AFI FEST 2009: THE LAST STATION, AFTER.LIFE

Helen Mirren, Anne-Marie Duff, Paul Giamatti in The Last Station

AFI FEST 2009, Sat., Nov. 7 at the Santa Monica Laemmle Theater 4 on 2nd Street in Santa Monica.
AFI FEST 2009 comes to a close with the following screenings:

Michael Hoffman’s The Last Station, which is set near the end of Leo Tolstoy’s life, has been getting lots of Oscar buzz for its stars: James McAvoy as Tolstoy’s assistant; Helen Mirren as Tolstoy’s wife; and Christopher Plummer as the verbose author of the never-ending War and Peace.
Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash’s Sweetgrass offers a look at sheepherding in Montana’s Absaroka-Beartooth mountain range. Apart from the sheep and the high peaks, there’s no connection to Brokeback Mountain.
Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s stop-motion [...]

American Film Market 2009

The 30th American Film Market (AFM) to be held in Santa Monica between Nov. 4-11 will screen 445 films in 27 languages, including 73 world premieres and 311 market premieres, to an expected 8,000-plus film buyers and industry professionals from more than 70 countries.
Films making their world and/or market premieres include Get Low (above, top photo), starring Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek and Robert Duvall (K5 International); Unthinkable, starring Samuel L. Jackson (Sierra Pictures); Harry Brown, starring Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer (HanWay Films); Within The Whirlwind, directed by Marleen Gorris and starring Emily Watson (Telepool GmbH); Coach, starring Hugh Dancy, Liane Balaban and Mamie Gummer (Lightning Entertainment); [...]

FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN: Q&A with Oliver Hirschbiegel

Inspired by a true incident that occurred in Northern Ireland in the mid-1970s, while placing the real-life participants in a fictitious set-up, Five Minutes of Heaven stars Liam Neeson as Alistair Little, the former leader of an Ulster Volunteer Force cell who, as a teenager, shot in the head a young Catholic man, James Griffin, in front of his 11-year-old brother, Joe Griffin (played by British Independent Film Award winner, and Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee James Nesbitt).
Written by Guy Hibbert (who wrote Omagh, winner of the Irish Film & Television Academy’s 2004 best film award) and directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (above right, whose Downfall was nominated for a best foreign-language film Oscar), Five Minutes of Heaven explores [...]

Dustin Lance Black and Role Models

The fact that Dustin Lance Black will — at least for the time being — be better known for his sexual activities than for his Milk screenplay says more about our society (or societies, since the thing has gone global) than about Black himself, whose sex life — with or without condoms; with or without a camera — should be his business and nobody else’s.
Some have tried to turn the online leak of Black’s sex photos into something of momentous importance for gay rights, the spread of HIV, etc. In truth, except for Black and his sex partner those photos are irrelevant. Really, will anyone now decide to fight against marriage equality simply because of Black’s sexual life? Will gay [...]

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 [...]

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