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Sep 16 09 2:03 AM
Posts: 586
22/08/2009 08:05
24/08/2009 01:45
Posts: 1472
27/08/2009 17:44
Ok there were some people who saw TLS remarks were posted here and over at IMDB. Now I received a "tweet" from BAFTA's Scotand calling for "entries" which close on September 1, 2009. The time period for which a film qualifies for consideration is August 2008 through August 2009. I wonder if this is why it was shown? Link http://www.baftascotland.co.uk/news/47/bafta-scotland-awards-09-call-for-entries BAFTA's UK - is different....here's some info on eligibility. Interesting that TLS has a UK release date for January 2010 - it may qualify see below. Full Link http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/eligibility-and-rules,64,BA.html
Films must be released theatrically in the UK, within the Academy awards year: 1 January to 31 December 2009. Films that open between 1 January and 19 February 2010 inclusive may be 'qualified' by Distributors by being screened to Academy Film Voting Members by Thursday 17 December 2009.
To be eligible, a feature film must:
Films from all countries are eligible in all categories, with the exception of Outstanding British Film, Outstanding Debut, Short Film and Short Animation which are for British films only.
There are separate entry criteria for Short Film and Short Animation .
Please refer to the full Rule Book and the additional guidelines for the Special Visual Effects category:
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03/09/2009 21:39
The lineup, unveiled Thursday, including Jacque Audiard's "A Prophet," Lone Sherfig's "An Education," Werner Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," Jame Campion's "Bright Star," Anne Fontaine's "Coco Before Chanel," Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank," Todd Solondz' "Life During Wartime," Michael Hoffman's "The Last Station," Rachid Boucharib's "London River," Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," and Michael Haneke's "White Ribbon."
The festival begins a four-day run Friday. Special events include tributes to Anouk Aimee, Viggo Mortensen and Margaethe von Trotta; a celebration of Manny Farber with a screening of 1934's "Toni"; a special medallion to Serge Bromberg with a showing of Henri-Georges Clouzet's "Inferno"; and the "Red Riding" trilogy made for British television.
Posts: 967
04/09/2009 08:07
Every Labor Day weekend, they stream into the box canyon from the coast, from Europe and middle America towns and college campuses, arriving starry-eyed and full of esoteric knowledge and with a love for movies that borders on rabid. ... There are dozens of movies for the offering this weekend, a dizzying array that can make the eyes glass over and the brain grow numb in deliberation. Gary Meyer, co-director of the festival, and Julie Huntsinger, the festival's managing director, stopped into the Planet offices this week to drop some knowledge about this year's lineup. Each had the tough task of picking five festival favorites. What they told us may help you festival-goers when you are plotting your schedule. Here goes: Huntsinger's picks: • "Red Riding." This trilogy of films has been adapted from four novels by David Peace. And each features a different director. The stories take place in West Yorkshire in a period that spans 1974-1983, and involves murder and double-crossing and stunning twists of plot. "It's a fantastic set of movies," Huntsinger said. TFF will offer a special back-to-back screening of "Red Riding" on Friday in the Palm. • "Fish Tank." This movie tells the story of 15-year-old Mia, a hardened English teenager wandering through life under her partying single mom, with only her love of hip-hop dancing as an anchor. "It's a really amazing snapshot of how hard it is to bee a teen in an underprivileged environment," Huntsinger said. • "Farewell." This French film is a story of double agents trading secrets, but it's also one of the Cold War's ending. With complex characters, an elaborate narrative and an amazing director, this one's not to be missed, Huntsinger said. "It's very, very compelling," she said. • "The Last Station." This adaptation of Jay Parini's novel is a comic-dramatic account of Leo Tolstoy's tumultuous final months. With a top-notch cast that includes Helen Mirren, James McAvoy and Christopher Plummer, the film is at turns funny and moving. Huntsinger called it "glorious." • "An Education." This film, with a screenplay by Nick Hornby, is a coming of age story of both a 16-year-old British girl (played by the bright Carey Mulligan) in the early '60s and her country. ...
Posts: 588
05/09/2009 13:07
James has always called TLS Chekhovian, which I took to mean part comedy/part tragedy, and Parini said that James 'proves himself a first-class comic actor here, and it's a brilliant performance on every level.' First review is in: TELLURIDE: 'The Last Station' premieres to the world Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:32 pm · September 4th, 2009 Michael Hoffman's "The Last Station," adapted from Jay Parini's novel about the last days of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy, has been on my radar for quite some time. There seemed to be an air of awards potential around Christopher Plummer, who stars as a dwindling Tolstoy, and Helen Mirren, as his fiery wife, Countess Sofya. The film had its world premiere tonight here in Telluride in front of a packed audience. The line was out the door and around the block, partly because it's opening night, partly because of the fact that Helen Mirren is on-hand (though, as it turns out, not until later tonight). But those hoping to hear a nice chat with the actress after the film weren't disappointed for long: Hoffman had Vladimir Tolstoy in tow, overseer of the Tolstoy estate, and a number of other Tolstoy family members as well. But first, the film. It's a delightful effort with bright comedic spots throughout, but it's also thematically resilient in its depiction of a relationship, 48 years on, nearly torn apart by diverging philosophies on religion, property, etc. It's a touching exploration of love in its many forms. "Yes, it's hard," Hoffman said. "You want to do what you need to do, they want to do what they need to do, but I don't know what else to do." Christopher Plummer is serviceable as Tolstoy. It's not the baiting performance you might expect and I rather liked it for that. Helen Mirren - who seems to get more and more beautiful with age - is wild and, at times, gut-wrenching as a woman clearly in love with her husband but terrified of the endowment he may deny his family by signing his life's work into the public domain (at the encouragement of a dedicated disciple capably performed by Paul Giamatti). James McAvoy offers the film's great performance. He benefits from having the most complex arc, but he takes his Valentin Bulgakov - a devoted Tolstoyan who learns nuance in the doctrine where others see rigid discipline - on a touching journey of love, commitment, anxiety and passion. The Tolstoy clan came to the mic for a brief Q&A session with the audience after the film. Along with Vladimir (Tolstoy's great-grandson) was his niece, Sophya, so named for Mirren's Countess. There are plans to show the film in Russia, when the Tolstoy family convenes for an annual family reunion. One thing that struck me early on was the choice to film "The Last Station" in English, probably expected but, given the subject matter, a bit disorienting. But I liked what Vladimir had to say to that, as it was brought up by an audience member. "I think it's better that it is in English," he said, his daughter translating, "because that makes it more universal, and Leo Tolstoy's work was meant for all of mankind." It might sound contrived, but it fits snugly in with the film's themes of immortalizing one's art and being responsible with your legacy. But considering some 250 descendants attend that Tolstoy family reunion every year, it becomes clear that Tolstoy's legacy isn't merely on the page. "The Last Station" hasn't secured domestic distribution yet, but I imagine it won't have a hard time finding a buyer somewhere down the line. http://incontention.com/?p=13076#more-13076
06/09/2009 01:52
The Last Station is a straight-on period biopic starring Christopher Plummer as the aged Leo Tolstoy, the famed Russian author of War and Peace, constantly at war with his mercurial wife Sophya (Helen Mirren). Paul Giamatti, a scheming Tolstoy disciple, wants to share the author's copyrights with the masses, while Sophya fights for her husband's love and her children's inheritance. Caught in the middle is Tolstoy's loyal, vegetarian, celibate secretary (James McAvoy). Plummer and Mirren are equally matched blazing adversaries and McAvoy is wonderfully reactive as the virginal acolyte who not only loses his innocence, but starts to learn about love and marriage.
This German-financed $17-million movie is gorgeous-shot in the former East Germany-and utterly accessible and entertaining. The audience ate it up. This is one of those movies that's not so much a critic's picture as an adult crowd-pleaser. It seems well-matched to The Weinstein Co., Miramax or Goldwyn.
The question of future awards potential is strictly a matter of which distrib picks it up and when they release it. While IFC is talking with seller Robbie Little, the movie will next be shown at AFI Fest.
At the screening, I sat next to a line of Tolstoy descendents, including great great grandson Vladimir Tolstoy, who runs Yasnaya Poliana, the family estate south of Moscow, and his 24-year-old daughter Anastasia, a lovely literature grad student specializing in Nobokov at Oxford. Vladimir flew to Colorado through New York and Denver, and was returning the next day. Even though the movie was directed by an American, shot in Germany and stars a cast of English-speaking Brits, Vladimir said that he was glad that the film would spread the love of Tolstoy to the world. Several Telluride residents who are Tolstoy descendants read about the film in the program, contacted Vladimir and came to dinner with their Russian relatives Friday night.
Typically, the movie had a long road to getting made. But throughout its history actors reacted to its juicy roles. Producer Bonnie Arnold originally picked up the rights to Jay Parini's 1990 novel about the last year in the life of Tolstoy after finally convincing elderly Anthony Quinn that he would never make the movie. For a long time Robbie Little, who raised money overseas, waited for Anthony Hopkins and Meryl Streep to add the movie to their schedules, but they never did.
Years later, a mutual friend brought Arnold together with Michael Hoffman (Soapdish, Restoration), who had long wanted to do the movie, but didn't know how. One night, he confessed at Friday night's Galaxy screening, as he was realizing that he didn't want to do yet another studio comedy, he suddenly remembered this movie and saw in a flash how to do it. It wasn't just about Tolstoy and his contentious family and followers, it was about "love and marriage. It's a struggle for all of us," he said.
The Parini book is a Rashomon-like distillation of six diary accounts of that year, from family members, Tolstoy followers and the auteur himself, who kept a public and a secret diary. The film changed course as the actors brought in more snippets of information, so that Leo and Sophya's marriage took front and center. She bore him 13 children and wrote out War and Peace six times by hand. He had a nervous breakdown after finishing Anna Karenina. The producers plan to screen the film for the 250 or so Tolstoy extended family who convene at the estate for reunions every year or so.
05/09/2009 13:12
No mention of James being there? Good review on James' performance. Waiting on Anne Thompson's Review http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2009/09/05/telluride_red_riding_the_last_station/ (she too is wondering why they are not showing at Toronto)
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