BFI London Film Festival
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LFF '11 Review: Rebecca Hall Chiller 'The Awakening' Is Flawed, But Also Kind Of A Blast
It might seem ingracious to complain, but film festivals can sometimes be something of a slog. For every transcendent piece of cinema, there are two or three well-meaning, firmly mediocre pictures clogged with mental illness, child abuse and miserable sex. Which is exactly why most film festivals mi...
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LFF '11 Review: 'Wild Bill' Is An Immensely Likable Directorial Debut From Dexter Fletcher
For whatever reason, directorial debuts by British character actors tend to lean towards the gritty kitchen-sink drama; Tim Roth, Gary Oldman and, more recently, Paddy Considine have all broken their filmmaking cherry with uncompromisingly tough, bleak subject matter. Considering that it involves abandonment, council estates and the risk of being taken into care, one might be forgiven for expecting the same from Dexter Fletcher's first film, "Wild Bill." But then, Fletcher's best known for being one of the central quartet, alongside Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng and Nick Moran, in Guy Ritchie's debut "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," and ...
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LFF '11 Review: Michael Winterbottom's 'Trishna' Is Picturesque, But Entirely Lacking In Passion
Over his career, Michael Winterbottom has hopped frequently from genre to genre, from subject matter to subject matter, rarely covering the same territory twice. But one of the few things he has returned to is the work of Thomas Hardy. The late 19th century British author has so far inspired two of...
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LFF '11 Review: Nasty Nordic Thriller 'Headhunters' Doesn't Have The Courage Of Its Convictions
For fans of the crime genre, both on the page and on the screen, Scandinavia has been the hottest source of new material in recent years (although obviously not literally). Steig Larsson's Millennium trilogy was a huge bestseller worldwide, and has already provided three Swedish films and David Finc...
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LFF '11: 'The Queen' Scribe Peter Morgan Says He's Not Necessarily Done With Tony Blair Yet
'360' Writer Tells Us Freddie Mercury Biopic Is Waiting For Sacha Baron Cohen, Motor Racing Won't Be Focus Of Ron Howard's 'Rush'Exclusive: Getting two Oscar nominations in two years tends to make your inbox a little fuller than it was before, so it's no surprise that picking up nods in 2007 for "Th...
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LFF '11 Review: 'Dreams Of A Life' Is An Authentically Moving Portrait Of A Forgotten Life
Joyce Carol Vincent died in her flat in 2003. An unmarried forty year-old woman living alone in a less-than-luxurious one bedroom London bedsit, and surrounded by unopened Christmas presents, it would be three years before her remains (now simply decomposed to that of a skeleton), would ever be foun...
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Magnolia Will Take On Fernando Meirelles’ '360' But Don't Expect An Awards Season Push
One of the bigger disappointments of the festival season this fall was Fernando Meirelles' "360." The drama boasts a terrific ensemble including Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins and Ben Foster, in a retelling of the classic Arthur Schnitzler play “Reigen” that chronicles the simple decision by one man to remain faithful to his wife and how it creates a ripple effect on various people worldwide, opening a window into modern relationships. But unfortunately, the promising concept failed to deliver, with the movie premiering at TIFF to mostly lukewarm reviews from audiences and critics alike. It wasn't immediately picked up in Toronto, bu...
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'Dragon Tattoo' Writer Steve Zaillian Was Considering Directing American 'Red Riding' Remake
Film Will Likely Condense Trilogy, Could Be Set In PennsylvaniaSomewhere near the very top rung of recent crime movies, along with "Zodiac" and "A Prophet," is the "Red Riding" trilogy. Three films, from three different directors, based on David Peace's quartet of crime novels, and starring a who's ...
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'The Queen' Scribe Peter Morgan Says He's Writing A Heist Flick With The Scale Of 'Heat'
'360' Pensmith Wrote The Story For Next Bond Film, But Never Got To Do A ScriptExclusive: Screenwriters can be typecast in the same way as actors, and if someone was to stereotype Peter Morgan at this point, it would be as "the biopic guy." He's picked up two Oscar nominations for films based on real people -- namely "The Queen" and "Frost/Nixon" -- and along the way has tackled figures as varied as Tony Blair (three times), Bill Clinton, Lord Longford, Idi Amin, Brian Clough and, not once but twice, King Henry VIII. But he's been keen to stretch his wings for some time, with his two most recent films both being original scripts: firstly Clin...
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Michael Winterbottom Planning To Direct Beatles Movie 'The Longest Cocktail Party'
'Four Lions' Writer Jesse Armstrong Penning Script For Liam Gallagher-Produced Film, But Johnny Depp Likely Won't Play LeadExclusive: Few directors have such a keen eye for music as Michael Winterbottom. From The Cranberries-stuffed soundtrack in his sophomore feature "Butterfly Kiss" to "24 Hour Party People," one of the best films about rock'n'roll ever made, to the perverse 50s cuts in last year's "The Killer Inside Me," he's always had a great sense for the right backdrop to the action, whether it be an original score or a song. And now, it looks like the director is heading towards tackling perhaps the Holy Grail of popular music, by mak...
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