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CANNES 2014 - PREVIEW
Teens (!) and veterans jostle the twittersphere prior to the festival selection announcement as Nick Roddick observes, and the films chosen seem to cater to both – as well as making place for two Australian films, David Michôd’s The Rover and Rolf de Heer’s Charlie’s Country.
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ALL IS LOST – FEATURED PREVIEW
Deep into a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean, a man (Robert Redford) wakes to find his 39-foot yacht taking on water after a collision with a shipping container left floating on the high seas. With his navigation equipment and radio disabled, the man sails unknowingly into the path of a violent storm. Despite his success in patching the breached hull, his mariner’s intuition, and a strength that belies his age, the man barely survives the tempest. Using only a sextant and nautical maps to chart his progress, he is forced to rely on ocean currents to carry him into a shipping lane in hopes of hailing a passing vessel. But with the sun unrelenting, sharks circling and his meagre supplies dwindling, the ever-resourceful sailor soon finds himself staring his mortality in the face and his chances of surviving so very low.
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BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL 2014 - WRAP
The weather was a pleasant surprise, not so the official selection, says Nick Roddick, but there were a couple of gems – although not suitably recognised by the jury.
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BIG PICTURE FILM FESTIVAL 2014 – PREVIEW
Fittingly enough, one of the films in the Big Picture festival program is The Missing Picture, Rithy Panh’s unique film in which little clay figurines represent Cambodians slaughtered by the Khmer Rouge in the 70s, including his own family, of whom no pictures or images remain. (The Missing Picture opens commercially on March 20.) Andrew L. Urban reports
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FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS 2014 - NOMINEES
The only category for which it is eligible in which The Great Gatsby is not nominated is Best Actress, in this year’s Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, but it has two nominations in the best Supporting Actress category – and Hugo Weaving is nominated as Best Supporting Actor for both Mystery Road and The Turning.
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FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS 2014 - WINNERS
Mystery Road and The Rocket shared the Best Film Awards at the 2014 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards this week. The Great Gatsby won the most awards (4 categories) followed by The Rocket and Mystery Road with 3 and The Turning with 2.
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GODFREY REGGIO’S VISITORS LETS US WATCH THE WATCHERS
The Toronto Symphony performed Philip Glass’ score for Visitors live, at the film’s world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, in September 2013. But the film had its commercial premiere at the end of February, 2014 in Ottowa – and Joyce MacPhee* was there for the first night.
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HANNAY, DAVID: OBITUARY (1939 - 2014)
Andrew L. Urban traces David Hannay’s professional and private life, and below, David’s brother Charles Hannah pays tribute to him – and explains the seeming anomaly of the spelling of their surname.
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OSCARS 2014 - WINNERS
Oscar spread his favours widely, blessing many of the films and filmmakers that stood in line for its halo, from newcomer Lupita Nyong’o to experienced multi-award winner Cate Blanchett, from a unique love story like Her to the sombre truth of history like 12 Years A Slaves.
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RESNAIS, ALAIN : 1922 – 2014
Nick Roddick reflects on one of cinema’s late, great contemporary masters.
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AND THE OSCAR GOES TO … OVER THE YEARS
Just days before this year’s Oscars telecast (Monday, March 3, 2014 AEDT), TCM is screening a new documentary, And The Oscar Goes To ... narrated by Anjelica Huston, taking viewers behind the scenes, behind the race to the awards – and behind some of the great (mostly) American films of the past 70 or so years.
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12 YEARS A SLAVE – UTTER DARKNESS
Steve McQueen’s film is not only brilliant cinema, it is an extraordinary, sober presentation of “American Slavery” as it really was, interwoven with the universal themes of identity, betrayal, brutality and the need to keep faith in order to survive confrontations with the evils in man, writes historical consultant to the production Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
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FILM FESTIVALS - THE BIG SIX
As Sundance, the first of the world’s six major film festivals begins this week, Andrew L. Urban takes a snapshot of these vital platforms for new and somehow special cinema each year
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I GIVE IT A YEAR: DVD
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I'M SO EXCITED: DVD
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IDENTITY THIEF, THE: DVD
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JAMES BOND - THE LEGACY
We all know them, and have seen most if not all of them. But what makes the James Bond films so popular and is there any life left in the franchise? Lets take a look at what has made it such a success and what's in store for our favourite British spy (who loved me).
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RISE OF THE SUPERHERO
Today, superhero movie franchises such as Spiderman, X Men, Avengers, Iron Man, and Batman are highly popular. According to a study carried out by management consultant, Mark Lee, the average opening weekend attendance for superhero movies in 2012 was well above the 14 million mark. In comparison, the average attendance for the aforementioned period in 2004 was less than 4 million. The number of superhero movies produced per year has also been increasing, from an average of one in 2000 to four in 2014, writes Paul French.
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SPIDERMAN - THE EVER EXPANDING FRANCHISE
It will come as no surprise to movie-goers that the superhero film has been given a new lease of life in the last fifteen years. Although the theme has gone through various ups and downs, one of the most famous and widely loved is the Spider-Man franchise, the fifth of which is due to be released this year (2014).
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UPCOMING MOVIES 2014 - PLENTY OF CHOICE
This year will be a fantastic year for sequels, remakes and some of the best writers and directors in cinema. These are just five of a litany of great films to emerge this year and details of their Australian releases.
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URBAN CINEFILE - NEWSLETTERS 2011
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URBAN CINEFILE - NEWSLETTERS 2012
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URBAN CINEFILE - NEWSLETTERS 2014
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URBAN CINEFILE - NEWSLETTERS 2013
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