'Biutiful' at the Academy Awards

Only 'Biutiful' made it through from our Sister Cities countries to the final five nominees at this year's Academy Awards. However it's really a Spanish film directed by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Iinarritu. That's not to say it isn't an amazing film and Javier Bardem probably deserves the Academy Award for his performance.

Generally the purpose of this blog is to talk about the culture of our eight Sister City countries as portrayed in film. A similar situation happened a few years ago with Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labrinth."

If you can find "Biutiful" in a theater, go see it. It is a dark, often depressing film. but the performances are amazing and there are many interesting production elements. I love the scene in which Bardem crosses a bridge in the city and the camera pans to a foreboding flock of birds sweeping and diving the city and its inhabitants below. Are they birds or spirits?

Watch the trailer.

The Baader Meinhof Complex

I finally got around to watching this film.
I had no idea this antiestablishment terrorist organization existed. It had some thrilling moments, but at points felt like "and then this happened and then this happened ..." I was looking for something more along the lines of "The Lives of Others," which was amazing.
I don't have any political or historical reference for this film, so it felt mostly like a documentary.
It's still worth a watch. But I wouldn't put it at the top of your Netflix list.  

Tivo & Netflix partnership makes foreign film watching easy, even in Fort Worth

So I found a solution to finding foreign films no matter where you live. Through a partnership, you can instantly watch many Netlflix films on your Tivo. (Blockbuster just announced a similar arrangement, but I don't know the details.)

I also found out through Tivo that you can watch You Tube films on your TV. The quality is not so hot, but you can get access to a lot of films that just aren't available.

During the planning for the Lone Star International Film Festival two years ago, I was trying to get "Kala: Dead Time" as the representative from Indonesia. We never came to terms, and I could never get a screener or view the film. But this week I found in on You Tube and finally go to watch it. Cool film and would have been great to premiere in Fort Worth.

On Netflix I recently watched "Without the King," "The Counterfeiters" and "Rape of Europa".

"Without the King" gives an interesting perspective on the lives of folks in Swaziland. I don't have any idea how accurate it is.

"Rape of Europa" is a great documentary about theft of artwork across Europe during World War II. It's amazing the lengths people went to to save art from theft and destruction. Check it out.

Asian Film Awards

The Japanese film "Tokyo Sonata" won the top award and best screenwriting at the third annual Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong. 

Masahiro Motoki" Masahiro Motoki won the best actor award for his work in "Departures," which won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film last month. Director Hirokazu Koreeda Hirokazu Kore-eda was honored for his work on "Still Walking." 

Other Best Picture nominees were Chen Kaige's Peking Opera film "Forever Enthralled," Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo on the Cliff," Director John Woo's Chinese historical epic "Red Cliff" and Indonesia's "The Rainbow Troops."  

"Rainbow Troops" (Laskar pelangi) premiered at Berlinale in the Panorama division. "Departures" won nine Awards of the Japanese Academy in addition to the Oscar. The animated "Ponyo on the Cliff (Gake no ue no Ponyo)" featured an all-star cast with the voices of Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin and Betty White.  "Forever Enthralled (Mei Lanfang)" lead actor Kaige Chen  was nominated for a Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Tivo/Netflix Revelations

So my foreign film watching has escalated ever since I found out you could instantly watch Netflix movies on Tivo.

You can start watching and pause and go on with your life and eventually get around to watching a full movie. Nice to know when you've got kids.

Here are a couple films I found.

Without the King (Swaziland) -- There aren't a lot of Swazi films out there.

My Brother is an Only Child (Italy) -- Still proud to say I brought this to Fort Worth for the film festival two years ago.

Paprika (Japan) -- Better on the big screen.

Kontroll (Hungary) -- Haven't been able to watch yet.

Academy Awards: Foreign Language Nominees Announced

Two of our Sister City countries received nominations for their film entries in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Germany's "Der Baader Meinhof Komplex" (The Baader Meinhof Complex) and Japan's "Okuribito

おくりびと" (Departures) received nominations. Other nominees were France's "Entre les murs" (The Class), Austria's "Revanche", and Israel's "Vals Im Bashir" (Waltz with Bashir).

"Waltz with Bashir" is playing in Dallas at the Angelika.

The rest, we'll have to wait to see.

Mexico submitted "Arrancame La Vida" (Tear This Heart Out). The film made the semifinals, but failed to make the final cut. Italy submitted "Gomorra". As far as I can tell Indonesia had no submission, which is sad because the country is one of only six to receive three or more nominations over the last decade. Controversy has plagued the Indonesia film selection process over the last couple of years.

Academy Award Update

Submissions for Best Foreign Film are due to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scienes by Oct. 1.

So far 21 submissions have been announced and the submissions from three of our seven Sister City countries are in.

Germany has submitted “The Baader Meinhof Complex” (Der Baader Meinhof Komplex) directed by Uli Edel. The film stars

Hungary has submitted “Iska’s Journey” (Iszka utazása) directed by Csaba Bollók.

Japan has submitted “Departures” (Okuribito)directed by Yojiro Takita. 

Mexico is considering 11 films to represent the country: Arrancame La Vida, Cochochi, Cumbia Callera, Déficit, Dos Abrazos, El Viaje de la Nonna, Familia Tortuga, La Zona, Lake Tahoe (film), Partes Usadas and Quemar Las Naves.

AMPAS awards the Best Foreign Language Film to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. The diaglog, however, does not have to be the native language of that country. An AMPAS committee reviews submissions and generally narrows the list of submissions by late fall. Then nominees will be announced Jan. 22, 2009, with the winner announced at the Feb. 22 awards ceremony in Hollywood.