Author Allan Ellenberger, who’s currently working on a biography of Miriam Hopkins, discusses several of the films screened at Cinecon 2008, the 44th edition of the Labor Day weekend festival of rare (mostly) American films:
"Cinecon 44 is now history.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences launches its 27th annual "Contemporary Documentaries" series with two widely praised Iraq War films: Alex Gibney’s Academy Award winner Taxi to the Dark Side and Charles Ferguson’s Academy Award-nominated No End in Sight.
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Natalie Portman, whose short film Eve was screened at the festival, and Marco Bechis, whose BirdWatchers is up for the Golden Lion
Ross McElwees (center), whose In Paraguay was screened in the Horizons sidebar
Marco Bechis (center), Claudio Santamaria (right) and BirdWatchers cast
Wim [.
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Nancy La Scala one of the leads in Vegas: Based on a True Story
Mark Greenfield, Nancy La Scala, Amir Naderi, Zach Thomas, whose Vegas: Based on a True Story is vying for the Golden Lion
Golden Lion jury members Valeria Golino, Wim Wenders
VINYAN [.
2008 Venice Film Festival - Horizons Sidebar
Ramin Bahrani Goodbye Solo — USA, 91′
Souleymane Sy Savane, Red West, Diana Franco Galindo
Julio Bressane, Rosa Dias A Erva do Rato — Brazil, 80′
Alessandra Negrini, Selton Mello
Lav Diaz Melancholia — Philippines, 450′
Roeder Camanag, Angeli Bayani, Perry Dizon
Jean-Pierre Duret, Andréa Santana Puisque nous sommes nés - France / Brazil, 90′
(documentary)
Philippe [.
A few weeks ago, when I began watching a screener of director-screenwriter-etc-etc. Brian Pera’s The Way I See Things, I had no idea what to expect.
Fabrice Du Welz’s Vinyan, which was screened out of competition at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, stirred some controversy because the psychological thriller deals with the aftermath of the 2005 tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people.
2008 Venice Film Festival - Out of Competition Screenings
Paolo Benvenuti Puccini e la fanciulla — Italy, 84′
Riccardo Moretti, Tania Squillarlo, Giovanna Daddi, Debora Mattiello, Federica Chezzi
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen Burn After Reading — USA, 95′
George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton
Claire Denis 35 Rhums — France / Spain, 100′
Alex Descas, Grégoire Colin, [.
2008 Venice Film Festival - Horizons Sidebar
Paolo Benvenuti Puccini e la fanciulla — Italy, 84′
Riccardo Moretti, Tania Squillarlo, Giovanna Daddi, Debora Mattiello, Federica Chezzi
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen Burn After Reading — USA, 95′
George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton
Claire Denis 35 Rhums — France / Spain, 100′
Alex Descas, Grégoire Colin, Nicole Dogue, [.
Wendy Ide reviews Claire Denis‘ 35 Shots of Rum in The [London] Times:
"Four days into the Venice Film Festival, and the programme feels as though it has been temporarily hijacked by hubris and bombast.
Veteran "trash" filmmaker-actor José Mojica Marins‘ Encarnação do Demônio / Embodiment of Evil (literally, "The Devil’s Incarnation"), one of the out-of-competition screenings at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, features the latest cinematic incarnation (bad pun intended) of Zé do Caixão ("Coffin Joe"), a demonic character that starred in a handful of Brazilian movies of [.
Tropic Thunder ruled the North American box office for the third consecutive weekend with US$11.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Via Agence France-Presse:
"The 65th Venice film festival has produced no standouts since it opened on Wednesday, with reactions to the first crop among the 21 movies vying for the Golden Lion ranging from lukewarm to hostile.
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Hayao Miyazaki, whose Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is up for a Golden Lion
Actor Valerio Mastandrea, director Ferzan Ozpetek, of A Perfect Day, which is up for a Golden Lion
Isabella Ferrari, star of Ferzan Ozpetek’s A Perfect Day
Director Ramin [.
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Director Fabrice Du Welz, actress Emmanuelle Béart of Vinyan, which was screened out of competition
Tariq Tapa (right), director of Zero Bridge, screened in the Horizons sidebar
Serena Grandi, Pupi Avati, Francesca Neri, Alba Rohrwacher, whose Il Papa di Giovanna is up [.
In The Guardian, Simon Callow reviews Ever Dirk: The Bogarde Letters, a collection of letters written by Dirk Bogarde and edited by John Coldstream, former books editor at the Daily Telegraph:
"The collection of letters (a mere eighth of his surviving epistolary output, and who knows how much was lost and destroyed?) reproduces all these [.
Marco Pontecorvo’s Pa-ra-da, the story of a street clown who taught acrobatic skills to street children in 1990s Romania, was screened at the 2008 Venice Film Festival’s Horizons sidebar.
Pupi Avati’s Il Papà di Giovanna / Giovanna’s Father, which is up for a Golden Lion at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, revolves around the relationship between a doting father and his insecure, mentally unstable daughter.
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J. D.
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Alice Braga
Brad Pitt, whose Burn After Reading opened the 2008 Venice Film Festival
Venice Biennale President Paolo Baratta, veteran director and Venice 2008’s Lifetime Achievement recipient Ermanno Olmi
Charlize Theron, one of the stars of Guillermo Arriaga’s The Burning Plain, which is up for [.