text:
Moonlight won Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Barry Jenkins).
La La Land won six awards including
Best Picture, Best Director (Damien Chazelle), Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Song, and Best Original Score (Justin Hurwitz).
Manchester by the Sea won Best Actor (Casey Affleck) and Best Original Screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan).
Fences won Best Actress (Viola Davis).
Hacksaw Ridge won for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing.
Zootopia won Best Animated Feature, while Piper won Best Animated Short (Piper can be found on the Finding Dory DVD/Blu-ray).
O.J.: Made in America won Best Documentary Feature, while The White Helmets won Best Documentary Short.
Other Oscar winners include Arrival (Best Sound Editing), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Best Costume Design), The Jungle Book (Best Visual Effects), Suicide Squad (Best Make-up & Hairstyling), The Salesman (Best Foreign Film), and Sing (Best Live Action Short).]]>
Sully re-creates the drama of flight 1549's Jan 15, 2009 emergency landing and its effects, especially on Captain Sullenberger. We experience the pilot's flashbacks to a battle flight emergency during his military service. We endure his stress during the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation, staged to determine if the plane could have made a safe return to LaGuardia or nearby Teterboro, NJ airport. We watch Sully's agony, as he walks through his own doubts about the event. I found the film riveting, start to finish.
Winner of the 2007 Academy Award for Best Screenplay, the story follows Juno McGuff, an offbeat high school junior who finds out she's pregnant after a first time sexual encounter and decides to offer the baby for adoption to a young couple she finds in the PennySaver. During the nine-month span of the movie, Juno is growing up, falling in love, and learning about herself, her family, and her ever-changing relationships. Ellen Page truly shines in this role, and with an irresistibly quotable script and fun soundtrack, it is a movie that you'll find yourself wanting to watch again and again.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is simply not to be missed. Director Michel Gondry creates impactful visual effects using only lights, mirrors, and misdirection; rejecting cheap CGI for the timeless tools of great show masters since the beginning of time. Even as the scenery shifts through seamless sleight of hand, the film stays anchored by its well-developed characters and timeless love story.
The thoughtful if not confounding tapestry of people, places and things that swiftly move from one to the next, a New York City boxing match, the interview of a survivor of the mass rapes during the Bosnian civil war, a portrait of her mother suffering from Alzheimer's, a strolling-in-New York City shot of Jacques Derrida (the father of Deconstruction), a baby being born in Nigeria, dialogue-free shots of infamous prisons and places of torture, and a shepherd on horseback. The footage is often very picturesque even while the human subjects are often engaged in some sort of mode of survival, but viewers are never pushed toward the director's intentions nor are we quite sure what we're supposed to make of all these images.
Johnson is forcing the audience to do the heaving lifting here by keeping them off balance. For the more cerebral moviegoer, Cameraperson is about framing images, the editing of reality, the power of narratives to shape, and the empathy that can be produced from the way in which images are formatted in conjunction with stories and biases. Much of this feels like a meditation on the creative process, which for Johnson, is at the core of her life's blood. And that's only a surface level reading of the film. There's so much more within this unique film if you are willing to consider the meanings and ethics that inform her choices as a filmmaker, the possibility of embedded metaphors and the totality of the film's sly, fascinatingly opaque examination of one woman's journey through the human condition.]]>
In Aparajito, Apu and his mother and father have relocated to the city of Varanasi. His mother lovingly maintains their Spartan apartment while Apu's well-meaning father, a priest, performs religious sermons near the lip of the Ganges. The tween-age Apu, unanchored to formal schooling, spends his days running through the narrow passageways of the city, engaging in youthful mischief with other boys of his class. Apu's luck begins to change while attending a rural village school where he earns a scholarship to study in Calcutta. Though Apu is tentative to leave his devoted mother who fears for his safety while harboring feelings of abandonment, his drive to transform his humble origins sees him boldly embracing the big city possibilities and educational opportunities he'd never have if he were to remain in the small village.
Like in Ray's first film, a work devoid of sentimentality yet striking in its visual bravura, Apu once more must negotiate the joy and sorrow associated with the circularity of life, both its opportunities as well as its misfortunes with hard won grace, determination and hope. The distinguished sitar player Ravi Shankar wrote the film's music and like the first film, the actress Karuna Banerjee gives a tour de force performance as Apu's mother. Lyrical and humane, the Apu Trilogy sets a very high standard for the cinematic Bildungsroman.
10. Punch-Drunk Love
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
8. A Matter of Life and Death
7. The Apartment
6. Brokeback Mountain
5. Harold and Maude
4. Annie Hall
3. In the Mood for Love
2. Casablanca
1. Brief Encounter]]>
Sure, like most, I love the role of the actor and the director in developing the look and tone of a film but the cinematographer also plays a major role in how the audience confronts the language of images. Here are several films that feature the best work from some of the greatest DP's working behind the camera.
Christopher Doyle: In the Mood for Love, Chungking Express
Sven Nykvist: Persona, Cries and Whispers, Through a Glass Darkly, Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Sacrifice
Slawomir Idziak: The Double Life of Verónique
Roger Deakins: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Skyfall, Hail Caesar!, Shawshank Redemption
Jack Cardiff: Red Shoes, Black Narcissus
Michael Chapman: Raging Bull
Raoul Coutard: Breathless, Pierrot le Fou, Contempt
Gunnar Fischer: The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Summer with Monika
Emmanuel Lubeszki: The Revenant, Birdman, Tree of Life, Knight of Cups
Gregg Toland: Citizen Kane
Gordon Willis: The Godfather, Annie Hall, All the President's Men
Vilmos Zsigmond: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blow Out, Deer Hunter]]>
Hell or High Water (Best Picture, Supporting Actor – Jeff Bridges, Film Editing, Original Screenplay)
Captain Fantastic (Best Actor – Viggo Mortensen)
Florence Foster Jenkins (Best Actress – Meryl Streep, Costume Design)
The Lobster (Best Original Screenplay)
Kubo and the Two Strings (Best Animated Feature, Visual Effects)
Zootopia (Best Animated Feature)
A Man Called Ove (Best Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling)
Star Trek: Beyond (Best Makeup and Hairstyling)
Suicide Squad (Best Makeup and Hairstyling)
Jim: The James Foley Story (Best Song – "The Empty Chair" by J. Ralph)
Hail, Caesar! (Best Production Design)
Deepwater Horizon (Best Sound Editing, Visual Effects)
Sully (Best Sound Editing)
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (Best Sound Mixing)
The Jungle Book (Best Visual Effects)
Over 20 more Oscar nominees will hit home video very soon—including Best Picture front-runner La La Land—so be sure to check out the Coming Soon section of our catalog to place holds on the year's best films!]]>
This recently published book, written by television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz, is a great place for debates to start between fans of television shows wondering why their series didn't make the top 100 or why such and such title was ranked ahead of their beloved show. The 100 are listed in four categories: The Inner Circle (1-10), No-Doubt-About-It Classics (11-50), Groundbreakers and Workhorses (51-75), and bringing up the rear, Outlier Classics (76-100). By and large, the list didn't shock me despite one of my favorite shows, Six Feet Under, registering only in the last category (utter nonsense!). Here are the best of the best according to the authors:
The movie is just warm, and funny in a gentle way, and it has so much heart. It's one of those movies that makes you want the best for everyone, and wish you were part of the family.
Fanny and Alexander
The Apu Trilogy
Weekend (2011)
John Cassavetes: Five Films
Punch-Drunk Love
I Am Curious... Box Set
Three Colors Trilogy
La Haine
Blood Simple
Fat Girl
Monsoon Wedding
La Ciénaga
George Washington
The River
Eclipse Series 21: Oshima's Outlaw Sixties
The Essential Jacques Demy
The Complete Jacques Tati
A Brighter Summer Day
The Royal Tenenbaums
Leonard Cohen and McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Cat Stevens and Harold and Maude
Bob Dylan and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Simon and Garfunkel and The Graduate
Aimee Mann and Magnolia]]>
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
The Punk Singer
Thelma & Louise
Nine to Five
The Headless Woman
Baadasssss Cinema
I Will Follow
Wendy and Lucy
3 Women
Princess Mononoke
Born in Flames
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
All About My Mother
Daughters of the Dust
The Passion of Joan of Arc
The Color Purple
Erin Brockovich
Miss Representation
The Neon Bull
City of God
Central Station
Neighboring Sounds
Black Orpheus (French director, set in Brazil)
Vidas Secas
The show, which aired early, last year, delivers a multifaceted, honest, and riveting look into one of the most controversial trials in American history. It has a dynamite cast and all of the trappings that made the trial itself such great TV: celebrity death, car chases, and all of the courtroom drama you can handle. Relive the craziest trial of the 90s! Or if you're like me, find out what went down for the very first time and witness how the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman divided the nation.
5 Essential Classics
5 Lesser-Known Gems
"Lyricism manifests in endlessly conflicting guises: it can impart to a film a semblance of timelessness or a heightened awareness of the present; it can establish a sense of intimacy or grandeur; it can thrive on both granular detail and heady abstraction."
Three films that have yet to be released on DVD tackle the subject of poetry and the lives of poets--Jim Jarmusch's Paterson, Terrence Davies A Quiet Passion and Pablo Larrain's Neruda and all three tackle the subject matter in varied and different ways.
This got me thinking about films in the library's collection that could easily be thought of as 'poetic' or 'lyric'. So what is a poetic film? There is the visual imagery, the voice over's, the inclination toward a reduction in cuts and dialogue, the romantic use of light, and cinematographic focus on nature and abstraction or better yet, "these (films) share the aim of eliciting reverence, emerging as if from the same amniotic silence that gives rise to poetic speech."
So, here are ten films that even while the term 'poetic films' is elusive and hardly an identifiable category, are worth checking out for their beautiful images and ruminative qualities.
Tree of Life (2011)
The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)
The Mirror (1975)
Days of Heaven (1978)
L'atalante (1934)
The Films of Maya Deren
By Brakhage
Eternity and a Day (1998)
Wings of Desire (1987)
To the Wonder (2013)
A.V. Club
Richard Brody (from The New Yorker)
Rotten Tomatoes
Indie Wire
Esquire Magazine
Rolling Stone
20th Century Women--]]>
Altogether, it is 12 episodes long, and can be watched in entirety in 2 hours. Each episode includes original songs that are heavily imbued with a wonderful Americana folksy vibe (my favorite is Langtree's Lament).
There are some spookier elements that might prove frightening for small children, but there is something here to appeal to audiences of all ages. Equal parts cute and creepy, Over the Garden Wall will have you laughing along one moment, and shivering with dread in the next.
All That Heaven Allows
The Ascent
Fanny and Alexander
A Christmas Tale
The Long Day Closes
My Night at Maud's
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Mon Oncle Antoine]]>
It's framed by the story of a little girl living a rigid, structured life who befriends the elderly eccentric aviator living next door. The third act takes an unexpected fanciful turn, but it still manages to deliver great emotional impact. It's a sweet, sentimental movie for the whole family, and it's carried along by a wonderful soundtrack. The soundtrack is simply a dream come true. It's written by Hans Zimmer, and heavily features this fabulous singer named Camille.
Steven Spielberg (1980's)—Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Twilight Zone, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Always
Hal Ashby (1970's)—The Landlord, Harold and Maude, Last Detail, Shampoo, Bound for Glory, Coming Home, Being There
Francis Ford Coppola (1970's)—The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather II, Apocalypse Now
Martin Scorsese (1990's)—Good Fellas, Cape Fear, The Age of Innocence, Casino, Kundun, Bringing Out the Dead, My Voyage to Italy
David Fincher (2000's)--Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network
Robert Altman (1970's)--MASH, Brewster McCloud, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Images, The Long Goodbye, Thieves Like Us, California Split, Nashville, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, 3 Women, A Wedding, Quintet, A Perfect Couple, HealtH, and Popeye
This is the story of a large African-American family as it prepares to move North at the dawn of the 20th century. The film brings to life the changing values, conflicts and struggles that confront every family as it leaves its homeland for the promise of a new and better future. It also explores the unique culture of the Gullah people, descendants of slaves who lived in relative isolation on the Sea Islands off the Georgia coast. As the generations struggle with the decision to leave, their rich Gullah heritage and African roots rise to the surface.]]>
Elena (Documentary)
Best of Enemies (Documentary)
Spotlight (Drama)
Carol (Drama)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Science Fiction/Fantasy)
Chi-Raq (Drama)
Code Unknown (Foreign)
A New Leaf (Comedy)
Spring and Arnaud (Documentary)
This Is Martin Bonner (Drama)
Midnight Special (Drama)
The Prestige (Mystery/Suspense)
My Golden Days (Foreign)
Nice Guys (Comedy)
The Big Short (Drama)
Love & Friendship (Comedy)
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Comedy)
3 Women (Drama)]]>
Here are some video essays edited by Kogonada that feature striking and beautiful images from classic, art house films and their esteemed directors.]]>
Having revisited the film this year and taken from it a much more astute reading of its original parts and flourishes, my earlier apprehension has been quieted. At the movie's heart, the film is about human loneliness and the search for connection. In a more typical film, our romantic couple would be depicted as sweet and lovable rather than eccentric and emotionally stunted, simply victims of fate or chance, rather than ignored by temper and by quirkiness. Adam Sandler turns in his best role to date (sorry Happy Gilmore fans), showing an expanded range that gives viewers a glimpse into the idiosyncratic character Barry and his feelings of repressed shame and anger toward his sisters. Rounding out the cast is an amazing performance by an unhinged Philip Seymour Hoffman and the always excellent Emily Watson. The wildly experimental music, scored by Anderson regular Jon Brion, is one that is both weirdly discomfiting and completely appropriate in how it expresses the emotional tones of Barry's repressed personality.
Josh Larsen--
Children of Men
The Apu Trilogy
In Jackson Heights
Adam Kempenaar--
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The World of Apu
A Moment of Innocence
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
Michael Phillips--
The Band Wagon
The Shop Around the Corner
Hell is certainly a poignant film; it's portrayal of predatory banking and the disenfranchisement of the impoverished will certainly resonant with most audiences, but beyond that, it's a rousingly well-made movie: thrilling, poetically dialogued, and populated with rich three-dimensional supporting players. It's one of the best films of 2016.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Au Hasard Balthazar
The Battle of Algiers
Andrei Rublev
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Tokyo Drifter
Closely Watched Trains
But even though we already know how the movie ends, young Barack and Michelle do not. Therein lies the charm. Michelle is questioning whether she's in the right career, and if she should be out with her smooth talking coworker at all. Barack is wrestling with the ghost of his father's legacy, and trying to reconcile his educational background in law with his desire to impact the civil rights movement. In a way, it's reassuring. At times Presidents, and other people in high positions can seem untouchable, but they are people too. They go on first dates too, and they didn't always ride around in limousines.
The return of family memories is central to the sequel's plot, as Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, who strikes the right balance between hilarity and pathos) flashes back to her childhood separation from her parents, and determines to find out what happened to them, holding out hope that reunion is possible. If that sounds too mawkish, rest assured Dory (like Nemo) is a very funny film, loaded with quirky and absurd characters (most of them new to this film) and plot twists occasionally bordering on the surreal (you may never hear Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" the same way again). It's also a great adventure story that crosses the Pacific, below and above, as lovingly animated and beautifully scored as its predecessor.
As life presses on, inside and out, our family won't view Dory with the frequency we viewed Nemo. Still, like the best visits with old friends, the comfort of Dory's presence reconnects us to sentiments I hope we never lose.]]>
Buffalo '66
Pulp Fiction
The Big Lebowski
Groundhog Day
The Thin Red Line
10 Essential Classics--
The story follows Lady Susan, played by Kate Beckinsale, a scheming widow who could hardly be bothered to mourn her late husband. She's too busy stirring up a scandal by winning the affections of Lord Manwaring—a gentleman who is very wealthy, and very married. After stirring up a huge commotion in that household, she foists herself upon her relatives, where she sets her sights on another unsuspecting bachelor. And all of this happens in the first 10 minutes. The film is just delicious fun, and it is directed by Whit Stilman, a director who is no stranger to witty characters and outrageous situations. Love and Friendship is fast paced, flippant, and funny. Go ahead—treat yourself.
El Topo (1970)
Amores Perros (2000)
City of God (2002)
Y tu mama tambien (2001)
Vidas Secas (1963)]]>
Seven Samurai
Tokyo Story
Woman of the Dunes
Sword of Doom
• Ground zero of the zombie craze, the original Night of the Living Dead
• 28 Days Later and its sequel 28 Weeks Later
• Horror-comedies Cabin in the Woods and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
• Ghost murder mystery Lady in White
• Paranoia-inducing sci-fi alien parasite thriller The Thing
• Classic horror flicks Poltergeist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Exorcist
• Recent instant classics The Witch, The Babadook, and It Follows
Martin is a divorced man of a certain age looking for meaning as he nears the golden years. He regularly calls his adult daughter and son in order to stifle the quiet and boredom in his life. Travis has been released from prison having served a 12 year sentence. Both men find in the other an opportunity to locate their better selves.]]>
Watching this movie is like being on a ride at the county fair. At first, everything is brilliant. Then as the ride picks up speed, there is a rush of exhilaration: everything runs together, and goes by so fast that you barely have time to catch your breath. Towards the end, you start to feel unease. Like the ride should have ended by now, and you wonder if it ever will. When it's finally over, you feel relief, amazement, and more alive, somehow.
This film is not for the faint of heart. There is no height requirement for this ride.]]>
La La Land:]]>
The story follows Greg, a self-conscious high school junior who spends most of his time watching obscure films from the Criterion Collection and then making really terrible, yet endearingly earnest spoofs of them with his best friend Earl. At his mother's insistence, he starts hanging out with Rachel, a girl from his school who has just been terminally diagnosed with cancer.
I would say that the movie is better than the book, because for one thing, we're not limited to one point of view. In the book, Greg is an untrustworthy narrator, so it's difficult to get the full sense of the story. In the movie, we're allowed some distance. We're not always inside of Greg's head, so we get the space to breathe, and really see the other characters as they are—not just through Greg's eyes. There are also all of the fun camera angles, silly movie spoofs, and stop-motion animated bits that make the story really shine as a movie.
Last year there were quite a few movies centered on teenage death. The Fault in Our Stars, and If I Stay come to mind, but Me and Earl and the Dying Girl stands apart for its refusal to concede to sappiness and sentimentality.
So, in conclusion, the book is great, but the movie's better. If you care to experience both, I'd recommend starting with the movie, and reading the book as a companion piece.
Grey Gardens--A masterful tragicomedy if ever there was one. Beckett-like in its ability to mix humor, sorrow and humanity together to form this wildly entertaining film. Big and Little Edies' performances are so raw and over the top.
Badlands--Malick's most straight forward and conventional film is probably my favorite of his because he actually allowed his actors to act while still painting the screen with the poetry and beauty he's known for.
The Night of the Hunter--Robert Mitchum is the most charming of singing serial killers. There's strange bits of humor that lighten the tone of the film as when he's chasing the children up the stairs. It's just so perfect in its expressive, dreamy black and white. You're never really terrified because it's not a film that has things jump out at you, but for the mid 1950's, I'm sure it ruffled a few feathers.
Naked--Proof that you can still love a film even while you find the characters' personalities vile. Grim, philosophical masterwork driven home by a fast-talking, Dostoyevskian anti-hero.
Wages of Fear--Arguably the greatest road trip movie ever made
Summer with Monika--Not Bergman's best film but a favorite of mine. Harriet is just so great as a complex, immature woman grappling with adulthood's consequences. Her arc from youthful giddiness of being in love to meat thief to unfaithful wife is heartbreaking. And that stare into the camera is the cherry on top. There's a reason that Truffaut paid homage to the film in his debut The 400 Blows by having his character rip a poster of the film off the wall.
Sullivan's Travel--About as perfect a film as there is at playfully critiquing both the entertainment industry and "social message" films.
Safe--Todd Haynes' Safe was just too ahead of its time when it first hit theaters in the mid 1990's. The reviews were initially mixed and the film's complex exploration of themes ranging from New Age cult worship to environmental poisoning baffled critics and audiences. The film's ambiguities heighten the film's tension and makes for spirited post-viewing discussion.]]>
I find it totally unacceptable for RLJ Entertainment to produce a movie in this day and age that calls for darkening the skin, false teeth and a prosthetic nose. Regardless of the outcry and protest Zoe Saldana was cast anyway. They say she was electrifying and that she gave her heart and soul to the role. I'm sure she was and did, but it will be a long time before I can look at her with respect.
There are many, many talented black actresses that could have performed as well or better than Zoe Saldana.
I do want to thank Robert L Johnson for not adding white lip paint to Ms. Saldana's darken face.]]>
Written and directed by Taika Waititi, whose previous film was the hilarious vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a touching, laugh-out-loud crowd-pleasure that features great performances from its two leads, Sam Neill and Julian Dennison, as well as a great supporting performance by Flight of the Conchords vet (and Shadows werewolf) Rhys Darby. It's a heartfelt look at how family can be found in unexpected places.]]>
The Great Gatsby
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Color Purple
The Lord of the Flies
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Lord of the Rings
A Ballerina's Tale
Sinatra: All or Nothing at All
A Poem Is a Naked Person
The Sheik
N.W.A. & Eazy E: Kings of Compton
I Am Evel Knievel
Kurt Cobain, Montage of Heck
I Am Chris Farley
Two Raging Grannies
The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
Burroughs: The Movie
Lady Valor: The Kristin Beck Story
It's a somber, slice-of-life love story similar to the 90s favorite Before Sunrise but with higher stakes. Hispanic Heritage Month is right around the corner, so it's the perfect time to indulge in this winner of the 2008 ALMA Award for Outstanding Performance of a Lead Latino/a Cast in a Motion Picture. Just keep your tissues handy.
Though the art form of ballet has been around for roughly 500 years, little has changed. Most ballerinas belonging to acclaimed international companies have petite, pale, waif-like figures, due to harshly enforced appearance standards set long ago. In June 2015, Misty Copeland became the first African American woman to be promoted to the role of principal dancer in the prestigious American Ballet Theatre company. In the fascinating documentary A Ballerina's Tale, directed by Nelson George, we get to peer into the life of the acclaimed dancer from her humble beginnings to her ground breaking performance as the Firebird. Fascinating, breathtaking, and inspiring, this film is not to be missed.
Killer of Sheep
Dear White People
Yelling to the Sky
Do the Right Thing
Boyz 'n the Hood
Menace II Society
Night Catches Us
Nothing But a Man
Hollywood Shuffle
School Daze
Middle of Nowhere
New Jack City
Daughters of the Dust
Eve's Bayou
One False Move
Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People
The Watermelon Woman
Losing Ground
Love & Basketball
Freedom Riders
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
And Barton Fink:]]>
The film is based on an old Japanese folktale about a bamboo cutter who finds a small beautiful princess in a stalk of bamboo and decides to adopt and raise her as his own. However, it isn't that story that makes the movie shine—it's the artistry.
Isao Takahata, one of the founding fathers of Studio Ghibli decided he would make one last film before retirement and he wanted it to be his greatest. The movie took 8 years to make, because each frame was drawn and painted with watercolors by hand. The result is a fluid, breathtaking experience where the lines between reality and fantasy are blurred. You don't so much watch the movie, as feel it. There is a scene where the usually prim and beautiful princess transforms into this intense force of emotion—just a few bold streaks of paint tearing across the screen.
If you are a fan of animation, this film is not to be missed.
Ade leapt onto critic's radar with her earlier film Everyone Else, a clever, probing film about a young couple on vacation negotiating the ups and downs of their relationship. It's a wonderful film possessed of a keen, observational nerve that examines both the dynamics of a troubled relationship and its underlying tensions.]]>
A few titles that may end up on my year end list that I'm looking forward to seeing are Only Yesterday, The Lobster, OJ: Made In America, Sing Street, and Cemetery of Splendor.
The 400 Blows
Pather Panchali
Paper Towns
Diary of a Teenage Girl
Au Hasard Balthazar
The Lord of the Flies
Dazed and Confused
Almost Famous
Boyz in the Hood
The Squid and the Whale
The Last Picture Show
Ghost World
Whale Rider
Fish Tank
An Education
The Sandlot
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Real Women Have Curves
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Red Hook Summer
Girl, Interrupted
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Rebel Without a Cause
Breakfast Club
The Virgin Suicides
Stand By Me
Mon Oncle
A League of Their Own
Major League
The Natural
Bull Durham
Field of Dreams
No No: A Dockumentary
Jews & Baseball
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings
Catching Hell
The Bad News Bears
Million Dollar Arm
Baseball by Ken Burns
3:10 to Yuma
Let the Right One In/Let Me In
Cape Fear
True Grit
Wings of Desire/City of Angels
Imitation of Life
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Internal Affairs/The Departed
Evil Dead
Manchurian Candidate
Django/Django Unchained
The Karate Kid
Directed by Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal, and Tono Errando, the film follows fictional Jazz pianist Chico, who saunters into a nightclub one night, and falls head over heels for the sexy, sultry singer named Rita. The star-crossed lovers face many obstacles as they travel across the globe from Cuba, to New York, to Paris. Driven apart time and again, by fame, greed, and jealousy, the two always seem to find their way back to what's really important: love, and the music.
This film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2012, and won many other awards, including a European Film Award, and Goya Award for Best Animated Feature Film. The movie is completely in Spanish, but don't let a fear of subtitles keep you from falling in love with the jazz and romance of this beautiful film.
More from Kino Lorber's KL Studio Classics series here
The legendary Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami passed away recently. We have most of his most groundbreaking works in our film collection. Kiarostami's films are challenging for their formal ingenuity and sly in their ability to keep audiences distanced from their opaque truths.]]>
The movie is about Tracy, a freshman at a university in New York, who is realizing that maybe she isn't as brilliant as she thought she was. Feeling lonely and a bit disappointed, she meets up with her soon-to-be stepsister Brooke who is every bit as adventurous and exciting as Tracy hopes to be. She joins Brooke on her adventures because just as Tracy stands on the brink of adulthood, she finds someone who managed to never grow up at all.
The real star of this film is the dialogue. The writing is wry, witty, and delicious. There are just so many good, quotable lines. If this movie was a book, it would be my favorite book. I implore you all to check it out.
--The Criterion Collection
Gibney's films pique immediate interest by beginning their narratives at crossroads moments in the stories at hand (Brown on stage with fiery new recruits; Sinatra performing one last show before his "retirement"), returning to the beginnings to reveal the journeys there. Granted access to personal archives and recollections from members of the subjects' inner circle, the director's studies remain even-handed (alongside their greater accomplishments, Jobs's casual grudges, Brown's tight control of his band member's wages, and Sinatra's womanizing are all acknowledged). Human flaw works on the films' subjects in unexpected ways (as when former Scientologists find themselves complicit in losing control of their personal lives). By films' ends, their subjects' humanity reveals them to be less mysterious, yet more fascinating.
Regardless of a viewer's familiarity with the film's subjects, discoveries along the way are plentiful, thanks to Gibney's deft handling of rare photos, film, video, and audio recordings, interviews with close connections, and historical context drawn from the subjects' involvement in, and influence on, contemporary events. (All these techniques cast perfect light on Brown's performance during the March Against Fear, initiated by James Meredith.) Archival evidence of the subjects in action are the best reasons to watch these films – biopics and dramatizations simply don't convey the passions on display here.
No matter what your interest is in the subjects among these, or any other, Gibney documentaries (my current favorite is his 30 for 30 entry Catching Hell, and I'm not known to be a big sports fan), viewing just one of his films may have you hooked on the rest.]]>
Even though, I'm not a history buff and I'm not particularly fond of Tom Hanks I really appreciated The Bridge of Spies! I wasn't surprised about how little of attention I paid to what was happening with the Berlin Wall or the Cold War, but I do remember a lot of buzz about the Iron Curtain back in 60s, 70s and 80s. But, what was happening there was a long ways away and so much was going on the States.
The movie, which was based on a true story, not only perked my curiosity about the Cold War but it was also a good spy flick with a good ending. Give this movie a try you might enjoy the suspense and you might get some unexplained answers.]]>
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
This documentary about a forgotten metal band is as close to a real-life Spinal Tap as it gets. After the screening, the band came out and played a few songs.
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Midnight screenings at the festival have produced some real gems, including this film, one of the funniest horror-comedies of all time.
Burn: One Year on the Front Lines of the Battle to Save Detroit
This searing look at the difficult life of Detroit firefighters is truly gripping, and many of the film's subjects were in attendance.
The Act of Killing
This gritty, hard-to-watch documentary delves into the Indonesian genocide of the 1960s told from the point-of-view of several of the mass murderers.
Let the Right One In
This foreign horror-thriller takes a disturbing look at a young vampire and the troubled boy who befriends her.
The Imposter--A film that will have you scratching your head, wondering what you have just watched. The less you know about the film's subject matter the better.
The Windmill Movie--A good example of the personal essay film, aka, a kind of cinematic memoir that meditates on the power of film, memory and the creative process.
Stone Reader-- One man's obsessive search for the author who wrote an obscure, forgotten about novel that had great impact on the young filmmaker.
Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time--A fascinating portrait of the life and art of Goldsworthy, a Scottish land-use artist that creates wonderous, sometimes impermanent, sculpture from his environmental surroundings.]]>
Summer with Monika (Foreign)
Summer Interlude (Foreign)
Summertime (Drama)
Suddenly, Last Summer (Drama)
The Long, Hot Summer (Drama)
500 Days of Summer (Comedy)
Jazz on a Summer's Day (Documentary)
Smiles of a Summer Night (Foreign)
A Summer's Tale (Foreign)
Freedom Summer (Documentary)
The Kings of Summer (Comedy)
Red Hook Summer (Drama)
Wet Hot American Summer (Comedy)
Brand Upon the Brain
Eternity and a Day
The Mirror
Upstream Color
Certified Copy
Holy Motors
Buffalo '66
My Dinner with Andre
Oslo, August 31st
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
Half Nelson
Wendy and Lucy
First, we'll start with Iron Man 3. Remember how that was such a perfect ending to the whole solo Stark storyline? At least it seemed that way at the time because RDJ was all acting like he was going to hang up his metal suit, but unsurprisingly he just said he might be down for another one. That dude likes money.
Next we'll watch Thor: The Dark World. Okay, not the best of the bunch, but we're completists, so we'll get through it. Because right after that is Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and that movie is awesome. Nick Fury gets all wasted and S.H.I.E.L.D. turns out to be like 75% Hydra. That movie even temporarily breathed some life into the otherwise lame S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show.
After that, we'll move on to one of the all-time best Marvel movies: Guardians of the Galaxy. No one could have anticipated that movie would be the critical and commercial success that it is, particularly since it featured some obscure characters like a talking raccoon and a tree dude and starred the formerly schlubby guy from Parks & Rec. But somehow it all worked.
Then it's time for Avengers: Age of Ultron. That one's a bit overstuffed, but it gets better as it goes on, if you ignore the weird shirtless Thor cave stuff that the producers demanded be in there for MCU continuity.
You'd think Ultron would be the capper to Phase Two, but there was one more: Paul Rudd's Ant-Man. This one is a fun heist-centric actioner that could have been a trainwreck (because hey, it's called Ant-Man). We'll never know what the Edgar Wright version of this film would have been, but what we got was actually pretty enjoyable. Michael Douglas looks like Colonel Sanders, though.
So what do you say? We can get through all of these in about 13-and-a-half-hours and it's the weekend…]]>
( Z) Zodiac
Director David Fincher is to the psychological thriller what Christopher Nolan is to the science fiction genre—a guy who can make thoughtful, well-constructed popcorn movies with wide appeal that don't surrender artistic integrity or craftsmanship along the way. Aside from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, much of his oeuvre tends to lean toward dark and ominous stories (and that includes his fictional portrait of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network). His 2007 film Zodiac tackles the infamous story of a serial killer who randomly picked out his victims while taunting the media and police in the process. To this day, the mystery of the killer's identity and motivation has remained unsolved. With strong performances by Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr., Fincher's Zodiac deserves to be mentioned alongside his other classic films Seven, The Game and Fight Club.]]>
(Y) Yi Yi (2006)
Described as a film about "everything and nothing", Yi Yi is writer/director Edward Yang's moving, slice of life portrait about the ups and downs, beginnings and endings, laments and celebrations of a middle-class Taiwanese family. Centered on N.J. and his family, Yang depicts the magical moments in life by juxtaposing them against a backdrop of the mundane. The film begins by showing us a wedding and then quickly cuts to our protagonist's mother-in-law's failing health, stressing the overlapping and sometimes paradoxical nature of life's imperfect unfolding. Yang expertly evokes the poetry of the everyday in all of its messy dynamics, showing us the beautiful interplay between humor, tragedy, romance and ritual from the perspective of the three primary characters, the father, teenage daughter and the eight year-old son.]]>
(X) Xanadu
Ok, well maybe not one of my "favorite" films, Xanadu (1980) perfectly embodies its cultural moment—a bizarre, train wreck of a science fiction meets musical fever dream that features a fair amount of roller skating and dancing, the cameo of a golden era Hollywood star (Gene Kelly), the girl from Grease, a great soundtrack featuring ELO, and all the weirdness that you'd expect from such an assortment of poorly conceived and executed concepts. Available to stream via Hoopla.]]>
(W) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
Mike Nichols cemented his reputation as a director to pay attention to when he cast a real life, hard-drinking couple (Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) to play a fictionalized, hard-drinking couple in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Adapting writer Edward Albee's successful play to the big screen in 1966, Nichols' first film is a raucous portrayal of domestic discord with a blistering performance from Taylor. An unhinged married couple who have grown tired of their own inebriated banter seduce a young couple into unwittingly participating in their increasingly emotionally desperate and manic attempts at "fun and games".]]>
Based on David Lipsky's best-selling memoir 'Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself', this movie tells the story of a young journalist for Rolling Stone talking his way into an interview with literary superstar David Foster Wallace as he prepares to finish up his book tour promoting the smash literary hit 'Infinite Jest.'
You don't really need to know anything about Foster Wallace, but the poignancy of his truncated life certainly adds an extra flavor of preciousness to this intimate study of two men getting to know each other in strange circumstances.
It's an amazing performance by Jason Segel who is better known for his comedy roles in TV's How I Met Your Mother as well as movies like The Muppet Movie and Jeff Who Lives at Home. Physically, he certainly resembles Foster Wallace and his somewhat ungainly, methodical presence and mannerisms contrast well with Eisenberg's energetic portrayal of a younger, more ambitious writer.
The director does a great job of capturing the dialogue without intruding upon the action (or lack thereof) and the humor to be found in this brief friendship can't help but seduce the viewer into falling in love with Wallace's character. Rather than a pretentious author for the elite, he comes across as not exactly a regular guy but definitely someone with whom you'd love to spend a little time. Not only is his home portrayed flawlessly as very much nothing out of the ordinary, the movie is careful to make sure we see that Wallace has a couple of dogs to whom he is greatly attached. It may be my interpretation alone, but they feel like a deliberately relatable representation of the warmth we end up feeling for this troubled, but apparently affectionate, author.
Filmed around the Grand Rapids area in the Winter of 2014, the 'making of' featurette on the DVD is an engaging eye-opener into what is obviously a labour of love for everyone involved. It's rare that a movie this quiet speaks so loudly to the troubled parts of us, and it carries an extra weight due to the sad ending of David Foster Wallace's short but spectacular time on this planet.
Post Script
If you wish to dig a little deeper, there are interviews with the author to be found online and you can go to your local library and check out Foster Wallace's literary work. With a little patience, you might just be rewarded by the experience of making it through Infinite Jest, now exactly 20 years old and included by Time Magazine in its list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923.
(V) The Visitor (2011)
Veteran character actor Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under, Olive Kitteridge, Liberal Arts) takes the lead in this deftly constructed portrait of one man's personal journey toward an emotional engagement with the moral complexities of our age when cross-cultural exchange and the politics of fear and misunderstanding fuse together to form a heartbreaking bond between strangers. A lonely, disengaged, sleepwalking through life professor discovers that his rarely used apartment is being occupied by two immigrants, setting off a moving story about empathy, difference and humanity's common language--the beating heart.]]>
I balked at this idea: quality spin-offs are rare, and Goodman really seemed to work best as the comic relief in an otherwise tense and gritty show. Could the origin story of a sleazy attorney whose future is already known to us make for exciting television? Or was this merely cashing in on a beloved property and might that cheapen its source material? It turns out I needn't have worried: Thanks to the talents of Gilligan and many of the Bad writers (as well as the dramatic chops of Odenkirk), not only does Goodman have enough of a saga to prop up his own series, but Better Call Saul has turned out to be every bit as well written and directed as its predecessor.
Set years before Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul follows Goodman (working under his real name, Jimmy McGill) as he struggles to launch his law career in the shadow of his successful brother, Chuck (played by another comedy legend, Michael McKean). Chuck, whose career has stalled because of a rare phobia, refuses to take Jimmy seriously and actively works to suppress him. He sees Jimmy as nothing more than the same swindling huckster he was in his youth. To Chuck, Jimmy survives on charisma and conniving—he hasn't put in the effort to succeed or graduated from a prestigious school. For his part, Jimmy is an earnest guy trying to become reputable, but his outside-the-box tactics for success clash with his straight-laced colleagues and to Chuck, he may never be more than a con man. And to that end, we see the basic concept DNA that Saul shares with Breaking Bad: They are both stories about men whose environments created circumstances that led to their moral downfalls, yet you can point to the personality traits of each man that exacerbated their respective falls from grace.
I can't recommend this series enough. If you liked Breaking Bad (and most of you did), definitely check out Better Call Saul. It may not have the body count or the nail-biting tension, but it deserves to have the enthusiastic audience that Bad had; perhaps it can get it a lot sooner in its run. Season Two is still airing, but Season One is on DVD now.
(U) Umberto D.
The cinematic movement called Italian Neorealism developed in the mid 1940's through the mid 1950's. The films were largely defined by their realist approach to engaging in more socially conscious subjects. These films often used non-professional actors, were shot on location and explored the complex social, economic and religious impact of world war two and Fascism upon both the rich and the poor. Some of the great films of this era include Roberto Rossellini's Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), Europe '51, and Journey to Italy, Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1942), The Earth Trembles (1948), and Bellissima (1951). Vitorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948) is widely considered one the greatest films of all time. It's a portrait of a desperate man's desire to find steady work in order to provide for his family. It's an emotionally searing example of Neorealism's penchant for depicting reality in unsentimental, unvarnished ways.
Di Sica's 1952 film was Umberto D., a heart wrenching story about an elderly man and his beloved dog wandering the Roman streets without any kind of stable housing or employment opportunities. Too old to work, Umberto and his four legged companion seek the kindness of others as their hope for stability increasingly turns to despair.
(T) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
I first came across The Treasure of the Sierra Madre from reading about some of the cinematic influences of Paul Thomas Anderson's film There Will Be Blood. It's a classic adventure film with dramatic depth and a great cast including a gritty, atypically inelegant Humphrey Bogart. Four desperate men hole up in the Mexican mountains hoping to strike it rich by mining for gold. The claustrophobic working and living conditions and the high stakes strain produced from constant suspicion and personal greed leads to a dramatic boiling point that will likely result in a violent resolution.
(S) Synecdoche, New York
There are so many great films that start with "S" so this was a difficult letter for me to highlight only one of my favorites. Since I've already expressed my affection for films like Stalker, Scenes from a Marriage, Sullivan's Travels, Sherman's March, Salesman, and Still Walking in past blog posts, I'm going to give some love to writer/director Charlie Kaufman by stating my fondness for his emotionally heavy and intellectually dense debut, Synecdoche New York. It's an ambitious film that doesn't shy away from weighty, existential subjects like death, failure, aging, loneliness, and the curse of creative stasis. Packed with allusions, wordplay, arcane references, and winking in-jokes, it's no wonder that some critics found the film a bit too precious. But it also works as a touching meditation on the overlapping dialectic between art and life forever imitating one another. Kaufman's film drives home his pessimistic perspective over and over again which will likely exhaust even the most open minded of viewers but one cannot deny his talent for drafting wildly, clever plots saturated in dark humor, that as over the top as they are, remain grounded to a personal vision fascinated by the tragicomedic throes of the human condition.
According to Kaufman, life is a play and we are its central characters and so this is our story—living, loving, falling out of love, giving into fear, overcoming fear, failing, succeeding, falling apart physically, and then dying. Kaufman's postmodernist approach is a searing, emotional gut punch of the Beckettian sort that won't surrender to cheap sentimentality.
(R) The Royal Tenenbaums
Wes Anderson's brilliant third film The Royal Tenenbaums perfectly captures the unique director's interest in domestic dysfunction, especially families with complicated, sometimes difficult fathers. It has both the style and the substance, the droll humor and the touching pathos of a film that perfectly calibrates its use of comedy and drama to great effect. Anderson is a one of a kind talent whose nine feature films have already been cemented inside the cinematic pantheon. Throw in Anderson's great taste for pop music, an amazing cast of actors and a kitchen sink array of directorial techniques and visual flourishes, all of which service both the style and the substance of his films, and you have a classic beloved by more than just your standard Anderson devotees. For more information about Anderson's approach to filmmaking and his influences, check out this well done essay.
(Q) Quadrophenia
The 1979 cult classic Quadrophenia is both a coming of age portrait of angsty, misunderstood British youth during the middle years of the 1960's and a celebratory nod to Mod and scooter culture. Adapted to the big screen from the rock and roll opera written by the band The Who, the film follows the Vespa obsessed kids who bicker with the establishment (i.e. parents and bosses), just want to take drugs, dance to soul music, and battle their rivals, the leather clad Rockers (those who ride motorcycles). The film's story is a rather hum drum one but it ultimately succeeds in capturing the style, energy and essence of growing up within a particular subculture.]]>
(P) Petulia
I discovered the little known 1968 film Petulia starring Julie Christie and George C. Scott working at the Denver Public Library many moons ago and it still remains today as rich and beguiling for me as when I first delved into its fragmented plotting and unconventional "love story". Directed by Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night) and shot by Nicolas Roeg (Walkabout, Don't Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth), the film's bouncy narrative from present to past to future and back again, echoes the influence of Alain Resnais' Hiroshima Mon Amour and Muriel, two films whose styles presented reality as a confusing matrix of memory and perception. Petulia's aim was not as philosophically grounded as Resnais' was but its unconventional storytelling fits perfectly with its charming confrontation with the substance and surface of relationships between individuals. Lester's film mixes comedic absurdity and occasional satire with a teasing plot centered around two married people drawn to one another but who know little of themselves or the other for that matter. Throw in a beautiful score by the great film composer John Barry, a sort-of kidnapped boy from Mexico, a cameo from The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, and Roeg's cinematography and you have a real gem of a movie that sadly, hasn't received the attention it deserves.]]>
(O) Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
It's a slow burner of a film about a murder and the various men who venture into the dark of night tasked with locating the deceased's body. The audience knows who did it, we view early on the murderer sitting between two police officers in the back of a car traversing the Turkish countryside. The murder isn't central to the film's plot but rather a catalyst for meditating upon the interior lives of its varied cast of characters. It's a film about what goes unsaid, that which is often communicated in silence and the elapse of time. It's a film about a single night and the complicated pasts of men living through a moment of everyday banality, when personal anguish simmers beneath the unshaven face.]]>
(N) Night of the Hunter
Directed in 1955 by British actor Charles Laughton (his only directed film) and written by James Agee (novelist, journalist, critic, screenwriter) Night of the Hunter is a thrilling classic full of mayhem, murder and chase sequences that are beautifully rendered with a gorgeous, expressionist style. Starring the brilliant, anti-Hollywood actor Robert Mitchum (memorably tattooed with "love" and "hate" on his knuckles) as a traveling (and frequently singing) preacher whose motive for marrying a young, emotionally fragile widow is uncovered by her two children, the film works as an ominous fairy tale of the Grimm Brothers kind with the occasional humor to lighten the movie's dark atmosphere.]]>
(M) Magnolia
Writer/Director P.T. Anderson hasn't made a bad or uninteresting film yet, starting with the hard boiled noir Hard Eight in 1996 and continuing through to this year's musical documentary Junun. He's made two great films in There Will Be Blood and Magnolia with the rest of his work registering as excellent, must see-cinema (Inherent Vice, The Master, Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love). Magnolia, his most emotionally powerful film, skillfully weaves together disparate, but connected characters together in an epic medley of damaged souls seeking forgiveness and comfort. Bolstered by an amazing score from Jon Brion, an amazing cast of veteran actors and Anderson's extraordinary talent for editing, photography and direction, Magnolia holds as my favorite of his films.]]>
(L) Lone Star
More than just your average murder mystery, Lone Star is one of the best films from indie director John Sayles. Years ago I described the film to a friend as being very "American" in that it depicts the ways in which the nation's historical injustices continue to inform our present times along racial lines, contested borders, and unacknowledged interconnectedness.]]>
(K) The Killing
The Killing is one of director Stanley Kubrick's early films (1956) and while it may not receive the critical attention that his later masterpieces secure (Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining), it holds up as a thrilling, tautly-paced, narratively complex (The great pulp writer Jim Thompson wrote the script) robbery film with an amazing ensemble cast led by Sterling Hayden. What makes The Killing such a noir classic is how the plot cleverly snakes about the amazing dialogue and strong performances, leaving audiences on the ends of their seat all the way to the final scene. Also available to stream through Hoopla.]]>
It's less than 30 minutes long and comprised of still photographs, and yet Chris Marker's 1963 La Jetee is an oddly moving work about the power of memory that continues to beguile audiences. Marker himself was an aloof and enigmatic character (his name being a pseudonym) whose work today is largely unknown. The film's plot is of a man sent back in time to ostensibly thwart the causes of a war that has killed millions of people and left survivors to live underground. The British director Terry Gilliam was so fancied by Marker's film that he made 12 Monkeys, a movie with Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt that expanded upon the original's austere plot by fleshing out a more substantive science fiction thriller full of twists and turns.]]>
Shaun the character was spun off of the Academy Award-winning Wallace and Gromit short A Close Shave. The series follows Shaun's life on a small rural farm in Britain and his adventures with fellow sheep, a sheepdog named Bitzer, the hapless farmer, and some misfit pigs. Animated in classic Aardman stop-motion style, Shaun is a family-friendly delight.
Last year saw the feature-length adaptation Shaun the Sheep Movie hit theaters, where it enjoyed great critical success. It has since been deservedly nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar. In the film, Shaun and the gang find themselves having to venture to the big city in order to rescue their missing farmer while staying out of the clutches of a villainous animal containment worker. The film is hilarious for kids and adults (as well as adults without kids); much like Pixar, Aardman is an expert at appealing to multiple generations. Check it out! It's wool-th your time.]]>
(I) Ida
Ida, which won for Best Foreign Language film in 2015, is an affecting work of direction, acting, writing, and cinematography (you won't find a more beautifully lit and framed film). It's a story that seamlessly weaves together the residue of historical tragedy into the contemporary lives of its two protagonists, echoing the truism that societies and individuals are held hostage by their ever present pasts.
It's 1962 and for the 18 year-old Anna (an orphan who grew up in a convent), the spectre of history will reveal itself in the form of an Aunt Wanda, a woman she was told to meet prior to taking her vows. Anna quickly discovers that her birth name was Ida and that she was born into a Jewish family. Wanda is a bitter, hard drinking, judge whose disenchanted life is filled with lost faith (both in religion and Communism), grief and the embrace of the kinds of materialist vices unknown to her pious niece. Plotted along a linear path that takes the form of an unfolding road trip, Ida and Wanda's investigation into the death of their family members forces each woman to recognize internal contradictions about themselves (Wanda's past may also include her complicity in wide spread death and imprisonment) as well as to shine a light on Poland's conflicted history, where religious identity, communism, and the Holocaust intersect. Subtle in its storytelling, tender and humane in the depiction of complex characters, classical in its framing of images, Ida is a flawless film that will leave you mesmerized and wondering as to Ida's future.
(H) Hiroshima Mon Amour and Harold and Maude
If I had to name my two favorite films, they would be Alain Resnais' touching and form-shifting meditation on memory and psychic trauma brought about from WWII, Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) and Harold and Maude, a clever satire released in 1971 that fused together counter-cultural verve with a tradition-breaking love story between an eccentric 80 year-old woman (the brilliant Ruth Gordon) and a troubled, young man seeking to free himself from the spirit-killing, bourgeoisie life he lives (Bud Cort). Both films are centered on two individuals that come together in spite of their age and cultural differences in order to free themselves from the emotional baggage driving them to despair. Harold and Maude initially flopped at the box office upon its release but over time became a beloved, cult classic recognized today for its mixture of hippy idealism and irreverent mocking of authority, war and conformity. There's also the amazing Cat Stevens penned soundtrack that seamlessly slithers throughout the film, adding levity to the movie's dark humor.
Harold and Maude-Criterion's 3 Reasons
(G) Glengarry Glenross (1992)
With a star studded ensemble comprised of some of the best stage and screen actors (Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Keven Spacey, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris) of their eras, the film adaptation of playwright David Mamet's foul-mouthed (and Pulitzer-winning) play about a group of real estate salesman vying for the all-important Glengarry leads takes audiences into a claustrophobic office space where desperate men, fueled by suspicion, disdain and competition trade in verbal insults and hard hitting accusations. It's a testosterone-fueled film comprised mostly of a collection of speeches delivered by alpha men of various stages in their life and careers, all of whom have motivation for stealing the leads and surviving the threat of being fired.]]>
(F) Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Fanny and Alexander was intended to be Ingmar Bergman's final film in his long and accomplished career. It's an intimate, semi-autobiographical portrait of a loving but all together imperfect Swedish family set around the turn of the 19th Century. There are the highs, as in the joyous depiction of a family fully indulging in the holiday season and there are the lows, as when Fanny and Alexander must face the cruel fate of their stepfather's brutish, religious conservatism. At times, it's Bergman at his most convivial, celebratory and wistful and yet at other moments, the austere, melancholic Bergman emerges to plumb the sadness he likely felt as a young, confused boy struggling to understand the disappointments of the adult world.]]>
David Lynch's films are known for their surrealist, unsettling depictions of the intersection where the sinisterly bizarre and the 'aw shucks' banal collide, the television series Twin Peaks being the most representational of his singular vision. One of his most commercially successful films, accessible to a wider audience than much of his work, is the 1980 film The Elephant Man, a dreamy, black and white sketch of John Merrick and his infamous deformities. Starring Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt and Anne Bancroft, The Elephant Man certainly has 'Lynchian' qualities but it also registers on an emotional level, with audiences coming to sympathize with Merrick's proud defiance in the face of prejudice and violence.
Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski's mysteriously elegant film The Double Life of Veronique explores the supernatural tale of two women, played by the same actress, who never literally meet one another. The two look exactly the same with both feeling the presence of the other. Set in both France and Kieslowski's native Poland, Irene Jacob stars as both Veronique and Weronika, two women living parallel lives, both of whom sense that they are both 'here' and 'somewhere' else at the same time. Following Weronika's death while singing on stage in Poland, Veronique seeks answers to her strange feelings while beginning to stitch together an explanation for the odd events that have begun to culminate around her, increasing both her unease and her curiosity. Kieslowski's masterful films from Blind Chance (1981) onward brilliantly meditate on the role of chance and choice in determining one's fate.
The systems of mendacity that we negotiate with both privately and publicly, the lies that we tell ourselves, the illusions and myths that we employ to whitewash and sweep under the rug uncomfortable truths—these are the core ideas and themes that writer Tennessee Williams was grappling with when he wrote the play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a classic domestic drama that provides memorable scenes and captivating performances by lead actors Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor and Burl Ives. Several of Williams' plays were successfully converted into appreciated films including A Streetcar Named Desire, A Fugitive Kind and Suddenly, Last Summer. The film's adaptation was in many ways a heavily sanitized and redacted version so as to secure the blessing of Hollywood and its censors. References to homosexuality in the conservative 1950's was a major no-no. Even so, the film crackles with sharp-tongued dialogue and an amazing ensemble cast that fully embodies the family discord that Williams' plays so fiercely examined.]]>
(B) Bulworth
Bulworth, released in 1998, remains one of the most piercing political parodies of its era. Lead actor and director Warren Beatty puts in a tour de force performance as a suicidal, liberal politician whose disillusionment with the corruption of politics and his passive complicity in the system guides him to hire an unknown assassin to put him out of his misery. After a night of partying with a young woman (Halle Berry) and uttering unfiltered statements that he'd never express as a slick politician, Bulworth changes course and decides that he does indeed want to live. Woopsie, now what? Such an absurd premise connects Bulworth to a cinematic tradition of spoof and farce akin to classics like Network, Wag the Dog, In the Loop, Bob Roberts and Dr. Strangelove.]]>
(A) The Assassin (2015)
The winner of last year's Cannes Film Festival's award for best director, The Assassin is a visual feast of expertly composed images, poetically rendered to evoke the immense beauty of China and its complex political history. The plot's obtuse delivery left me in a state of confusion throughout the viewing, which for some, might understandably be a deal breaker. However, fans of slowly drawn out portraits of morally conflicted, trained killers can ignore the clunker of a story line while still appreciating the magnificent imagery.]]>
Elizabeth Moss gives an electric performance as a woman slowly descending toward a psychic breakdown over the course of several days while vacationing at a friend's lake house. The strained relationship between Moss' Katherine and her friend Virginia leads to questions which may or may not have answers connected to events during the previous summer. One vicious, verbal battle after another between the two antagonistic women and the peripheral men in their lives drives the film's plot forward with Moss' character growing increasingly erratic.
With a throw-back score, overwrought but necessarily so, that sounds as though it was taken straight from a 1980's horror film pulsating throughout the film, Perry juxtaposes the film's bucolic setting with a murky, sinister tone that works to discomfit viewers and their narrative bearings, throwing them off the trail of what kind of movie they're watching. Is it a horror film or a comedy or something in between? These are the sort of questions I hope Perry continues to ask of his audiences.
Here are a few other binge-worthy series that generate discussion:
Orange Is the New Black
Master of None
Mr. Robot
The Wire
Summer blockbuster (and, full disclosure, my favorite film of the year) Mad Max: Fury Road received ten nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (George Miller), Cinematography, Film Editing, Costume Design, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Production Design, and Sound Mixing & Editing.
Another popular Best Picture nominee, The Martian, scored a Best Actor nod for Matt Damon, as well as nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay (Drew Goddard), Production Design, Visual Effects, and Sound Mixing & Editing.
Steven Spielberg's Cold War drama Bridge of Spies was recognized for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Mark Rylance), Best Original Screenplay (Matt Charman, Joel & Ethan Coen), Original Score (Thomas Newman), Production Design, and Sound Mixing.
The riveting thriller Sicario received nominations for Best Original Score (Jóhann Jóhannsson), Best Cinematography, and Best Sound Editing.
Sci-fi thriller Ex Machina received nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Original Screenplay (Alex Garland).
Three of the Best Animated Feature nominees are currently available: When Marnie Was There, Shaun the Sheep Movie, and Inside Out (which was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay).
Don't miss must-see Best Documentary Feature nominees The Look of Silence and Amy.
Kenneth Branaugh's Cinderella received a nomination for Best Costume Design.
The Hunting Ground and Fifty Shades of Grey received Best Original Song nominations.
The cumbersomely-titled The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared was nominated for Best Makeup & Hairstyling.
All-around juggernaut Star Wars: The Force Awakens received five nominations including Best Original Score (John Williams), Best Film Editing, Visual Effects, and Sound Mixing & Editing. The film is not available yet, but John Williams' Oscar-nominated music is.
The nominees that are not yet available, but are expected within the month are Straight Outta Compton, Spectre, Creed, and Room. You can place a hold on these right now.
So start binging today, and be sure to keep checking our catalog for other Oscar nominated films as more of them become available. For many of the Oscar nominated films that are still in theaters, be sure to check out downtown Kalamazoo's Alamo Drafthouse Theater, which is currently playing The Revenant (12 nominations), The Big Short (5 nominations), Carol (6 nominations), and the 2016 Oscar nominated shorts, both Live Action and Animated.]]>
Liked Bridge of Spies, try The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
Liked Brooklyn, try In America
Liked Mad Max: Fury Road, try Bellflower
Liked The Martian, try Apollo 13
Liked The Revenant, try Jauja
Liked Room, try The Wolfpack
Liked Spotlight, try All the President's Men
1. Carol
2. The Assassin
3. Mad Max: Fury Road
4. Clouds of Sils Maria
5. Arabian Nights
6. Timbuktu
7. Spotlight
8. Phoenix
9. Inside Out
10. The Look of Silence
11. Hard to Be a God
12. Anomalisa
13. In Jackson Heights
14. Son of Saul
15. Horse Money
16. Jauja
17. Tangerine
18. Brooklyn
19. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
20. Bridge of Spies
The remaining is different it gives you 15 minutes to meet some people, it actually begins with a wedding and then boom the rapture happens. People just drop over dead, but in this movie the physical body is still here and they have these cloudy glazed over eyes, which gives it a creepy feel. Their souls have been released. The rest of the movie deals with the demons that come to torture those who are remaining. This is deemed a rapture/horror type movie and it lives up to its name. The message for those who remain is that you have to actually believe not just make a show of being religious. They have people left who went to church regularly and they even have a pastor, who was just going through the paces, not actually believing. For the next hour the demons attack the people that remain. Then some people start believing and they still die but they get to go to heaven. Check it out at KPL.]]>
The Philadelphia Story
The Big Sleep
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Maltese Falcon
Lady Eve
Black Narcissus
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Rome Open City
I never fully understood the significance of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. series in the 60s. I didn't associate the show with the Cold War or realize what a compromise it was for an American to partner with a Russian. I get it now. The movie is not fairing so well. Its getting its share of rotten tomatoes but the Man from U.N.C.L.E. is still fun. The music makes it for me. KPL has lots of NinaSimone CDs. So watch the movie and if you enjoy the music you'll know where to find more of it.]]>
Available now:
Mad Max: Fury Road – George Miller's masterpiece of dystopian demolition is the most exciting, progressive, and visually-stunning blockbuster in recent memory. I'm as surprised as you are.
It Follows – This slow-burn, instant-classic horror film somehow manages to make you both claustrophobic and agoraphobic at the same time.
Inside Out – The folks at Pixar prove their genius once again with this profound exploration of the emotions of a young girl struggling with the challenges of growing up.
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – This eye-opening documentary reveals the dark, tragic truth behind L. Ron Hubbard's institutional legacy of tax evasion, blackmail, manipulation, and physical & emotional cruelty.
The Hunting Ground – Anyone who has a child in college needs to see this disturbing documentary about the legacy of sexual abuse that takes place on campuses across the country—and the shocking lengths to which universities will go to cover it all up.
What We Do in the Shadows – This hilarious vampire mockumentary from one-half of Flight of the Conchords rivals any of Christopher Guest's improvised comedies.
Ex-Machina – This dark sci-fi film about artificial intelligence features stellar performances from Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander.
Mr. Holmes – Ian McKellen shines as a 93-year-old Sherlock Holmes who's struggling to solve one final case despite dealing with increased memory loss.
Coming soon:
The Look of Silence – This must-see companion piece to the 2013 documentary The Act of Killing explores the Indonesian genocide from the point of view of the victims who still live under the regime that murdered their friends and family.
The Martian – Matt Damon gets left behind on Mars and we're all the better for it.
Sicario – Emily Blunt is terrific as a tactical expert who gets trapped in the dark, seedy political underbelly of the war on drugs. The film contains some of the most breath-taking scenes of suspense put on screen this year.
99 Homes – Michael Shannon chews the scenery as a real estate operative who evicts people from their homes in this thrilling exploration of the darkest side of the housing crisis.
Other films I enjoyed this year that aren't available yet include Steve Jobs, Brooklyn, Spotlight, Bridge of Spies, Creed, Room, and a little can-do picture called Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Check them out in theaters or look for them on DVD in the next few months. I'll be sure to give you a final top ten list right around Oscar time, as that's when I've usually had a chance to see many more contenders.]]>
Here are the 2015 selections:
Being There (1979)
Black and Tan (1929)
Dracula (Spanish language version) (1931)
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer (1975)
Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (1894)
A Fool There Was (1915)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
Humoresque (1920)
Imitation of Life (1959)
The Inner World of Aphasia (1968)
John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The Mark of Zorro (1920)
The Old Mill (1937)
Our Daily Bread (1934)
Portrait of Jason (1967)
Seconds (1966)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Sink or Swim (1990)
The Story of Menstruation (1946)
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968)
Top Gun (1986)
Winchester '73 (1950)
The Librarian of Congress is already accepting nominations from the public for 2016. The nomination form is here.]]>
The newly restored Code Unknown tackles themes and subjects that are as current and relevant today as when the film was made in 2000. As he points out in his introduction to the film, the title works as both a literal and symbolic reference point. Most importantly to the overall tone of the film's portrait of a Europe in transition, it signifies the failure of language to communicate between groups and individuals. As today's European nations struggle with issues like mass migration, cultural assimilation, terrorism and economic woes, Code Unknown feels altogether timely and deserving of a re-engagement with its discerning revelations.]]>
The Wolfpack
Citizen Four
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
Best of Enemies
Seymour: An Introduction
I Am Chris Farley
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
It Follows – Hailed as an instant classic upon its release earlier this year, this unnerving, Detroit-based film centers around a curse that passes from person to person in which a terrifying, body-jumping entity pursues the victim ceaselessly—and you don't want to be caught by it!
The Babadook – Imagine Tim Burton wanted to use his storybook style to make you soil your pants. That's what the titular creature in this Australian thriller feels like. Top it off with an unhealthy dose of the parental stress that comes with being a single parent raising a child with severe emotional problems, and you've got an intense, teeth-grinding thriller!
Let the Right One In – When an emotionally-abused boy befriends the strange new girl next door, who happens to be a vampire subsisting off blood reaped in a most unseemly manner, the two socially isolated creatures form a relationship that leads to both brutal vengeance and unnerving consequences.
28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later – Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle kicked the (then un-played out) zombie genre into high gear by making his rage virus-infected undead fast! Both the original and the sequel provided plenty of both scares and social commentary.
The Cabin in the Woods – This horror-comedy is at once an homage to popular genre tropes throughout the ages, and a gory, twisty, laugh-out-loud thriller in and of itself. From producer, co-writer, and all-around geek guru Joss Whedon, this is one scary Cabin you want to visit!
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil – A couple of bumbling rednecks attempt to have relaxing vacation at a cabin out in the woods, but are mistaken for murderous lunatics by a gang of college kids who keep dying off through gory-yet-hilarious accidents.
Ex Machina is one of this year's best films. Led by strong performances by actors Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander, director/writer Alex Garland's debut doesn't attempt to reinvent the clever, ideas-filled sci-fi movie that many have described it as being but it definitely doesn't shy away from immersing the viewer in an original and intense examination of philosophical, scientific and moral investigations that feel both pertinent and cinematically fresh. Surely, it is a work that explores what so many science fiction films before it have tried to grapple with, the question of what makes us human in an age where artificial intelligence not only exists in the conceptual realm but in the everyday as well. What drives Ex Machina to stand out as a great film are the subtleties that the actors and the director bring to the weighty subject matter that should result in some abundant, late night conversations about the film's themes, ambiguities and symbolism.]]>
Not allowed to leave the apartment nor to attend school, the young boys come to call themselves 'The Wolfpack' and proceed to develop identities linked to the television shows and movies they watch. This method of play sees the boys re-enacting scenes from their favorite films like Reservoir Dogs and No Country for Old Men. As the film proceeds, the boys begin to resist the harsh control of their powerful father, escaping the apartment and discovering a rich and complicated world. While it came off as ultimately unsatisfying for me, it's an intriguing, if not problematic enterprise that also raises questions about the filmmaker's approach to creating a reality show-like verisimilitude.]]>
Liked Jauja, try Meek's Cutoff
Liked Harry and Tonto, try Next Stop, Greenwich Village
Liked The Imitation Game, try A Beautiful Mind
Liked Frances Ha, try Damsels in Distress
Liked The Fault in Our Stars, try Me, Earl and the Dying Girl
Liked Ida, try Au Hasard Balthazar
Liked Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, try Taste of Cherry
Liked The Lives of Others, try Goodbye Lenin
Liked The Third Man, try The Complete Mr. Arkadin a.k.a. Confidential Report
As they navigate the challenge of giving speeches, sharing a talent, participating in debates, and other activities to win votes; there are plenty of laughs, a lot of tears and occasionally some shouting.
I found the interactions with the parents to be the most fascinating parts as they often gave advice that I was not expecting. Also, when their children were ridiculed or treated poorly, they usually coached them on being tougher and shrugging it off, rather than going to the school to ask them to not allow such behavior.
Who will win? Cheng Cheng with charisma to spare, strict Luo Lei with powerful parents, or Xu Xiaofei the courageous underdog candidate.
I watched this with my 10 year old daughter and 12 year old son and they really enjoyed it and it led to some good conversation about election tactics and cultural differences.]]>
A lot of attention was paid this year to HBO's The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst—in no small part due to the arrest of the titular subject one day before the final episode was broadcast. If you're unfamiliar with Durst, he is the wealthy and eccentric black sheep of a New York real estate dynasty who has been suspected of three murders: his wife who has been missing since 1982; a longtime friend who may or may not have assisted him in the disappearance of his wife; and an elderly neighbor whom Durst dismembered while on the lam in Galveston, Texas, where he was hiding out dressed as a woman. Durst himself approached director Andrew Jarecki about doing an interview; Jarecki had previously made a fictionalized version of Durst's story in the film All Good Things, which starred Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst. Durst believed Jarecki could be the right guy to help clear his name. Needless to say, Durst's lawyers weren't thrilled with the idea of putting a camera on him—and for good reason.
The six-part series is a well-researched and finely-crafted true-crime documentary, but what makes The Jinx so unique is Durst himself: the man is a blinking, jittery study in sociopathy. In interviews, his face is a map of deceit and misdirection; and when confronted with damning evidence in the final episode, Durst exhibits a strange, uncontrollable burping—a physiological manifestation of guilt not dissimilar from the violent retching seen by the mass murderer at the center of The Act of Killing. The real coup de grâce against Durst comes, however, a few moments later, when he visits a restroom unaware that his microphone is still hot. I'll leave you to discover his final solitary confessional for yourself, but I can assure you, there's never been a moment like it on film before.


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text:
PRICE-Charles Richard Miller died of causes incidental to old age on Aug. 27, 2009 in Price at 94 years of age.
He was born in Shoshone, Idaho the first child of Jay Benjamin and Martha Alta Brown Miller.
Charles was a member of Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church.
He is survived by his wife, Juanita Knierim Miller, Price; brother, Robert L. (Clara D.) Miller, Price; and numerous nephews and nieces.
Preceded in death by his parents, sister, Frances E. Wall; and brother, Frank E. Miller.
In accordance with Charles' wishes there will be no services. Cremation arrangements entrusted to Mitchell Funeral Home of Price. His remains will be interred in Pilot Butte Cemetery in Bend, Ore. under the direction of Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home of Bend, Ore.


text:
Un appel de proposition pour le projet de Broccolini sur la partie sud du 1300 R-L pour l'administration de la composante Hotel du projet (100-150 chambres)
Rendus de la tour présent dans le document
Buyer sought for "Habs Hotel"
June 13, 2012. 6:06 pm • Section: Real Deal
MONTREAL, QUE. : SEPTEMBER 1 , 2011--The parking lot facing the Bell Centre, adjacent to Les Canadiens avenue between Drummond and Mountain Sts. is to become a mixed hotel and residential project (Marie-France Coallier) / THE GAZETTE)
Maybe they'll call it the Habs Hotel?
As you can see in this new brochure, commercial real estate firm CBRE Ltd. is looking for a major banner to buy the 100 to 150 room hotel section of a new downtown hotel/condo project near Montreal's Bell Centre.
The project, which would have 4,500 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant, lounge, swimming pool and fitness centre, is being built by Broccolini Construction Inc. with backing from Carttera Private Equities Inc.
The number of condo units isn't specified for the project, to be completed by winter 2015.
The project, which has the zoning to go up to 50 storeys, has frontage on Avenue des Canadiens, Drummond and Mountain Sts.
The brochure ends speculation over the use of the 32,000 square foot, L-shaped site purchased by Broccolini and Carttera in January for $14.1 million.
The Broccolini project is one of several new residential developments announced for sites near the Bell Centre, including the 38-storey, 379-unit Tour Icône condo project on Mountain St, north of René Lévesque Blvd., and the 35-storey, twin tower Roccabella project with 516 condos, on Mountain St. just south of René Lévesque.


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text:
Taking a numerical look back on the year that was, we've picked out some interesting figures from across the globe over the last 12 months.
Taking a numerical look back on the year that was, we've picked out some interesting figures from across the globe in 2013.
121 – The number of nations that played international rugby this year. By comparison there were 107 in 2012.
14 – The All Blacks' perfect record this year will not be matched for some time. No team in the professional era has ever gone a whole year winning every single one of their matches until now.
3 – In one of the tighter Six Nations for some time, four teams finished with three losses and within one league point of each other at the bottom behind Wales and England. France finished 6th, due a points difference nine worse than Ireland.
4 – Wales' giant winger Alex Cuthbert, not George North, finished with more tries than anyone else in the Six Nations. Four players – Wesley Fofana, Louis Picamoles, Stuart Hogg and Tim Visser – finished behind him with two each.
75 – One category that the All Blacks didn't control. New Zealand's total of 51 tries was incredibly impressive, and crucially against Tier One nations, but Japan finished with the most five-pointers in 2013 – albeit against much weaker opposition. Winger Kenki Fukuoka lead the way individually for the Brave Blossoms with seven of the 75.
27-38 – The scoreline from that epic clash at Ellis Park. Nine tries, 65 points and a match between the Springboks and the All Blacks with silverware on the line that was acted out at an exhausting pace. One of the greatest games of recent times.
41-16 – Series glory for the British and Irish Lions was sealed by that scoreline at Allianz Stadium in Sydney. Australia had clawed back at the Lions 19-3 lead, but when the nerves set in the Lions roared and scored three tries to clinch a first series win since 1997.
The 41-point figure was the most scored by the Lions ever in a Test match. The winning margin of +25 was the Lions' second highest ever, only beaten by when the Lions defeated Australia 31-0 in Brisbane in 1966.
11 – The most tries scored by an individual in Test rugby last year, by New Zealand's Ben Smith. Smith broke the record for tries scored in a Rugby Championship/Tri-Nations with eight across the tournament. He also scored six in Super Rugby, underlining his fantastic year.
173 – Wales and British and Irish Lions star Leigh Halfpenny scored more points than any other player in international rugby this year, beating out Romania's Florin Valicu and Japan's Ayumu Goromaru. Halfpenny scored one try and kicked 44 penalties and 18 conversions.
54 – The number of tries scored by champions the Chiefs in Super Rugby this year. Dave Rennie's team romped to back-to-back titles with a series of impressive displays, not sacrificing their open attacking game in order to secure silverware. They also shared the tries around, with Bundee Aki and Tim Nanai-Williams top scoring with six each.
161 – Those Chiefs again. No one made more clean breaks than the Waikato side, with the Waratahs' next closest with 147.
8237 – One category that didn't go the Chiefs' way was metres made, as the Crusaders pipped their national rivals to the accolade. Interestingly, four of the top five sides in this category came from New Zealand – highlighting their supremacy when it comes to running rugby. By contrast the Kings only made 4821 metres.
400 – They might have finished right down near the bottom of the log, but the Highlanders sure knew how to entertain. No team beat more defenders as Ben Smith's side set the thrill factor to ten. The Kings by contrast struggled in 2013 and finished with 222.
88.7% – When it came to defence though, no team was better at making their tackles than the Kings. Their tackling percentage was in fact better than the Chiefs, despite both teams being at polar opposites on the log.
10 – On his return from tearing up the Sevens circuit, Frank Halai settled in handsomely at the Blues by running in ten tries as part of a deadly back three including Charles Piutau and George Moala – the most in Super Rugby this year. Watch out for him in 2013.
248 – A shoulder-aching number of tackles from the Cheetahs' Pieter Labuschagne, the most in the tournament. Beating out Matt Todd by seven, the South African's work-rate deserves applause.
54 – Quade Cooper's year started slowly but ended on a high. His work in Super Rugby though didn't go unnoticed as Cooper made more offloads than any other player. The next best effort was from Israel Folau, who made 36, underlining Cooper's productivity.
1427 – A second moment of recognition for Ben Smith, who made more metres in Super Rugby than any other player. If Smith didn't find his way into your XV of the year then we're not sure what you were thinking.
60 – His mate Halai might have scored the most tries, but Charles Piutau beat the most defenders in Super Rugby and wrapped up his year with a debut for the All Blacks.
13 – New Zealand's perfect year 2013 has been well documented, but 12 other teams also finished with an 100% record – Cambodia, the Cook Islands, Cyprus, Ecuador, Lebanon, Moldova, Namibia, Qatar, Rwanda, Singapore, Turkey and USA South. Safe to say if any of those teams had actually faced the All Blacks, those records wouldn't have lasted.
217 – The worst points difference for the year from the UAE, who in their four matches conceded an average of 54.25 points.
3 – Three teams failed to score a single point in all of their international matches this year – Benin, Brunei and Burundi.
438 – The most points conceded in Test rugby this year, by Argentina. 2013 was a horrible 12 months for the Pumas, who lost their coach and were miles off the pace at times in The Rugby Championship.
2 – Spain drew more matches than any other team this year – part of a dismal record that included only one win from eight matches.
3 – Two teams tied for the most drop goals scored in 2013. Good work if you correctly guessed Bosnia and Herzegovina along with Madagascar!
by Ben Coles


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Building leadership skills and enhancing the capacity of individuals and organizations to address local and global challenges constitute a vital part of IIE's mission. The long-term and short-term training programs arranged by the Institute connect students and professionals with peers and colleagues around the world and prepare them for leadership on a host of urgent topics and issues – from climate change and renewable energy to terrorism and interfaith dialogue – essential to advancing peace and prosperity for all.
In partnership with the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and the JB Fernandes Memorial Trust I, IIE brings together NGO, CBO and civil society professionals working within Trinidad and Tobago for a biannual conference and occasional seminars. These events allow professionals to meet, network and share best practices.
The Institute is committed to increasing opportunities for women worldwide to pursue higher education and serve as effective and influential leaders in the public and private sectors. This is critical to achieving wide-scale gender equity around the world. IIE works to engage women from under-served groups and those who may not otherwise have access to leadership training and professional development opportunities, resulting in significant social and economic returns.
For the past decade, the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) has sought to increase access and equity in higher education, while building the leadership abilities of a new generation of transformational leaders.
Through the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and administered by IIE, a growing number of current and emerging foreign leaders participated in carefully designed short-term visits to the United States. Reflecting the international visitors' professional interests and supporting the foreign policy goals of the United States, the wide ranging programs have included visits by cultural preservationists to U.S. national monuments and visits by civic leaders to volunteer organizations.
Professional study tours help teachers bring an awareness of world cultures and global and environmental issues to their classrooms and students. Teachers travel overseas to learn about other cultures, interact with peers from host countries and build links with host institutions in order to deepen their students' knowledge of the world.
Global E3 allows engineering students at member universities to enjoy a fulfilling study abroad experience.
Supporting outstanding students in higher education in fourteen countries around the world.
Providing selected students scholarships towards the completion of their undergraduate degrees in Angola.
ExxonMobil Middle East and North Africa Scholars Program helps to develop highly skilled and culturally adept individuals.
Funding U.S. Study for International Students
Study Abroad Programs for U.S. Students
Intensive English Programs in the U.S.
Study Abroad Funding for U.S. Students
Mobility International USA
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Institute of International Education
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By Jane Waterstradt, special to USTA.com
It's been a little more than a year now since the first group of Somalia refugees living in Salt Lake City participated in a USTA Free Play Day Tennis event, and the success and popularity of events since then will likely lead to more in the future.
Dan Alcala of the Because He First Loved Us Ministry got the ball rolling on the events, treaming with USTA board member Andrew Valdez, a Saly Lake City judge in the juvenile court system, in getting a grant to host the Play Days for underprivileged groups.
"A lot of the kids could play soccer or basketball but it takes a community," said Alcala. "But with tennis, you can grab a partner or find a wall and start hitting tennis balls."
Said Valdez: "These kids are from refugee camps and haven't gotten to experience a lot of different things. So we try and get them to expand their horizons and have been able to take them to some tennis clubs, to local parks to teach them this sport, which is a lifetime sport.
"Tennis is a sport of opportunities. I grew up where my whole world was nine blocks. I never saw a park until someone put a racket in my hand. And I see the same joy and hope and wonderment that I was experiencing as a youth in the faces of these kids. These kids are not just experiencing tennis, but also freedom."
Putting on the events for the displaced Somalians has required a total team effort. In addition to Alcala and Valdez, team members include event organizer Jane Waterstradt, the Utah Tennis Association Tennis Service Representative, and Rod Horton, the director of Get Tough Tennis.
"We really just try and have fun with them," said Horton, the Operations Manager at the Salt Lake Tennis & Swim Club where last month's clinics were held. "That's the biggest thing. And to get them interested in tennis. They are a little bit nervous at first, but they're all great kids."
Horton added: "It's like Judge Valdez says: Tennis saved his life. So it's fun to see where tennis might take some of these kids. You never know. Some may never play tennis again, or maybe some will come back and have a good time. They have fun and are experiencing something for the first time. This is about a lot of people coming together and having some fun."
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