David Hamilton
BEST DOCUMENTARY
MEILLEUR DOCUMENTAIRE
* Scaredsacred – Velcrow Ripper, Tracey Friesen, Cari Green, Harry Sutherland
Les Voleurs d’enfance / Thieves of Innocence – Paul Arcand, Denise Robert
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION
MEILLEURE RÉALISATION
LUC PICARD – L’Audition
* JEAN-MARC VALLÉE – C.R.A.Z.Y.
LOUISE ARCHAMBAULT – Familia
MICHAEL DOWSE – It’s All Gone Pete Tong
DEEPA MEHTA – Water
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
INTERPRÉTATION MASCULINE DANS UN PREMIER RÔLE
LUC PICARD – L’Audition
* [...]