Secret Lives

Finally The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) opens in area theaters today, Feb. 23. The film, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film is directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. http://www.sonyclassics.com/thelivesofothers/
It stars Ulrich Mühe as Stasi agent Gerd Wiesler, Ulrich Tukur as his chief officer Anton Grubitz, Sebastian Koch as the playwright Georg Dreymann, and Martina Gedeck as his lover Christa-Maria Sieland.
In 1984 eastern Germany, Stasi agent Gerd Wiesler, is assigned to spy on playwright Georg Dreymann, who is suspected of western leanings. The agent finds out the real reason for the spying is that the spy agency’s minister is attracted to Dreymann’s girlfriend and wants to get the playwright out of the way.
While Pan’s Labyrinth has garnered most of the buzz in that category. The Lives of Others made a case for it’s popularity a couple weekends ago during its US premier. The film opened with more than $200,000 in 13 theaters for an average of $16,430.
The film is currently an exclusive locally at Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth March, The Magnolia, Dallas, and the Angelika Plano. http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/entertainment/movies/16758431.htm


Maestro Update

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screened the nominated shortfilms to a packed house at Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Hungarian animator Geza M. Toth's Maestro is up for animated short. Checkout Kim Adelman's summary of the evening on indiewire.com
http://www.indiewire.com/movies/2007/02/shorts_everyone.html

Viva la Cinemex

Mexico City International Contemporary Film Festival (FICCO) is officially under way.
The festival’s goal is promoting the best world cinematography in the city and offering an “alterantive window” to attendees. The focus is on young directors in feature and documentary categories. http://www.ficco.com.mx/indexi.php
Competition includes the world premiere of Mexican director Ivan Avila’s La sangre iluminada and Mexican director Ruben Imaz’ Familia Tortuga (Turtle Family).
Films by Spike Lee, David Lynch and Bruno Dumont will screen, but not in competition.
The festival runs through March 4.

FILM NEWS

Indonesian Film Banned
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1854656.htm

Into Africa

So what’s it like filming in Africa?
Across the continent, film groups are trying to pull film producers in to learn more about options and opportunities.
James Hall, executive director of the Golden Lion Film Festival in Mbabane, Swaziland, has spent time cultivating the consular corps in his country. The work has netted him invitations to visit France and Cannes to market his festival and country.
The Golden Lion web site makes this invitation: “Filmmakers are invited to explore Swaziland, where African culture and tradition thrive in a beautiful mountainous setting. Mlilwane Game Reserve is only 15 minutes from two of the festival’s principal venues. Our South Africa venue, Casterbridge Cinema, is located in White River, the gateway to Kruger National Park, Africa’s oldest game reserve.” http://www.goldlionfest.co.sz/festival.html
And in Uganda director Kevin Macdonald told how his visit in 2002 for research encouraged him to return when it came time for filming. Macdonald’s The Last King of Scotland has been earning raves and actor Forest Whitaker appears a shoe-in for Best Actor at this weekend’s Academy Awards. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455590/
"The locals had the desire for it to be good because it was their story, a lot of them had lived through the Amin period or knew Amin,” Macdonald said in an article posted on Filmmaker South Africa.
http://www.filmmaker.co.za/readarticle.php?article_id=197

In South Africa recently, screenwriters were cultivated with a symposium for writers attended by two-time Academy Award-winner Emma Thompson and British actor Stephen Fry at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg. The programs were held prior to the release of a film on local poet Ingrid Jonker. http://www.capefilmcommission.co.za/

New This Week

German director Mathias Dinter’s Night of the Living Dorks arrives this week on DVD. It looks like your typical American teenage movie – only in German. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378417/
The promo I saw on Netflix said, “Philip, Konrad and Weener – the three biggest dorks at Frederich Nietzsche High School – get a second stab at coolness when they’re killed in an auto accident and reanimated as flesh-eating zombies.”
How could that not be good?
At the opposite end of the spectrum a biopic called Puccini is this week’s Italian offering. The 1952 film by director Carmine Gallone presents selections from Madama Butterfly, La Boheme and Turandot. The film focuses on Puccini’s romantic life via a singer, a beauty and a servent.
And finally, this week’s anime feature: Chevalier D’Eon is set in France, but is a Japanese animated film. D’Eon is based on a true story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevalier_d about a brother who begins investigating the death of his sister, along with many other women who are turning up dead in Paris's Seine River, D’Eon becomes inhabited by his sister’s spirit and the diplomat, writer, spy and Freemason adds another moniker, as he spends the second half of his life living as a woman. Now that’s a story.

Iwo Jima Anniversary

Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima is causing a stir on both sides of the Pacific. The film is up for a fistful of Academy Awards and is pulling audiences into the theater across Japan. Already it’s landed a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film Award. Some 7,000 American soldiers died at Iwo Jima and more than 20,000 Japanese soldiers died there. The battle ranged for more than a month from Feb. 19 to March 26, 1945.
Eastwood’s companion film Flags of Our Fathers, which tells about the battle from an American standpoint, is out now on DVD.
The film has been doing well in Japan, and according to Time Magazine: “the Oscar-nominated Letters has grossed just under $40 million, earning it the top spot during the Japanese cinema industry’s all-important New Year holiday season.”
Now’s a good time to watch both.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1581828,00.html
http://iwojimathemovie.warnerbros.com/lettersofiwojima/framework/framework.html

Let’s Talk About Babel

Babel makes its DVD arrival tomorrow, just in time for pre-Academy Awards viewing. http://www.paramountvantage.com/babel/
The movie features an international cast, locations and languages – and it’s a candidate for Best Picture.
Since I’m behind on my film watching, I’ve decided to wait to watch Babel on DVD. So many films left to see.
Stars Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt lead the Hollywood cast, but not the award list. The Academy instead smiled upon two actresses virtually unknown in the United States: Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi. http://imdb.com/title/tt0449467/
Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu also was nominated for Best Director. Altogether there are seven Academy Award nominations. Inarritu won a Best Actor Award at Cannes Film Festival. The film won Best Picture Award at the Golden Globes and Kikuchi won Best Actress Award from the Chicago Film Critics Association.

Who was that silver-masked man?

The Cartoon Network has announced plans for an animated series based on the Mexican icon Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata (the silver masked man). http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0763803/
Mexican wrestler El Hijo del Santo (son of Santo) is working with Carlo Olivares Paganoni to develop the untitled adventure/fantasy series set in Mexico City.
According to Cartoon Network, El Hijo del Santo is heir to the legendary silver mask, once held by his father, the flesh and blood icon Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata. A highly idolized figure in Mexico, Santo is a cultural icon who has not only conquered the world of lucha libre (Mexican wrestling), but has also been immortalized in film and television. Santo passed his legacy onto his son 25 years ago, who has since successfully defended his father’s title and propelled the distinguished reputation to a world-wide level. Today, El Hijo del Santo is recognized as the silver masked wrestler, Santo.
Santo uses his new powers to defend justice inside and outside the wrestling ring and faces a slew of enemies ranging from everyday criminals to genetically enhanced mystical villains. Created and executive-produced by Paganoni with Alex Soto ( Ben 10) as supervising producer, 13 half-hour episodes are being produced at Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, Calif. Cartoon Network (CartoonNetwork.com), currently seen in more than 91 million U.S. homes and 160 countries around the world.