Okay Screenhead patrons, listen up, because we’ve got some interesting, never before seen (here) news for you today.
You’ve watched us write up the very best and the very worst stuff that Hollywood has to offer, and you’ve even seen us tear apart the same grade on YouTube with our twice-daily review section.
Now, we’re putting out the call to you. Filmmakers, do you think you’ve got what it takes to survive a Screenhead review? You know we’re among the toughest reviewers in the game, and we’re never afraid to call it like we see it. But if you think you’ve got the film to make us pull that thumb up, metaphorically speaking, then you can enter the first annual (assuming we actually get some entries) Screenhead Film Festival.
That’s right, kids, I’m opening up my own private movie locker to get the winner a prize pack of TEN DVDs. I’m not going to tell you which ones, but know this–they’re movies. And they’re FREE.
Ten DVDs goes to the winner, so grab your friends and your camcorders and start filming. Just post the film to YouTube and post a link to it on this comment page. In turn, your short will be reviewed right here on Screenhead. All submissions must be received by Saturday, October 31, 2009 and a winner will be announced Monday, November 9, 2009.
The divergent paths of three forty-something siblings collide when their mother, heiress to her uncle’s exceptional 19th century art collection, dies suddenly. Left to come to terms with themselves and their differences, Adrienne (Juliette Binoche), a successful New York designer, Frederic (Charles Berling), an economist and university professor in Paris, and Jeremie (Jeremie Renier), a dynamic businessman in China, confront the end of childhood, their shared memories, background and unique vision of the future.
Push, Based on the Novel by Sapphire, director Lee Daniels’ unflinching look at the parental abuse and self-redemption of a teenage girl in 1980s Harlem, was the big winner at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, taking both the grand jury prize and the audience award in the U.S. dramatic competition. This clip with director Lee Daniels tells you about the film.
Taking Chances stars Kevin Bacon and premieres at Sundance on January 16, 2009. It was written and directed by Ross Katz. Katz has produced a couple of Oscar nominated films, including In the Bedroom and Lost in Translation. Taking Chances is Katz’s feature debut as a writer and director. The screenplay was co-scripted by Katz and Michael Strobl.
Rumors are that it’s a war film worth watching. From what I can tell, the trailer tugs at your heart strings.
If you’re in New York catch Guillermo del Toro who has joined the New Yorker Festival line-up. He will talk with The New Yorker’s Daniel Zalewski on monsters at 7:30 P.M., October 4th, at the Directors Guild of America (110 West 57th Street, NY, NY).
Guillermo del Toro wrote, directed, and produced the 2006 film “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which won three Academy Awards and became the highest-grossing Spanish-language film in U.S. box-office history. His other films include “Cronos,” “The Devil’s Backbone,” “Blade II,” “Hellboy,” and “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.” His next project will be a two-film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” to be released in 2011 and 2012.
Daniel Zalewski is the features editor of The New Yorker.
7:30 P.M. Directors Guild of America
110 West 57th Street
Tickets available Wednesday, September 17th, at 12 noon E.T., at festival.newyorker.com or by calling 800-440-6974. Tickets will also be sold during Festival weekend at Festival HQ, at Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, and at the door.
Take a look at who is showing up for the New Yorker Festival that runs October 3 through 5. Oliver Stone, Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones and Stephen Colbert are some to name.
Event hosted in various venues by the venerable magazine is a mix of 50 events, most of them panels and interviews venues.
New Yorker film critic David Denby will interview Stone about his work as a director and will host clips from the upcoming George Bush biopic W.
A very touching story of life in Brazil under the regime of dictatorship in 1970 during the World Cup of soccer when Pele’ took Brazil to third in a row championship, never before achieved. We meet Mauro, a 12-year old boy, whose parents go “on vacation” during the military regime and the World Cup. He finds himself in a diverse culture fending for himself at times. An endearing story with subtitles that you forget about as the film unfolds a classic coming-of-age story.
To win The Year My Parents Went on Vacation DVD, post your name and I will pick the winner Wednesday, August 6th. Good Luck!
