It is time again for the annual LAMMY Awards - where members of the Large Association of Movie Blogs (aka The LAMB) can campaign their sites, and vote for fellow LAMBS in a number of different awards categories. Here is my personal For Your Consideration. There are over 1,000 LAMB members and so many passionate and enthusiastic filmgoers, and talented writers and podcasters, it is very difficult to select just a few.
I have made a slow start to my May focus on female directors. I had no urge to write about Jane Campion's Bright Star, which I watched and was incredibly bored by, but I have got my thoughts down on Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides and Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher. Later this week, Sam McCosh, who reviews films at An Online Universe, will be reviewing Lynne Ramsay's Morvern Callar, and Chris Elena, a young Sydney writer/director who shares his reviews at Chris Elena, will be tackling Jane Campion's In the Cut and Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark. I greatly appreciate what I know will be excellent contributions.
So, on with the links (after the jump):
If you are yet to contribute to Sam's Representing Humanity blog-a-thon, you can find out all of the details and what everyone has come up with so far at the link.
I was lucky enough to be invited by Mr Ryan McNeil of The Matinee to be a guest on The MatineeCast. In Episode 58, we discussed The Avengers, indie films we're are looking forward to this summer, and our top five films starring at least one of the cast from The Avengers. Being my podcast debut, I had a lot of fun. Epidode 58 will be available to download on iTunes later this evening, but you can also listen to it on Ryan's fantastic site. There you will find more details, and links to previous episodes of the MatineeCast.
Steve @ 1001Plus reviews Mad Max. I have a confession. I have never seen Mad Max, but I have seen The Road Warrior and really didn't dig it.
Want to know why The Dictator is one to skip? Sam @ An Online Universe has the answers.
Diana takes a look at Chaplin's City Lights, a masterpiece.
CS @ Big Thoughts from A Small Mind has recently covered Hot Docs. The one he recommended to me was The Imposter. It is playing at SFF. Consider it.
Nick dissects a scene from The Descendants, which is now out on DVD in Australia, through dialogue. Great read.
This is ingenious. Sati @ Cinematic Corner, purely through screenshots, has brought everyones attention to the visual parallels in Shame and Black Swan.
Tom gives Matthieu Kassovitz's Rebellion a five star review.
Be sure to check out John's Cannes Spotlight. He is working through every director. It is very interesting.
I can't believe what Tyler has come up with this week on He Shoots, He Scores - Cinematic Orchestra's score for The Man With The Movie Camera, not only one of the greatest films of all time, but also the best musical piece possible to accompany this film.
Dwayne reviews Silent Souls, a Russian drama hitting cinemas this week.
Finally, it was great to see Jessica enjoyed Battle Royale.
Well, that's all for this week. Looking at the line-up (a very strong one) it wasn't such a brief one after all. Hope you enjoy the articles and have a great week.
Thank you for the linkage! That was certainly fresh from the print! The digital ink had barely dried. :)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! Well I could have picked any of your articles, really. But I do love Battle Royale.
DeleteThank you casting a light on my blogathon - much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteSure thing. Glad to see it has attracted quite a lot of participants. It was a challenging, but rewarding blog-a-thon.
DeleteI've actually never been crash hot on the second Mad Max film, though most critics seem to think it superior to the original. The original MM is actually quite different to its sequels, it's a dystopian near-future but not actually post-apocalypse like them, and it was a damn sight cheaper than either of them (original cost $400,000 or so, number two $4m, Thunderdome $12m). It's a far more straightforward B film than its successors, and though I haven't seen it for a lot of years I recall it doing what it does with its limited means really well. Seek it out, but try and avoid the American dub...
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Beyond Thunderdome, but I finished watching Road Warrior on a train. I started watching it the night before the tutorial, and turned it off. Figured if I was travelling from the Central Coast to Sydney for University for a single tutorial I should finish it. Watched it on my laptop - which is not a great way to watch a film - but I did not like it at all. I have never had an urge to revisit it, either. And now Mel Gibson is a tool...
DeleteThanks for the linkage, Andy. Personally I think you would enjoy The Imposter more than Rampart (which I found disappointing) but, as is the case with all film festivals, you simply cannot squeeze everything you want to see into your schedule. Looking forward to your SFF coverage!
ReplyDeleteYeah, that is one of my regrets so far. Hopefully, I will be able to see it at MIFF later in the year. I sense it is going to attract a fair bit of attention, and should be picked up there. Thanks CS.
DeleteThank you for the link and the kind words, Andy!
ReplyDeleteThank you for creating such a fantastic post. Really inspiring work.
DeleteNice roundup Andy. Some very good articles again this week.
ReplyDeleteIt is a strong line-up. I had limited time to put it together, but I ended up abandoning other obligations to add in the articles I found. Thanks BT.
DeleteAw, I really liked Bright Star (one of the few Campion films I don't dislike) - great central performance from Cornish, and a lushly romantic story that connected with me far more than period pieces usually do these days. But like I said, I usually don't like Campion that much, so maybe my low expectations helped.
ReplyDeleteI liked The Piano, and I figured I would check out Campion for this series, and focus on one of her more acclaimed recent films. I actually found Cornish to be quite wooden to begin with, though she was impressive. and their romance just never interested me. It doesn't help that I have no knowledge of Keats. This is not my sort of film at all, though there are elements of the film I admired - the art direction, costumes (Cornish's alone) and the cinematography, but I found the story tiresome. Shame.
DeleteHoly cow! Matthieu Kassovitz has a new film and it's actually good!? Thanks for the link to Tom's review! Great news!
ReplyDeleteRemember La Haine? How good was that? I am looking forward to it, but it has not yet had a release here in Sydney.
DeleteThanks for the link! Have fun at the Sidney Film Festival, you have a great line-up prepared! Oh, I remember seeing Bright Star a couple of years ago, but I liked it...maybe it's a little too girly for you :)
ReplyDeleteHopefully I can make it to all of these films, but yes, it is an interesting line-up.
DeleteI did not like Bright Star at all. Was with it for a while, but then I lost all interest altogether.
You're welcome. Great introduction to Chaplin!
Hi, just wanted to say, I liked this article.
ReplyDeleteIt was helpful. Keep on posting!
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