Showing posts with label director. Show all posts
Showing posts with label director. Show all posts

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Romantic Movies 2011

Will you find romance in 2011? Follows are 10 biggest and best romantic movies to be screend in 2011, featuring pure love or romantic-comedy.

1) No Strings Attached

Young people these days are quicker to jump into bed than they are to date. A guy (Kutcher) and girl (Portman) try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more. This sort of generic movie premise is a step down for Portman, but business as usual for Kutcher. The director is Ivan Reitman, whose last three movies were My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Evolution and Six Days Seven Nights. Pray the movie does well, as it will help his case for directing Ghostbusters III.

Starring: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Cary Elwes, Kevin Kline, Olivia Thirlby
Director: Ivan Rietman
Release Date: 21 January 2011

ring attached

2) Just Go With It

A plastic surgeon (Sandler (really?)), romancing a much younger schoolteacher (Decker), enlists his loyal assistant (Aniston) to pretend to be his soon to be ex-wife, in order to cover up a careless lie. When more lies backfire, the assistant’s kids become involved, and everyone heads off for a weekend in Hawaii that will change all their lives. This is a remake of a Bollywood film. Nicole Kidman is fourth on the cast list and not even in the trailer – her career is on the skids. Expect the usual Sandler romantic-comedy shenanigans, and if he doesn’t end up with Aniston I’ll eat my hat.

Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Decker, Nicole Kidman
Director: Denis Dugan
Release Date: 11 February 2011

3) The Adjustment Bureau

Sci-fi romance about a smooth-talking congressman (Damon) who seems destined for national political stardom. When he meets a beautiful ballet dancer (Blunt) he discovers there is a force determined to keep them from becoming involved. Fate says they were never supposed to have met and mysterious old men in hats act as cockblockers. The movie’s first time director wrote The Bourne Ultimatum and Ocean’s 12. Damon and Blunt are both sharp actors so they should be able to craft something thoughtful, let’s hope the chemistry is there – this is the second romantic lead of Damon’s career, after the poorly received All The Pretty Horses. Also, this doesn’t have the sexiest title in the world.

Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Terence Stamp, John Slattery, Anthony Ruivivar, Anthony Mackie.
Director: George Nolfi
Release Date: 4 March 2011

4) Red Riding Hood

Romantic-gothic-horror take on the legend of Red Riding Hood. A young woman (Seyfried) is in love with a brooding outsider (Fernandez), but her parents have arranged for her to marry a wealthy suitor (Irons). She’s planning to run away with him when she learns her older sister has been killed by the werewolf that prowls the forest surrounding their village. As the death toll rises with each moon, she begins to suspect that the wolf could be someone close to her. From the director of Twilight, expect this to have a harder edge.

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Billy Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Release Date: 11 March 2011

5) Jane Eyre

After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre (Wasikowska, Alice In Wonderland) goes out into the world to become a governess. In her new position at Thornfield Hall, she meets the cold master of the house, Mr. Rochester (Fassbender). Jane and her employer grow close, but could Mr. Rochester’s terrible secret be about to destroy their happiness forever? From the U.S. director of acclaimed South American poverty film Sin Nombre. The trailer tries to make this look like The Others or something, which is misleading.

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins
Director: Cary Fukunaga
Release Date: 11 March 2011

6) Beastly

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in New York which focuses on a handsome man with an evil streak (Pettyfer), who disrespects a witch in his class (Mary-Kate Olson, naturally) and is transformed into a grotesque monster. Can he be a better person and find true love with a new girl (Hudgens)? It’s based on this book, which has a beast of the hairy variety. The movie make-up is pretty revolting – Not sure I’d want to look at open wounds for 90 minutes.

Starring: Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer, Mary Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris
Director: Daniel Barnz
Release Date: 18 March 2011

7) Water For Elephants

A veterinary student (Pattinson) is put in charge of the animals at a circus during the Great Depression. Among them is an un-trainable elephant, who’s the great hope for the third-rate travelling show. Soon he falls for a former circus performer turned horse trainer (Witherspoon), who’s married to the charismatic and twisted animal trainer (Waltz). This is based on the beloved novel and comes from the director of I Am Legend and Constantine. To put the age difference of the romantic leads in perspective, Pattinson was cast as Witherspoon’s son in 2004′s Vanity Fair.

water for elephants

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Christoph Waltz, Reese Witherspoon
Director: Francis Lawrence
Release Date: 15 April 2011

8) L.O.L.: Laughing Out Loud

In a world connected by YouTube, iTunes, Movie-Moron and Facebook, Lola (Miley Cyrus) is navigating the peer pressures of high school romance and friendship. When her mom (Demi Moore) “accidentally” reads her racy journal, she realizes just how wide their communication gap has grown. Cue ‘hilarious’ and ‘heartfelt’ coming of age moments between mom and daughter, as daughter tries to nail Adam Sevani from the Step Up movies. This is a remake of the Belgian teen comedy-romance (the trailer for which didn’t have a single laugh in it). Same director is doing the remake.

Starring: Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore, Adam Sevani, Ashley Greene, Thomas Jane
Director: Lisa Azuelos
Release Date: 22 April 2011

9) Prom

Intersecting stories unfold at one high school as the big dance approaches; For Nova (Teegarden), it’s a battle of wills as she finds herself drawn to the guy who gets in the way of her perfect prom (McDonell). Fellow seniors (Chang and Nixon) harbour secrets, while others face all the insecurity and anticipation that surrounds one of high school’s most seminal events. From the director of American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile and the Amanda Bynes-starrer Sydney White. The cast are all unknowns. Expect harmless teen fluff that’s a long way short of John Hughes, and a nagging feeling that this would have worked better as a documentary.

Starring: Aimee Teegarden, Thomas McDonell, Yin Chang, De’Vaughn Nixon
Director: Joe Nussbaum
Release Date: 29 April 2011

10) This Means War

Romantic-action-comedy about two lifelong best friends (Pine, Hardy) who fall in love with the same woman (Witherspoon) and wage an epic city-wrecking battle against each other to win her. The script has gone through various incarnations over the last 10 years and it’s not clear yet if the men are both still playing spies. The unfairly maligned McG (Charlie’s Angels, Terminator Salvation) is directing. Tom Hardy’s part was originally offered to Seth Rogen, which would have presented much less of a dilemma for a woman. Great cast, fun concept.

Starring: Tom Hardy, Chris Pine, Reese Witherspoon, Til Schweiger
Director: McG
Release Date: TBC June 2011

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Friday, January 7, 2011

Capital to host Japanese anime fest

Taken aback: Movie Sprited Away will be screened at  the first Japanese Animation Film Festival in Ha Noi next week. — File Photo

Taken aback: Movie Sprited Away will be screened at the first Japanese Animation Film Festival in Ha Noi next week. — File Photo

HA NOI — The first ever Japanese Animation Film Festival will be held in Ha Noi on January 12–16, 2011.

Sponsored by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (JACA), the festival will include eight outstanding animated films from the past decade.

The opening screening next Wednesday will be the highly acclaimed film, Colourful (2010), director Keiichi Hara's latest film.

"The movie will touch audiences with a story based on the award-winning novel for young adults," said Ikeda Hiroyuki from the Japan Image Council (JAPIC), which is co-organising the festival.

The story involves a spirit, referred to only as boku (me), who has recently died. The spirit is put in the body of a 14-year-old who recently committed suicide.

Colourful was extremely well received when it was released last August in Japan. Director Hara will make a speech at the opening screening.

The other seven films chosen for the festival, including Spirited Away (2001) by director Hayao Miyazaki, and Redline (2010) by director Takeshi Koike, are all distinguished and unique in their own right, and according to the organisers will enable viewers to more fully enjoy and "discover" the diversity of Japanese animation.

Redline is anticipated to be a highlight of the festival. Released in Japan last October, Redline took seven years to make and used approximately 100,000 handmade drawings.

"The whole thing has the feel of a high-speed car chase, and the exquisite attention to detail will be particularly evident to the audience in some of the explosions," said Ikeda Hiroyuki.

Spirited Away follows the adventures of Chihiro, a 10-year-old Japanese girl, as her family moves to a new town in the countryside.

Spirited Away earned tremendous critical acclaim both domestically and abroad, becoming the highest grossing film in Japanese history as well as receiving the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival.

Others films being screened include Millennium Actress, Mind Game, Summer War, Mai Mai Miracle and The Great Adventure of Hutch the Honeybee, and will all be shown at the festival with Vietnamese subtitles.

This event is part of an ongoing Japanese Film Festivals in Asia initiative begun by the JACA in 2004.

The initiative was designed to both deepen understanding and interest in Japanese culture abroad, as well as increase a sense of friendship between Japan and the countries in which they are held.

In addition to the upcoming festival in Ha Noi, a festival held in Seoul, South Korea in November last year screened an entirely different programme of 16 films.

"This is the first such event that has been held in Ha Noi as part of this initiative, and it also marks the first time a film festival devoted entirely to Japanese animation has taken place in Ha Noi," said Takeji Yoshikawa, director of the Japan Foundation Centre for Cultural Exchange.

In connection with these screenings, Mai Mai Miracle's director Katabuchi Sunao, The Great Adventure of Hutch the Honeybee's director Amino Tetsuro and other special guests including popular voice actress Mitsuki Saiga will attend and take part in cultural exchange events with those involved in the animated film industry in Viet Nam.

Saiga is the Japanese voice actress who was awarded the Overseas Fan's Choice Awards at the Seiyu Awards 2010 for voice actor/actress.

A talk and live performance will be given by Saiga and guitarist Kazuya Nishikawa next Friday at the National Cinema Centre, located at 87 Lang Ha Street.

Free tickets for the festival are available now at the Japan Foundation, 27 Quang Trung Street, Ha Noi.

For a detailed screening schedule, please visit the website at www.jpf.org.vn. — VNS

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Saturday, December 18, 2010

Teen takes audience choice award

HA NOI — A documentary film entitled Mother and Children, directed by seventeen-year-old Phan Huyen My has won the audience choice award at the Golden Bee student short film festival.

My, who has been a cinema-goer from an early age, joined the Chung Ta Lam Phim (Let's make movies) project organised by the Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents (TPD) in 2009 to fulfil her film-making dream.

"The film is based on true stories of my family's daily life, and centres on the difference between generations. While my mum tries to forbid my younger sister from spending her money, using a mobile phone or dying her hair, my sister continues to assert herself," said My.

The film won praise from the judges and was selected to be shown along with films by People's Artist Dang Nhat Minh, and director Bui Thac Chuyen in the US.

Quang Nghia, another film contestant entrant said: "Mother and Children will set the trend for future movie making through the use of bitter-sweet humour."

My also expressed her thanks to director Chuyen for his great support and help in the production of her movie.

"This award has whetted my appetite to study at the Ha Noi University of Theatre and Cinema," said My.

The film festival's awards ceremony was held at the Kim Dong Theatre on Thursday.

Other awards included the Golden Bee prize for Catching Shellfish, Silver Bee prize for The Gift and the Room, best director for Into the Wild, best cinematography and consolation prize for The Shoeshine boy. — VNS

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Scholarship winners meet STF director

Le Ngoc Hong Ha (C), director of the Saigon Times Foundation, talks with STF’s long-term scholarship recipients in HCMC last week - Photo: Hai Yen
Le Ngoc Hong Ha, director of the Saigon Times Foundation under the Saigon Times Group last week met with 35 students who won STF long-term scholarships.

A student of HCMC University of Economics, Nguyen Kieu My Trang, said at the event, “I was born in a central province that is prone to natural disasters, so I feel very lucky to receive the STF scholarship. It will help me to continue my study so I would like to contribute some of my time to STF to help the community and my compatriots in central provinces.”

The STF director talked about two new books in the Knowledge Bookcase: “Cac khai niem co ban ve Kinh te” (Basic concepts on economics) compiled by lecturers of Fulbright Economics Teaching Program and “Ky thuat ghep gen, mot cong nghe hang dau cua the ky 21” (Gene transplant, a leading technology in the 21st century) by overseas Vietnamese doctor, Trang Quan Sen.

STF gave students some books from its Knowledge Bookcase to sell to raise money to stock school libraries in the Central.

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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Local movie director to be honored in Hollywood

Director Dang Nhat Minh (L) delivers a speech after receiving Best director for 2009’s Don’t Burn (Dung dot) - Photo: TTXVN
A ceremony to honor People’s Artist/director Dang Nhat Minh and a Vietnam Film Week featuring movies by  young Vietnamese directors will be held on Wednesday in Hollywood, reports Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper.

“Mua oi” (Guava season) will be screened after the ceremony and the director will have a roundtable with audiences and people in the movie industry, the organizers, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), said.

AMPAS will also introduce all the movies directed by Dang Nhat Minh to American audiences to honor the talented director.

People’s Artist Dang Nhat Minh is one the leading directors in Vietnam. His works including Co gai tren song (A girl on a river), Ha Noi mua dong nam 46 (Hanoi - Winter of 1946), Thuong nho dong que (Nostalgia for Countryside) and Dung dot (Don’t Burn) have left a deep impression on local and international audiences and awarded at national and international film festivals. Among them, the 2009 movie “Don’t Burn” received audience choice award at Fukuoka International Film Festival in Japan and took three Golden Lotus awards for best movie, best script-writer and journalists’ choice at the 16th Vietnam Film Festival in 2009 and six Golden Kite awards in 2010.

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Monday, October 4, 2010

Carved sapphire turtle presented to capital

HA NOI — A sapphire turtle made by the DOJI Gold and Gems Group was presented to the Ha Noi People's Committee as a gift for the city's 1,000th anniversary yesterday.

The Giant Precious Sapphire Turtle had spiritual meaning as a symbol of longevity and peace, said DOJI general director Do Minh Phu.

Its natural blue and reddish brown colours gave it a unique beauty, he said.

The turtle is made from a monolithic sapphire, weighs two tonnes and took artisans 200 days to complete.

Legend says a turtle helped King An Duong Vuong build Co Loa Citadel in the 3rd century BC while King Le Thai To, (1385-1433) returned a precious sword to a tortoise in Hoan Kiem or "Returned Sword" Lake after using it to defeat invaders.

Calligraphers exhibit to celebrate Ha Noi

HA NOI — The biggest yet calligraphy exhibition will open at the Temple of Literature today, said its Centre for Cultural and Scientific Activities director Dang Kim Ngoc.

About 250 works of various sizes and featuring different calligraphic styles on materials including ceramic, bamboo and do (poonah) paper will be on display with 200 lanterns.

A performance depicting the traditional greeting given successful candidates returning home after passing their royal exams would be party of the opening ceremony, the director said.

The exhibition will end on October 14.

British council awards filmmaker a trip to London

HCM CITY — The British Council Viet Nam on Saturday handed out award certificates to winners at the British Council International Screen Entrepreneur Award.

The national winner, Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, will represent Viet Nam to compete in the international competition, which will take place in London on October 15, announced British Council director in HCM City Alison Ball at the award ceremony.

Ngoc will take a 10-day trip to the UK where she will attend the London Film Festival and will have opportunities to network with UK screen industry partners and national winners from other participating countries. — VNS

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