2013 – Page 11 – Moviewallas

Episode 179 – Oz The Great and Powerful / Jack the Giant Slayer

Moviewallas

This week’s episode of Moviewallas is brought to you by:

– Oz the Great and Powerful

– Jack the Giant Slayer

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:25 — 30.7MB)

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A Place at The Table | Review

Directors Moviewallas Opinion Review Sneak Peek

A good documentary should both educate and entertain and Directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush fulfill both of these criteria in their newest movie A Place at The Table.

poster

If Participant Media’s exceptional 2008 documentary Food Inc. asked us to take a closer look at where our food comes from then their new documentary A Place at the Table, takes a look at the issues that face an estimated 50 million men, women, and children — described by policy makers and advocates as “food insecure.” Hunger is not just a third world problem. One in four children in the US don’t know where their next meal is coming from. This issue is examined through the lens of three people struggling with food insecurity: Barbie, a single mother who grew up in poverty and is trying to provide a better life for her kids; Rosie, a fifth-grader who often has to depend on friends and neighbors to feed her and has trouble concentrating in school; and Tremonica, a second-grader whose asthma and health issues are exacerbated by the largely empty calories her hardworking mother can afford. In addition, we have the benefits of insights from sociologist Janet Poppendieck, author Raj Patel and nutrition policy leader Marion Nestle and activists such as Witness to Hunger’s Mariana Chilton, Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio and Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges.

This documentary manages to infuriate the viewer at the lack of action being taken and ask the larger question about how hunger poses serious economic, social and cultural implications for our nation. More importantly it makes one wonder how this can be happening in 2013 in a first world country. Although not a highly political movie, this does make you question politics and the use of hungry people as pawns in a complicated chess game.

The movie is well constructed and well paced and manages to stay focused on the hunger issue versus opening up the larger can of worms around why poverty even exists in this century in the US. Any movie that can succeed at making a crowd want to take action is one worth watching and I certainly felt roused enough to at least check out the website and find out more at www.takepart.com/place-at-the-table

A Place at the Table opens in theaters 1^st March 2013. Check local listings for showtimes

Episode 178 – Warm Bodies / Beautiful Creatures

Moviewallas

In Episode 178 of Moviewallas we talk about what Joe refers to as “teenage lovey type things“…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:08 — 23.1MB)

Visit www.moviewallas.com for reviews, articles, film festival coverage and more!

Episode 177 – Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters / Side Effects

Moviewallas Podcast Reviews

In this episode of Moviewallas we review:

– Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters

– Side Effects

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:59 — 27.5MB)

Visit www.moviewallas.com for reviews, articles, film festival coverage and more!

FILMING BEGINS ON ALCON ENTERTAINMENT’S “PRISONERS” | MOVIE NEWS

Moviewallas

Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal head an outstanding cast in director Denis Villeneuve’s dramatic thriller

BURBANK, CA – February 20, 2013 – Principal photography is underway on location in Georgia for Alcon Entertainment’s “Prisoners,” a Warner Bros. Pictures’ release starring Oscar® nominees Hugh Jackman (“Les Misérables”) and Jake Gyllenhaal (“Brokeback Mountain”), under the direction of Denis Villeneuve, who helmed the Oscar®-nominated foreign language film “Incendies.”

How far would you go to protect your child? Keller Dover (Jackman) is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces the only suspect’s release.

Knowing his child’s life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. The desperate father will do whatever it takes to find the girls, but in doing so, he may lose himself, begging the question: When do you cross the line between seeking justice and becoming a vigilante?

Led by Jackman and Gyllenhaal, the dramatic thriller “Prisoners” features an all- star cast, including Maria Bello (“Beautiful Boy”) as Keller’s distraught wife, Grace; Oscar® nominees Terrence Howard (“Hustle & Flow”) and Viola Davis (“The Help,” “Doubt”) as Franklin and Nancy Birch, whose daughter Joy went missing with the Dovers’; Academy Award® winner Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”) as Alex Jones’ Aunt Holly; and Paul Dano (“Looper”) as Alex Jones.

Denis Villeneuve directs the film from an original screenplay by Aaron Guzikowski (“Contraband”). Kira Davis, Adam Kolbrenner, and Academy Award® nominees Broderick Johnson and Andrew A. Kosove (“The Blind Side”) are the producers, with John Starke, Ed McDonnell, Stephen Levinson, Robyn Meisinger and Mark Wahlberg serving as executive producers.

Villeneuve is supported by a top-flight creative team that includes 10-time Oscar®-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins (“Skyfall”), Oscar®-nominated production designer Patrice Vermette (“The Young Victoria”), Oscar®-winning editor Joel Cox (“Unforgiven”), editor Gary Roach (“J. Edgar”), and costume designer Renée April (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”).

Alcon Entertainment’s “Prisoners” is scheduled for release on September 20, 2013, and will be distributed domestically by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Lore | Review

Moviewallas Reviews

LORE, the second film from Australian director Cate Shortland (Somersault) is a riveting and complex look into a rarely seen legacy of the Holocaust.

When her SS officer father and mother, a staunch Nazi believer, are captured by the allies at the end of World War II, Lore, a fourteen-year-old German girl (Saskia Rosendahl) is left to fend for herself and must lead her four siblings on a harrowing journey across a devastated country. When she meets the charismatic and mysterious young refugee Thomas, (Kai Malina, The White Ribbon,) Lore soon finds her world shattered by feelings of hatred and desire as she must put her trust in the very person she was always taught to hate in order to survive.

Lore is more than an average coming of age tale as it slowly simmers, teasing and testing us with the question “How can someone be wrong for believing what they are raised to” and more importantly that there are always casualties on both sides of any war. The story is a triumph in showing how far one goes to protect the ones that they love and to whom they are duty bound.

Striking newcomer Saskia Rosendahl is a pleasure to watch and will certainly be noticed for this mesmerizing performance in the title role. Her quiet beauty and display of emotion is admirable for someone so young and she is supported by an equally talented younger cast.

Screenwriters Shortland and Robin Mukherjee have done a marvelous job of adapting Rachel Seiffert’s novel The Dark Room (Man Booker Prize finalist, LA Times Prize for First Fiction). In fact, Random House will re-publish the novel The Dark Room to coincide with the film’s February theatrical release.

Cinematographer Adam Arkapaw (Animal Kingdom, Snowtown) does an equally fine job of capturing the bleak and lush landscapes of the countryside. At times we feel like we are watching a painting unfolding.

LORE opened in Los Angeles and New York on February 8 and will be followed by a national roll-out

Winner: Audience Award, 2012 Locarno Film Festival

Winner: Golden Starfish Narrative Feature Award, 2012 Hamptons Film Festival

Winner: Kodak Award for Cinematography, 2012 Hamptons Film Festival

Winner: Bronze Horse for Best Film, Saskia Rosendahl for Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Musical Score, 2012 Stockholm Film Festival

Winner: Best Film, 2012 Hamburg Film Festival

Official Selection: 2012 Toronto International Film Festival-Special Presentations

Official Selection: 2012 Locarno Film Festival Winner: Audience Award

Official Selection: 2012 Sydney Film Festival

2013 Australian Film Institute Awards (Australian Oscars)- Nominated for Best Film, Best Young Actor, Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Sound