23rd Aug2015

Pressure (Film)

by timbaros

0ozUa2rQg1wIuzT7vi4W_M4PrpG3q-ExprQ4itMNGl8Four men are tasked with fixing an oil pipeline hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface in the Somali Basin but quickly run into trouble in the new suspense thriller ‘Pressure.’

The four-member team include Danny Huston (American Horror Story, Made in Dagenham) as the experienced Engel; Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game) as team leader Mitchell; Joe Cole (Skins) as wet behind the ears Jones; and Alan McKenna (Belle) as Hurst. They are sent down into the deep blue sea in a tiny submarine-like vessel to investigate a broken oil pipeline as their ship stays on the surface. But once they are in position, a storm destroys their ship, while their vessel starts to shake and roll violently, ultimately landing on the seabed. A couple of them venture out of their vessel to investigate, and, in scenes of pure horror, they see the bodies of some of their fellow crew members from the ship floating all around them. At this point they then realize that they are literally in deep trouble. With nowhere to go, nowhere to turn, they attempt to use their radio to signal for help. Meanwhile, they have limited oxygen reserves, argue over the best way to ensure survival, and are ready to give anything a go just to get out of this life-threatening ordeal. They are met with almost certain death; the freezing water outside, the decompression sickness that could happen, their lungs rupturing, and most worringly, the diminishing air supply.

‘Pressure’ is a short 91-minute film in which the plot is quick to take hold, and the men are suddenly and quickly in trouble. And ultimately it’s up to the actors to convey the tension and drama while they decide and attempt to take matters into their own hands. ‘Pressure’ is a bit like ‘Gravity’ – where George Clooney and Sandra Bullock are trapped in space. In ‘Pressure,’ we have four men trapped in the opposite spectrum – at the bottom of the sea, and face the same problem – how to get back ‘home.’ But in 91 minutes we hardly get to know the men. We do know that they all have women in their lives, via flashbacks; Jones’ (Cole) girlfriend is pregnant, he really wants to survive to see the birth of his baby (we see sweet flashbacks of them early on in their relationship); Engel’s girl is shown in dream sequences as a passenger in a car he is driving; and in another dream sequence we see Jones literally being kissed to death by a mermaid. Does this mean he is not going to survive? It looks realistic and scary. Yet there’s not a whole lot more to ‘Pressure.’ While it’s a good film, with excellent special effects, don’t expect too much from it. Perhaps if it were a bit longer to tell more about the characters and their personal lives and backgrounds we would’ve cared a bit more about them.

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04th Jul2015

Magic Mike XXL (Film)

by timbaros

images-377The Kings of Tampa are back! These men, the strippers from Magic Mike, return with a sequel – Magic Mike XXL – they are back with a bang!

Magic Mike XXL reunites Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer and the rest of the cast from the hit 2012 about male strippers and picks up the story three years later after Mike left the world of stripping. He’s got his own furniture business but it’s not doing too well. So when the former Kings of Tampa look him up on the way to a stripper convention in Myrtle Beach, California, Mike (Tatum) can’t resist the pull to go back to stripping, and to reunite with his buddies. So what takes place is a male stripper road movie with scenes that allow all of the men to display their physical goods.

And these scenes are hot. In one, reminiscent of Jennifer Beal’s dance scene in flashdance with sparks flying around, Mike does the same in his garage, to prove that he’s still got it, and what a dance it is. Once on the road, we’re treated to their adventures, to be voyeurs in their exhibitionism. First stop, a gay bar where the drag queen emceeing asks any members of the audience if they want to participate in an amateur strip contest. Of course our men enter and wow the crowd. They then find themselves at a beach party, where Mike has an encounter with Zoe (Amber Heard).

Then Big Dick (Manganiello) performs for a shocked but very lucky gas station attendant. You’ll never look at a bag of Cheetos the same way again.

A stop at Domina, Mike’s pre-Tampa stomping ground which is now a private club for women, transforms the movie into a very sexual, breathless sexually arousing film. You see, Domina treats it’s’ female customers to male strip shows, and they are strip shows you’ve never ever seen before on film. It’s here that Mike re-encounters Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith) the proprietress and a woman from Mike’s past.

It you’re out of breath at this point (trust me, you will be) there’s lots more. The men wind up at the home of Nancy (Andie MacDowell), a recently divorced woman in her early 50’s, still sexy and flirty, and the rapport between and Nancy’s female friends and the men is very palpable, real, you can cut the sexual tension between them with a knife.

Destination of Myrtle Beach reached, and once at the stripper convention each man gets to perform his own unique dance, for a room full of ladies, and perform they do, and Tatum strips all the way down to a shiny jockstrap, with the other men doing their own special routines choosing various lucky ladies from the audience to perform on them. And Tatum chooses Zoe to perform on her, in every position possible.

While Magic Mike XXL won’t win any awards, the male stars of this film really put themselves out there. And the female actresses who were chosen to be performed on in various stages of their road trip, one can presume they weren’t acting, they were really just enjoying it immensely.

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19th Jun2015

Accidental Love (Film)

by timbaros

TN_00261“Accidental Love,” shot in 2008 but not released until now, is not as bad as expected considering it’s been on the shelf for 7 years.

Why did it take this long to be released? During the making of the film, when it was called “Nailed”, “Accidental Love” encountered financial difficulties (production was shut down four times in 2008 as the crew was not getting paid). After several production delays, Director David O. Russell (American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook) disassociated himself from the film. He then quit and the studio took over and finished the film, but it’s a film that almost hits the nail in the head in it’s humor and story.

Rollerskating waitress in a small Indiana town Alice (Jessica Biehl) literally has a nail fly into her head at a local restaurant just as her boyfriend, percentage quoting policeman Scott (James Mardsen) is proposing to her. Alice isn’t insured so the local hospital won’t remove the nail from her head, which causes her to have extreme mood swings. And she’s too old to be insured under her parents (Beverly D’Angelo and Steve Boles). Even the local town veterinarian, her Aunt Rita (Kirstie Alley), tries to take the nail out but is unsuccessful. So after seeing a campaign commercial on television about their local Congressman Howard Birdwell (Jake Gyllenhaal) who urges his constituents to visit him in Washington, D.C., anytime, Alice does just that. She’s accompanied by other people who aren’t insured but who have strange and unusual medical injuries (including a man with a long-term erection and another man with an introverted arse). They meet with Birdwell, and eventually Alice and Birdwell fall for each other, but in between this we are treated to a funny plot that involves a murderous female Representative (Catherine Keneer) and her loyal assistant (Paul Reubens) who are pushing for a bill to fund a base on the moon, (but what is obviously needed more is more money for healthcare), girl scouts who are promised a visit by Shakira, and Birdwell who takes part in an all-male Shaiman Circle to find his inner man. Yes, this all takes place in the film’s 100 minute running time.

The humor in “Accidental Love” is quite hit or miss – jokes about men’s baskets and bowel movements – “It’s like a fantastic number 2, “litter the movie. But the film’s cute and original opening sequence (Americana at 100% full speed – Chevy’s, drive-in restaurant, hamburgers, shakes) set to the tune of “Mr. Sandman” does not sustain itself throughout the film. “Accidental Love” gets sillier and sillier and less funny, continuing until it’s cute but predictable, and unbelievable (Alice gives a speech to Congress) ending. It’s a film that pokes extreme fun at the lack of universal healthcare in America, and it’s quite fun to watch. “Accidental Love” was co-written by Russell (who appears in the credits as Stephen Greene) and Al Gore’s daughter Kristin.

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06th Jun2015

Kidnapping Freddy Heineken (Film)

by timbaros

FH-0638In 1983, beer magnate Freddy Heineken was kidnapped right in front of his Amsterdam home. Kidnapping Freddy Heineken is about this event, and the six men who committed the crime.

Cor (Jim Sturgess) and his fellow pals are down on their luck, with a failed business, no money, with wives and girlfriends, and children on the way. They need money, so they hatch a plan; kidnap one of the wealthiest men in their city – Freddy Heineken. But before they do this, they need to get their hands on some real money in order to successfully (and professionally) kidnap Heineken, so they rob a bank, and pull it off.

Now with their newly found resources, they minutely plan the kidnapping, renting a warehouse on the edge of town, buying equipment and vehicles, and spending weeks training for the actual kidnapping. Then the day comes – and they snatch Heineken (played by Anthony Hopkins) and his driver Ab (David Dencik) right in front of Heneiken’s luxurious brownstone. Heineken and Ab are held in the warehouse for days and days on end, and a ransom of 35 million Dutch guilders (about $20 million) is asked for their safe return. Cor and co-ringleader (and Cor’s brother-in-law) Willem (Sam Worthington) are confident they will pull this off. Jan (Ryan Kwanten), meanwhile, is less so and has second thoughts on their dirty scheme. Weeks and weeks go by and the ransom is not paid, and tension among the group gets worse, but eventually the men get their money, and the hostages are found by the police. Weeks later, all men involved are arrested.

Kidnapping Freddy Heineken is based on the 1987 book of the same name by Peter R. de Vries. It’s a compelling, dramatically told story, directed by Daniel Alfredson, that’s fast-paced and quickly edited. And all the performances are very good, especially Sturgess as the ringleader, and Thomas Cocquerel as Martin ‘Brakes’ Erkamps, the youngest of the gang. Hopkins, always good, doesn’t have much to do, he’s a prisoner in a small room, taunting his captors, waiting and waiting. At a short 95 minutes, Kidnapping Freddy Heineken provides a lot of action in the short period of time.

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30th May2015

San Andreas (Film)

by timbaros

sanandreasThe eagerly-awaited film San Andreas is one of the worst scripted films in recent memory. It’s also a very frightening and almost realistic look at what could happen to California if a major earthquake takes place.

San Andreas, in case you didn’t know, is a fault line that runs roughly 801 miles through California. It’s a tectonic plate that, scientists confirm, will shift, hence causing a major earthquake in that region. The film San Andreas imagines this catastrophe, which practically ruins the state of California, first by earthquakes, and then by a massive tsunami. It’s bone-chilling yet stupid.

The film begins with a young woman driving along a cliff who is distracted by her cellphone. A rock slide takes place, causing her to drive off the cliff with the car nestling on the edge of some rocks, hanging by a thread. Swooping in is Ray Gaines (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson), a Los Angeles Fire Department search and rescue helicopter pilot, who comes to the rescue with his team and saves the girl. It’s a metaphor for real events in his life; his youngest daughter drowned and he’s still feeling mega guilty about it. It was also an event that led to the breakup of his marriage to Emma (Carla Gugino), and led her into the arms of mega millionaire building developer Daniel Riddick (Ioan Gruffudd). Ray soon discovers that Emma will be moving in with Riddick, taking along their only daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario).

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Meanwhile, scientist Lawrence (Paul Giamatti) and his team discover a previously undetected fault line near Nevada’s Hoover dam. They go there to inspect it, and while they are there, on top and inside the dam, a major earthquake hits. Lawrence is sparred but a member of his team is killed while trying to save a young girl. This earthquake triggers the San Andreas fault line to become active, setting off a massive earthquake up and down the coast of California. Buildings shake violently then fall down, many people die by getting crushed, while Emma is dining at a posh restaurant (with Kylie Minogue). She phones Ray for help and is preposterously saved by him and his helicopter while the building underneath her is collapsing. They then go on a mission to find their daughter, who is in San Francisco with Riddick.

San Andreas then becomes not just a disaster movie but an unintentional comedy. In one scene, Blake asks Riddick why he never had any children. He points to a brochure of his buildings and says ‘these are my children.’ Also, in what can be described as the worst line in screen history, Ray tells Emma ‘It’s been awhile since I got you to second base’ after parachuting into San Francisco’s AT&T Baseball park after enduring death and destruction and also almost losing their lives. And it gets worse. The San Francisco skyline changes from scene to scene (and not just because some buildings fall down) – San Andreas gets worse and unbelievable as the characters continue to survive.

And when you think the characters (and yourself) have had enough, a Tsunami starts to form. Emma and Ray ride into the tsunami on a boat that literally pitches up vertically, only to be sucked under a massive cargo ship – and they survive. And most stupid of all is that, they actually do find their daughter, trapped inside a building with a young British man and his younger brother (both with posh British accents) – and they seem to be the only people who have survived in San Francisco. The filmmakers have obviously applied creative license to a real-world threat, but with a horrible script and unbelievable life and death situations, San Andreas is a fault that never should’ve woken up.

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25th May2015

The New Girlfriend (Film)

by timbaros

JSFFrancois Ozon is back with a film that follows the same winning formula of his previous films – quirky, sweet, funny and dramatic, and a bit off the wall.

In The New Girlfriend, we get best friends Laura (Insild Le Besco) and Claire (Anais Bemoustier). They grew up together, went to school together, and basically shared their lives together. Laura was the first to get married, to David (Romain Duris), and the first to have a baby. Claire eventually got married, to the very handsome Gilles (Raphael Personnaz). They both remained very very close after their marriages, but unfortunately Laura gets very sick. Claire makes a promise to Laura that she will look after her baby and David in case things take a turn for the worse. They do, as Laura passes away.

So Claire owns up to her promise, and a few days after the funeral she decides to go to David’s house to check up on him and the baby as she’s not heard from him. She enters the house via an unlocked front door and discovers David dressed as a woman! So in typical Ozon fashion, the plot takes a turn for the wacky as Claire accepts, and even encourages David to dress up as a woman, naming him Virginia, and even accompanying him on his first trip outside the house dressed as a woman. It’s a different type of relationship that develops between Claire and David. It’s a relationship not just between a man and a woman, but between two women. Their relationship takes a turn for the emotional and the sexual, and Claire is torn as to what to do. She has to make a decision, stay with Gilles, or start a new life with David and the baby.

Ozon, at the age of 47, has given us many memorable films, including 2012’s In The House and 2002’s 8 Women. His films are different, not mainstream, and he tend to include LGBT characters in them. And they almost always include twists to the storyline that are unexpected but provide for full entertainment. The New Girlfriend’s plot doesn’t stray far from this. It’s a film that, while relatively simple, engages us with characters who are interesting and a plot that is very different. And the actors, like in any other Ozon film, are in top form. Duris is superb and perfect as David/Virginia. He looks good as a man but perhaps even better dressed as a woman. Demoustier is perfect as Claire – the woman torn between feelings for her husband yet fascinated by this new ‘person’ in her life. And Personnaz is very good as Claire’s husband – he doesn’t have much to do, but he’s very good at it. The New Girlfriend is a fun movie that you will thoroughly enjoy.

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16th May2015

Cannes Film Festival (Film)

by timbaros

Exe_30x18_FDC15_72dpiThe 68th Cannes FIlm Festival has already begun, and here is a brief run down of some of the films that will be shown.

The glitz. The glamour. The red carpets. The very famous celebrities. The perfect weather. Yes, it’s time for the most glamorous event of the year – the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off today.

As usual, there will be loads of parties, every night, taking place in every nook in cranny in Cannes, as well as on the boats that dock around the port. Parties also take place outside of Cannes, some at the ultra posh and expensive Hotel du Cap, a good distance away from Cannes. Every famous celebrity in the world will be attending these parties, with the women usually dripping in diamonds and the men dripping with women. Oh, let’s not forget about the films. Yes, it is a film festival after all, and not just an excuse to party (though there’s more of the later and less of the former). The line-up of films were announced in April and here are some of the highlights:

Opening night film

La Tête Haute (Emmanuelle Bercot, France) – starring the most glamourous French Actress that has ever lived – Catherine Deneuve – La Tête Haute (Standing Tall) is about a young juvenile delinquent as he comes of age. It’s a French film, how appropriate to open up this French film festival.

Closing night film

La Glace et le Ciel (Luc Jacquet, France) – Another French film, closing the festival, La Glace et le Ciel (Ice and the Sky) is by the director of 2006 Oscar winner for Best Documentary March of the Penguins (Luc Jacquet) and documents the scientific discoveries of French explorer Clause Lorius, who was an expert on Antartica and global warming before it became a hot topic.

Other films showing at the festival include:

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Carol (Todd Haynes, US-UK) – tells the simple story of a 1950’s department store clerk who falls for an older woman. This one stars the can’t miss Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, and is directed by Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven).

The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece-UK-Ireland-Netherlands-France) – this film could win the award for the most far-fetched plot: In the future, single people have to find a partner within 45 days or are then transformed into animals and released into the woods. This one stars Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz. With their very good lucks there is no doubt they will find a match, within one day no doubt.

Macbeth (Justin Kurzel, UK-France-US) – Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard star in Shakespeare’s greatest work . Directed by relative newcomer Justin Kurzel.

The Sea of Trees (Gus Van Sant, US) – Oscar winner and crowd favorite Matthew McConaughey and Naomi Watts star in Gus Van Sant’s film about a suicidal American who befriends a Japanese man (Ken Watanabe) lost in the forest near Mt. Fuji. No doubt McConaughey and Watts will look stunning together on the red carpet.

Sicario (Denis Villeneuve, US) – A young female agent (Emily Blunt) joins a secret CIA operation to take down a Mexican cartel. Also starring Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro.

The Valley of Love (Guillaume Nicloux, France) – Ex French citizen Gerard Depardieu (who was excellent in last year’s Welcome to New York) stars in this film about an estranged couple who go to Death Valley, California at the invitation of their son. Also stars Isabelle Huppert, another glamorous French actress.

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Youth (Paolo Sorrentino, Italy-France-Switzerland-UK) – Rachel Weisz (again) stars, alongside Michael Caine, Jane Fonda and Harvey Keitel about two men, one a composer, one a film director, who converse with fellow hotel guests and re-examine their lives and the lives of their children.

Inside Out – an animated film about a girl who moves to a new home but finds it hard to settle in. With the voices of Diane Lane, Amy Poehler and Mindy Kaling.

The Little Prince – another animated film, this one with the voices of James Franco, Rachel McAdams and Paul Rudd, about a pilot who crashes in the desert and meets a little boy from a distant planet.

Irrational Man – Woody Allen’s latest is about a tormented professor (Joaquin Phoenix) who finds the will to live when he commits an existential act. Also starring Emma Stone.

Mad Max: Fury Road – a continuation of the Max Max films from 1979 that starred Mel Gibson. This one stars Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult. Expect big box office for this one when it opens up in the U.S. and the UK on May 15th.

Amy – a documentary about the deceased music star Amy Winehouse, which has been critised by her father Mitch Winehouse.

Other British stars to have their films screened at the festival include Emily Blunt in Denis Villenueve’s crime drama SIcario, Toby Jones and Shirley Henderson in Il Racconto Dei Racconti (Tale of Tales), and Tim Roth and Rachel Pickup in Chronic.

Dozens and dozens of other films, all from around the world, will be shown at the festival – which is the most famous and best-attended film festival in the world. It’s also the most glamorous, and many of the films have their premiere here, with film stars in attendance, walking up the steps at the Palais des Festivals on the red carpet with hundreds of papprazi taking photos of their every move. There are also midnight screenings, short films, screenings on the beach (which is about the only event non-acrredited people can attend), the Marche du Film (which is the festival’s marketplace) and the Cinefondation selection – which targets film schools.

This is the festival’s 68th year, and the judges for this year are filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, Spanish actress Rossy de Palma, French actress Sophie Marceau, Sienna Miller, and Malian singer and songwriter Rokia Traore. What an eclectic bunch.

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12th May2015

The Beat Beneath My Feet (Film)

by timbaros

The-Beat-Beneath-My-Feet-_26C0493-3_960x612The Beat Beneath My Feet is a film about a faded rock star living beneath an aspiring musician/student in an East London council estate. It’s also one of the best original films of the year.

Newcomer Nicholas Galitzine plays Tom, a nerdy student who gets pushed around by the other students at his school, including the girls. Tom, who lives with his mom Mary (Lisa Dillon), loves music, so much so that he’s wants to enter the battle of the bands competition at his school. At around the same time, washed up American musician Max Stone (played by a very good Luke Perry), moves in downstairs from Lisa and Tom’s flat. Max has the look of a faded rock star – unshaven and unkempt – he is no longer the rock star he used to be. He’s depressed because his young son, many years ago, fell into a swimming pool and died. So Max is guilt-ridden, depressed, almost never leaves his flat, and is in hiding (and assumed dead). And he plays music as loud as possible, during the day and into the night. Mary and Tom knock on his door to ask him to turn down the music several times, but Max just ignores them. Mary even calls the council to ask them to step in, but they are no help. Max’s music is so loud that Mary and Tom’s flat practically shakes. Tom, however, discovers who Max really is. And as Tom is interested in being a musician, much to his mom’s dismay, he’s intent on meeting the downstairs celebrity rock star.

It’s not easy. Max has no desire to let anyone into his flat, much less into his life. But Tom perseveres slowly, slowly enough to win Max’s trust. And soon enough, they form a bond for their love of music. Even Mary takes a fancy to him and invites him over for dinner. But Mary’s wish is for her son to join the church choir, and not to take the path her ex-husband took – that of a wanna-be musician who’s got nothing. Tom’s father is so unreliable that when Tom gives him money to buy him an amp, he runs off to Paris with his girlfriend.

Max continues to teach Tom music. So much so that they sit on their roof and sing, and record a song together. The song goes viral and it’s then that Max is exposed and his secret is revealed – he’s in hiding from the authorities for tax evasion. He runs away and Tom is left on his own, losing his mentor, losing his friend, and losing his interest in music. But he’s determined to go through the battle of the bands contest, even though a fellow contestant has ripped off his song from the video. Will Tom be able to go through the performance? Will he get his confidence back? Will Max show up and turn himself in to the authorities?

The Beat Beneath my Feet is a fantastic movie. It’s got the look and feel of an In-Betweeners episode, but in this film it is Galitzine who takes the spotlight. Galitzine, in his debut film performance, is very good, and also sings all the songs in the film. Galitzine masterly plays Tom through his ups and downs throughout the film, including scenes of him cutting his wrist. Perry, whose last film performance was in 2013’s little seen Red Wing, ups his acting credibitily in this film. He looks and acts like an ageing rock star – his Beverly Hills 90210 days are way behind him. And The chemistry between Galitzine and Perry is palpable, Max as a mentor to the young and innocent Tom. The Wind Beneath My Feet uniquely, expertly, and originally uses animation in some of it’s musical scenes, to fantastic effect. “The Devil Cheated Me” is the most memorable – Galizitine in the backseat with the Devil driving him down a darkened highway through Las Vegas, and “The Dream” with Galzitine performing in Max’s living room, which morphs into a huge outdoor concert stage. Director John Williams and writer Michael Muller, in this British made film, have created an original and unique film, sure to be one of the year’s best, with a soundtrack by the amazing Galitzine to match. I plan to watch this film again, and to buy the soundtrack.

Watch The Devil Cheated Me Here:

The Beat Beneath My Feet opens in select theatres on Tuesday, May 12th, 2015.

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09th May2015

Phoenix – Film

by timbaros

PHOENIXPhoenix is a brutal story of a disfigured ex-concentration camp survivor who attempts to fit back into society, and to find out who betrayed her.

Nina Hoss is Nelly, a singer, is a 30-ish year old Jewish woman with willowy hair, slender body, and pale white skin. Nelly survived the horrors at Auschwitz, where she was shot in the face and disfigured beyond recognition. She is put into the care of surgeons who attempt to repair her face, though they tell her that she will never look like her previous self. Nelly, along with Lena, an employee of a Jewish agency and Nelly’s friend from pre-war days, helps her to settle back into society, and back into life, with the goal of leaving Germany and settling in a new land created specifically for the Jews, called Palestine. But Nelly wants to look for her husband, who she hears has survived the war. She’s told that he is alive and well and working at a carabet club called Phoenix.

So Nelly goes out, trepidly, and finds him working in the club, and she calls out to him by his name, Johnny, however, he tells her that his name is Johanne (played by Ronald Zehrfeld). He doesn’t recognize Nelly, even though she was his wife. But ironically he asks her to pretend to be his wife so that he can get access to her family’s fortune, as they all had perished in the camps, and he thinks Nelly did so as well. So Nelly goes along with his plan, where he makes her dress like Nelly, act like Nelly, and he even has her practice her handwriting to be just like Nelly’s. All he wants is her inheritance, and he’s willing to give her some money for her assistance. However, Nelly still’s not too sure if he was the one who gave her up to the Nazis, so she continues to go along with his plan to find out. It’s clear that Johannes has no idea Nelly is his wife and that he’s just in love with getting the inheritance. Nell eventually learns that him, and assorted other friends, had betrayed her during the war, gave her up to the Nazi’s, who eventually sent her to Auschwitz. Nelly then decides that no, she’s doesn’t want to go back to Johannes but that she will go along with his plan until the very end. And it’s at the very end of Phoenix that we really understand the true horrors of what Nelly went through, not just at Auschwitz but by her husband and friends betrayal.

Phoenix is based on an essay by Harun Karocki called ‘Return from the Ashes.’ Director and writer Christian Petzold has turned this essay into a remarkable film, that whilst may not be based on an actual person, might have happened to real life concentration camp survivors, what they endured in the camps, and their return to their communities. Hoss is perfect as Nelly. Her eyes appear to be hollow, we can only imagine what she’s been through, and what she is going through. The rest of the cast is very good, as is the production values of the film. At a short 98 minutes, Phoenix, in German with English subtitles, is a timely film to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. It’s haunting and memorable.

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09th May2015

Rosewater – Film

by timbaros

RW_LM_20130810_0238.jpgIranian-born London journalist Maziar Bahari appeared in a skit on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show discussing spies. It was a skit that, a week later, would end in Bahari’s arrest by the Iranian authorities. His story is told in the new film Rosewater.

Bahari (played by Gael Garcia Bernal), was in Iran covering the 2009 election when he was interviewed by The Daily Show’s Jason Jones (who was dressed up as a spy). The interview, which took place in Tehran, was in The Daily Show’s comedic style of acerbic wit. In it Jones and Bahari discussed spies in Iran, and unfortunately the interview was seen by the Iranian authorities. Bahari was later arrested and imprisoned for 118 days, between June and October 2009.

Stewart, who has never written or directed a motion picture before (he wrote and directed Rosewater), has hosted The Daily Show since 1999. Stewart has written books, produced other television shows, and has hosted the Grammy and Academy Awards. But what made him want to venture into unchartered territory to write and direct his first motion picture? Perhaps he was feeling very guilty about Bahari’s arrest and imprisonment. Whatever the reason, Rosewater is a very good debut into the film world for Stewart.

In the beginning of Rosewater, we see Bahari in his London home being very affectionate to his pregnant wife Paola (Claire Foy). As a journalist, he’s about to go to Tehran to cover Iran’s 2009 election. He’s sent there by Newsweek, and since he is part Iranian, it’s a natural choice for him to go. On a fluke, he’s interviewed by The Daily Show, which leads to the drastic consequences. A week later, at his family’s home, he is arrested and sent to a Tehran prison where he is interrogated non-stop by a man who doesn’t give his name, but the movie calls him Rosewater (played by Kim Bodnia) because, according to the real Bahari, he smelled of Rosewater. Bahari is interrogated daily, Rosewater wants to know names of spies as he (and the government) is convinced that Bahari is not who he says he is – a journalist. So the film Rosewater focuses mostly on Bahari’s imprisonment, where he’s blindfolded, tortured, threatened with execution, and ordered to confess to being a spy on television. It’s disturbing to see Bahari getting beaten up – it’s almost a sure thing that he will never make it out of the Iranian prison system. But after 118 days, he is released, and he heads back to London to be with his wife and new baby. It’s, however, an anti-climactic ending as we are robbed of any emotional released-from-prison scenes – it’s just Bahari out of prison and on a plane back to London.

Garcia Bernal is a perfect choice to portray Bahari. Even though he is Mexican, he looks a bit Iranian – so the story is totally believable. It’s a role that most actors would’ve loved to play, but Garcia runs with it. But it’s not Garcia’s movie, it’s Stewart’s movie. He took 12 weeks off from The Daily Show to shoot the film, and it’s an impressive debut. Rosewater is dramatic, taut, well written and directed. And though the ending is a bit of a letdown (perhaps this is how Bahari wanted his release to be portrayed – quietly – as he still has family members who live in Tehran). But that’s a minor quibble for a film that tells a real life nightmare of a story of what one journalist went through when he was just doing his job.

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27th Apr2015

TheEntertainmentWebsite.com reaches 200,000 hits!

by timbaros

Orange British Academy Film Awards 2010 - Red Carpet ArrivalsTheEntertainmentWebsite.com has reached the remarkable number of 200,000 hits (page views) in just under two years since its inception. It’s an amazing milestone in that there are so many film blogs and film websites out there on the internet; this proves that there is room for one more – one that is unique in terms of content and style, and which stands out from the others.

TheEntertainmentWebsite.com covers film, DVD and theatre reviews, as well as the current Box Office figures, upcoming film releases and West End productions, film awards, and a Film Trailer of the Week. TheEntertaimentWebsite.com also covers breaking entertainment news – including the untimely death of comedienne Robin Williams.

In the two years, TheEntertainmentWebsite.com has covered press conferences for major film releases including Philomena, Saving Mr. Banks, 12 Years a Slave and Red 2. TheEntertainmentWebsite.com has also interviewed actor Alan Cumming to discuss his career and the release of his 2013 film Any Day Now. TheEntertainmentWebsite.com has also been invited to attend the London, Sundance, BFI Flare Film festivals, the London Film Critics Awards, the announcement of the 2014 BAFTA nominations, as well as dozens of film premieres and red carpet events. TheEntertainmentWebsite.com was also granted access to Pride Director Matthew Warchus and writer Stephen Beresford as well as co-star Andrew Scott.

Other interviews granted to TheEntertainmentWebsite.com include ones with David W. Ross, star and writer of the American drama I Do; Stacey Passon – Director of the newly-released on DVD film Concussion: Shane Bitney Crone – Producer and star of the riveting documentary Bridegroom; and Darren Stein – Director of the camp comedy G.B.F.; and several others.

TheEntertainmentWebsite.com was created by Tim Baros in July 2013. Tim also writes for and contributes to Pride Life Magazine and website, The American Magazine and website, www.Hereisthecity.com, www.Blu-Raydefinition.com, TheGayUK online magazine and website. He has also contributed to TNT Magazine and Squaremile.com.  Tim Baros is the UK representative for the Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association.

What’s next for TheEntertainmentWebsite.com? Coverage of this fall’s London Film Festival, and to see lots and lots more movies and theatre.

Keep on clicking on TheEntertainmentWebsite.com!!

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31st Mar2015

BFI Flare LGBT Film Festival wrap up (Film)

by timbaros

The BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival has unfortunately come to a close after a highly successful nine days of films and events. It was perhaps the best festival in a long time. Here are some of the highlights:

– Dior and I: An exquisite (and nail biting) documentary of Raf Simon’s first eight weeks as artistic director of Christian Dior, in which time he has to put together a collection. Director Frederic Tcheng uniquely blends voiceovers of an actor speaking excepts from Dior’s memoir intertwined with the pressure Simons and his staff are under. Dior and I is one of the better fashion documentaries ever made. It is now in wide release.

– Portrait of a Serial Monogamist: Canadian Directors Christina Zeidler and John Mitchell’s tale of 40-something year old Lesbian Elsie (a perfectly cast Diane Flacks) who breaks up with her girlfriend but is not so sure that she’s done the right thing, especially after meeting another woman right away who appears to be ‘the perfect one.’ Portrait is funny and clever and will leave you laughing out loud of it’s portrayal of Lesbian relationships amongst friends.

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– Drunktown’s Finest: 34-year old Native American Director Sydney Freeland’s well done portrait of three Navajo Indian characters all coming of age and exploring not only their identities but also their relationships with their families and their culture. An amazing job by Freeland, who also wrote the script.

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– 54: The Director’s Cut: A highlight of the festival – this is the film that gay director Mark Christopher shot and intended to release in 1998 but was not able to due to pressure from the studio to ‘degay’ it. Literal cutting room floor and lost footage has been incorporated into the original version of this story of a young man (Ryan Phillippe) being accepted into the historic NYC club’s inner circle, and includes the gay scenes originally taken out. This film still takes us back to a time when it was all about the music and the dancing.

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– Tiger Orange: A sweet tale of two gay brothers, one – Chet (Mark Strano) who looks after the family hardware store in a small town in California while younger brother rebel Todd (porn star Johnny Hazard – real name Frank Valenti) comes back home because nothing’s happening for him in Los Angeles. Chet and Todd are opposites in every way – Chet is very subdued and simple and plain looking, while Todd is hot and sexy with a body to die for and a naughty personality to match. Valenti is the true star of this film – not only does he light up the screen when he’s one, but he can act as well.

– Match: Sir Patrick Stewart is an older dance teacher (Toby Powell) whose life is shaken up when a straight couple show up one day on his doorstep to supposedly interview him about his life as a dance teacher. But what they really want from his is to find out if he’s the father of the husband. Stewart has never been better in a film that’s stretched a bit too long and with a cast that can’t quite match Stewart in the acting department.

– The Last One: Unfolding the AIDS Memorial Quilt: A film, half about the AIDS quilt and the other half about statistics and other AID’s organizations, it would’ve worked better if it stuck to it’s main subject – the quilt. We’ve seen so many documentaries about AIDS and statistics, as well as the quilt, and this documentary gives us nothing new.

– The Golden Age of the American Male: This film is just a series of images and videos from the archives of the Athletic Model’s Guild, which was created by Bob Mizer. The Golden Age is pretty much 65 minutes of soft porn, if that’s your thing.

– Frangipani: The first LGBT Sri Lankan film, it tells the tale of two men (very good Dasun Pathirana and Jehan Sri Kanth) who fall in love with each other in spite of one of them getting married to a woman. Beautifully shot and easy to identify with – Director, Writer and Producer Visakesa Chandrasekaram) has made a lush film that is highly recommended.

– Everlasting Love: A strange, eerie Spanish film that can be best described as Stranger on a Lake (without the Lake) meets Twilight. Throw in some flesh eating and many boring moments and what you have is a film that should be missed.

– Fulboy: A documentary about the unseen world of football, Director Martin Farina was given full access to a professional Argentinean football team. He speaks to them in their hotel rooms and in their locker room, when, lucky for us, they are not shy about displaying their athletic bodies, from head to toe, for the camera. Not much a narrative on this one, but it’s worth watching as you feel like a fly on the wall in a very straight male environment.

There was an excellent selection of shorts, and a few stand out:
– Hole: Gay disabled actor Ken Harrower plays a man who frequents video booths but gets frustrated when he’s unable to receive sexual pleasure, so he enlists the help of his male carer to get it.
– Limanakia: The strangest yet sexiest short film I have ever seen. Gay men frolic on the rocks of a beach somewhere in Greece, all naked and all having sex, shot in motion-moving imagery with the sun providing a hint of gold on the bodies and on the rocks.
– been too long at the FAIR: Who would’ve guessed that there is a gay cinema in Queen, New York? This short documentary exposes the FAIR Theater in Jackson Heights as one of the oldest continuing running gay establishments in New York City.

All in all, it was a great festival and we’re looking forward to next year. Well done FLARE gang!

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29th Mar2015

Dior and I (Film)

by timbaros

Dior_and_I_Dogwoof_Documentary_Still_1_800_450_85In April 2012 Raf Simons was hired as the creative director of Christian Dior. He then had eight weeks to put together the 2012 spring collection. Dior and I captures the ups, and downs, of this very short time period.

Simons was known for his menswear collections, and for putting his own personal stamp on fashion label Jil Sander, so it sent shockwaves through the fashion industry when he was appointed as the new creative director of one of the most iconic of French fashion brands – Christian Dior. And Simons had big shoes to follow, not just in name but in scandal and reputation. He was replacing John Galliano, who was fired for making anti-semitic remarks in a Paris bar. Also, Simons didn’t at the time speak fluent French, he is from Belgium, but Dior owner Bernard Arnault and fellow LMVH (Dior’s parent company) executives wanted to move away from the Galliano years and inject new blood into their iconic brand, so they hired Simons. So this 90 minute documentary takes us from Simons’ first days at work, meeting the mostly French staff while having someone translate his speech into French, to working closely with two of the most important women in the company – the ‘premieres’ – Florence Chehet and Monique Bailly – the women who are in charge of the staff, which include the seamstresses, basically the people who make the dresses what they are and what they become. Simons also brings in his assistant of over ten years – Pieter Mulier – who does speak French and gets on better with the staff, and premieres, then Simons does.

Dior and I takes us through the taut and stressful short time period in which Simons has to put together a collection. As anyone in the fashion world knows, 8 weeks is not enough time to get a whole collection ready, from ideas to drawing up designs to getting the dresses actually made to getting them ready for the runway (it usually takes six months). Simons insists that some of the dresses he wants to make be identical to paintings from one of his favorite painters. He also asks the dedicated seamstresses to remove beads from the front of one gown, even when it takes them all night to do so. It’s this drama, of Simons and his team having to produce a haute couture collection, intermingled with 68 years of historic Dior footage, that has earned Dior and I the great reviews that it has received. And at the end, we are treated to footage of the fashion show, which takes place in an old empty house where Simons has the walls covered in flowers in front of a star studded crowd including Donatella Versace, Selma Hayek, Sharon Stone, and more emotionally, his parents. And the dresses, wow, they are simply stunning. Dior and I is also stunning. It will give the viewer an understanding of what it takes to make a collection and how the whole process works, and more importantly, the vision of one man and his large team who made it happen.

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28th Mar2015

Home – Film

by timbaros

Home-03-600x380Home is a new animated film from Dreamworks that features Rihanna in the lead role (well actually her voice) as well as singing the songs. Home is a bit of a vanity project for her that doesn’t quite work.

It’s a shame because Rihanna’s voice and her animated appearance seems ideal for this type of film. It’s not her who brings the film down, it’s the script. Home actually has a scary plot that will definitely frighten the young ones.

Tip (Rihanna) lives with her mom in a large city. The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons is Oh, who lives on a spaceship along with the rest of his species (the Boovs). They want to move to planet earth and make it their home. But first they need to get rid of the humans who live there. And this is the scary part. Tubes come down from the skies and suck up the humans (along with anything else the Boov’s don’t need to live on Earth, including bicycles, bin containers, etc). But not every human is sucked up. Tip, who was hiding when the Boov’s invaded, is perhaps the only human left. Hiding in her room, she comes face to face with Oh. At first she is frightened of him, but then eventually they establish trust, and a friendship, and bond with each other. What she finds out about Oh is that he’s on the Boov’s black list for accidentally sending an email to the enemy mentioning the whereabouts of their new home. But all Tip wants is to find her mother Lucy (Jennifer Lopez), so Oh informs her that all the humans have been transplated to Australia. So Tip and Oh take a journey (in a flying car) across the world so that Tip can be reunited with her mom. Along the journey, they play the radio and Rihanna’s songs come blaring out. They also must continue to hide from the Boov’s as well.

Home’s premise is cute but it’s the way the story is told that doesn’t quite work. It’s a short 94 minutes but at times it feels like the story is stretched out to make it a bit longer. Tip and Oh’s car journey is just them bonding over the experience of taking a metaphoric journey together, while there’s no surprise how the film is going to end. Clever use of Steve Martin’s voice as the leader of the Boov’s works, as does the previously mentioned songs sung by Rihanna (as well as one – Feel the Light, which is sung by Lopez). If anything, the soundtrack is superior to the film, but if you must see the film, you’re in for quite a bit of a ride that’s perhaps not quite what the filmmakers had in mind.

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