The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) will host a number of gala screenings featuring acclaimed films during the festival, which begins on December 6 at the Madinat Arena. Following the opening night, December 7 will see British director Dominic Cooke’s, On Chesil Beach, based on the 2007 Booker Prize-nominated novel by Ian McEwan. A second gala screening will follow, which will be Orchestra Class, a tale of new beginnings for a struggling violinist and the power of music from French actor and director Rachid Hami.
On Friday, December 8, it will be a triple-bill starting with the Children’s Gala with the animated film Ferdinand from legendary Brazilian director, Carlos Saldanha. The adventure-comedy centres around a fighting bull with an identity crisis, voiced by John Cena. Second on the roster is the critically appraised, The Death of Stalin, from Scottish-Italian filmmaker Armando Iannucci, who brings Soviet-era satire about one of the world’s most ruthless leaders. The evening will end with Australian director Warwick Thornton’s period-western Sweet Country, inspired by true events, boasting a stellar cast of Michael Palin, Steve Buscemi, Jason Isaacs and Jeffrey Tambor.
December 9 will also feature three galas, starting in the afternoon with Academy Award-nominated actor, writer, producer and director Rob Reiner’s Shock and Awe. It will take a real-life look at a group of journalists who uncovered the unsubstantiated claims by President George W. Bush’s administration that led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This will be followed by family adventure Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, featuring a superstar cast that includes Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black, and is directed by American television director Jake Kasdan. The final film of the night will be Hollywood hotshot James Franco’s, with the much celebrated The Disaster Artist, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room from 2003 — an undoubtedly awful film — that has become one of the most treasured cult classic of all time.
On December 10, it will be Mexican Director Guillermo Del Toro’s romantic fantasy The Shape of Water. The highly anticipated feature and winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival features the likes of Academy Award nominees Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon and Richard Jenkins, and Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer.
The gala on Monday, December 11, is acclaimed TV and film writer Khaled Diab’s latest feature, Induced Labor. After tireless attempts to obtain legitimate entry to the US fail, an Egyptian couple believes that storming the US embassy in Cairo and birthing their twins there will grant them citizenship, however not everything goes to plan in this raucous comedy. That will be followed by Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, from Academy Award winning British Filmmaker, Martin McDonagh. The Oscar front-runner starring Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sam Rockwell and has snowballed on the festival circuit winning Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival, the People’s Choice Award at TIFF, and a further 11 nominations for British Independent Film Awards.
Tuesday, December 12, will start with Bafta Award winning director Lynne Ramsay and her thriller, You Were Never Really Here. Picking up awards for Best Actor and Best Screenplay at Cannes Film Festival, the feature received a phenomenal reception and standing ovation from audiences. Matt Damon is the pick of the bunch in Alexander Payne’s Academy Award winning satirical sci-fi piece, Downsizing. Centred on a man who chooses to shrink himself (literally) to simplify his life, the film will conclude the screenings in the arena, with help from Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Laura Dern, Jason Sudeikis, Alec Baldwin, and Neil Patrick Harris.
Don’t miss it!
DIFF runs from December 6 to 13. Red carpet gala tickets start at Dh100. Tickets to other screenings will go on sale from December 5, 2017 on the DIFF website.
Sources: DIFF and Gulf News
As the official representative of Dubai Lynx in the UAE, Motivate Val Morgan strives to bring you the latest news from the desks of the Festival.
Get ready for three unmissable days of expert talks, unrivalled networking opportunities and infinite inspiration at the Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity from 11 – 13 March 2018. Then join the celebration of MENA’s finest creative work at the Dubai Lynx Awards ceremony on 14 March 2018.
Save the dates and take a look at some of the new initiatives happening in 2018…
A new award for Healthcare will celebrate brave and innovative ideas within health, wellness and pharmaceutical communications.
A programme of health-focused talks from leaders in the field will complement the new awards.
Find out more.
In response to industry demand, we’ve added ‘Use of Data’ plus a new ‘Excellence in Media’ section, which aims to recognise media agencies and the craft behind the best work. ‘Use of Mobile’ has also been added to our channels categories.
A new award for Media Network of the Year will replace the Media Agency of the Year award.
Find out more.
To reflect the ever-evolving creative communications landscape we are introducing a raft of new categories, providing more opportunities to enter your work into the Dubai Lynx Awards.
View the new categories.
The Student Awards are open for entry! And they’re a superb platform for new talent to shine: competitions for Print and Integrated offer students the chance to tackle a live brief from a leading philanthropic organisation. The entry deadline is 15 December 2017 and the winners get a trip to Dubai Lynx.
Find out more.
Dubai Lynx is now open for Festival pass and Awards table bookings.
Work can be entered into the Dubai Lynx Awards from 24 November 2017.
Visit Dubai Lynx for more information, and stay tuned for more updates from us!
The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has announced the first seven films shortlisted for the highly anticipated Muhr Awards, displaying the latest and greatest in regional cinema. Taking place over the course of the Festival, from 6 – 13 December, the esteemed ‘Muhr Short’ category will showcase short films from emerging talent and seasoned filmmakers alike.
Since its launch in 2006, the prestigious Muhr Awards take pride in providing a platform to unearth the best in Arab cinema and help discover and nurture burgeoning talent from the region. In addition to showcasing cultural intricacies and growing talent to a global audience, the ‘Muhr Short’ category provides the opportunity of a lifetime with the winning short film qualifying for consideration for an Academy Award 2019 nomination.
Starting off the line-up is critically acclaimed Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel, who returns to the Festival with his latest short ‘A Drowning Man’. The film follows Fatah as he arrives in modern day Athens, evading predators and finding his way through the strange new world. Along his journey, the audience wonders if he will gain wisdom or succumb to desperation in his surroundings, as he struggles to define his new existence in exile.
Tunisian actress, author and filmmaker Nidhal Guiga has enjoyed critical acclaim across a variety of mediums. She now returns to DIFF for her first foray into short film with the world premiere of ‘Astra’, a journey that relishes in the unexpected. A man named Dali takes care of his daughter, Douja, who has Down syndrome. Against his wife’s wishes, he takes Douja to an amusement park called Astra. Once there, they realize that nothing could have prepared them for the bizarre world that they encounter.
Born in Palestine and raised in Jordan, Rakan Mayasi is known for his issue-tackling short films. Mayasi heads to DIFF with his latest short ‘Bonboné’, which explores one of many issues facing Palestinians held in Israeli jails. With the husband serving time in an Israeli jail, where physical interaction is prohibited, a couple devises a bold plan for their dreams of a family. However, as a series of obstacles threaten their plan, will they be able to succeed?
Joining Mayasi is multi-talented filmmaker Fadi (The Fdz) Baki, founder of the Lebanese animation film festival, Beirut Animated. Baki makes his international premiere at DIFF with his short, ‘The Last Days of the Man of Tomorrow’, which tells the story of a young filmmaker who uncovers the mystery of a forgotten automaton, Manivelle, gifted to Beirut in 1945. While investigating the history of this wonder of art and science, the filmmaker drags the automaton out of its abandoned mansion into the modern day city, where Manivelle is forced to face the distance between his own memories and the reality as recounted by those that knew him.
Tunisian filmmaker Abdelhamid Bouchnak makes his DIFF premiere with the release of his short, ‘Le Bonbon’. As a young recent graduate, Mehdi is incredibly ambitious and optimistic. With the support of his loving mother, he prepares for his first day of work as a bailiff. However, he is shocked when things do not go as expected. Finding himself bullied by his boss, ignored by his colleagues and mistreated by his company, Mehdi realizes he must harden to survive. In the process, he loses his naivety and purity until one day, when everything changes.
Jordanian-Palestinian director Yassmina Karajah brings new talent and unique storytelling to the 14th Festival with her latest short, ‘Rupture’. Introducing a cast of first time actors, the international premiere is character-driven and intimate, as it follows four Arab teens who search for a public pool in their new city one sunny summer day. The journey soon allows the group to channel their personal experience of loss and new beginnings as survivors of war.
Lebanese filmmaker Marwan Khneisser’s ‘The Servants’ makes it worldwide premiere at this year’s DIFF. In a tale that takes a twist, Nabil, the guardian of an old villa near the sea, finds his day ruined when Sayed from the mafia comes to spend a day of debauchery with his friends in tow. To leave behind the chaos, Nabil’s son Wissam and Sayed’s son Fadi escape to bathe. Little do they know that escaping is not an option, as the past will tragically disrupt the day.
Masoud Amralla, DIFF’s Artistic Director, commented: “The Muhr Short category strives to be a catalyst for the growth of the regional film industry. The unique medium of short films naturally encourages the inventive mind, as short filmmakers must bring beautiful stories to life that are riveting and to the point. We encourage audiences to come and experience the best of short film at DIFF 17, this year really will showcase a powerful and diverse selection of beautifully made and compelling short films.”
DIFF’s programmer, Salah Sermini, added: “The filmmakers in this year’s line-up bring a new level of cultural depth and understanding to DIFF. The variety, sensitivity and creativity of their work will ensure that this year’s ‘Muhr Short’ category captivates the audience like never before.”
The Festival returns this year from 6 – 13 December 2017. Registration is now open for the 14th edition.
Source: DIFF
The makers of Bollywood period-drama film Padmavati unveiled the first look in which actress Deepika Padukone looked every inch a reigning empress.
The first poster of the film shows Padukone in a red lehnga and choli by designer duo Rimple and Harpreet, paired with elaborate Rajasthani jewellery by Tanishq. Some 200 craftsmen worked for 600 days to create some of the jewellery that will be showcased in the movie. Each piece of jewellery in the movie plays a significant role, said a statement.
The poster shows a group of women in veils standing behind Padukone, who can be seen standing with folded hands. The actress plays Rani Padmavati of Chittore in the film.
A second poster shows the actress, who is sporting a unibrow for the first time, standing inside what seems like a temple.
Padmavati – directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali (known for grand period dramas), is the story of Chittor’s Rani Padmini, who performed juahar with several Rajput women after Alaudin Khilji invaded the fort of Chittor. Ranveer Singh plays the role of Alaudin Khilji and Shahid Kapoor plays Deepika’s onscreen husband Ratan Singh in the film.
The movie is slated for release in December 2017.
Stay tuned for more updates on this Bollywood Blockbuster and contact a member of our Sales Team for more information on cinema advertising opportunities alongside this movie.
Sources: Gulf News and NDTV
“This is not about defecation,” says the hero of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, which translates as Toilet: A Love Story. “It is about our whole way of thinking!” What makes this startling line all the more surprising is that it is delivered by Akshay Kumar, an actor straight out of the Bollywood A-list.
The film, as the second half of its title suggests, has no shortage of such Bollywood staples as romance and love songs. But the main subject matter is one that no Hindi film has ever tackled before: open defecation.
This is a singularly Indian problem. Various studies estimate that 60 per cent of India’s billion-plus population don’t have access to a bathroom.
For women, this isn’t just a question of sanitation. It is also about safety, privacy and independence.
Akshay Kumar plays Keshav, a villager who marries an educated, spirited woman called Jaya. She simply refuses to join the other village women in their daily crack-of-dawn outing to the fields. Although she loves Keshav, she won’t live with him unless he addresses the toilet issue. This inspires Keshav to defy both his superstitious father and the village elders.
“If you want your wife to be with you,” he says, in another memorable line, “there has to be a toilet in the house.”
This is not the stuff that Bollywood romances are traditionally made of. Although there is more variety nowadays, a formulaic Hindi film tends to be built on the pillars of stars, songs, heartache, family values and love conquering all. “The masses prefer fantasy and larger-than-life images,” says Shree Narayan Singh, director of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha.
“For me, the most difficult aspect was how to convey the message of stopping open defecation in an entertaining way.”
The answer was humour, songs, melodrama — and plenty of preaching. Indeed, the film has been criticised for being heavy-handed government propaganda. The ‘Clean India Mission’ is a campaign personally championed by prime minister Narendra Modi. But viewers were clearly willing to overlook the film’s barely disguised political leanings: the film is a success, raking in the equivalent of ₤10 million (Dh47.51 million) in its first six days of release.
In 2018, Akshay Kumar will be starring in Padman – a fictionalised retelling of the story of Arunachalam Muruganatham (the social activist who revolutionised menstrual hygiene in rural India by creating a low-cost sanitary towel machine).
And Akshay Kumar isn’t the only one making unusual choices for Bollywood films. Take actor and director Aamir Khan, who has consistently tried to slip socially aware messages into the mainstream. His last film, Dangal (Wrestling Competition), was based on the true story of a wrestler who trains his daughters to be world-class champions. An eloquent plea for women’s empowerment, the film broke box office records not just in India but also in China, where it became the most successful Indian film ever released. In the UAE, Dangal did over 326K admissions in its first week of release. In total, the movie screened for 5 weeks with total admissions amounting to over 589K.
Ayushmann Khurrana appears in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (released August 31), playing a character suffering from erectile dysfunction — a topic rarely explored in Hindi cinema.
This seems an especially risky choice, given Bollywood’s long-standing tradition of heroic, virile leading men. But Ayushmann Khurrana seems undeterred. “In this day and age,” he says, “the subject of a film has to be novel. The hero has to be relatable.”
He cites Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar as an inspiration, praising them not just for defying the constraints generally placed on a hero, but for showing that such an approach can be commercially successful.
Aanand L Rai, one of the producers of Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, says he feels it is his duty to bring such issues to the fore. “I come from a typical middle-class family,” he says. “My audience and I are both middle class. We’ve always seen the middle class as conservative but that has changed.”
Rai believes that audiences have now overcome the fear that western influences, especially their more open attitude towards sex, will dilute Indian culture and morality. “We have our own identity,” he says. “We aren’t afraid.”
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan is not the first time Khurrana has embraced such delicate subject matter. In 2012, he made his acting debut with another film-maker who seeks out socially relevant subjects. Shoojit Sircar cast him as a sperm donor in the sleeper hit Vicky Donor. Four years later, Sircar went on to co-write and produce Pink, a commercial and critical success about female consent.
Pink tells the story of three women on a night-out that turns ugly when their male companions become sexually aggressive. One girl defends herself by attacking the man with a bottle. She nearly blinds him and finds herself in court facing assault charges. The second half of Pink is almost entirely set in a courtroom and features the iconic actor Amitabh Bachchan as a lawyer who defends the girls and teaches their assailants, and the audience, that no means no.
“What is the moral of the story? For me, the most important thing is the moral.” Sircar says he broke “all the mainstream rules in Pink” simply because doing so was no longer an issue. “Now it’s just about the gut of the film-maker.”
But Sircar insists that his generation isn’t the first to take on social causes. “The best of Indian cinema,” he says, “was done by the masters. They tackled casteism, gender equality and poverty in the 50s, 60s and up till the 70s. I’m just at the fag-end trying to put together something.”
One of Hindi cinema’s earliest blockbusters was Achhut Kannya (The Untouchable Woman), a story of forbidden love from 1936 about a Brahmin boy and a dalit girl. One year later, V. Shantaram made the groundbreaking Duniya Na Mane (The Unexpected) about a young girl called Nirmala who is forced to marry an elderly widower who has children her age. She refuses to consummate the marriage, saying that, while one can endure suffering, injustice must be fought. Eventually Nirmala makes her husband understand his heinous mistake. He kills himself, exhorting her to marry a younger man.
Then, in the 1950s, directors explored the daunting issues facing a newly independent nation, Mehboob Khan’s Mother India being one landmark.
“These films were driven by a broad vision of society,” says Gyan Prakash, a historian of modern India at Princeton University in the United States. “They showcased economic and moral corruption, middle-class hypocrisy, unemployment, the gap between the rich and the poor. These critiques were organically generated and carried forward by music and cinematography. None of them seem like public service ad films like many do today.”
Indeed, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha might be great sloganeering but it’s hardly great cinema. The film’s blatant pushing of the government line also underlines an uncomfortable truth. Today’s actors and directors might be keen to test the boundaries of Hindi cinema but one topic remains resolutely off-limits: politics — especially any critique of government policies.
“The reference to any living or dead political figures,” says Prakash, “is bound to meet the censor’s scissors.” Sircar agrees. “We will only have a true democracy,” he says, “when I can stand and criticise.”
Source: Gulf News (Tabloid) and MVM Analysis
Grouchy, greedy and constipated: nobody could accuse Stephen Frears of kowtowing with his portrayal of Queen Victoria in his new film Victoria & Abdul, which premiered in Venice last week.
The director, who won a string of awards for The Queen, his 2006 depiction of Queen Elizabeth II in turmoil at the time of Princess Diana’s death, returns to royal questions in a tale of the current British monarch’s great, great grandmother’s friendship with a young Indian Muslim, Abdul Karim, in the final years of her long reign.
Set at a time when the British Empire was at its peak and India was its ‘Jewel in the Crown’, Frears’ script lampoons the pomposity, arrogance and ignorance of the Imperial age.
But, he says, the convention-defying, cross-cultural relationship at its heart has resonance today, when Britain and India’s relationship has been transformed but racism and Islamophobia lingers.
Abdul, played by Ali Fazal, is an Indian Muslim prison clerk picked out, on the strength of his height and Victoria’s liking for tall men, to be sent to London in 1887 to present the queen with a gold Mughal coin as part of celebrations to mark her golden jubilee.
It is supposed to be a fleeting visit on which, he is repeatedly told, he must above all avoid looking directly at Victoria, played by Judi Dench 20 years after her first turn as Victoria in Mrs Brown.
It is an instruction Abdul flouts, and having caught the sovereign’s eye he is soon ensconced in the royal household, to the fury of her son Bertie, the future Edward VII, and a toadying clutch of buttoned-up courtiers and ladies-in-waiting who surround and stifle the monarch.
Actors Ali Fazal, Judi Dench, director Stephen Frears and actor Eddie Izzard pose during a photocall for the movie ‘Victoria and Abdul” at the 74th Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy September 3, 2017. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
Quran and Poetry
Indian actor Ali Fazal said he had delved into history books to get a grasp of Abdul’s unique experience.
“That time was so different and so essential to this fantastical little world that these two created at the middle of this massive British Empire,” he said.
“The important thing was that we more or less humanised that era where there was protocol, there was racism and everything that we are still dealing with now.”
The Victoria-Abdul first encounters is frail and unhappy, a morbidly obese compulsive eater who is incapable of getting through her wolfed-down meals without smearing food across her face.
“I’m so lonely, everyone I’ve really loved has died and I just go on and on,” she tells her new confidant, 30 years after the death of her husband, Albert, and four years after her later-life companion, Scottish gamekeeper John Brown, passed away.
Soon though she has recovered a glint in her eye as Abdul’s presence gives her a new lease of life.
Judi Dench said the offer to play Victoria again had been an “irresistible proposition”.
“It is very, very complex her attitude to Abdul: not just a feeling of love, but the delight of being relaxed with someone without anyone around or any standing on ceremony.”
Victoria and Abdul’s bond strengthens as he teaches her Urdu and introduces her to the Quran and Indian poetry.
Historical Detective
By this time the scandalised royal household is in open revolt, with the irascible Bertie (Eddie Izzard), playing chief mutineer, even threatening to have his mother certified insane.
Victoria stands her ground but with his protector ailing, it is clear Abdul’s return to India is only a matter of time.
Abdul’s story, and the remarkable fact that Victoria, who initially knew so little of India she had to ask him to describe a mango, learnt sufficient Urdu to write letters in it, went untold for over a century, largely because of the efforts Bertie went to destroy all evidence of it.
Traces survived however and some historical detective work by journalist Shrabani Basu brought the story back to life.
Her book, Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant, was written after she discovered 13 of Victoria’s journals that, because they had been written in the Urdu Abdul had taught her, had been overlooked by British historians.
She then tracked down, via a nephew of Karim’s in Karachi, a diary that he had kept as well as some surviving correspondence between the two that had lain forgotten in the vaults of the Royal Archives.
The letters confirmed the degree of intimacy between the young man and the dying monarch.
Invariably sprinkled liberally with kisses, Victoria describes her protégé in one as a ‘true friend’.
Movie Stats. and Critic Reviews
IMDB: Popularity 233 (up 159%)
Rotten Tomatoes: 89% want to watch this movie
“A satisfyingly sweet confection which will find, and please, its audience.” – Julian Wood, FILMINK (Australia)
“Stephen Frears knows how to keep the culture-clash comedy bright and sprightly, and Lee Hall has written a script which can be charming fun while having a few digs at racism and snobbery along the way.” – Nicholas Barber, BBC.com
“The royal performance by Judi Dench as Queen Victoria is the crowning glory of the film.” – Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
Watch the trailer below:
Victoria and Abdul releases across cinemas in the UAE on Thursday, September 14.
Sources: Gulf News (Tabloid), Malaymail Online, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes
The 14th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival will run from December 6 to 13
Film fans and industry professionals can now register for the 14th edition of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), which will run from December 6 to 13.
Festival attendees can get early bird offers until October 1 and receive priority tickets for DIFF’s line-up of local, regional and international premieres, along with attending its red carpet galas, press conferences, forums, masterclasses, VR experiences and panel sessions at the Madinat Jumeirah.
Shining a spotlight on the future of the industry, students and industry professionals from the film, broadcast and advertising industries are also being encouraged to register to be connected with DIFF’s roster of international filmmakers, producers, scriptwriters and other high profile individuals.
The Dubai Film Market (DFM) also returns this year – which gathers over 4,000 delegates from more than 60 countries to connect projects and create partnerships.
Shivani Pandya, DIFF Managing Director said in a statement to Gulf News: “Every year we strive to ensure the festival provides an unforgettable experience – introducing audiences to the broadest range of compelling, challenging and entertaining films from a generation of new exciting talent and acclaimed filmmakers from around the world.”
Visit the DIFF website for registration and more information
Source: Gulf News (Tabloid)
Charlize Theron recently starred as a roughhousing MI6 agent in ‘Atomic Blonde’, whilst Jennifer Lawrence is set to play a ballet dancer turned spy in ‘Red Sparrow’.
Violent women are all the rage this season — so long as they are highly trained and impeccably dressed. Charlize Theron is a ruthless MI6 agent in Atomic Blonde, Jennifer Lawrence a seductive Russian in Red Sparrow and Taraji P. Henson a slick hit-woman for the mob in Proud Mary.
Atomic Blonde – which released in the UAE on July 27, is based on the graphic novel (The Coldest City) and is directed by David Leitch, a stunt man and co-director of Keanu Reeves vehicle John Wick, which gives us a fair idea of his priorities. Theron is Lorraine Broughton, a British spy who is sent to Berlin to retrieve a valuable list of agents.
Yes, Atomic Blonde is darkly funny in places, and the well-choreographed action is brilliantly performed by Theron, who did most of her own stunts. It’s also stylish, in a garish 80s way: think neon-lit hotels rooms, off-the-shoulder jumper dresses and thigh-high boots to a soundtrack including New Order covers and — of course — Nena’s 99 Red Balloons.
But we know as much about our heroine as her opponents do: that she is beautiful, lethal, clever and has a raft of secrets. As with any genre, the best female killer thrillers give you a reason to care. We had a run of these in the 90s: Luc Besson’s Nikita and its remakes concerned a young convict who was given a choice between death or life as an assassin, and trained up for dangerous jobs (training being an altogether more satisfying type of makeover than your usual montage).
The Long Kiss Goodnight saw Geena Davis playing an amnesic mother suddenly recalling her past as a hit-woman while trying to protect her daughter from her enemies. This was a woman juggling two identities, struggling to come to terms with a revelation that was both thrilling and emotionally engaging.
Thematically, this was a precursor to the Bourne films, even if the Bourne novels came first. The Long Kiss Goodnight also managed to work a decent conspiracy story into its plot, while the cold war hokum in Atomic Blonde just seems to get in the way.
Given the nasty nature of killing for a living, it helps to give a character a strong motivation, whether it is coercion, revenge or threat. Angelina Jolie had a tragic past in 2010 thriller Salt, while Jennifer Lawrence’s Red Sparrow (releasing March 2018) isn’t given much choice by handler Charlotte Rampling, who states: “If you cannot be of service to the state, I am to put a bullet through your head.”
Red Sparrow teaser footage and Jason Matthews’ source novel suggest more character detail: Lawrence is a ballet dancer who breaks her leg before being recruited. She is trained “to determine a target’s weakness and exploit that weakness through seduction”, then meets a CIA agent (Joel Edgerton) who will test her allegiances. I usually find Lawrence rather cold, but this may work for the role, and she’s teamed with Francis Lawrence, who directed her in three Hunger Games movies.
Proud Mary (releasing January 2018) comes from Babak Najafi, the director of London Has Fallen, which rings a loud warning bell, although the trailer is fun and the premise promises the cosy notion that Mary’s “life is completely turned around when she meets a young boy”. It stars Henson, and of course black gun-toting heroines are even rarer than their white counterparts in mainstream movies – hence, the use of Foxy Brown-style typeface for the film’s title, reaching back all the way to the rash of female-fronted blaxploitation movies in the 70s.
In a Hollywood dogged by its fair share of blank action heroes, a blank action heroine is certainly a statistical improvement.
All eyes on Red Sparrow and Proud Mary to raise the game — although, looking further ahead, the smart money is on The Rhythm Section (release date TBC), a Blake Lively espionage thriller that’s currently in pre-production with the Bond producers, Eon. Why this one? It’s directed by The Handmaid’s Tale Reed Morano, who just happens to be … a woman. Imagine that!
Don’t miss out on these upcoming movies! Stay tuned for more updates.
The teaser trailer for Tamil-Telugu spy-thriller Spyder was released on the occasion of Mahesh Badu’s 41st birthday.
The action-packed teaser was released in both Tamil and Telugu, and going by the visuals, the film assures an epic clash between Mahesh Badu (who plays an Intelligence Bureau officer) and S.J. Suryah (rumoured to be donning the role of a bio-terrorist).
Interestingly, Mahesh has dubbed his own voice for the Tamil version of the teaser trailer.
Produced A.R. Murugadoss, Spyder is tentatively slated for release on September 28 across cinemas in the UAE.
The movie also stars R.J Balaji, Priyadarshi Pullikonda and Rakul Preet Singh.
Watch the trailer below:
Source: Gulf News (Tabloid)
The buddy-action movie genre has become a tried and true Hollywood premise. Whether it’s Lethal Weapon or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the formula has worked for decades. That said, there’s always room for tweaks as far as any movie is concerned. On that note, Conner Schwerdtfeger recently sat down with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson to ask them how The Hitman’s Bodyguard sets itself apart from a typical buddy-action flick, and Reynolds opened up the conversation by explaining that it’s a smart deconstruction of the genre, saying:
We live in an era in which self-awareness has become a hot commodity. It doesn’t matter what genre you’re dealing with; the ability to look at conventions and ideas of a traditional action movie (such as nail guns being effective weapons) and subvert them often proves helpful. Jordan Peele’s Get Out did it for the horror genre, and even Ryan Reynolds’ own work on Deadpool did it for superhero movies last year. The trick is simply knowing which clichés to lean into and which ones to deviate from when the rubber hits the road.
However, Samuel L. Jackson seemed to have a more focused reason on his mind. Building off of what Reynolds said, Jackson highlighted the fact that The Hitman’s Bodyguard leans far more heavily on romance than a standard buddy movie, saying:
He has a point. Although romance is something that pops up in buddy movies from time to time, the central relationship of any given buddy story tends to be the one shared between the two (often male) protagonists. By contrast, The Hitman’s Bodyguard plays with that trope by expanding the lives of its two heroes and focusing on the strained relationships and estranged lovers in their respective worlds. In the grand scheme of buddy movies, that is not something that we see very often (if ever).
Click here to check out a clip from Conner Schwerdtfeger’s interview with Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson and hear everything they had to say about their work on The Hitman’s Bodyguard, as well as the buddy-action genre as a whole.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard – presently screening across cinemas in the UAE.
Source: CinemaBlend
