The cyberpunk genre is perhaps now more popular and relevant than ever, and the same can be said for actor Keanu Reeves. Together they would prove to be a powerful pairing with the sci-fi masterpiece The Matrix and the recent hit videogame Cyberpunk 2077.
However, that was not the case in 1995, when Johnny Mnemonic was released to confounded and indifferent audiences. How did the combined efforts of a newly minted A-list star, a noted visionary artist, and a pioneer in cyberpunk fiction result in a target of ridicule and a box office disappointment?
Jack in and fill your head with Wtf Happened to this Movie!
The cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction can be broadly characterized with the theme of “high tech and low life” and it typically involves futuristic dystopian societies, advanced science and technology, body enhancements, dominant corporations, and sharp class disparity. Its origins and influences can be traced back...
However, that was not the case in 1995, when Johnny Mnemonic was released to confounded and indifferent audiences. How did the combined efforts of a newly minted A-list star, a noted visionary artist, and a pioneer in cyberpunk fiction result in a target of ridicule and a box office disappointment?
Jack in and fill your head with Wtf Happened to this Movie!
The cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction can be broadly characterized with the theme of “high tech and low life” and it typically involves futuristic dystopian societies, advanced science and technology, body enhancements, dominant corporations, and sharp class disparity. Its origins and influences can be traced back...
- 7/12/2023
- by Dave Davis
- JoBlo.com
I honestly never expected Steven Spielberg in a Criterion Channel series––certainly not one that pairs him with Kogonada, anime, and Johnny Mnemonic––but so’s the power of artificial intelligence. Perhaps his greatest film (at this point I don’t need to tell you the title) plays with After Yang, Ghost in the Shell, and pre-Matrix Keanu in July’s aptly titled “AI” boasting also Spike Jonze’s Her, Carpenter’s Dark Star, and Computer Chess. Much more analog is a British Noir collection obviously carrying the likes of Odd Man Out, Night and the City, and The Small Back Room, further filled by Joseph Losey’s Time Without Pity and Basil Dearden’s It Always Rains on Sunday. (No two ways about it: these movies have great titles.) An Elvis retrospective brings six features, and the consensus best (Don Siegel’s Flaming Star) comes September 1.
While Isabella Rossellini...
While Isabella Rossellini...
- 6/22/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Nina Simone — the legendary singer and activist whose artistry took her around the globe — grew up in a modest, three-room clapboard home in Tryon, North Carolina.
In 2017, after years of vacancy and decay, four Black artists, conceptual artist Adam Pendleton, sculptor and painter Rashid Johnson, collagist and filmmaker Ellen Gallagher, and abstract artist Julie Mehretu, joined forces to purchase Simone’s childhood home for $95,000 to save it from demolition. It has since been declared a national treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is now the focus of a benefit auction led by Pace Gallery.
The Nina Simone Childhood Home Benefit Auction will feature 11 contemporary artworks and benefit the Nina Simone Childhood Home preservation project spearheaded by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The auction will be co-curated by Pendleton and tennis champion, entrepreneur and arts patron Venus Williams.
In 2017, after years of vacancy and decay, four Black artists, conceptual artist Adam Pendleton, sculptor and painter Rashid Johnson, collagist and filmmaker Ellen Gallagher, and abstract artist Julie Mehretu, joined forces to purchase Simone’s childhood home for $95,000 to save it from demolition. It has since been declared a national treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is now the focus of a benefit auction led by Pace Gallery.
The Nina Simone Childhood Home Benefit Auction will feature 11 contemporary artworks and benefit the Nina Simone Childhood Home preservation project spearheaded by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The auction will be co-curated by Pendleton and tennis champion, entrepreneur and arts patron Venus Williams.
- 4/28/2023
- by Evan Nicole Brown
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 1990s were a wild time in the world of science fiction cinema, as we all reeled from the technological advances of the 1980s and tried to predict what would come after the year 2000. Then there's the totally gonzo and surprisingly prescient "Johnny Mnemonic," based on the 1981 short story by cyberpunk god William Gibson, predicting the weird and wild future of the year 2021. Unlike its contemporaries like "Judge Dredd" and "Demolition Man," "Johnny Mnemonic" was truly interested in embracing the "science" aspect of science fiction, even if it ended up being a bit too audacious for most audiences. With a screenplay by Gibson himself and starring a freshly-famous Keanu Reeves, hot off of "Speed," "Johnny Mnemonic" had the potential to be a sci-fi classic. Instead, it's a fun and fascinating misfire that takes huge swings. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's always taking its strange vision of the future 100 seriously.
- 11/15/2022
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
It's safe to say that "Johnny Mnemonic" has not enjoyed a sterling reputation over the years. Upon its release in the summer of 1995, Roger Ebert damned it with faint praise, calling it "one of the great goofy gestures of recent cinema, a movie that doesn't deserve one nanosecond of serious analysis but has a kind of idiotic grandeur that makes you almost forgive it." Time didn't exactly soften some other critics opinions on it, either; Chris Nashawaty wrote in 2019 that the movie has its admirers but "they're all nuts."
The one person to bear the brunt of criticism for the film was director Robert Longo. In 2021, Longo reflected to Screen Slate on how "Johnny Mnemonic" affected his life: "I basically got thrown into the garbage heap for a while," he said. "My career tanked after that, for sure."
Fortunately for Longo and us long-suffering "Johnny" fans, the film was given...
The one person to bear the brunt of criticism for the film was director Robert Longo. In 2021, Longo reflected to Screen Slate on how "Johnny Mnemonic" affected his life: "I basically got thrown into the garbage heap for a while," he said. "My career tanked after that, for sure."
Fortunately for Longo and us long-suffering "Johnny" fans, the film was given...
- 11/7/2022
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
Click here to read the full article.
Two just-opened art exhibits showcase the work of powerfully influential women who trained their keen focus on L.A. and the film industry, while a retrospective look at the oeuvre of South African artist William Kentridge opens Nov. 12 at The Broad.
Joan Didion: What She Means Hammer Museum, Westwood
Like Joan Didion herself, this new show paying homage to the famed Slouching Towards Bethlehem writer is the perfect blend of East and West coasts. Curated by her friend and mentee, New Yorker writer and critic Hilton Als, to reflect her interests and inspirations, the show tracks the places Didion lived and visited (Berkeley, Hawaii, Miami, El Salvador). Works such as Betye Saar’s 1966 assemblage View From the Palmist Window and Ed Ruscha’s 1966 photo series Every Building on the Sunset Strip join photos and archival materials, including a film poster for 1976’s A Star Is Born,...
Two just-opened art exhibits showcase the work of powerfully influential women who trained their keen focus on L.A. and the film industry, while a retrospective look at the oeuvre of South African artist William Kentridge opens Nov. 12 at The Broad.
Joan Didion: What She Means Hammer Museum, Westwood
Like Joan Didion herself, this new show paying homage to the famed Slouching Towards Bethlehem writer is the perfect blend of East and West coasts. Curated by her friend and mentee, New Yorker writer and critic Hilton Als, to reflect her interests and inspirations, the show tracks the places Didion lived and visited (Berkeley, Hawaii, Miami, El Salvador). Works such as Betye Saar’s 1966 assemblage View From the Palmist Window and Ed Ruscha’s 1966 photo series Every Building on the Sunset Strip join photos and archival materials, including a film poster for 1976’s A Star Is Born,...
- 11/6/2022
- by Jordan Riefe
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In the 1990s, the internet was scary. A lot of new communication technology had opened up to the public, and Hollywood responded by making a slew of paranoid cyber-thrillers, each one positing a near-future world where one's personal information was no longer private, and where wealthy, corrupt international companies paid top-dollar to get said information for their own nefarious purposes. It was a future where the human consciousness had been damaged by prolonged consumption to increasingly truncated information nuggets. I know -- crazy, right?
Movies like Brett Leonard's "The Lawnmower Man" envisioned V.R. technology as capable of forcibly evolving the human brain. Iain Softley's "Hackers" (1995) uncovered a neo-punk subculture of computer-savvy teens who would access anything and do anything their prankish minds desired. Irwin Winkler's "The Net" (1995) was the most daring of all, suggesting that future people might spend all their time in online chat rooms...
Movies like Brett Leonard's "The Lawnmower Man" envisioned V.R. technology as capable of forcibly evolving the human brain. Iain Softley's "Hackers" (1995) uncovered a neo-punk subculture of computer-savvy teens who would access anything and do anything their prankish minds desired. Irwin Winkler's "The Net" (1995) was the most daring of all, suggesting that future people might spend all their time in online chat rooms...
- 10/28/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Here's some interesting news. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release Robert Longo's cult cyberpunk flick Johnny Mnemonic: In Black and White (1995), a new black and white version of the movie starring Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Takeshi Kitano, Ice-t and Henry Rollins.
The cut created by Longo premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year and is supposed to be really moody and unique.
The release will include a commentary from Longo And William Gibson and Keanu Reeves. It is scheduled to arrive on the market on August 16.
Description:
The first and only feature film from visual artist Robert Longo, Johnny Mnemonic is a sci-fi prophecy of the current world. Johnny, playe...
The cut created by Longo premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year and is supposed to be really moody and unique.
The release will include a commentary from Longo And William Gibson and Keanu Reeves. It is scheduled to arrive on the market on August 16.
Description:
The first and only feature film from visual artist Robert Longo, Johnny Mnemonic is a sci-fi prophecy of the current world. Johnny, playe...
- 7/15/2022
- QuietEarth.us
A brief history lesson, if you’ll indulge me.
Far from arriving fully-formed in 1984’s ‘Neuromancer’, the sci-fi subgenre now dubbed ‘Cyberpunk’ was not was a melting pot of ideas first developed by writers such as Philip K. Dick, Jg Ballard and Harlan Ellison. Projecting their paranoia of capitalist enterprises gaining more and more control over our lives and sedating any resistance through ubiquitous cheap sex and chemically distraction. The aesthetic elements-dense cityscapes covered in neon, integrated Western & Eastern cultures-were drawn from Japanese Cyberpunk, influenced by the country’s urban architecture and culture. All of which proved appealing to a young jobbing writer named William Gibson.
Gibson had been immersed in the counterculture scene since his late teens. He took mind-altering substances, sold drug paraphernalia and became close friends with punk musician John Shirley. Shirley encouraged his then-nascent writing and the result was 1986’s ‘Burning Chrome’ demonstrating the purest distillation...
Far from arriving fully-formed in 1984’s ‘Neuromancer’, the sci-fi subgenre now dubbed ‘Cyberpunk’ was not was a melting pot of ideas first developed by writers such as Philip K. Dick, Jg Ballard and Harlan Ellison. Projecting their paranoia of capitalist enterprises gaining more and more control over our lives and sedating any resistance through ubiquitous cheap sex and chemically distraction. The aesthetic elements-dense cityscapes covered in neon, integrated Western & Eastern cultures-were drawn from Japanese Cyberpunk, influenced by the country’s urban architecture and culture. All of which proved appealing to a young jobbing writer named William Gibson.
Gibson had been immersed in the counterculture scene since his late teens. He took mind-altering substances, sold drug paraphernalia and became close friends with punk musician John Shirley. Shirley encouraged his then-nascent writing and the result was 1986’s ‘Burning Chrome’ demonstrating the purest distillation...
- 5/10/2021
- by Liam Macleod
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The latest in our series of writers defending films hated by many is an ode to the 1995 William Gibson adaptation starring Keanu Reeves as a tech antihero
Johnny Mnemonic, Robert Longo’s 1995 William Gibson adaptation, offers a wide target for derision. The more cynical among us might scoff at the depiction of technology run amok in “the future” (the film is set in 2021), the irrepressibly sweet earnestness of Keanu Reeves’ cynical antihero, and (spoiler alert) the salvation of humanity coming in the form of a cybernetically enhanced dolphin (“It’s a Fish!?!” yells an incredulous Keanu). The very premise of the story – that Keanu (as data smuggler Johnny) has so much information contained within his brain that it may explode at any time – may even be enough to raise a smirk.
Related: Hear me out: why The Paperboy isn’t a bad movie...
Johnny Mnemonic, Robert Longo’s 1995 William Gibson adaptation, offers a wide target for derision. The more cynical among us might scoff at the depiction of technology run amok in “the future” (the film is set in 2021), the irrepressibly sweet earnestness of Keanu Reeves’ cynical antihero, and (spoiler alert) the salvation of humanity coming in the form of a cybernetically enhanced dolphin (“It’s a Fish!?!” yells an incredulous Keanu). The very premise of the story – that Keanu (as data smuggler Johnny) has so much information contained within his brain that it may explode at any time – may even be enough to raise a smirk.
Related: Hear me out: why The Paperboy isn’t a bad movie...
- 4/30/2021
- by Rowan Righelato
- The Guardian - Film News
“I’ve always been a write-what-you-know kind of guy,” Bob Mould says on what he describes as a rainy San Francisco morning. “So this time, I was trying to consciously create a little bit of a different world to work in.”
He ended up changing his world in two ways. On one hand, he radically overhauled his life and relocated himself to Berlin for big parts of the past few years. He doesn’t speak German, but he’s immersed himself in the culture, going clubbing again and enjoying a change of pace.
He ended up changing his world in two ways. On one hand, he radically overhauled his life and relocated himself to Berlin for big parts of the past few years. He doesn’t speak German, but he’s immersed himself in the culture, going clubbing again and enjoying a change of pace.
- 2/7/2019
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Before you strap on the goggles for Spielberg's Ready Player One, let's take a look at another virtual reality "classic". Johnny Mnemonic (1995) Director: Robert Longo Stars: Keanu Reeves, Dina Meyer, Dolph Lundgren A digital courier carrying highly sensitive information in his brain must stay alive long enough to figure out why everyone wants to kill him. a.k.a. The Transporter... Read More...
- 3/28/2018
- by Jason Adams
- JoBlo.com
Robert Longo: The Destroyer Cycle Metro Pictures Gallery, NYC May 3 - June 17, 2017
Looking at the career of the artist Robert Longo can be a philosophical meditation on style. Style, as opposed to stylization, is a key to understanding Longo’s importance as an artist, both at the beginning of his career with the Men in Cities drawings, through his large charcoal drawings of guns, to his blue-chip Abstract Expressionist paintings, and into this recent, powerful exhibition at Metro Pictures.
A lot of art that we place in the category “Eighties Art” (see this year’s Whitney exhibition, a perfect collection of specimens) rested heavily on stylization, not style. Much of this type of work was paintings that came with pre-fab “movements,” object-sculptures allegedly imbued with some post-modern sensibilities, and, most especially, the adding of “neo-“ before any historical art movement to create a new category. At first, Longo’s...
Looking at the career of the artist Robert Longo can be a philosophical meditation on style. Style, as opposed to stylization, is a key to understanding Longo’s importance as an artist, both at the beginning of his career with the Men in Cities drawings, through his large charcoal drawings of guns, to his blue-chip Abstract Expressionist paintings, and into this recent, powerful exhibition at Metro Pictures.
A lot of art that we place in the category “Eighties Art” (see this year’s Whitney exhibition, a perfect collection of specimens) rested heavily on stylization, not style. Much of this type of work was paintings that came with pre-fab “movements,” object-sculptures allegedly imbued with some post-modern sensibilities, and, most especially, the adding of “neo-“ before any historical art movement to create a new category. At first, Longo’s...
- 5/23/2017
- by bradleyrubenstein
- www.culturecatch.com
All feature new 2K remasters from Office Kitano!
The first 1000 copies of each feature cardboard slipcases with new illustrated artwork by Marie Bergeron supported by Filmdoo’s Film Creativity Competition.
All 3 now available to pre-order at: http://amzn.to/20wQ1BA
Hana-bi – January 11th
30 minute documentary from the film’s original release
Interview with Takeshi Kitano from the film’s original release
New Audio commentary by film critic Mark Schilling
New trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwTWtAE3ylY
Kikujiro – February 22nd
Jam Session – 90 minute documentary on Kikujiro directed by the award-winning Japanese director Makoto Shinozaki
Dolls – March 14th
Interviews with Takeshi Kitano, Miho Kanno, Hidetoshi Nishijima & Yohij Yamamoto
Behind the Scenes
Video from the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival
Takeshi Kitano – Biography
The success of Hana-bi has confirmed Takeshi Kitano as a leading figure of international cinema. Among its numerous awards, Hana-bi won the Golden...
The first 1000 copies of each feature cardboard slipcases with new illustrated artwork by Marie Bergeron supported by Filmdoo’s Film Creativity Competition.
All 3 now available to pre-order at: http://amzn.to/20wQ1BA
Hana-bi – January 11th
30 minute documentary from the film’s original release
Interview with Takeshi Kitano from the film’s original release
New Audio commentary by film critic Mark Schilling
New trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwTWtAE3ylY
Kikujiro – February 22nd
Jam Session – 90 minute documentary on Kikujiro directed by the award-winning Japanese director Makoto Shinozaki
Dolls – March 14th
Interviews with Takeshi Kitano, Miho Kanno, Hidetoshi Nishijima & Yohij Yamamoto
Behind the Scenes
Video from the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival
Takeshi Kitano – Biography
The success of Hana-bi has confirmed Takeshi Kitano as a leading figure of international cinema. Among its numerous awards, Hana-bi won the Golden...
- 1/7/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
On May 26th, 1995, music video director and artist Robert Longo made his directorial debut with Johnny Mnemonic, an adaptation of William Gibson’s futuristic short story of the same name (Gibson also penned the screenplay) that starred Keanu Reeves in the titular role as a “mnemonic courier” who finds himself in the middle of a corporate conspiracy with implications for all of mankind.
Johnny Mnemonic celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, and while it may not necessarily be a film many sci-fi fans celebrate, it’s always held a special place in my heart, undoubtedly being one of the coolest films I saw that year and one that also revitalized the cyberpunk film movement (yes, even before The Matrix came along and did it a bit more effectively).
For the uninitiated, Johnny Mnemonic transports us to the year 2021; in the opening text crawl, we learn that corporations have taken over...
Johnny Mnemonic celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, and while it may not necessarily be a film many sci-fi fans celebrate, it’s always held a special place in my heart, undoubtedly being one of the coolest films I saw that year and one that also revitalized the cyberpunk film movement (yes, even before The Matrix came along and did it a bit more effectively).
For the uninitiated, Johnny Mnemonic transports us to the year 2021; in the opening text crawl, we learn that corporations have taken over...
- 5/22/2015
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
One of the few big-screen adaptations of William Gibson's sci-fi, Johnny Mnemonic was largely ignored at the box-office. Kyle looks back...
By the time Johnny Mnemonic was released in 1995, screenwriter William Gibson had been writing innovative science fiction for almost 20 years. Since his first short story – the brilliant Fragments Of A Hologram Rose – was published back in 1977, Gibson had been making serious waves in the sci-fi community. He's perhaps most well-known for his game-changing 1984 novel, Neuromancer, a dark neo-noir filled with console-cowboys, sentient AIs and virtual reality – all common elements now, but Gibson's work still stands as a milestone in sci-fi literature. Gibson created the term 'cyberspace' and is seen as one of the forefathers of cyberpunk.
It's weird, then, that his novels and stories never translated to the silver screen before the mid-90s. Gibson himself had taken a pass at Alien 3 (though most of his ideas were quickly disposed of,...
By the time Johnny Mnemonic was released in 1995, screenwriter William Gibson had been writing innovative science fiction for almost 20 years. Since his first short story – the brilliant Fragments Of A Hologram Rose – was published back in 1977, Gibson had been making serious waves in the sci-fi community. He's perhaps most well-known for his game-changing 1984 novel, Neuromancer, a dark neo-noir filled with console-cowboys, sentient AIs and virtual reality – all common elements now, but Gibson's work still stands as a milestone in sci-fi literature. Gibson created the term 'cyberspace' and is seen as one of the forefathers of cyberpunk.
It's weird, then, that his novels and stories never translated to the silver screen before the mid-90s. Gibson himself had taken a pass at Alien 3 (though most of his ideas were quickly disposed of,...
- 8/14/2014
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Keanu Reeves movie Johnny Mnemonic is to be adapted for television.
The 1995 sci-fi thriller - inspired by a short story by William Gibson - is being remade for TV by Seven Arts Entertainment.
Johnny Mnemonic followed a data trafficker (Reeves) with a cybernetic implant that allows his brain to carry huge amounts of digital data.
Dolph Lundgren and Ice-t also appeared in the movie version, from director Robert Longo.
Prodigy Pictures will distribute the series as a joint venture with Seven Arts.
"We are delighted to expand our relationship with Prodigy Pictures, which has had stellar successes in television and mini-series production," said Seven Arts' CEO Peter Hoffman.
"Jay [Firestone of Prodigy Pictures] has been prominent in the area of international television production for over 20 years with a wide array of important relationships.
"Jay shares our enthusiasm for all three projects. He has already attached well-known television writers who were part of the successful Stargate series to Johnny Mnemonic.
The 1995 sci-fi thriller - inspired by a short story by William Gibson - is being remade for TV by Seven Arts Entertainment.
Johnny Mnemonic followed a data trafficker (Reeves) with a cybernetic implant that allows his brain to carry huge amounts of digital data.
Dolph Lundgren and Ice-t also appeared in the movie version, from director Robert Longo.
Prodigy Pictures will distribute the series as a joint venture with Seven Arts.
"We are delighted to expand our relationship with Prodigy Pictures, which has had stellar successes in television and mini-series production," said Seven Arts' CEO Peter Hoffman.
"Jay [Firestone of Prodigy Pictures] has been prominent in the area of international television production for over 20 years with a wide array of important relationships.
"Jay shares our enthusiasm for all three projects. He has already attached well-known television writers who were part of the successful Stargate series to Johnny Mnemonic.
- 4/26/2013
- Digital Spy
Johnny Mnemonic
Written by William Gibson
Directed by Robert Longo
Canada/USA, 1995
Perhaps the greatest gift of 1999′s The Matrix wasn’t its revolutionary effects work but its contemplative subject matter at the peak of Y2K insanity. Of course it has some obvious stoner philosophy, and its two sequels get bogged down in their own convoluted mythology, but the Wachowskis’ original feature remains a remarkable sci-fi vision of the perils of technological dependence.
What many forget is that only four years prior, Keanu Reeves starred in another futurist depiction of conspiracy, rebel resistance, and hacker-fueled paranoia. The year is 2021, and Keanu plays Johnny. If you ask him, it’s “just Johnny,” although those well-mannered enough may address him as Mr. Mnemonic. Johnny is a human courier, capable of storing “massive” amounts of classified data in his brain as a secure, portable transportation device — an extremely profitable occupation in “the Sprawl,...
Written by William Gibson
Directed by Robert Longo
Canada/USA, 1995
Perhaps the greatest gift of 1999′s The Matrix wasn’t its revolutionary effects work but its contemplative subject matter at the peak of Y2K insanity. Of course it has some obvious stoner philosophy, and its two sequels get bogged down in their own convoluted mythology, but the Wachowskis’ original feature remains a remarkable sci-fi vision of the perils of technological dependence.
What many forget is that only four years prior, Keanu Reeves starred in another futurist depiction of conspiracy, rebel resistance, and hacker-fueled paranoia. The year is 2021, and Keanu plays Johnny. If you ask him, it’s “just Johnny,” although those well-mannered enough may address him as Mr. Mnemonic. Johnny is a human courier, capable of storing “massive” amounts of classified data in his brain as a secure, portable transportation device — an extremely profitable occupation in “the Sprawl,...
- 2/27/2013
- by David Klein
- SoundOnSight
Five brave films have made Tiff stand out in a very particular way for me this year. Usually I, among hordes of others, am busiest chasing down the next Academy Award contenders, the high priced U.S. acquisitions or the major sleeper of the festival. Those films are repeatedly covered by the trades, and my Rights Roundup will keep a running talley on all announced pickups worldwide of all the films.
These other brave films are the films which motivate our best filmmakers to create works of art in the first place of filmmaking on my charts.
I already covered Annemarie Jacir's newest film, When I Saw You (Isa: The Match Factory), about a young Palestinian boy in 1967 who, when placed in a Jordanian camp with his mother, insists on returning to his home to find his father. Annemarie is a beautifully determined Jordanian filmmaker who will make films which reflect our world's diversity, speaking out for women and children who would otherwise have no voice. Although there are several films dealing with these refugee camps of Palestinians which were supposed to be temporary but have remained in countries such as Lebanon and Jordan. for three generations, further marginalizing the dispossessed, this one stands out for me because it shows the woman and child in their own private spheres, marginalizing the male politics of the situation. The child's refusal to accept artificial barriers and borders triumphs in the end. That is the only hope for world unity.
Its opposite is realized in Costa Gavras' new film Capital, where money and corporate interests know no borders, and the socialist dream is turned on its head. This film was supported by the French; When I Saw You was supported by Abu Dhabi film funds. Both are important views of life in two vastly different segments of the world today. Will either see wide distribution? The Match Factory who has the most films in Toronto of any sales agent is selling the former and Elle Driver is selling the latter. We'll watch the sales on these two issue oriented dramas' sales.
Another film The Match Factory is handling is Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta, another filmmaker who is fearless in facing deeply philosophical and important issue. Hannah Arendt, one of the greatest political analysts of the Xx° century, who coined the phrase, "the banality of evil" when she covered the Jerusalem trial of Adolph Eichmann in 1961, and, in so doing, lost many of her best friends, is here portrayed by Barbara Sukowa, who revives the 60s in the New York German Jewish intellectual milieu, reminding us of the days when the New School was tackling tough issues and New Yorker magazine was articulating issues of great importance which today are just as urgent as they were then. The nature of totalitarianism includes victims and oppressors in a cycle of silence which in turn, creates evil because no one speaks up to protest. It took Von Trotta 10 years to make this film in spite of her winning the Venice Fest's Golden Lion for Marianne and Juliane in 1981, a story sharing the theme that von Trotta uses throughout her works, that “the personal is political", or Barbara Sukowa's winning Best Actress for in Venice for the same movie and Best Actress at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival for her work in von Trotta's film Rosa Luxemburg. The New York of this story ("Paradise" as the most wonderful Barbara Sukowa named it in Hannah Arendt) is so well captured because Barbara Sukowa is not only the consummate German as seen in her roles in Fassbinder's films but is also a longtime New Yorker, married to the artist Robert Longo. In addition to those credentials, the scriptwriter is Pamela Katz who wrote Von Trotta's Rosenstrasse is also a New Yorker married to the German Dp Florian Ballhaus (The Devil Wears Prada), the son of the legendary Michael Ballhaus. They all live in the same New York that they inherited from the very people they recreate in the film!
And yet another brave film about a brave woman is The Patience Stone (Isa: Le Pacte) by Atik Rahimi which was just picked up for U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics which will ignite a lot more sales for Le Pacte and which puts it into the Best Foreign Language Academy Award company for 2012. So far, Brazil is the only buyer registered on Cinando. Watch the film on Cinando! It is pure poetry. Piers Handling himself recommended it and it was the buzz film of the festival. It is a movie which Muslim fundamentalists would never allow to be made; and they will hate it.
The issue of religious fundamentalism was also treated with great delicacy in Mira Nair's story of cross cultural belief systems at odds. The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Isa: K5 International who also sold the great sleeper, The Visitors) stars Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber and Kiefer Sutherland. Riz Ahmed who also starred in Trishna is someone who you will want to see again, and I hope we see him soon! He graduated Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later enrolled into London's Central School of Speech and Drama. He's quoted in IMDb as saying, "[Oxford University] is socially unrepresentative about the real world. The first person I met, I asked to borrow a phone charger. She looked at me, laughed in my face, and told me with no irony or malice that I looked just like Ali G." Ironically, he reminds me of Gordon Warnicke who played Omar in My Beautiful Laundrette and who is British born of South American and German ancestry (and who is probably Jewish). IFC snapped up North American rights to this outstanding film in which Pakistan and Wall Street unite and divide as a smart young Pakistani enters the Hallowed Halls of the Ivy League, Big Business on Wall Street and High Society via Romance until September 11, 2001 shatters the illusions of peace and prosperity we all had been harboring.
There are many more brave and wonderful films which screened this year at Tiff, but for me, these were the ones I was honored to catch. I hope my readers get the chance to see these!
These other brave films are the films which motivate our best filmmakers to create works of art in the first place of filmmaking on my charts.
I already covered Annemarie Jacir's newest film, When I Saw You (Isa: The Match Factory), about a young Palestinian boy in 1967 who, when placed in a Jordanian camp with his mother, insists on returning to his home to find his father. Annemarie is a beautifully determined Jordanian filmmaker who will make films which reflect our world's diversity, speaking out for women and children who would otherwise have no voice. Although there are several films dealing with these refugee camps of Palestinians which were supposed to be temporary but have remained in countries such as Lebanon and Jordan. for three generations, further marginalizing the dispossessed, this one stands out for me because it shows the woman and child in their own private spheres, marginalizing the male politics of the situation. The child's refusal to accept artificial barriers and borders triumphs in the end. That is the only hope for world unity.
Its opposite is realized in Costa Gavras' new film Capital, where money and corporate interests know no borders, and the socialist dream is turned on its head. This film was supported by the French; When I Saw You was supported by Abu Dhabi film funds. Both are important views of life in two vastly different segments of the world today. Will either see wide distribution? The Match Factory who has the most films in Toronto of any sales agent is selling the former and Elle Driver is selling the latter. We'll watch the sales on these two issue oriented dramas' sales.
Another film The Match Factory is handling is Hannah Arendt, directed by Margarethe von Trotta, another filmmaker who is fearless in facing deeply philosophical and important issue. Hannah Arendt, one of the greatest political analysts of the Xx° century, who coined the phrase, "the banality of evil" when she covered the Jerusalem trial of Adolph Eichmann in 1961, and, in so doing, lost many of her best friends, is here portrayed by Barbara Sukowa, who revives the 60s in the New York German Jewish intellectual milieu, reminding us of the days when the New School was tackling tough issues and New Yorker magazine was articulating issues of great importance which today are just as urgent as they were then. The nature of totalitarianism includes victims and oppressors in a cycle of silence which in turn, creates evil because no one speaks up to protest. It took Von Trotta 10 years to make this film in spite of her winning the Venice Fest's Golden Lion for Marianne and Juliane in 1981, a story sharing the theme that von Trotta uses throughout her works, that “the personal is political", or Barbara Sukowa's winning Best Actress for in Venice for the same movie and Best Actress at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival for her work in von Trotta's film Rosa Luxemburg. The New York of this story ("Paradise" as the most wonderful Barbara Sukowa named it in Hannah Arendt) is so well captured because Barbara Sukowa is not only the consummate German as seen in her roles in Fassbinder's films but is also a longtime New Yorker, married to the artist Robert Longo. In addition to those credentials, the scriptwriter is Pamela Katz who wrote Von Trotta's Rosenstrasse is also a New Yorker married to the German Dp Florian Ballhaus (The Devil Wears Prada), the son of the legendary Michael Ballhaus. They all live in the same New York that they inherited from the very people they recreate in the film!
And yet another brave film about a brave woman is The Patience Stone (Isa: Le Pacte) by Atik Rahimi which was just picked up for U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics which will ignite a lot more sales for Le Pacte and which puts it into the Best Foreign Language Academy Award company for 2012. So far, Brazil is the only buyer registered on Cinando. Watch the film on Cinando! It is pure poetry. Piers Handling himself recommended it and it was the buzz film of the festival. It is a movie which Muslim fundamentalists would never allow to be made; and they will hate it.
The issue of religious fundamentalism was also treated with great delicacy in Mira Nair's story of cross cultural belief systems at odds. The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Isa: K5 International who also sold the great sleeper, The Visitors) stars Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber and Kiefer Sutherland. Riz Ahmed who also starred in Trishna is someone who you will want to see again, and I hope we see him soon! He graduated Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later enrolled into London's Central School of Speech and Drama. He's quoted in IMDb as saying, "[Oxford University] is socially unrepresentative about the real world. The first person I met, I asked to borrow a phone charger. She looked at me, laughed in my face, and told me with no irony or malice that I looked just like Ali G." Ironically, he reminds me of Gordon Warnicke who played Omar in My Beautiful Laundrette and who is British born of South American and German ancestry (and who is probably Jewish). IFC snapped up North American rights to this outstanding film in which Pakistan and Wall Street unite and divide as a smart young Pakistani enters the Hallowed Halls of the Ivy League, Big Business on Wall Street and High Society via Romance until September 11, 2001 shatters the illusions of peace and prosperity we all had been harboring.
There are many more brave and wonderful films which screened this year at Tiff, but for me, these were the ones I was honored to catch. I hope my readers get the chance to see these!
- 9/17/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Originally, Justin Timberlake's new sci-fi action flick was called "Now." Apparently, though, that title didn't effectively communicate what the movie was all about, which isn't exactly surprising because what the movie, now called "In Time," is all about is kinda high-concept and confusing.
Go with us (and Jt) for a second. In this cinematic future, overpopulation was a biiiiiiig problem, so scientists figured out how to slice and dice the human genome to the point where aging stops when you're 25. Seeing as how people like living and don't want to die young, time has become the new currency, something earned during work and spent like cash. How exactly time can be earned, stolen and kept track of on a fancy neon clock on your arm (as well as why everyone in the future is so damn good looking) is never really explained.
And why should it be? Confounding high-concept plots are a Hollywood staple.
Go with us (and Jt) for a second. In this cinematic future, overpopulation was a biiiiiiig problem, so scientists figured out how to slice and dice the human genome to the point where aging stops when you're 25. Seeing as how people like living and don't want to die young, time has become the new currency, something earned during work and spent like cash. How exactly time can be earned, stolen and kept track of on a fancy neon clock on your arm (as well as why everyone in the future is so damn good looking) is never really explained.
And why should it be? Confounding high-concept plots are a Hollywood staple.
- 10/28/2011
- by Eric Ditzian
- MTV Movies Blog
Rank the week of June 14th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time:new Releasesbattle:los Angeles
(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #3294
Times Ranked: 3631
Win Percentage: 42%
Top-20 Rankings: 9
Directed By: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Aaron Eckhart • Ramon Rodriguez
Cory Hardrict • Gino Anthony Pesi • Ne-Yo
Genres: Action • Action Thriller • Alien Invasion Films • Apocalyptic Film • Science Fiction • Sci-Fi Action • Thriller
Rank This Movie
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #19020
Times Ranked: 83
Win Percentage: 31%
Top-20 Rankings: 1
Directed By: John Whitesell
Starring: Martin Lawrence • Brandon T. Jackson
Jessica Lucas • Michelle Ang • Portia Doubleday
Genres: Comedy • Police Comedy
Rank This Movie
Hall Pass
(DVD and Blu-ray | R | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #5878
Times Ranked: 1164
Win Percentage: 40%
Top-20 Rankings: 4
Directed By: Bobby & Peter Farrelly
Starring: Owen Wilson • Jason Sudeikis • Jenna Fischer • Christina Applegate • Nicky Whelan
Genres: Comedy • Romantic Comedy
Rank This Movie
Kill The Irishman
(DVD and Blu-ray | R | 2011)
Flickchart...
(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #3294
Times Ranked: 3631
Win Percentage: 42%
Top-20 Rankings: 9
Directed By: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Aaron Eckhart • Ramon Rodriguez
Cory Hardrict • Gino Anthony Pesi • Ne-Yo
Genres: Action • Action Thriller • Alien Invasion Films • Apocalyptic Film • Science Fiction • Sci-Fi Action • Thriller
Rank This Movie
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #19020
Times Ranked: 83
Win Percentage: 31%
Top-20 Rankings: 1
Directed By: John Whitesell
Starring: Martin Lawrence • Brandon T. Jackson
Jessica Lucas • Michelle Ang • Portia Doubleday
Genres: Comedy • Police Comedy
Rank This Movie
Hall Pass
(DVD and Blu-ray | R | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #5878
Times Ranked: 1164
Win Percentage: 40%
Top-20 Rankings: 4
Directed By: Bobby & Peter Farrelly
Starring: Owen Wilson • Jason Sudeikis • Jenna Fischer • Christina Applegate • Nicky Whelan
Genres: Comedy • Romantic Comedy
Rank This Movie
Kill The Irishman
(DVD and Blu-ray | R | 2011)
Flickchart...
- 6/14/2011
- by Jonathan Hardesty
- Flickchart
Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be The Same is not your traditional documentary per se, it doesn’t have narration or a heavy handed point of view. Instead it lulls the audience into an ambient hypnosis, delving deep into an intimate portrait of a complex artist, Brock Enright. Most likely you haven’t heard about this film, but don’t let that deter you from seeking out this excellent and intriguing documentary, now available on Blu-Ray and Netflix, from first time director Jody Lee Lipes. This strikingly assured debut from the extremely talented Lipes, better known in the indie community for his bold Roger Deakins-esque cinematography (Afterschool, Tiny Furniture, NY Export: Jazz Opus), is more like a glimpse into the window of someone’s life during a very transformative and creative process.
The film focuses on emerging New York artist Brock Enright as he prepares a career defining...
The film focuses on emerging New York artist Brock Enright as he prepares a career defining...
- 7/1/2010
- by Raffi Asdourian
- The Film Stage
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