Category: Filmden Hayatlar

Honoring Robert Redford at Home

Robert Redford will be honoured “at home.”

The Sundance Institute is launching a three-part series celebrating Redford’s enduring legacy, both as an artist and as the founder of the Institute.

The first event in the series takes place on February 10. Thankfully, it will be available online alongside a live audience. You can register here:

https://collab.sundance.org/catalog/The-Sundance-Institute-Founder-Series-Honoring-Robert-Redford-with-David-Lowery

I also stumbled upon a 2016 interview where Redford reflects on the early years of the Sundance Film Festival:

“It started in ’85 and there was no support at all. There was one theater, the Egyptian. Maybe three restaurants in town. I wasn’t sure it was going to work. It looked like a risk, it wouldn’t pay off. Just a few people came, maybe a hundred people wandered around wondering what was going on in this theater, and we had maybe 25 films, six documentaries, and that’s how it started. So for three years we really struggled. Until Sex, Lies, and Videotape came through. Then suddenly word got out that something was going on over here.”

Continue reading “Honoring Robert Redford at Home” →
0

The Rental Family

I love culturally nuanced films, and The Rental Family is definitely one of them. Co-written by the director Hikari and Stephen Blahut, it follows an American actor who begins working for a Japanese rental family service, which hires actors to stand in for missing or non-existent people in real lives.

The film emphasizes vulnerability and connection in a gentle, non-preaching way. Apparently, the script was developed during the pandemic, and the isolation and loneliness of that period inspired the writers to make these feelings part of the story’s core.

Continue reading “The Rental Family” →
0

My Experience of Shonda Rhimes Course on MasterClass

I just finished Shonda Rhimes’ “Pitch & Write Stories for Film and TV” course on MasterClass. It’s very beginner-friendly, like most courses on the platform. Actually you don’t even have to be a writer to follow along; it offers a great peek into the story-breaking process and gives you a taste of the writer’s room experience if you’re interested.

Continue reading “My Experience of Shonda Rhimes Course on MasterClass” →
0

Mr. Monk’s Last Case

Every project has its own time, and the journey of our beloved Adrian Monk and his creator, Andy Breckman, exemplifies this truth once again. Since the conclusion of the “Monk” TV series after 125 episodes in 2009, Breckman has harbored a dream of bringing the character to the big screen. Over the years, he developed various storylines, pitched them, and even penned two different scripts, but none of them seemed to materialize. That is, until the pandemic struck. Sometimes, out of adversity, opportunity arises.

Continue reading “Mr. Monk’s Last Case” →
0

The Long Shadow

So, you might be wondering what Dominik Moll’s movie “The Night of the 12th” (La Nuit du 12) has to do with the British true crime series “The Long Shadow.” Let me break it down. Despite their apparent differences, both narratives, adapted from non-fiction books, shed light on a disturbing reality: the bias and prejudice faced by women who are perceived as having multiple partners. It’s almost as if these women are deemed deserving of their fate. Despite being set in Europe roughly half a century apart, the misogyny remains eerily consistent. It’s like that old saying, “There is nothing new on the Western front.”

Continue reading “The Long Shadow” →
0

The Distinguished Citizen

Once again, here we are in the realm of those wonderfully eccentric Argentinian filmmakers: Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat. They’ve captivated me before with their dark humor and expert characterizations in TV shows like “El Encargado” (The Boss) and “Nada” (Nothing). I simply fell in love with their work then, and now, after delving into their 2016 film, “El Cuidadano Ilustre” (The Distinguished Citizen), I’m happy to report that my admiration for them remains steadfast, if not grown stronger.

In “The Distinguished Citizen,” we’re taken on a journey following a Nobel Prize-winning Argentinian author returning to his small hometown after 40 years. As the sophisticated and enigmatic writer inevitably clashes with the narrow-minded locals, we’re given the opportunity to reflect on themes such as identity, origins, art, and fame. Ultimately, the film reinforces the age-old adage that “no one can be a prophet in their own land.”

Continue reading “The Distinguished Citizen” →
0

The Great Escaper

Sometimes, I happen to like the production story of a film more than the film itself, and that was the case with “The Great Escaper,” released in 2023. The film portrays an 89-year-old Second World War veteran’s escape from a care home in the UK to attend the 70th-anniversary commemorations of D-Day in France. Co-produced by the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden, the movie is directed by Oliver Parker and written by William Ivory. It drew inspiration from the real-life incident of Second World War Veteran Bernard Jordan, whose escapade from his East Sussex care home made headlines in 2014.

Continue reading “The Great Escaper” →
0

Without Air

What if an idealistic high school teacher’s recommendation of a film to her students resulted in a complaint to the school management? And what happens if that seemingly trivial incident gets out of control and turns into a witch hunt? Hungarian director Katalin Moldavai explores these questions in her feature debut, “Without Air,” offering timely messages about freedom of expression amidst themes of political oppression, cultural conservatism, and the erosion of the education system.

Continue reading “Without Air” →
0

King of Comedy

I hadn’t planned on celebrating Martin Scorsese’s acceptance of the Honorary Golden Bear from the Berlin International Film Festival by watching his 1982 movie, The King of Comedy, but it was leaving MUBI soon, so here we are. 😊 In a way, it seemed fitting because the film holds a special place in Scorsese’s career. Despite being the opening film at the Cannes Film Festival in 1983, it was largely overlooked at the box office, earning the unfortunate title of “flop of the year” from Entertainment Tonight. It serves as a reminder that honorary awards aren’t solely reserved for those who experience constant success, but rather for those who endure the ups and downs and persist in their craft. It’s a badge of resilience more than anything else.

Continue reading “King of Comedy” →
0

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑