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Editorial The Last Full Measure Thirty-four years after his death, Airman William H. Pitsenbarger, Jr (Pits) is awarded the nation’s highest military honor, for his actions on the battlefield.
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Can You Keep A Secret? Thinking they’re about to crash, Emma spills her secrets to a stranger on a plane, at least, she thought he was a stranger…until she later meets Jack, her company’s young CEO, who now knows every humiliating detail about her.
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The Whistlers Not everything is as it seems for Cristi, a policeman who plays both sides of the law. Embarking with the beautiful Gilda on a high-stakes heist, both will have to navigate the twists and turns of corruption and deception.
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Camino Skies Exploring themes of spirituality, wellbeing, religion. This is the inspirational journey of six strangers from New Zealand and Australia walking the 800km Camino deSantiago to overcome personal and physical traumas.
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Hanagatami Fulfilling his filmmaking dream of 40 years, Nobuhiko ôbayashi’s luminous penultimate feature, which delivers a timeless story of the pureness of youth beset by the chaos of war.
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FilmFest Follower – Cannes 2020 A look of the films that would have been screened at Cannes had the festival not been cancelled by the French government and its decision to forbid the event taking place because of the current Coronavirus pandemic.
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DVDs Of The Month
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1917 Bergman: A Year In A Life Altman Light Of My Life Poster (Can You Keep A Secret?)
PHOTO CREDITS: PARKLAND ENTERTAINMENT: 1,4,6,7,16,18,19 STRIKE MEDIA: 8,10,11,32 CURZON ARTIFICIAL EYE: 12,14,15 THIRD WINDOW FILMS: 20,22,23
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We would like to thank the following for their help in providing material for this magazine: Wez & Team at Strike Media Jon Rushton @ Jon Rushton.com Jake Garriock @ Curzon.com
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EDITORIAL In times like these, facing the challenges imposed upon us all, one might think it is the last thing that we should be thinking about is entertainment and watching films, but actually it isn’t, because we need to escape and movies are still the perfect way to do that. Though at present cinemas are still closed, we can still have the options of seeing films at home via Curzon Home Cinema, by steaming films, or by purchasing Blu-Ray or DVDs online from Amazon. Once again MbM presents to our devoted followers reviews of the best films this month and their digital release dates. This issue provides a wide selection of films to whet the cinephiles’ appetite. Our cover feature review is “The Last Full Measure”, a movie that acknowledges the importance of telling the true story of a forgotten war hero. Other reviews are a delightful romantic comedy: “Can You Keep A Secret?”, a nail-biting thriller: “The Whistlers”, an enchanting documentary: “Camino Skies”, and a Japanese drama: “Hanagatami”. There is also a few DVDs that are recommended for your collection.
Enjoy the read.
Brian Mills Magazine Editor
Paul Ridler Magazine Designer
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THE LAST FULL MEASURE Directed by Todd Robinson Starring: Sebastian Stan, Alison Sudol, Asher Miles Fallica, LisaGay Hamilton, Bradley Whitford, William Hurt, Linus Roache, Jeremy Irvine “Pitt saved lives.” - Tom Tulley
“And he was awarded the Air Force Cross. What’s wrong with that?” - Scott Huffman “He was downgraded to the cross. We put him up for the Medal of Honour, it’s different.” - Tom Tulley Thirty-four years after his death, Airman William H. Pitsenbarger, Jr. (Pitts) is awarded the nation’s highest military honor, for his actions on the battlefield. This is one of the best films ever made on heroism. Pitts (Jeremy Irvine) had the rare quality of self-sacrifice by saving 60 lives in the Vietnam War. The film’s narrative tells of a man who was forgotten, though, at least in terms of being remembered equal to his action. Airman William H. Pitsenbarger was a US. Air Force Pararescue Jumper who served as a medic in the Vietnam War. On April 11,1966, he entered a war zone and tended to injured men until they could be evacuated safely via helicopter. When the last helicopter was forced to leave due to heavy enemy fire, Airman Pitsenbarger waved it off, choosing to stay with the wounded infantrymen still fighting off a Viet Cong assault. Despite being wounded several times himself, he continued to treat others in any way he could and distributed ammo to those who could still resist before ultimately being killed. The battle. The battle was one of the deadliest of the war with Americans suffering heavy losses, but due to
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Pitsenbarger’s courageous actions at least 9 men were able to return home alive. For his actions, Pitsenbarger was awarded the Air Force Cross. The film follows the efforts of the men he saved, his parents, and an initially reluctant Department of Defense staffer Scott Huffman (Sebastian Stan)to see him recognized with the Medal of Honor, the United States of America’s highest and most prestigious personal military decoration. Over the course of the film, Huffman visits many of those whose lives are owed to or were impacted greatly Pitsenbarger, with him slowly learning about their trauma from the war and the possibly covered up true events of that fateful day. Director Todd Robinson, who has worked on this project for 20 years, utilizes flashbacks to the battle in order to depict Pitsenbarger’s actions in a way we can visually understand. Robinson’s passion for sharing Pitsenbarger’s story with the world shines through every frame and the emotional acting of this stacked veteran cast, which includes: Samuel Jackson, William Hurt, Peter Fonda (last film he made), Christopher Plummer, Ed Harris, Dianne Ladd, and Bradley Whitford. The score by composer Philip Klein is beautifully apt and powerfully emotional and tears are certain to flow particularly during the final sequence of the film. Only the most cynical would fail to appreciate and recognize the selflessness of the passionate protagonist Pitts and his perseverance which paid off. What director Todd Robinson wanted to do, and in my opinion succeeded, was for us to learn, observe, feel, and remember. There have been many memorable war films from “Apocalypse Now”, “All Quiet on the Western Front”, “Schindler’s List”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “Full Metal Jacket”, “The Thin Red Line”, “Dunkirk”, “The Hurt Locker”, but what makes “The Last Full Measure” so different is that it projects the audience into the character of Scott Huffman who seeks out the men to interview who knew Pitts and believe that he should be honored with the Medal of Honor. Further to this, Scott is played by Sebastian Stan, not an easily recognized star which consequently helps us to identify with him and want him to find everybody that he needs to speak to and fulfill his integral purpose.
“THE LAST FULL MEASURE” IS RELEASED ON DVD ON 13TH JULY.
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Frank Pitsenbarger(Christopher Plummer) in “The Last Full Measure”
Pitts (Jeremy Irvine) in “The Last Full Measure” 6
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Ray Mott (Ed Harris) in “The Last Full Measure”
Frank Pitsenbarger (Christopher Plummer) and Alice Pitsenbarger(Diane Ladd) in “The Last Full Measure”
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CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET? Directed by Elise Duran Starring: Alexandra Daddario, Tyler Hoechlin, Sunita Mani, Kamiko Glenn You could have any woman - Emma Yeah, but I want you - Jack Emma Corrigan (Alexandra Daddario) is a young marketing assistant who sits next to a stranger during a turbulent flight which is scaring the life out of her and she frantically begins to spill facts about herself that would generally drive anyone away from her. Unbeknown to Emma, the man sitting next to her happens to be Jack Harper (Tyler Hoechin), the CEO of the company where she works, which Emma learns when he turns up at her office. With the help from her best friend Lissy (Sunita Mani) and her roommate Gemma (Kimiko Glenn), Emma tries to solve the difficult situation at work, which is not helped by her co-workers and her immediate boss Cybill (Laverne Cox). In addition to this, Jack has learnt from Emma’s outburst on the plane that she is not in love with her boyfriend and she’s waiting for an earth-shattering romance. This is Elise Duran’s first feature-length fiction film as a director and she brings to it an ambiance of authenticity by capturing the awkwardness of Emma, particularly in the early scenes with Jack. She also emphasizes a romanticized New York skyline. Plus, there is a fine screen adaptation by Peter Hutchings from Sophie Kinsella’s New York Times bestselling novel of the same title. Hutchings manages to keep much of what made the book excellent and condensing it down so the story fits well within the film’s running time. The setting for the storyline has been updated from London to New York for modern audiences and it runs a line from a sweet romance to escapist fantasy…and it works very well. The major success of the movie is down to the leading actors: duo Alexandra Daddario and Tyler Hoechin. The delivery of their lines, many of which are very funny, is pitch perfect. They make their characters feel totally real. Many wine glasses are raised and emptied 8
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by Emma and Jack. So, here’s to Alexandra and Tyler…cheers to two wonderful performances! Film buffs might be reminded of romantic comedies of the eighties and nineties:
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY DIRECTED BY ROB REINER STARRING: BILLY CRYSTAL & MEG RYAN Harry and Sally have known each other for years and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin their friendship.
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE DIRECTED BY NORA EPHRON STARRING: TOM HANKS & MEG RYAN After his wife Maggie (Carey Lowell) passes away, Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks) and his 8-yesr-old son Jonah relocate from Chicago to Seattle to escape the grief associated with Maggie’s death. Eighteen months later Sam is still grieving and can’t sleep. Although Jonah (Ross Malinger) misses his mother, he wants his father to get a new wife despite Sam having not even contemplated dating again. On Christmas Eve, Sam (on Jonah’s initiative) ends up pouring his heart out on a national radio talk show about his magical and perfect marriage to Maggie, and how much he still misses her. Among the many women who hear Sam’s story and fall in love with him solely because of it is Annie Reed (Meg Ryan), a Baltimorebased newspaper writer. Annie’s infatuation with Sam’s story and by association Sam himself is despite being already engaged. But Annie’s relationship with her strait-laced fiancé Walter (Bill Pullman) is unlike her dream love life in the movie “An Affair to Remember”. She even writes to Sam proposing they meet atop The Empire State Building. The romanticism of these films reflects the romanticism of “Can You Keep A Secret?” and in many ways surpasses them.
AVAILABLE ON HOME CINEMA ON MAY 4TH
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Emma (Alexandra Daddario) and Jack (Tyler Hoechin) in “Can You Keep A Secret?”
Emma (Alexandra Daddario) and Jack (Tyler Hoechin) in “Can You Keep A Secret?” 10
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Jack (Tyler Hoechin) and Emma (Alexandra Daddario) in “Can You Keep A Secret?”
Emma (Alexandra Daddario) and Jack (Tyler Hoechin) in “Can You Keep A Secret?”
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THE WHISTLERS Directed By Corneliu Porumbolio Starring: Vlad Ivanov, Catrinel Marion, Rodica Lazar “On an island in the Canaries, there is a whistling language. You’ll come to the island and learn the language” - Gilda Not everything is as it seems for Cristi, a policeman who plays both sides of the law. Embarking with the beautiful Gilda on a high-stakes heist, both will have to navigate the twists and turns of corruption, treachery, and deception. Cristi (Vlad Ivanov) is a Romanian police officer who is a whistle blower for Mafia and is going to La Gomera Island to learn an ancestral whistling language. In Romania he is under police surveillance and by using the coded language, he will continue to communicate with the mobsters to get Zolt out of prison. Zolt is the only one who knows where 30 million Euros are hidden. Gilda (Catrina Marlon) has contacted Cristi to help Zolt (Sabin Tamerea) escape from Gomera Island and he must accompany Gilda to learn the complexed language in Romanian and Spanish. Zolt is Gilda’s boyfriend and his mattress company is a front for laundering. They work for mobster Paco (Augusti Villaronga) who is not happy to learn that the couple has been planning on absconding with his cash. However, Zolt is caught by the police in a sting which Cristi’s boss Magda (Rodica Lazar) also has the idea of what he’s been up to. What makes this film unique is its storyline, which is gripping and the epitome of what a thriller should be and totally unique. It tells of a people and of a language where everything they speak can be whistled. Sylbos are the last speakers of the lost whistling language and is a thousand years old and is native to a small island off the coast of Africa, La Gomera. First you learn your name. Sylbo is taught at home, the same time you learn to speak. It is a form of communication, just like any other. It allows people of the island to communicate with others 7 kilometres away. The Spanish government is keeping Sylbo alive with programmes. The language imitates Spanish. Students practice it all the time through high school and after ten years they have a firm grasp of the language. 12
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La Gomera is called ‘The Magic Island’ because it has a very special charm. The island has a lot of history and many legends and Sylbo could appear to be part of those legends. There are still small pockets where the language is still being used as a form of communication. The language is rarely used around the island, but Pancho still uses Sylbo to round up his goats and they leave on their own. CORNELIU PORUMBOLIO: Romanian born Porumbolio made his first fictional feature in 2006: 12:18 EAST OF BUCHAREST. A comedy drama. It is about a local Talk Show host who organizes an alcoholic professor and a pensioner known for playing Santa Claus to decide whether there was ever a revolution in their town Vaslui. The film won Porumbolio the Golden Camera Award at Cannes and launched him as a director to watch. POLICE, ADJECTIVE. A crime drama. A police officer refuses to arrest a young man for offering drugs to his friends. The film starred Vlad Ivanov, who was cast as the leading actor of “The Whistlers”. THE UNSAVED. A Drama about Sancho Panza, not Don Quixote. This film was co-written by Porumbolio, not directed by him. WHEN EVENING FALLS ON BUCHAREST OR METABOLISM. During the production of his latest movie, a director feels the need to add a new scene, emphasizing on the protagonist’s aesthetic nudity. Endless negotiations begin between lunch and dinner; will they ever reach a conclusion? Sandwiched between two documentaries was the director’s last fictional feature before “The Whistlers”. THE TREASURE A comedy about a family man whose cash-stripped neighbor makes him an intriguing proposition: help him find the fortune reportedly buried somewhere on the grounds of his family’s country home in Romania and split the profits. Examining Corneliu Porumbolio filmography one can see the obvious attraction he has for original storylines and “The Whistlers” is a perfect example of that and is undoubtedly his best film to date.
The Whistlers is available through Curzon Home Cinema
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Gilda (Catrina Marlon) in “The Whistlers”
Gilda (Catrina Marlon) and Cristi (Vlad Ivanov) in “The Whistlers” 14
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Kiko (Antonio Bull) and Gilda (Catrina Marlon) in “The Whistlers”
Gilda (Catrina Marlon) in “The Whistlers”
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CAMINO SKIES Directed by Noel Smyth & Fergus Grady DOCUMENTARY “You’ve got to keep your head down and you’ve got to keep going”. - Terry A story about life, love, and loss on the Camino de Santiago. An uplifting film about learning to live with grief. This inspirational journey of six pilgrims from New Zealand and Australia who embark on the historical 800-kilometer Spanish pilgrimage. In the face of overwhelming odds, the Camino forces the group to defy their age and physical ability as they each come to terms with recent loss. Heartbreaking and inspirational, “Camino Skies” is a story about everyday people doing the extraordinary. The six pilgrims: JULIE: Feeling the lure of walking the compelling Camino de Santiago preceded recent and significant life events that had only served to increase her desire and intention further. Sadly, these were the loss of her husband Paul, of thirty years, to pancreatic cancer in November 2019. His death tragically and shockingly followed a mere 16 days later by her eldest son, Sam in a rafting accident on a West Coast river expedition in New Zealand. The time could not be more right to pursue emotional catharsis and anonymity in the keen undertaking of the historic pilgrimage.
SUSAN: Celebrating another milestone year and challenging her significant healthy issues were her two main reasons for walking the Camino again. The other is the ever-present compulsion to walk in the freedom of nature and the camaraderie of like-minded people. In 2012 she had a couple of fairly long stints in hospital having some repairs to her spine and coming to terms with a diagnosis of severe degenerative arthritis which was getting worse and beginning to impact her quality of life in a lot of ways. She decided then and there that she was going to challenge these issues and ‘go for a long walk’. TERRY: Over a year ago, Terry’s granddaughter Maddy, passed away after a long battle with cystic fibrosis. She was 17 years old.
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Before she died, Terry told her that he was going to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain. She jokingly said that she would go with him. She unfortunately never got the chance. So, Terry walked it for the second time again in her memory to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis and Cure Kids. MARK: Following the death of his stepdaughter Maddison, he saw how Terry (his stepfather) walked Camino in her memory. It was his turn to do the same thing. But his main reason for wanting to do the Camino was for his other two children. He wanted them to be able to grow up with a healthier father that would be able to watch them grow. That may not have been the case for him if he had just carried on the unhealthy path he was still on. CLAUDE: Why would one want to return to the Camino, especially if one has gone through a lot of emotional and extreme physical pain? For Claude, it was because once you have walked the Camino, it keeps calling you to return to join your footsteps to the millions and millions of pilgrims who have walked it since the 10th century. It is a longing of a simple life, the meetings, and the mystical moments. It is to live each moment to the fullest and away from the busyness of life, the connection with others and looking forward to discovering more. CHERYL: A love for trekking, hiking. Having climbed the odd mountain and successfully summited 3 out of 7 of the highest mountains in the world. She finds walking in ancient footsteps hugely humbling. This walk was definitely a time for self-reflection and to lay a stone for the love of my life, who tragically died in an accident a few years back, and for my dad who sadly died 6 weeks before the start of filming. It was Cheryl’s dad who was her biggest supporter and was looking forward to sharing the journey with her through a daily blog. He will now travel with her in her heart and what better motivation that is to keep one foot in front of the other. THE DIRECTORS: NOEL SMYTH: Co-Director & Co-Producer & Cinematographer. 14 years’ experience in the film industry, working for several years as an editor before turning his eyes towards directing and photography. Mostly self-taught, his work explores themes of redemption and transformation, capturing the trials and tribulations of everyday people, their relationships with each other and their relationships to their environments. “Camino Skies” is his debut into the world of feature filmmaking. FERGUS GRADY: Co-Producer & Co-Director. He is a producer, sales and distribution consultant who has over ten years’ experience in the film industry. As Head of Acquisitions and Theatrical at Umbrella Entertainment for four years, Fergus was involved in a number of important Australian film acquisitions including “The Babadook”, “Girl Asleep”, “Jungle”, and the Netflix original film “Cargo” which he was the executive producer on. Fergus was also associate producer on “West of Sunshine” which competed for the Orizzonti section at the Venice Film Festival in 2017.
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Sue Morris (self) in “Camino Skies”
Julie Zarifeh (self) in “Camino Skies” 18
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Mark Thomson (self) in “Camino Skies”
Terry (self) in “Camino Skies”
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HANAGATAMI Directed by Nobuhiko ôbayashi Starring: Shunsuke Kubozuka, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Keisji Nagatsuka Fulfilling his filmmaking dream of 40 years, Nobuhiko ôbayashi’s luminous new feature delivers a timeless story of the pureness of youth beset at the chaos of war. In time past becomes a dream – a world in and of itself, conjured from feeling and memory and painted in the imprecise strokes of one attempting to recreate a longforgotten scene.
ôbayashi reunites with another young melancholy man who, as he puts it in the opening text wants to tell his story not out of a sense of nostalgia but out of longing for the things which are lost; like him who had the misfortune to be young before war saw their whole world swept away by a kind of madness far beyond their control, losing not only a past but a future too. When Toshiko(Sakaiyama Kobuzuka) returns home from Amsterdam where he had been living with his parents, Japan is already at war in China. Though the times are changing, Toshiko’s life remains relatively untouched by conflict, insulated from the concerns of the day by the pleasant natural surroundings of his old-fashioned country town. Returning to the family estate presided over by his war-widow aunt, Keiko (Takako Tokiwa) A friendship is struck up with sickly sister-in-law, Mina (Honoka Yahagi) whose proximity to death only seems to enhance her beauty. At school he finds himself caught between two polar opposites – the strong and silent Ukai (Shinnosuke Mitsushima) and the the cynical nihilist Kira (Keishi Nagatssuka) while his two sets of social circles finally combine with the addition o9f Mina’s friends Arine ( Hirona Yamazaki) and Chitose (Migi Kadwaki) who also happens to be Kira’s cousin. The world in on the brink of ruin, but there are dances and picnics and festivals and everything and everyone is desperate to live in the midst of such foreboding. On August 2016, just before the film started shooting, director Nobuhiko ôbayashi was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and told he had only three months to live, but the strong-will of making the film helped him to live and finish the film. 20
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Hanagatami is an extraordinary film in many ways but particularly the way ôbayashi uses transitions from one scene to another by wiping it away…rather than superimposing one over the other or fading out and fading into the next. Home Cinema Digital Release on 6th July. NOBUHIKO ôBAYASHI Gained international recognition in 1988 with the feature film “Turning Point”, It was a fantasy drama about a successful scenario writer. 1994: “Turning Point” raised further interest in his work and critical acclaimed. Its narrative was about a middle-aged journalist looking to make her big break. After working the same beat on the women’s page, she gets promoted to editorials. Director’s bio: Nobuhiko was given the nickname in the 1970s of “OB”. This was while he was directing some commercials with Kirk Douglas and Charles Bronson. They had difficulty with his last name, hence they shortened it to ‘OB’. After Ishiro Honda’s death in 1993, Obayashi included his photograph in his film “Samurai Kids” as the family late grandfather. Obayashi was very well known as a TV Talent on Japanese Talk Shows and commercials. As an experimental filmmaker in the 1960s, Obayashi went on to direct nearly 3000 TV commercials. Regarding his love of films which led to his eventual career as a filmmaker. Its seed was cultivated when he was a child and influenced by his father who was a physician and owned a projector. Obayashi began making films and thankfully it led to him becoming one of the world’s greatest filmmakers. As with the passing of any great filmmaker, cinephiles are eager to revisit their films and Obayashi is no exception. NB: Obayashi’s last film was “Labyrinth of Cinema” The story centers on a group of young people who travel back in time when they are in a cinema before closing time and witness deaths during the closing days of Japan’s feudal times and on the battlefront in China. “Hanagatami” symbolically seems to echo the director’s own fatality.
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FILMFEST FOLLOWER *CANNES 2020 One of the many casualties of Coronavirus in the film festival calendar has been the most glamorous and starstruck film festival in the world - the Cannes Film Festival, which should have been held in May, but has had to be cancelled because of the pandemic and the banning of large gatherings in public places. So, here is the scheduled programme of the films that would have screened at Cannes 2020:
ADN Directed by MaĂŻwenn Starring: Louis Garrel, MaĂŻwenn, Marine Vach, Fanny Ardant, Dyland Robert. NO PLOT GIVEN
ANNETTE Directed by Leos Carax Starring: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg, Rebecca Dyson-Smith A stand-up comedian and his opera singer wife have a 2-year-old daughter with a surprising gift.
BERGMAN ISLAND Directed by Mia Hansen-Love Starring: Tim Roth, Mia Wasikowska, Vicky Krieps The picture revolves around an American filmmaking couple who retreat to the island for the summer to each write screenplays for their upcoming films in an act of pilgrimage to the place that inspired Bergman.
COMES MORNING (True Mothers) Directed by Naomi Kawase A young couple, Satoko and her husband, Kiyo Kazu, who after a long painful experience with fertility treatment decide to adopt a child. Six years later, they get a threatening phone call from a woman named Hikari who pretends to be the biological mother of the child and is ready to extort monet from them.
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THE FRENCH DISPATCH Directed Wes Anderson Starring: Timothee Chalemet, Elizabeth Moss, Saoirse Ronan A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in “The French Despatch� Magazine.
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Directed by Edgar Wright Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Tomasin McKenzie, Synnove Karlsen A young girl, passionate about fashion design, in mysteriously able to enter the 1960s London which is not what it seems, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences.
MANDIBULES Directed by Quentin Duplieux Starring: Adele Exarchopoulos, Dave Chapman, India Hair Two simple-minded friends discover a giant fly in the trunk of a car and decide to domesticate it to earn money with it.
MEMORIA Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul Starring: Tilda Swinton, Daniel Gimenez Cacho, Jeanne Balabar The main character of the film is a woman from Scotland, who, while travelling in Columbia, notices strange sounds. Soon she begins to think about their appearance.
MISS MARX Directed by Susanna Nicchiarelli Starring: Romana Garel, Oliver Chris, Felicity Motagu. NO PLOT GIVEN
MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour Starring: Ed Skrein, Kate Hudson, Craig Robinson A girl with unusual powers escapes from a mental home and tries to make out on her own in New Orleans.
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PENISULA Directed by San-Ho Yeon Starring: Dong Won Gang, Jung-Hyun Lee, John D Michaels Sequel to the 2016 South Korean zombie film.
SUMMERLAND Directed by Jessica Swale Starring: Gemma Arterton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Penelope Witton A woman during World War 2 opens her heart to an evacuee after initially resolving to be rid of him.
SOEURS Directed by Jason Moore Starring: Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph Two sisters decide to throw one last house party before their parents sell their family home.
SUMMER OF ‘85 Directed by Francois Ozon Starring: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Melvil Paupaud, Isabelle Nanty What do you dream of when you’re 16 years old and in a seaside in Normandy in the 1980s? A life teen pact? Scooting off on an adventure on a boat?
TENET Directed by Christopher Nolan Starring: Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Jonhson An action epic revolving around international espionage, time-travel, and evolution. About a man trying to prevent World War 3 through timetravel and rebirth
TOP GUN: MAVERICK Directed by Joseph Kosinski Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Tom Cruise, Jake Picking After more than 30 years of service as one of Navy’s top aviators, Pete Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.
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TRE PIANI Directed by Nanni Moretti Starring: Riccardo Scarmarcio, Alessandro Sperduti, Alba Rohrwacher The story of three families living in three apartments in the same bourgeois condominium
UNTITLED ADAM LEON PROJECT Directed by Adam Leon Starring: Vanessa Kirby, David Ajala NO PLOT GIVEN
WHERE IS ANNE FRANK Directed by Ari Folman Starring: Skye Bennett, Emily Carey, Sebastian Croft The film follows the journey of Kitty, the imaginary friend to whom Anne Frank dedicated her diary: a fiery teenager who wakes up in the near future in Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam.
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW Directed by Joe Wright Starring: Amy Adams, Fred Hechinger, Anthony Mackie, Wyatt Russell An agoraphobic woman living alone in New York begins spying on her new neighbours, only to witness a disturbing act of violence.
*NB: There is a strong possibility that some of these films, if not all, will screen at the Venice Film Festival which is still scheduled to run on September 2nd to 12th
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DVDs OF THE MONTH 1917 Directed by Sam Mendes Starring: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Colin Firth. At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield (George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers -Blake’s own bother among them.
BONUS FEATURES SEE HOW THE FILMMAKERS ACHIEVED THIS CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE * THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD SAM MENDES * ALLIED FORCES: MAKING 1917 * THE SCORE OF 1917 * FEATURE COMMENTARIES
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DVDs OF THE MONTH BERGMAN A YEAR IN A LIFE A Film by Jane Magnussen Jane Magnusson’s documentary centres on 1957, a turbulent but miraculously productive year when Bergman, besides unveiling “The Seventh Seal” and “Wild Strawberries” and working extensively in theatre and TV, led a messily complicated domestic life that included a spell in hospital. This focus is merely the springboard for a survey that spirals out to embrace everything from childhood to old age, touching on his many creative achievements, his strengths and failings as a man, and the way his art derived from his life. Illuminating anecdotes are offered by many who knew him – none, however, quite as revealing as Ingmar’s own testimony.
SPECIAL FEATURES * BERGMAN: A YEAR IN A LIFE Q&A. 2019. Jane Magnusson in conversation with Geoff Andrew. Recorded at BFI Southbank in 2019 * INGMAR BERGMAN GUARDIAN INTERVIEW 1982 Audio Only. * BERGMAN PAYS TRIBUTE TO THEATRE AND FILM DIRECTOR ALF SJOBERG, DISCUSSING HIS INFLUENCE AND IMPACT ON HIS OWN CAREER. Recorded at the NFT in 1982. * VOX LIPOMA. 2018. A satirical animation about Ingmar’s power, sexuality, and relationships.
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DVDs OF THE MONTH ALTMAN MAVERICK. AUTEUR. REBEL. INNOVATOR. STORYTELLER. RAMBLER. GAMBLER. MAD MAN. FAMILY MAN. DIRECTOR. ARTIST. “ALTMAN” is a touching, respectful, illuminating survey of the life and works of one of the most innovative, influential, and truly independent directors in American cinema history. While refusing to bow down to Hollywood’s conventions, or its executives, Altman’s unique style of filmmaking won him friends and enemies, earned him worldwide praise and occasionally scathing criticism. With a career spanning “M*A*S*H, “The Player, “Gosford Park”, and more. Altman proved that it is possible to make truly independent films.
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SPECIAL FEATURES CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ROBIN WILLIAMS, PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON, JULIANNE MOORE THREE SHORT FILMS BY ROBERT ALTMAN THE KATHRYN REED STORY POT AU FEU THE PARTY ROBERT ALTMAN TIMELINE
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DVDs OF THE MONTH LIGHT OF MY LIFE Directed by Casey Affleck Starring: Casey Affleck, Anna Pniowsky, Tom Bower, Elisabeth Moss Oscar winner Casey Affleck delivers a superb performance alongside Golden Globe winner Elisabeth Moss. A decade after a plague has wiped out nearly all of the world’s female population, a father (Affleck) and daughter live on the outskirts of what’s left of civilization as they once knew it. Disguising his daughter as a boy, the father struggles to protect her from newfound threats as they are forced from their home into dangerous territory. Prepared to defend his daughter at all costs, their bond and the character of humanity is tested. “Light of My Life” is an edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller, which critics hailed as “as truly breathtaking”.
DVD FEATURES * WIDESCREEN VERSION ENHANCED * ENGLISH 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL * SUBTITLES: ENGLISH. SPANISH.
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