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• UK Film Network - Top Ten Sundance Films To See

  
  In This Edition
  - Making It In Hollywood
  - TOP TEN SUNDANCE FILMS YOU MUST SEE
  - Toronto Reviews
  - 81st Academy Awards
  
  >>>>>
  
  
  Read our magazine or join our social network for filmmakers, actors, promoters and anyone passionate about film:-
  
  http://www.ukfilm.tv
  
  Douglas McFarlane
  editor@ukfilm.tv
  
  Add as Facebook Friend @
  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
  
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  MAKING IT IN HOLLYWOOD
  
  Facebook Group:
  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gi...
  
  I'm just starting to get my head back into London mode after one of the most exciting weeks at Sundance Film Festival. It was my second time, so I knew my way around a little better and I was antipicating some more coincidental connections like last year. I wasn't let down. After writing the following blog on the 16th Jan.....
  
  http://www.ukfilm.tv/magazine/read/c...
  
  .....I went on to film a chat with Ewan McGregor and Alan Cummings, told Kevin Bacon he was brilliant in Taking Chance and filmed his cool walk, and then filmed Elijah Wood getting caught in amongst fans and paparazzi. You'll see this in the final version of Making It In Hollywood.
  
  Further chance meetings were had with people from back home in Scotland. The Head of Talent and Creativity of Scottish Screen and the Artistic Director of the Edinburgh Film Festival. Both of whom have offered to help me in making the final steps of the journey of making my first documentary. Incredible. I'll have so many people to thank when the film finally sees light of day, that it will be about 15 minutes worth of credits.
  
  So I now have PATHE, LIONSGATE, REVOLVER, BBC SCOTLAND, SKY, and two U.S. distributors all interested in MAKING IT IN HOLLYWOOD. The film will be getting a spit and polish this week, a fine-tuned sound mix next weekend and then land on the desks of individuals who will hold the destiny of the film in their hands. Exciting times.
  
  >>>>>
  
  TOP TEN SUNDANCE FILMS YOU MUST SEE
  
  BRONSON
  You have to see this film to believe it. Director Nicolas Winding Refn and actor Tom Hardy have rewritten the rules of filmmaking with an incredible and gruelling portrayal of notorious prisoner Michael Peterson. I loved everything about this film. From the unique style of acting that Hardy brings to the screen, the camera angles, telling the story from a theatrical perspective, the use of "It's A Sin" during a party scene with inmates. Every single choice the director made in setting the scene was different, fresh, exciting and worthy of recognising as a work of art. GO SEE IT !
  
  AFGHAN STAR
  A documentary about the equivalent of X-Factor in Afghanistan. We learn that it's only in 2004 that the government lifted a ban on broadcasting music and entertainment and this is the first programme which has a massive following. Like the mania that follows this type of program in the UK, some people were buying thousands of SIM cards in order to vote for their favourite more than once. The songs were quite amusing after translation, such as "You're like a scorpion with eyebrows meeting in the middle". The program also courted it's own controversy, due to one of the female participants dancing and showing hair resulting in death threats against her and an outcry from a political leader who felt she had disgraced Sharia Law. This documentary is as much a reflection of our own society, as it is of Afghanistan.
  
  IN THE LOOP
  This is a very funny film in which Peter Capaldi is a relentless Scottish loudmouth, aggressive, articulate politician. Side splitting humour and incredible dialogue.
  
  AN EDUCATION
  Peter Saarsgard is truly brilliant in this coming of age story. The screenplay is by Nick Hornby, so you can be assured of a well written and structured film.
  
  FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN
  Two great Irish actors, Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt meet in a fictional televised truth and reconciliation meeting after the end of "the troubles"

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• UK Theatre Network - Sun, sea, speed

  UK Theatre Network - Sun, sea, speed
  
  
  Good morning
  
  The sun is shining on Tower Bridge again this morning and the Union Jack on top is flat with no wind. The weather in London is significantly milder, for this time of year, than my home town of Glasgow where it's been rather wet and windy. Don't worry however, there's plenty of hot air coming out of the TV these days.
  
  The BBC have launched a new horror channel which aims to terrorise, scare and panic people out onto the streets. It's call The News. They've even got a new logo "The DownTurn". It looks like it has been designed by a Blue Peter competition entrant, and shows an arrow pointing down on the 'n', for dramatic effect. The DownTurn stars the city's doom merchant Pessimistic Peston, who not only reports on the news, he creates it. If he says the Dow Jones is in freefall, have a look online and watch it go from a +5% to a -10%. Even the Prime Minister, a normally positive and forthright thinking man, has been affected. The first quarter of downturn and he has offered a self-fulfilling prophecy of it going down again in the next quarter. Well done the profits of doom. Your wish will indeed come true.
  
  To cheer you up, make sure you get out there and watch some great theatre and film. It's the cheapest way to have an escape from the credit crunch blues and will definitely be far more entertaining.
  
  Here's some fun I had filming in Bournemouth at the end of August.
  
  
  Sun, Sea, Speed
  http://www.facebook.com/video/video....
  
  Have a good week.
  
  
  Douglas McFarlane
  editor@uktheatre.net
  www.uktheatre.net
  www.ukfilmnetwork.com
  
  ***** SKY NEWS *****
  
  SKY - News With A Web Agenda
  A hip-hopping former Secretary of State.
  Martin Stanford with guest Douglas McFarlane
  http://www.uktheatre.net/viewpage.as...
  
  
  ***** UKFILM NEWS *****
  
  Film Funding
  Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded $450,000 to 24 U.S. film festivals for the 2009 calendar year, Festival Grants Committee Chair Gale Anne Hurd announced today.
  http://www.uktheatre.net/news.aspx?N...
  
  Film London
  Boris Johnson meets with key players from London’s production industry, and announces plans to harness the film industry, to boost London’s economy and maintain city's position as the cultural capital of the world.
  http://www.uktheatre.net/news.aspx?N...
  
  
  ***** CONTACTS *****
  
  Robert Gooch Theatre Stills photographer
  http://www.uktheatre.net/links.aspx?...
  
  
  ***** FORUMS *****
  
  Lisa Kudrow in Web Therapy - Episode 3
  http://www.uktheatre.net/forums.aspx...
  
  
  PANDA Event on Regional Support and Rural Touring Opportunities
  http://www.uktheatre.net/forums.aspx...
  
  Lisa Kudrow in Web Therapy - Episode 2
  http://www.uktheatre.net/forums.aspx...
  
  
  ***** ARTICLES *****
  
  The Duchess
  It's just a costume drama. A period piece. A return to a period when the empire was still Britain's. Wait for it to come out on a Sunday on BBC2.
  
  http://www.uktheatre.net/articles.as...
  
  >>>>>
  
  The Lazarus Project
  Out on DVD this week is “The Lazarus Project”.
  
  http://www.uktheatre.net/articles.as...
  
  >>>>>
  
  Rachel Getting Married
  Ever wanted to be a fly-on-the-wall at someone else’s wedding?
  
  http://www.uktheatre.net/articles.as...
  
  >>>>>
  
  Changeling
  In true noir fashion, it is a story of people trapped in dire circumstances not of their own choosing who somehow succeed in making matters even worse
  
  http://www.uktheatre.net/articles.as...

  0 Kommentare 399 Tage

• UK Film Network - Review of The Duchess

  The Duchess
  
  It's just a costume drama. A period piece. A return to a period when the empire was still Britain's. Wait for it to come out on a Sunday on BBC2.
  
  Those may well be the thoughts that go through your mind when you hear about The Duchess. There will be plenty of reasons not to go and see it. And one very strong one to make sure you do. Keira Knightley.
  
  Don't get me wrong, the rest of the cast of Ralph Fiennes, Charlotte Rampling, Hayley Atwell and Dominic Cooper all do a great job. Knightley does a stunning job.
  
  Now, like many people reading this, I liked Bend It Like Beckham when she first burst on the scene. A great story with many talented performers. I also liked Atonement but less for the acting talent and more for the story. This time I didn't know what to expect. The Duchess has been out in the cinema for a while but I've not read any reviews on it, and I hadn't heard anyone saying anything exciting about it. No-one seemed to have mentioned Keira Knightley.
  
  The story has been well publicised. It's not a million miles away from the Diana/Charles/Camilla relationship. Based on the true story of the The Duke of Devonshire (Fiennes), a grumpy, demanding Royal who marries a younger attractive woman. Her mother, Lady Spencer (Rampling), is naturally delighted as is her daughter, who becomes The Duchess of Devonshire (Knightley). The Duchess befriends a woman (Atwell) who becomes the Duke's live-in girlfriend. Sound marginally familiar ?
  
  Like many period films, the quality of the locations, wardrobe, hair and makeup is the best in the business and every detail is carefully considered. I liked the consideration given to such things as newspapers with no images and lines and lines of small font print. There was also a reference to artists in the stalls, looking up to draw the Duke and Duchess in their box at the theatre. In a time before cameras were invented, I guess they were the paparazzi of the day.
  
  The screenplay is also worthy of recognition but the filming was disappointing. On a number of occasions the focussing was off for split seconds as the camera person was attempting to do some clever depth-of-field. Clearly it wasn't noticed until editing time and by then it was too late. I know that's nitpicking but it's reasons like this that make a film lose out in the very competitive awards and highly critical voting process.
  
  But back to the reason why I think Keira Knightley shines. She has facial mannerisms that have a significant depth to relate more meaning behind every line she speaks. When she is stressed, you see it in her forehead and above her eye. She cries and her eyes well up and when she is confident, she has a subtlety that few can deliver. She has an extraordinary range of emotional expressions and it makes her compelling to watch. She is perfectly cast in this role and owns it from the first second you see her to the last.
  
  So, I'm really glad I went to see it tonight. A good film and a great actress.
  
  Douglas McFarlane
  editor@ukfilm.tv
  www.ukfilmnetwork.com
  
  This article was published on:
  Monday, October 20, 2008

  0 Kommentare 403 Tage

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