February 2013
7 posts
A bit late to this since we’re almost mid February but hey what’s January but a dumping ground for the studios’ worst and the overflow from the previous year? After the jump my quick countdown of the most squeal inducingly exciting prospects of the coming year…
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#10 THE GREAT GATSBY:
Director: Baz Luhrmann. With: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey...
The Last 6 Things In My DVD Player.
Been awhile since we had one of these…
RUBY SPARKS: From the makers of Little Miss Sunshine and writer/leading lady Zoe Kazan comes one of the most disarmingly sweet, creative and unexpectedly heart rending films in recent memory. There’s hope for the rom-com yet. B+
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION: This franchise just keeps chugging along and while its hardly high art it has at least...
“You Can’t Ask Why About Love.”
– Count Vronsky (Aaron Johnson) in Anna Karenina.
Director Worship #6.
WORSHIPEE: Paul Thomas Anderson - Born: 1970.
Interesting that the worship for PTA would follow on from the last entry for Robert Altman considering that in his early career Anderson was being tapped as the natural successor to Altman. This is however a limiting comparison despite both auteur’s preference for large ensembles in sprawling interlocking narratives in some of their most...
Oscar Predictions
So it looks like Ben Affleck’s Argo will probably be the first film since Driving Miss Daisy (1989) to win Best Picture without a corresponding Director nomination. While it’s hardly a done deal (Affleck’s snub is still a factor), who can argue with the SAG, PGA, DGA trifecta? Maybe another actor/director Ron Howard could. Howard saw his Apollo 13 (1995) take out the same trio...
And......
……We’re back! It’s been a loooooong break but I’m ready and raring for more cinemasanctuarying (yes that is a word).
May 2012
1 post
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On Reflection. (Meta Post)
So faithful readers, long time no write/read. I’ve had a very busy couple of weeks so sadly the Sanctuary’s been on the back burner. It is my solemn promise that this will change in the next few weeks as my workload steadily drops away and I can dedicate more time to my precious cinematic musings. Coming up on the docket is my much promised Edith Head gallery, national studies on...
April 2012
28 posts
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Top 20 Countdown: Science Fiction.
Once again, I’ve been guilty of letting the blog turn overly girlie (A series on costume design? Romantic comedy? What was I thinking?) so here’s a genre countdown I’m sure the boys can relate to - albeit the nerdy ones. One of my biggest shames is that I’m a massive closeted sci-fi nerd - it feels good to admit that. If a movie’s set in space or in a dystopian...
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“The only place I get hurt is out there. The world don’t give a s*** about...”
– Mickey Rourke (as Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson) in The Wrestler.
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Sandy Powell: 1960-
The penultimate post on great costume designers features 10-time Oscar nominee and 3-time winner Sandy Powell. Before the post on Edith Head in a few days, I thought I’d mention some other designers that deserve to be cited. These artists aren’t less worthy of coverage than the four I chose to cover, but at the end of the day this isn’t a costume design blog and covering all...
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Director Worship #5.
WORSHIPEE: Robert Altman - Born: 1925, Died: 2006.
Robert Altman was the king of his domain. His freewheeling, multi-stranded ensemble epics are pure Americana and so masterfully precise in their chaos. Never one for your conventional narrative driven affair, Altman found inspiration in the divine disorder of everyday life. His works are like rich tapestries depicting a world of heightened...
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65th Cannes Film Festival: Official Line-Up...
So after much speculation, we finally have the line-up for the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. There aren’t any films that inspire the immediate anticipation that The Tree of Life and Melancholia did last year, but the festival always brings in some great works that come out left field to inspire and astound. As expected, Wong Kar Wai’s long awaited The Grandmaster and Terrence...
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VIRGINIA TRAILER: Dustin Lance Black’s Virginia originally premiered at the Toronto Film festival all the way back in 2010 under the original title What’s Wrong With Virginia? The reviews from the festival were tepid to say the least and the film was indefinitely shelved. Virginia is now getting a belated US release in May this year after a complete re-edit from the version seen at...
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Colleen Atwood: 1950-
After the obituary and gallery for the late great Eiko Ishioka a couple of weeks ago, it got me thinking about other greats in costume design. I’ll be doing write-ups on Sandy Powell and Edith Head in a few days, but right now here’s 3-time Academy Award winner Colleen Atwood. Notable for her many collaborations with everyone’s favourite oddball Tim Burton and stage director...
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“I could die right now, Clem. I’m just… happy. I’ve never felt...”
– Jim Carrey (as Joel Barish) to Kate Winslet (as Clementine Kruczynski) in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
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Movie Wishlist: Grim Fandango.
I was going to do another Casting Couch post for this, but I found it really hard to think of appropriate actors for what I foresee as an animated film. For those who don’t know, Grim Fandango is a computer game from the late 90s that while not immediately successful later developed a massive cult following of devoted fans. It tells the story of Manny Calavera a Grim Reaper in The Land of...
The Last 6 Things In My DVD Player.
Once again faithful readers, here’s a quick update with brief comments on what I’ve been watching at home on the box.
RED DOG: A harmlessly charming effort from our own shores. Sunny and filled with heartwarming moments. Far from revolutionary, but entertaining and diverting from start to finish. C+
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA: Still not one of Woody’s best efforts, but...
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Top 20 Countdown: Romantic Comedy.
Here’s the genre that is probably in the most dire need of rejuvenation. Anyone who has sat through the latest Katherine Heigl travesty knows what I’m talking about. Romantic comedy has sadly become a parody of itself over the years. Stringently faithful to a tired formula, the contemporary romantic comedy is everything the classics of the genre were not - that is predictable,...
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Oscar 2012: First Predix.
So Oscar season is really a good 6 months away, but being April (April fools!), it’s time to take a wild stab at what films and film maker’s may be in play for the 85th Academy Awards in early 2013. After the jump are my first predictions for nominees and winners in the major categories and out on a limb winner predix for the tech awards. Have at them.
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BEST PICTURE:
(If...
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Sanctuary Essentials: Italy.
I decided to take some time out to to focus briefly on an important part of my film fanaticism that I’ve been neglecting in the blog thus far. That is namely my passion for the great films of the masters of Italian Cinema. We’re talking Fellini, Antonioni, Visconti, De Sica and more. This may or may not turn into a series of essential films from around the world depending on how I...
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In Review: Titanic 3D.
I first saw Titanic in I think March or April of 1998 with my Mum, brother and sister after the film had already been in cinemas for months and was fast approaching it’s #1 highest grossing title (a crowning achievement it would hold onto for more than a decade until the release of Avatar in 2009). It was the first time I had ever found myself fully immersed in such a dramatic and tragic...
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Director Worship #4.
WORSHIPEE: Alfred Hitchcock - Born: 1899, Died: 1980.
Alfred Hitchcock is a legend. He’s the legend of legends. He’s influenced every subsequent film maker whether they’ll admit it or not. Apart from maybe Cecil B. Demille, Hitchcock was the first “name” director, one which you could sell a film by. You knew exactly what you were getting with a Hitchcock film and...
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“Waaaaaaaall-E!”
– Wall-E in Wall-E.
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Look Closer... Oz '99.
I’ve had bit of a break from posting over the past week with Easter and all, but what better way to get back into it than with another installment of The Oz Awards. Thought we’d take a break from the distant past for a while so I picked 1999 as this ceremony’s focus. There were many titles that tried to invade my top five based on various merits, but eventually I voted with my...
Would You Fire Ennio Morricone?
For as long as I’ve been a movie obsessive, I’ve also been a collector of the best in film soundtracks. Probably one of the best known and well regarded of film composers is Ennio Morricone. From his early days of scoring for spaghetti westerns, Morricone evolved into an artist reknowned for his lush and romantic full symphonic work for an eclectic range of films. In 1998, Morricone...
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Eiko Ishioka: 1938-2012.
I’m afraid I’m incredibly late to covering this sad news, but with the upcoming release of Mirror Mirror, it seems appropriate. In late January, the film industry lost one of it’s greatest artists: the legendary costume designer Eiko Ishioka. Ishioka is probably best known for her Oscar winning work on Francis Ford Coppola’s film Bram Stoker’s Dracula and her...
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Top 20 Countdown: Horror.
Ok, so the blog was getting just a tad soft for a bit there, so I thought for my first genre countdown I’d focus on the most intense of genres: horror! Horror is a genre that sadly produces alot more garbage than gold, but the greatest films in this variety are amongst the most interesting and challenging in history. I’m not a fan of an over reliance on gore unless it’s done...
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THE DEEP BLUE SEA TRAILER: The film pretty much looks like Brief Encounter Redux but I’m pretty excited nonetheless - if you’re going to borrow, then borrow from the best. It’s been far too long since Terrence Davies last narrative feature The House of Mirth and I’d see just about anything with the criminally underrated Rachel Weisz. See the full version after the jump...
March 2012
28 posts
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Casting Couch : The Night of the Iguana.
The post on Tennessee Williams film adaptations got me to wondering: which of his masterworks could I see being remade? The Night of the Iguana is one of Tennessee Williams’ most underrated works and while I loved the film, its probably the best of the adaptations not to reach the level of truly definitive. This would make it the perfect candidate for a cinematic redo. As with all editions...
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The Last 6 Things in My DVD Player.
So here we are again with another update on what I’ve been catching at home on the small screen.
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS: Too cliched despite its apparent spoofing of rom-com conventions. Kunis and Timberlake are a charismatic duo though and anything with Patricia Clarkson is worth a look. C
TAKE SHELTER: An unusual and wholly engrossing family drama/disaster film. Michael Shannon is...
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Tennessee Williams on Film.
The celebrated plays, novels and original screenplays by Tennessee Williams have had a vibrant second life on the silver screen, with most if not all of his notable works receiving film adaptations in his lifetime. His works touched on such subjects as sex, homosexuality, abortion and incest at a time when doing so was taboo. Featuring legendary and vibrantly theatrical characters, sometimes...
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“Let’s never come here again because it would never be as much fun.”
– Scarlett Johansson (as Charlotte) in Lost in Translation.
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In Review: Jane Eyre.
The basic plot of Charlotte Bronte’s oft filmed Jane Eyre should be familiar to most: After a childhood marred by other’s cruelty and a harrowing education, young Jane Eyre finds work as a governess for the gruff and mysterious Edward Rochester. The pair begin with a battle of the minds and eventually succumb to a battle of the heart while the ghost of Rochester’s past hangs over all. This Jane...
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Director Worship #3.
WORSHIPEE: Stanley Kubrick - Born: 1928, Died: 1999.
If you asked 100 of today’s most respected directors to list their top 5 influences, it’s likely that Stanley Kubrick would appear on over 90% of the lists. There’s certainly good reason for this mostly unfounded statement. The influence of the works of Kubrick can be seen widely in today’s cinema. No one else of his...
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“I wish I knew how to quit you.”
– Jake Gyllenhaal (as Jack Twist) to Heath Ledger (as Ennis Del Mar) in Brokeback Mountain.
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Lights, Camera... Oz '74.
So it’s been at least a couple of weeks since our last Oz Awards ceremony, but we’ve finally returned with another instalment. Ok, so it’s 1974 and as per usual my top five picks for film of the year are pictured above. All five are rather definitive works and choosing a winner proved very difficult, but I persevered. Now without further ado, here are the films and film makers I’ve chosen to...
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RUSSIAN ARK 2?
Anna Karenina started the year as #1 in my most anticipated films for 2012. This over such enticing prospects as Terrence Malick’s currently untitled effort and Alfonso Cuaron’s sure to be enriching and artful sci-fi Gravity. Then I read this article on indiewire and my heart sank ever so slightly. Apparently while most of us were expecting a fairly straightforward, lavish and epic...
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Come On Disney!
So I couldn’t let my recent commentary on the current status of feature animation rest without doing a quick feature on the grandaddy of all animation houses, The Walt Disney Company. Old Walt’s pride and joy has kind of been in the shadow of it’s acquisition Pixar in recent years. Lackluster efforts like Meet the Robinsons and Chicken Little have hardly inspired any real...
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Just Saying...
With all the hubbub going on about the upcoming release of The Hunger Games, why does no one seem to be mentioning that the film seems like a complete rip-off of 2000’s Battle Royale. A group of kids must fight to the death in a future world of over population and poverty - sounds like the synopsis of both films right? Just saying. I’m all for re-interpretation and Battle Royale had...
