BLACK BOOK has now been released in NYC and Los Angeles by Sony Pictures Classics. The new film from director Paul Verhoeven will expand to other cities shortly.
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BLACK BOOK has now been released in NYC and Los Angeles by Sony Pictures Classics. The new film from director Paul Verhoeven will expand to other cities shortly.
Yes, it was reviewed last week in TimeOut New York.
Originally posted by Johann
Cavite annoyed me.
I appreciated the effort (it was the filmmakers' first film (2 guys whose names I can't remember- they introduced the movie before the screening) but it was just too....amateur.
I also appreciate the effort. These guys basically had $7000 and NO CREW and they managed to get their film distributed in the US. Of course, $7000 doesn't pay for explosions so when these happen the screen just goes black for a few seconds.
It went on and on. The guy has a cell phone on his ear for practically the whole damn movie and the guy who's telling him what to do has a grating voice coming thru the receiver.
Right. There are two characters. One is Filipino-American played by one of the directors who's made to pay dearly for the "sins" of his father and for being a lapsed Muslim out of touch with his country of origin. The other is a leader within the Muslim Separatist movement in the Philippines who has kidnapped his mother and sister.
I didn't really believe the story.
I didn't believe the terrorists could possibly keep an eye on the guy as he is moving around the city in all kinds of motorized transport and walking in and out of places. But I most definitely appreciate the tour of the working class and poor sections of Greater Manila and the immersion in the living conditions there.
The acting didn't convince me.
The director has a limited range as an actor. No doubt.
Didn't hang around for the Q & A.
I'd love to question the directors about the political stance of the film which is absolutely provocative and probably wrong-headed.
So you saw it.
It has jumpy, grainy camerawork that is very "guerilla", but I just didn't buy the story. A great effort, and they did achieve a degree of success with it. They made something from pretty much nothing and that's always to be commended.
Cavite--As mentioned, I wanted to see it. It showed both in the Bay Area and NYC but I missed it both times. Despite the flaws you have been both discussing, it sounded interesting enough to see, had it been convenient. It never was.
The Valet/La doublure is showing here now or coming.
First Snow has been here briefly and I saw and reviewed it (as I did Valet earlier this year in connection with the NY Rendez-Vous).
Red Road has been showing in NYC and LA lately; do not know if it will continue on to here.
Padre Nuestro was made by a friend of my goddaughter from Oberlin College and she just emailed me her excitement at its winning the prize at Sundance. It has gotten very bad reviews though so its future seems uncertain, but the prize should mean some further opportunities for Christopher Zalla.
These are the ones I missed at the fest because they have distribution. Then First Snow had its commercial run here and... I missed it. Red Road won a jury and a press award at the fest. I hope the Scottish working class accents are not too "thick".
As I indicated, it didn't have a long run in Berkeley either. I missed Hanake's Code Unknown that way a few years ago. I read about it, said I must see this, then it was gone before I got over to San Francisco to see it. Not everything comes to Berkeley, though most do, due to Berkeley having a good proportion of art house and Landmark theaters.Quote:
. Then First Snow had its commercial run here and... I missed it.
As for Red Road, maybe it will have subtitles? I was surprised After the Wedding had subtitles for some conversation in English at the beginning, because Mrs. Shaw had an Indian accent. It seemed a bit condescending. . .
I have a slight accent too, and a consciously un-American way of pronouncing the middle "t" sound in words like twenty and bitter.
A couple of reviewers have pointed out the accented English in Red Road. Loach's Riff Raff had a subtitled theatrical release for a reason. But, as far as I know, Red Road is being released sans subs.
Zalla's film won the top prize at Sundance but Zalla left the fest without getting distribution for Padre Nuestro. Maybe it was the very negative reviews on Variety and Slant.
Maybe. But distributors go to see films at festivals for themselves, and the very downbeat nature of Padre Nuestr would make them leave it alone. The reviews also suggest the writing is bad. However the way this titles came up is that you listed it as one of the Miami festival "Films likely to have distribution in one form or another," so we seem to be going astray here.Quote:
Zalla's film won the top prize at Sundance but Zalla left the fest without getting distribution for Padre Nuestro. Maybe it was the very negative reviews on Variety and Slant.
And I still think it's likely to get some form of distribution. It's just noteworthy that Sundance ended without its Grand Jury Prize winner having a distribution deal. It's unprecedented I believe.
This documentary, which won an audience award at the festival, screened as part of a retrospective of Venezuelan cinema this weekend: TO PLAY AND TO FIGHT