Friday, March 23, 2012

The Raid: Redemption




The Raid: Redemption (Indonesian: Serbuan maut; also known as The Raid) is a 2011 Indonesian martial arts action film written and directed by Gareth Evans and starring Iko Uwais. This is the second collaboration of Evans and Uwais after their first action film, Merantau released in 2009. Both films showcase the traditional Indonesian martial art pencak silat. The fight choreographers of The Raid are Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian who also worked on Merantau. The U.S. release of the film features music by Mike Shinoda and Joseph Trapanese.
After its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), The Raid received positive reviews from critics. The name of the film was changed to The Raid: Redemption in the United States because the production company Sony Pictures Classics could not secure the rights to the title; this also allowed Evans to plan out future titles in the series. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on August 14, 2012 in the US.




The Deep Blue Sea



The Deep Blue Sea is a British drama film directed by Terence Davies and starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale. It is an adaptation of the 1952 Terence Rattigan play The Deep Blue Sea about the wife of a Judge who engages in an affair with a former RAF pilot. This film version is funded by the UK Film Council and Film4, produced by Sean O'Connor and Kate Ogborn. Filming began in late 2010 and it was released in the UK in 2011, the year of Terence Rattigan's centenary. It was released in the United States in 2012 by distributor Music Box Films.


The Hunger Games



The Hunger Games is a 2012 American science fiction film directed by Gary Ross and based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins. The film was produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, with a screenplay by Ross, Collins, and Billy Ray. It stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, and Donald Sutherland.
The story takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future in the nation of Panem, where boys and girls aged 12–18 must participate in the Hunger Games, a televised annual event in which the "tributes" are required to fight to the death until there is one remaining victor. The protagonist, Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence), volunteers to take her younger sister's place in the games. Joined by her district's male tribute Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson), Katniss travels to the Capitol to train for the Hunger Games under the guidance of former victor Haymitch Abernathy (Harrelson).
The film was released on March 21, 2012, in France[6] and in the US on March 23, 2012, in both conventional theaters and digital IMAX theaters. Japan received it last, on September 28. When the film released, it set records for opening day ($67.3 million) and opening weekend for a non-sequel. At the time of its release, the film's opening weekend gross ($152.5 million) was the third-largest of any movie in North America. It is the first film since Avatar to remain in first place at the North American box office for four consecutive weekends.The movie was a massive box-office success by grossing $685 million worldwide against its budget of $78 million.[4] It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 18, 2012.
The Hunger Games received positive reviews, with praise for its themes and messages, as well as Lawrence's performance as Katniss. Like the novel, the film has attracted criticism for its similarities to other works, such as the Japanese novel Battle Royale, its film adaptation, and the Shirley Jackson short story "The Lottery". Collins' novel and screenplay draw on sources of inspiration such as the myth of Theseus, Roman gladiatorial games, reality television, and the desensitization of viewers to media coverage of real-life tragedy and war, not to think as just an audience member, "Because those are real people on the screen, and they’re not going away when the commercials start to roll.






Friday, March 16, 2012

Jeff, Who Lives at Home




Jeff, Who Lives at Home is a comedy film starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms, directed and written by Jay and Mark Duplass and co-starring Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon. The film premiered on September 14, 2011 at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and then saw a limited release in USA and Canada on March 16, 2012, after having been pushed back from the original date of March 2.





Casa de Mi Padre



Casa de Mi Padre (English: House of My Father or simply My Father's House) is a 2012 Spanish-language American comedy film. The film stars Will Ferrell, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna and Génesis Rodríguez with Matt Piedmont directing a screenplay written by Andrew Steele. The film has been described to be in the style of an "overly dramatic telenovela" and tells the story of Armando Álvarez, who must save his father's ranch from a powerful drug lord. Casa de Mi Padre was released on March 16, 2012.




21 Jump Street



21 Jump Street is a 2012 American action comedy film starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, scripted Michael Bacall (from a story by both Hill and Bacall), and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Based on the 1987 television series of the same name by Stephen J. Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh, the film follows two police officers who are forced to relive high school when they are assigned to go undercover as high school students to prevent the outbreak of a new synthetic drug and arrest its supplier. It was released theatrically on March 16, 2012, and garnered both critical and commercial success. A sequel entered development shortly before its release.





Friday, March 9, 2012

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen




Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a 2011 British inspirational romantic drama film directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scott Thomas and Amr Waked. The screenplay is by Simon Beaufoy, based on the novel of the same name by Paul Torday. Principal photography began on 6 August 2010 and was shot on location for nine weeks in London, Scotland and Morocco. The film premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.






Jiro Dreams of Sushi




Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a 2011 Japanese documentary film directed by David Gelb. The film follows Jiro Ono, an 85 year-old sushi master and owner of Michelin 3-Star restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro, on his continuing quest to perfect the art of sushi. The film also profiles Jiro's two sons, both of whom are also sushi chefs. The younger son, Takashi, having no opportunity to succeed his father, left to open a restaurant in Roppongi Hills, essentially identical to the one Jiro built. The elder son, Yoshikazu, still works for Jiro and is faced with the prospect of one day taking over the flagship restaurant.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi debuted in the US in 2011 at the Provincetown International Film Festival and was an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival in the same year. The documentary was made available on Netflix streaming on August 28, 2012.



Friends with Kids



Friends with Kids is an independent American ensemble comedy that is written, produced, directed by and also starring Jennifer Westfeldt. Her partner Jon Hamm also stars in the movie, along with Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Edward Burns and Megan Fox.


Footnote



Footnote (Hebrew: הערת שוליים‎, translit. He'arat Shulayim) is a 2011 Israeli drama film written and directed by Joseph Cedar, starring Shlomo Bar'aba and Lior Ashkenazi. The plot revolves around the troubled relationship between a father and son who teach at the Talmud department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The film won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Footnote won nine prizes at the 2011 Ophir Awards, becoming Israel's entry for the 84th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. On January 18, 2012, the film was named as one of the nine shortlisted entries for the Oscars. On January 24, 2012, the film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Foreign Film, but lost to A Separation from Iran.