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Film history in brief : 1935’s “The Informer,” directed by John Ford
It’s 1920 and Ireland is at war with the British during the War of Independence. Gypo (Victor McLaglen) snitches on a sinn fein militant, eventually getting fingered, and attacked. He stumbles into a church and dies. Directed by John Ford, “The Informer” was made in spite of the producers (RKO Pictures) having major doubts about its commercial prospects. And yet, the film was hailed, at the time of its release more >
NEWS
“Twin” to be featured at next SERIES MANIA
(TV/Netflix) "Twin," a much-anticipated drama series that includes the dramatic and picturesque settings of Lofoten in Norway, will be shown at Series Mania, a festival that's ... more >
THINGS YOUR FILM SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR DIDN’T TEACH YOU : Talking with Ondi Timoner of “Mapplethorpe”
Filmmaker Ondi Timoner felt the best way to tell the story of Robert Mapplethorpe was in a narrative-versus-documentary format. Mapplethorpe, the vaunted New York photograper who ... more >
BARRY AVRICH’s latest effort will look at grifters playing fast and loose with the high-stakes art world
Melbar Entertainment Group announced that production has begun on the feature documentary about the infamous Knoedler Gallery art scandal, one that involved one of the largest art ... more >
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
Benoît Jacquot’s “Dernier Amour,” yawn
If there have been more boring recent films than Benoît Jacquot’s “Last Love,” ("Dernier Amour" in the French original) none readily comes to mind. Though one must admit that it’s a feat in ... more >
“Diane,” or when you come to grips with your present and the past gives you a jolt of bitterness
For Diane (Mary Kay Place), a kind of selfless stoic, everyone else comes first. Generous but with little patience for self-pity, she spends her days checking in on sick friends, ... more >
HOTEL MUMBAI, walking back uneasy to the scene of the crime
“Hotel Mumbai” is based on real events that took place in November 2008, when ten members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani Islamic terrorist organization, carried out an insanely-bold series ... more >
ICEMAN (“Der Mann aus dem Eis”)
When the perfectly-preserved body of a Stone Age man was found in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, it became a world sensation. "Ötzi" (renamed Kelab) was so well-preserved, in fact, that one could ... more >
“ASH IS THE PUREST WHITE,” Zhangke Jia’s sweeping melodrama in four parts, is a must-watch!
Qiao (played by Tao Zhao) a gangster’s girlfriend in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi, dreams of an immutable kind of love, the one that defies and lasts. Her and her boyfriend seem ... more >
When we walked on the moon. Talking to “Apollo 11” director Todd Douglas Miller
A half-century ago this summer two men stepped foot on the moon, the first time in our species’s history that human footprints were made on an object beyond Earth. Commemorations of the ... more >
SBIFF 2019, some parting words on our favorite films
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., “I think there’s only one way, forward, for women, and we are 51 percent of the world, so 51 percent of women should do movies,” Austrian director Eva Spreitzhofer ... more >
TALKING SBIFF 2019 : Viggo Mortensen, Josh Lucas, and newcomer Paula Reca
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Santa Barbara, often referred to as the “American Riviera,” is hosting its 34th film festival this week, replete with the typical red-carpet events and world ... more >
PEOPLE TO WATCH
Born and raised in North London, Christian Tye has already made his mark on Hollywood by producing a short, entitled “Trip’s Duplage” at 22. There’s already some Cannes buzz about the film, which was produced by Tye with Mosaic Media Group. It stars British actress Stephanie Beacham and Spencer Squire. Tye has starred in stage productions and also had a part in Rupert Everett’s 2018 directorial debut “The Happy Prince,” alongside Everett and Colin Firth. He has various projects lined up for 2019, including roles in two major feature films. Not only does Christian excel at acting but also he is an incredible screenwriter, having written several scripts. more >
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