prague Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Renée Zellweger Lending Star Power to Czech Film Fest
Filed under: Classics », Drama », Foreign Language », Independent », Other Festivals », Cinematical Indie »
She was born in Katy, Texas, but her father comes from Switzerland and her mother hails from Norway. Plus, she spent quite a bit of time in Romania while filming Cold Mountain. Thus it makes perfect sense that Renée Zellweger will be attending the 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which will be held June 29-July 7 in the Czech Republic. She will be presenting Miss Potter, in which she starred as children's author Beatrix Potter. That film received mixed reviews, but happily the Karlovy Vary festival itself has an excellent, long-standing reputation as a place to discover new talent from Eastern Europe. The festival also includes a lovely selection of films from around the world and is known for its widely-varied retrospectives. For example, the Shochiku Nouvelle Vague sidebar features seven films made in the early 1960s by three Japanese directors (Yoshishige Yoshida, Masahiro Shinoda, Nagisa Oshima). Shinoda is expected to attend; his Samurai Spy -- which will be screened -- is available on DVD from Criterion. Another sidebar of note is Variety Critics' Choice, in which the trade publication's film critics offer their selection of ten overlooked favorites. The films range from slasher flick to psychological drama to comedy (note the original critic/review): Dead in 3 Days (Derek Elley), Hotel Very Welcome (Derek Elley), Fissures (Robert Koehler), True North (Eddie Cockrell), Hyena (Leslie Felperin), Cold Feet (Leslie Felperin), Parting Shot (Derek Elley), The Distance (Jonathan Holland), Prague (Eddie Cockrell; also reviewed by Cinematical's Martha Fischer), Someone Else (Derek Elley). The original reviews are not all entirely positive, but good enough to make my mouth water. The full line-up of more than 200 films will be announced shortly.
Don't Even Feign Surprise: Hostel 3 is Coming
Filed under: Horror », Lionsgate Films », Remakes and Sequels »
It's no secret that I'm a pretty big fan of Eli Roth's flicks. I see the guy as a rookie baseball player who, with only two trips to the plate, hit a pair of terrifically entertaining triples, which (to me) indicates a guy who's worked hard and managed to turn his lifelong passion into something worth watching. (If you happen to disagree with me on the value of movies like Cabin Fever and Hostel, that's cool. I'm just trying to set up a small but interesting story, and this paragraph is what we call "intro filler.")Basically, in this Variety article that focuses on film productions in Prague and the Czech Republic, a few hints are dropped that a Hostel Part 3 is almost definitely on the way -- but that it'd most likely come after Roth is finished adapting Stephen King's Cell for the Weinstein boys.
The article also gives us just a little more info on the plot of Hostel: Part 2: Instead of it focusing on three horny bastards on the hunt for loose women, the sequel will deal with three young women on the hunt for a really exotic spa in Slovakia -- and boy do they find it. As you're no doubt aware by now, the ladies will be played by Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips and Lauren German.
Roth's H2 is presently scheduled for an April 5 release date. Previous fanboy blather on this flick can be found here and here and here. Sue me, I like horror movies.
TIFF Review: Prague
Filed under: Drama », Foreign Language », Independent », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports », Toronto International Film Festival », Cinematical Indie »
Shot with a handheld camera, Prague is a film of faces. The majority of images are extreme close-ups of such intimacy that only parts of the faces are visible. Eyes and a nose, perhaps. Or a mouth and chin. Sometimes just eyes -- worn, exhausted eyes. The story of a disintegrating marriage, Prague pays such relentless attention to every look exchanged and each breath taken by the husband and wife that we, too, find ourselves seeking out meaning in the smallest actions and most insignificant exchanges. The film is one of those raw, heart-breaking stories of loss that we watch half-hoping it will fail and leave us emotionally whole. Thanks to the efforts of director Ole Christian Madsen and his cast, though, the searingly powerful Prague succeeds magnificently.As the film opens, Christoffer (convincingly portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen) and his wife Maja (Stine Stengade) travel from their home in Denmark to Prague, to sign the papers required to get Christoffer's recently deceased father's body released from the morgue, and to arrange for the coffin to be sent back to Denmark to be buried in the family plot. The 42-year-old Christoffer has seen his father once since he left the family thirty years before, and is matter-of-factly disgusted by what he sees as the man's willful neglect. He goes through the motions of claiming the body without emotion, and is intent on getting the necessary paperwork filled out as quickly as possible.
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