No1 Alien Nation (Baker, 1988): Dissenting Academy, 7pm
This is a Cigarette Burns production. Here is their introduction: We welcome in the new year with Savage Cinema and the over looked sci-fi, buddy cop movie - ALIEN NATION.
It's been three years since the Newcomers first arrived and while some success has been made at integration, we humans, aren't the kindest of folks and so the situation is certainly tense. Sykes (James Cann) teams up with with newcomer San Francisico (Mandy Patinkin) to solve a series of homicides.
ALIEN NATION went on to spawn a short lived TV series in the states, which I have quite fond memories of...
Roasts and booze will be on hand, all set to the whirring sound of 16mm celluloid… reserve sofas on 02072496430
No 2 Neighbouring Sounds (Filho, 2012) & Gloria (Lelio, 2012): Rio Cinema, 1pm
Here's a great 'South American Ways' double-bill from the Rio.
Time Out review of Neighbouring Sounds:
'It’s difficult to remember a first feature as bullishly confident as this horror-tinged social melodrama from Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho. The opening credits alone make for a more riveting sequence than many filmmakers manage in their entire career: over a backdrop of clattering, building drums, we’re shown images of Brazil’s divided past: rich and poor families struggling to survive and make their mark on a new frontier. Cut to a swooping tracking shot of a little girl on rollerskates, and we’re away. The film is set in the ocean-side middle-class suburb of Recife, where dwellings are split between well-off families and their servants. Most of the local houses and tower blocks are owned by Seu Francisco (WJ Solha) who, with his son, Joao (Gustavo Jahn), acts as a largely benevolent overlord in the neighbourhood. But when a series of burglaries set residents on edge, Francisco agrees to employ the services of security expert Cladoaldo (Irandhir Santos) and his gang of no-bullshit community patrolmen. Essentially a bustling portrait of modern Brazil – with nods to past tragedies – ‘Neighbouring Sounds’ derives its power from Filho’s unusual directorial choices. Utilising techniques learned from horror movies – rumbling low-level noise, effective, unexpected shocks – he creates a sense of mounting dread and lurking evil. It doesn’t always work – the film promises a little more than it delivers, and at over two hours there are moments where it drags. But as a statement of intent, ‘Neighbouring Sounds’ is incredibly bold.'
Tom Huddleston
Here and above is the trailer
******
Hollywood Reporter review of Gloria:
It’s hard to imagine anyone with a heart and a brain not responding to the quiet delights and stunning intimacy of Chilean director Sebastian Lelio’s account of the personal evolution of a 58-year-old divorcee, played with scrupulous honesty and intelligence by the wonderful Paulina Garcia. A large part of the cumulative joy of this movie is considering all the ways in which the story might have been mishandled. Midlife sexual desire, second-chance romance, the hunger for companionship, the challenging path toward self-reliance -- these are all potential minefields ready to set off explosions of mawkish cliché. But Gloria is a work of maturity, depth and emotional insight. There’s not a single false note here to push the uplifting empowerment or resilience angles, or the conclusion that having a man is not a requirement in order to feel complete. Yet those nonstrident feminist themes emerge organically, without the need to be articulated.
David Rooney
Here is the trailer.
No comments:
Post a Comment