Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014
Hello Again,
THE RIOT CLUB was my first P&I screening of the day. It’s the new film from Lone Scherfig – director of AN EDUCATION (the “Best Picture” Oscar nominee that made Carey Mulligan a full-fledged star). This is a film about a “posh” club of young men at Oxford. They’re a terribly attractive, elite group (the limit for the club is 10) who are and smart, charismatic, “well-bred,” and quite self righteous. The movie is about their search for 2 new members and their annual dinner that allows them to indulge in debauchery. There’s underlying tension during the whole film that truly becomes terrifying in the third act. Overall, the film is a well done look at class and abuse of privilege.
THE NEW GIRLFRIEND is the new film from one of my favorite filmmakers, Francois Ozon (UNDER THE SAND, 8 WOMEN, SWIMMING POOL, TIME TO LEAVE, IN THE HOUSE). Ozon, like Woody Allen, has a new film almost every year. Some are brilliant (see all of the films listed above) and some are not (though even ANGEL, RICKY and HIDEAWAY have their merits). THE NEW GIRLFRIEND is about a woman who has become depressed after the death of her best friend. After working through some pain, she summons the courage to visit her friend’s husband only to discover some secrets that will change her life (I don’t want to give away too much.) This story is based on a novel by Ruth Rendell, and her work has been adapted by other favorite filmmakers like Pedro Almodovar and Claude Chabrol. Sadly, this film has some major tone issues…but I was intrigued enough to stick around and see what happened.
Sadly, there’s no trailer with subtitles yet, but here’s the French trailer:
PRIDE was my only public screening for the day, and it has already been booked for THE NEON this Fall. With a stellar cast of British NEON regulars (not to mention thematic elements that interest me), it was a film I had to put on my list. Just look at this cast: Bill Nighy (BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, NOTES ON A SCANDAL), Imelda Staunton (VERA DRAKE, ANOTHER YEAR), Paddy Considine (IN AMERICA). The movie, based on a true story, is about a coal miners’ strike in the UK in 1984 – and how a group of gay and lesbian people began collecting money for the cause. From watching the trailer, I thought I’d be in for a fun, charming ride…but the trailer doesn’t do the film justice. Instead I got a moving, inspiring, uplifting and heartbreaking film. There weren’t many dry eyes in the house. I think this film could go on to win the audience award – as 1000+ people in today’s audience were on their feet cheering for quite a while. When the curator introduced not only the cast but some of the real life people on whom the film is based, the crowd went wild. A truly, truly wonderful film! (Below is a little pic I snapped of the Q&A.)
Thanks for checking in,
Jonathan
