BillGuttentag Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Snag This: Nanking
Filed under: Documentary », Independent », Home Entertainment », Cinematical Indie », Trailers and Clips »
The summer of 1937 brought the invasion of China by Japan. "By December 13th, they had defeated the Chinese army and invaded the nation's then-capital, Nanking," wrote Kim Voynar in January 2007, by way of introducing her review of the documentary Nanking, which played at Sundance that year. The film is now available for free online viewing, thanks to our friends at SnagFilms.
As you might expect, directors Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman use archival footage and interviews with survivors to flesh out the film, but they also include "staged reading of excerpts from journals and letters by a group of actors including Woody Harrelson, Mariel Hemingway, Rosalind Chao and Jurgen Prochnow," as described by Voynar. She observed: "The scripted reading actually works more effectively than mere voiceover would have, bringing to life the people who were a part of the events that happened in Nanking during that time. War and violence are never pretty, and this is not an easy film to watch -- there is brutal and gruesome footage of the death and destruction that happened there."
The subject remains controversial in Japan, with some disputing or downplaying what happened in Nanking. As Voynar noted, "Nanking doesn't offer any easy answers -- and is it even possible to truly comprehend the mind-boggling evidence of humanity's capacity to cause hurt and suffering?" We've embedded Nanking below for your viewing convenience. Please note that it's NSFW due to the explicit historical footage included. More information is available at SnagFilms.
(Full disclosure: Nanking was produced by Ted Leonsis, founder and chairman of SnagFilms, who also serves as Vice Chairman Emeritus of AOL, the parent company of Cinematical.)
Mendes, Krumholtz are Live!
Filed under: Drama », Independent », Casting », Newsstand », Cinematical Indie »
According to Production Weekly, David Krumholtz has found a way to spend his summer break from Numb3rs. Originally slated to be hanging out in Paris with Michelle Williams and Woody Allen, the actor suddenly found himself with a whole lot of free time when Allen dumped that project and headed back to London. Now, though, word comes that Krumholtz has landed on his feet, albeit with a slightly smaller budget: He's going to star opposite Eva Mendes in Live!, an indie thriller from Oscar-winning short-subject documentary director Bill Guttentag.The movie is a mockmentary that follows Medes' character, an "ambitious president of [television] programing," as she tries to raise ratings with a reality show in which people play Russian Roulette for a "Yay, you're alive!" prize of $5 million. Gee, think someone's seen 13 (Tzameti)?
The movie begins filming in LA later this month.
[via MovieWeb]
Is Taylor Lautner Our Next Superhero?
100 Greatest Films Beyond the Canon
'Entourage' Movie in the Works?
Spielberg Backs Out of 'Harvey'
Discuss: Should Gay Actors Stay in the Closet?
_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg)
