Posts Tagged ‘film fest’

TCM FEST 2012: The Films of Faye Dunaway

23, Apr 2012
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I have to admit that I’m fairly unversed in the films of Faye Dunaway. There’s not really any agenda to speak of; I just haven’t gotten around to seeing much of her filmography. At this year’s TCM Classic Film FEST 2012 I was able to rectify that, seeing both The Thomas Crown Affair and Chinatown. The films aren’t exactly related – one being a caper and the other a post-noir – but the actress turns in some very interesting performances in each. I figured it would make for an interesting post to try to take a look at her performances in each of these films and suss out which one was the better. Should be easy, right?

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TCM FEST 2012: The Noir Triple-Threat

17, Apr 2012
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It’s tough deciding what to write about first for a film festival. For my AFI FEST 2011 series I tried to go in linear order as best I could, but that went out the window as later showings all vied for my attention. In the end I only reviewed a handful of films when I could have reviewed pretty much everything. This year I aim to fix that and put more of a Flickchart spin on my festival coverage, starting with the TCM Classic Film Fest 2012. There will be a couple of single reviews, of course, but I’ll also be ranking and comparing some of the films I’ve seen based on a theme or particular element that ties the films together.

I’d like to start this post series with a look at TCM’s selection of Noir films. Considering the theme of the festival was “style in the movies,” it’s only natural that they would have films from that genre handy. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to work all the Noir films into my schedule, but the ones that I did see were an absolute treat.

But which one was best? Which one had the edge over the others? In true noir fashion, let’s set all the cards on the table and see how it all shakes out!

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TCM FEST 2012: A Flickcharter’s Itinerary

9, Apr 2012
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The TCM Classic Film Festival is how I got to see Spartacus on the big screen last year in glorious digital projection at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater. A three-day festival from April 12th-15th, TCM Fest showcases classical film from a variety of eras and often aligns them to a specific theme. This year the theme is “Style in the Movies,” which means that this writer will be taking a trip down noir-lane with the likes of Chinatown and Fall Guy. There’s also a western in there along with some Hitchcock, Douglas Fairbanks and James Bond.

Since I’ve got press accreditation representing Flickchart this year, I’ve decided to try and review as many of these films as I can for the blog. With the exception of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and Duck Soup, everything on my itinerary will be a first-time watch. Here’s the itinerary for you to peruse. If you want to see the full list of films, check them out over at the TCM FEST site.  Read the rest of this entry »

AFI FEST 2011: The Adventures of Tintin

29, Nov 2011
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I’m at a bit of a loss here. The Adventures of Tintin continues a trend that I don’t much like in the industry today: the use of 3D and Motion Capture to tell the story. Personally, I don’t see what the big deal is with the technology and why it’s such a selling point. It’s not like the technology really transcends its status as a gimmick or does much in the way of assisting the storytelling process. But then this film comes along and makes me re-think the whole thing.

For those not in the loop, The Adventures of Tintin is a series of comic books created by Georges Rémi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The film is adapted primarily from the 11th title in the series, The Secret of the Unicorn, combining elements from The Crab with the Golden Claws and Red Rackham’s Treasure to flesh out the world. We’re introduced to the title character as he comes into possession of a model of the ship The Unicorn. Soon he’s accosted by Ivanovich Sakharine (Daniel Craig), which sets him on an adventure to find the sunken Unicorn. He’s joined by Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and the Thompson brothers (Nick Frost and Simon Pegg).

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