Posts tagged Movie
Day 3 in trial of murder that mimics movie
Mar 19th
Prosecutors said Twitchell, an amateur moviemaker, chronicled the graphic Oct. 10, 2008, murder and dismemberment on his computer under the heading “My Progression into Becoming a Serial Killer.”
Twitchell has pleaded not guilty and faces a life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years if convicted.
Prosecutors allege Twitchell and friends made a short eight-minute movie in an Edmonton, Alberta, residential garage about a man lured to a remote location for an Internet date. The man is tied up, tortured to reveal his Internet pass codes, then murdered.
According to prosecutors, a week after that movie was made, Twitchell began acting out the plot in real life.
He lured one man to the same garage on the pretense of an Internet date with a woman and planned to kill him, but was foiled when the man escaped.
A week later, prosecutors told the jury, Altinger was lured there but didn’t get away.
Police Const. Nancy Allen presented evidence Friday taken from Twitchell’s home to suggest he’d been thinking about what he was going to do for weeks and that he was likely planning to kill more people.
Allen presented a wall calendar from Twitchell’s home showing a notation that read: “Mark appointment, 7 p.m.” That was on Oct. 3, 2008, when the first victim allegedly was attacked and broke free. A second notation was made days later on Oct. 10, the day Altinger disappeared.
There were two more notes for appointments with two other people on Oct. 17 and Oct 24.
Prosecutors said Altinger was hit on the head with a heavy copper pipe, knifed to death and his limbs carved up with heavy-duty saws and blades used by hunters to chop up big game. He first tried to burn the remains, then dumped them in the sewer.
Allen presented receipts dating back to August 2008 for a meat cleaver, a military knife, handcuffs and a steel barrel the prosecution said was used to burn Altinger’s remains.
Police found a yellow sticky note in his car that reminded him to clean the “kill room,” then go have rough sex with a woman who had a different name than his wife.
Investigators also found a novel about Dexter, a fictional character who became the basis for a TV show depicting a man who was a Miami forensic analyst by day and vigilante serial killer by night.
Police said that in June 2010, Twitchell gave them information which led to the recovery of some of Altinger’s remains in a sewer a couple of blocks from Twitchell’s parents’ home.
The trial is scheduled for six weeks.
From www.sunherald.com
Avatar 3D Blu-ray Movie Review
Mar 19th
Avatar 3D Blu-ray Movie Review
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Our Rating: 71% | Manufacturer: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Last April, I took a look at the original Blu-ray release of Avatar. The disc was a bare bones release designed to capitalize on the films popularity and sate fans before the promised ‘special edition’ version which was released in November 2010. Whilst a 3D retail release has not yet eventuated, late last year it was revealed that Twentieth Century Fox had approached TV manufacturers Panasonic and Samsung with a proposal to produce a 3D Blu-ray version as an offer to purchases of their equipment.
Panasonic won the bidding war – no doubt a large sum of money and likely more than the profit that would have been obtained had the disc been available freely in the marketplace. Allegedly, the period of exclusitivity extends until early 2012. So for die hard Avatar fans; you’ll need to go buy a Panasonic Viera (I did – you won’t likely regret it), or pay the exorbitant fees demanded by eBay.
Avatar has been an incredibly long time coming. The genesis of the project begun in the mid 1990′s with an idea from James Cameron. Deciding that technology was not evolved enough to see his vision come to fruition, Cameron shelved the idea and made a small film called Titanic. You may have heard of it. Whilst pursuing other underwater documentary projects such as Ghosts of the Abyss, Cameron continued to evolve technology to see the creation of Avatar finally starting production in 2005. Shrouded in mystery and with only very small snippets of information making its way into the public domain, by the time the trailer was released towards the end of 2009, many film fans and bloggers alike were confused wondering what all the fuss was all about. When James Cameron started making modest statements regarding the film, alarm bells started sounding. Maybe all those years under the water had sent Cameron crazy? Potentially he had the bends, but just wasn’t dying?
However, by the time of the film’s release in December 2009, it was clear then Avatar was something special. Audiences instantly connected to it and as they flocked to repeat sessions, subsequently bringing their family and friends along, the film grossed higher and higher week after week, soon surpassing Cameron’s own Titanic in worldwide revenue (nearly $2.8 billion U.S.), and became the highest grossing film of all time, whilst also pushing 3D as cinemas next technological breakthrough.
I’ll dispense with providing a plot outline for Avatar. I truly believe that there are no TweakTown readers that are unfamiliar with the story of the film. Despite its unoriginal themes, Avatar is a visual tour de force. My first viewing of the film theatrically in 3D was, for want of a better word; amazing. I recall sitting speechless by the end of the film, thinking to myself that the film changes everything, similar to my thoughts after The Matrix in 1999. It seems I wasn’t alone in my experience.
Video
Avatar 3D is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.78:1, compressed with the newly mandated MVC MPEG4 codec. Like all home video releases thus far, the aspect ratio here deviates from the 2D theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, resulting in more vertical information. James Cameron has stated that this is his preferred aspect ratio.
Please note that this 3D Blu-ray will only work in a certified 3D Blu-ray player, connected to a 3D TV. There is no 2D version of the film on this disc.
Like the previous release, the transfer is essentially flawless. I didn’t see any video nasties such as aliasing or macroblocking. It comes direct from the servers and has never touched celluloid. Analysis of the disc reveals that almost every available bit on the 50GB dual layer Blu-ray has been used.
The image is sharp and detailed and full of lush colour. A bit of calibration will likely be needed for your TV – this is not a film that needs to be displayed incredibly bright.
So onto the 3D effect and the question that everyone is asking is, ‘is it all it’s cracked up to be?’, and for that I have no straight forward answer. But I’ll attempt to explain. I tested the disc on a 52″ Sony Bravia LCD and a 65″ Panasonic Viera Plasma. I found the Viera to be more pleasing in terms of 3D effect, reduced eye strain and overall colour. The Sony Bravia was noticeably duller, was not as impressive on the frequent low lit scenes and made the film look a bit more video-like than the Panasonic.
The 3D effect on the Viera was very pleasing and mirrored the impressiveness of the visuals I remember from the cinema, even though the active shutter glasses did result in more eye strain and the occasional glitch which was not present in the passive glasses from the theatre.
However, the real crux of the matter is how big the display is, how big your display room is and subsequently how far away from the display device you are. These variables will dictate how impressive the 3D effect actually is. The further away from the device you are, the more you will be disconnected from the 3D effect as your peripheral vision subconsciously notes what is happening around you. Obviously a bigger display will help in this regard (I believe that 65″ is currently one of the largest common consumer TV sizes currently available), but this comes at a premium cost.
Audio
The main audio track is encoded in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, at 24 bits – a complete replica of the previous release.
Avatar’s audio track is pretty spectacular stuff. Every trick in the book has been utilised to create an aggressive and engrossing mix. Hats off to the audio mixers for crafting such a believable soundstage for the world. The surround channels are utilised constantly and bass is deep and powerful.
I enjoyed James Horner’s soundtrack score, despite it recalling much of his previous work. The score has been fairly aggressively mixed into the soundtrack, helping to build the emotional component of the film.
Overall, a really amazing audio mix. This will wring every last bit of juice out of your audio system.
Extras
Nothing. Nada. Zip.
Die hard Avatar fans can now purchase the epic 3 disc Blu-ray which features almost every minute of behind the scenes footage that was ever captured. Well, this may be an exaggeration, but there is an awful lot there and I think that even the more demanding fans will be satisfied. So that dulls the pain of having no extra features on this disc. Besides – 3D transfers are much more bit-hungry than a 2D release (two frames being encoded at once instead of just one) so this transfer really did need to be isolated. Potentially when the disc hits retail it might be bundled with the special edition release anyway.
From www.tweaktown.com
‘Ong Bak 3′– Self-indulgent Tony Jaa loses way (IANS Movie Review)
Mar 19th
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Film: ‘Ong Bak 3′; Director: Tony Jaa and Panna Rittikrai; Actors: Tony Jaa, Primorata Dejudom, Nirut Sirichanya; Rating: *
Martial arts in cinema have been a domain of the Asians. Since the days of the first master Bruce Lee, there have been many like Jackie Chan and Jet Li, among others, who have taken martial arts in cinema to a different level.
A new successor to this legacy comes from Thailand and his name is Tony Jaa. Fans of martial arts worldwide have already been mesmerised by his pyrokinetics. But with this latest venture he proves he may have lost way in his quest for world cinematic martial arts domination.
Like most of Bruce Lee’s or Jackie Chan’s film, Tony Jaa’s film rarely has a story to boast of. Even for that the story and direction of ‘Ong Bak 3′, both by Tony Jaa, is a new low and the martial arts disappoint too.
After heir to the throne Prince Tiem is almost beaten to death by an evil king who has usurped his kingdom, he is brought back to life thanks to the blessings of the Buddha and he must now fight his adversaries to restore peace in the nation.
Audiences aware of Tony Jaa and his full contact, and Bruce Lee’s martial arts have seen proof that even in the days of special effects, pure physical action and a highly energetic lead will never run out of date.
However, as he has grown from strength to strength, Tony Jaa seems to forget his strength which is his physical abilities.
In ‘Ong Bak 3′, his reliance on wires and special effects to enhance special effects spoil the action. He is trying to outdo Chinese and Hollywood martial arts film, and that will prove to be his undoing.
For there is something beautiful about raw physical energy, to be able to see the body go beyond its stated potential, to see the mind follow the body instead of the other way round.
Former martial arts masters in films knew that. And so did Tony Jaa. Obvious from his film ‘The Protector’ (2005) where a full five-minute long shot follows him moving from one floor to another, jumping, punching, kicking his adversaries. His stamina in that one scene, as in many others in his films, is sheer poetry.
However, in ‘Ong Bak 3′, he forgets that and though the cinematography is commendable, the film’s action, choreographed by Tony Jaa himself, is corrupted by special effects, loud, garish sound and the absolute unbelievability of the stunts compared to the believability of the same in previous films, even in the previous Ong Bak films.
Even extreme action junkies will balk with anger at ‘Ong Bak 3′ and find it hard to digest either the film or its action.
Tony Jaa is obviously aiming for Hollywood glory, but he would do well to remember what will take him there — not such bad special effects-laden action sequences, but raw, physical action. We all know he can do it.
All About: National,Entertainment,–select–
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From www.sify.com
The Lincoln Lawyer Movie Review: A Legal Drama That Shines
Mar 19th
The Lincoln Lawyer is – surprisingly – even better than the previews made it look – and the previews looked pretty good. The story, starring Hollywood heavy weights Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillipe, is compelling; the actors make this film relevant and interesting from start to finish.
McConaughey is known for playing slick, smooth, and charming leading men, and The Lincoln Lawyer is no exception. He is a sleazy attorney who seems to be in the biz just for the cold hard cash, but there’s a soft side to this smooth-talking defense lawyer and McConaughey nails both sides of this character.
The Plot:
The Lincoln Lawyer centers around criminal defense lawyer Mick Haller. Haller is known for keeping criminals on the streets by getting them off the hook – for a price. He does all his business out of the back of an old Lincoln town car, with the occasional help from driver Earl (Lawrence Mason). He takes on a case involving a Beverley Hills playboy, Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillipe), accused of rape and attempted murder of a prostitute (Margarita Levieva). He soon learns the case is not as cut and dry as original thought and Roulet may not be the innocent victim of a set up.
The cast also includes Marisa Tomei as Maggie, a prosecutor and Mick’s ex-love; William H. Macy as Mick’s investigator; and Josh Lucas as the D.A trying Roulet’s case.
The Good:
The Lincoln Lawyer is a flashback to some of the best legal dramas of the ’90s. It is smooth and smart in its scripting and execution. Nothing in this film seems forced or phony.
This is Matthew McConaughey at his best. He does a great job as Mick Haller, although sometimes his cocky nature can come across more arrogant than charming, it completely works for this one. McConaughey isn’t new to legal dramas – A Time To Kill and Amistad come to mind – and while he was great in those two films, he brings a maturity this time around that makes him that much more charming and compelling in his role.
The plot keeps you guessing right from the start and there isn’t a dragging moment in the whole thing. We find out early on what is really going in the Roulet case, so it doesn’t feel like the film is a forced two hours of whodunit. The story takes an interesting twist when Haller grows a conscience and sets out to right a past wrong that’s connected with his current case.
Tomei delivers a great performance as Maggie, Heller’s ex-wife and mother of his daughter. The two obviously still have a strong attraction to one another and the back and forth between them is intoxicating and mesmerizing. Macy is also great in his role as Heller’s investigator and he brings the right amount of humor and sarcasm in his banter with Mick – we wouldn’t expect anything less from Macy.
The Bad:
Not much negative to say about this film as I thought it was thoroughly enjoyable. The one area that seemed a little contrived were the courtroom scenes. They came across as much too dramatic and over-the-top compared to the rest of the film.
Overall, director Brad Furman brings us a film that is entertaining and satisfying. He keeps the audience invested in Mick’s life and even though Mick is a charming SOB who is mostly concerned with making money and seems to lack a conscience, we see his turnaround throughout the film and are rooting for him till the end.
From www.reelmovienews.com
Movie review: “Kill List”
Mar 18th
Movie review: “Kill List”
AUSTIN (Hollywood Reporter) – A marked improvement in substance and technique over his well-received debut “Down Terrace,” Ben Wheatley’s “Kill List” brings a fresh mystery and bite to the hitman genre. Art-house potential is strong unless early reaction to a deeply weird twist taints word-of-mouth; even in that case, the film will find enthusiastic support in some quarters.
Like “Terrace,” this effort combines familial dynamics with genre elements. Here, though, the domestic tensions are grounded in a more believable realism. Husband-and-wife military veterans Jay (Neil Maskell) and Shel (MyAnna Buring), now living as civilians with a young son and a sideline in contract killing, bicker about money and household repair, but their friction is heightened by an event to which the script only alludes: Eight months ago, Jay somehow botched an assignment in Kiev in a way that is shadowing both his career and his psyche.
Tension steps up a notch when Jay and Shel have longtime friend/partner Gal (Michael Smiley) and his new girlfriend Fiona (Emma Fryer) over for dinner. Ugly (but sometimes comic) spats and friendly reconciliations serve as backdrop for Gal’s invitation — insistence, nearly — that Jay join him on a job involving three murders for a mysterious employer.
The ensuing assignment delivers solid crime-film beats, but the increasing nastiness of the targets with intimations of involvement with snuff films and child pornography pushes psychological buttons for Jay, who begins to take his work very seriously indeed: In one horrifically graphic scene, he uses a hammer to pound his victim so hard the body starts to come apart.
Jim Williams’s score, incorporating mysterious chants and whistling, backward-played speech, and dragging strings, further cements a mood of dread and anxiety. Meanwhile the two actors convince us of a long history between the men that breeds viewer identification despite the terrible things Jay is doing.
From the start, the film drops clues (some subtle, some overtly cryptic) of a conspiracy deeper than the assassination contract itself — possibly one stranger than anything found in the familiar crime-flick universe. Wheatley shows remarkable agility integrating them into the movie’s tone, and when that last-act swerve arrives, even its deep strangeness doesn’t derail the movie’s grim momentum. The climax’s “what the hell?” factor escalates steadily, though, to a resolution that may leave audiences deeply divided. Even those who throw their hands up, though, may find themselves recommending this potent film to their more fringe-friendly acquaintances.
(Editing by Zorianna Kit)
From www.reuters.com
Tom Arnold Says ‘True Lies 2′ Could Be Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Next Movie
Mar 18th
Tom Arnold Says ‘True Lies 2′ Could Be Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Next Movie
Posted on Friday, March 18th, 2011 by Germain Lussier
Ever since he announced his return to acting, rumors have run rampant about what project Arnold Schwarzenegger would chose to do as his return film. He’s seriously considering over a dozen scripts, many of which are sequels or reboots to some of his beloved films: Predator, The Running Man, Terminator among others. According to Tom Arnold, who co-starred with Schwarzenegger in the James Cameron action film True Lies, the pair have both read and loved a script for a sequel to that film and he believes it could be the one Schwarzenegger chooses to do next. Read Tom Arnold’s hilariously optimistic quotes after the break.
Arnold was talking to Movieweb when he said the following, so thanks to them for the exclusive:
I have read a great True Lies 2 script, and I hope we are able to do it. Knock on wood. Arnold Schwarzenegger is excited. I am excited….We have both read the script. There is a script that James Cameron and a guy named Jeff Eastin, who created the TV show White Collar, wrote. It is really great. Jim can’t direct it. But he can produce it. We hope it gets done. We have a few fun things we want to do. I am supposed to remain cool about this. For me, it would be a lot of fun to work with the guys again.
So if Cameron can’t direct (he’s got Avatar 2 and 3 to start worrying about), who might helm the film?
There is a list of really good directors. There have always been people who were interested in doing it. I let those guys handle that. I put in my two cents.
He then tagged his thoughts with this statement:
I am excited. All I can say right now is, I know that Arnold and I will work together. A lot of people are sending him scripts now. He is carefully going through them, deciding what he wants to do. He wants to have some fun. He wants to do something that is worth his time, but fun. Hopefully, we can get this thing figured out. And we can get something on track. I am just waiting. I am following his lead.
Arnold (Tom, not Schwarzenegger) also said he pitched Sylvester Stallone the idea of bringing back a bunch of the famous action movie sidekicks for The Expendables 2, but that seems like even more of a pipe dream than True Lies 2.
Before we seriously consider these claims, lets just address Tom Arnold. He seems like a very nice guy, but he’s obviously selling himself all over town, hoping to capitalize on this mini 80s action resurgence. You certainly have to take anything he says with a grain of salt. But, salt taken, let’s talk True Lies 2.
Last we heard about True Lies 2, it was set up as a TV series that landed at ABC with Cameron producing. However, that was before producers realized they might be able to get Schwarzenegger back. One can only assume that Lightstorm would prefer to make a movie with the original cast as opposed to a TV show that could get lost in the shuffle of spy shows.
As a huge fan of the original film, I was always kind of curious of where the story went once Harry and Helen began to team up. However, with Helen knowing Harry is a spy, it kind of ruins the whole crux of the movie. If Eastin’s screenplay gives it another hook beyond a husband and wife spy team, then it sounds good. If Jamie Lee Curtis was game, of course.
The other major factor is Cameron. Of course he can’t direct but, for me, he has to do more than just sign off on it. He “signed off” on Sanctum as a producer and that was a huge piece of shit. I’d want him to have some creative input, even if it’s just in the story stage.
Do you think this film will come to fruition or do you believe it will strictly live on TV? What do you hope Schwarzenegger does as his comeback role?
From www.slashfilm.com
The Lincoln Lawyer Movie Reviews
Mar 18th
The Lincoln Lawyer Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas. It’s about Matthew McConaughey is a criminal defense attorney who takes on a seemingly routine case that becomes a deadly game of survival. The movie is getting a lot of good reviews from film critics. Here are a small sample of reviews for the movie.
Rolling Stone (75/100): This is rock-solid entertainment. McConaughey, a cunning mesmerizer in the courtroom, steers this Lincoln into what could be a hell-raising franchise. More, please. Soon.
Chicago Sun-Times (75/100): I like movies about smart guys who are wise asses, and think their way out of tangles with criminals. I like courtroom scenes. I like big old cars. I like The Lincoln Lawyer because it involves all three.
Movieline (75/100): Furman keeps the drama taut when it needs to be, and loosens the reins easily when it’s time to kick back – he has good control over the movie’s rhythms.
Time Out New York (80/100): In theory, there’s nothing wrong when a movie reminds you of TV. (That’s where the fun is, anyway.) But when a movie resembles a long-lost, corduroy-clad episode of “The Rockford Files,” that’s a problem.
New York Daily News (20/100): There’s a reason potboiler paperbacks don’t make good movies – there’s too much outlandish plot, even for Hollywood.
From www.sohood.com
Evesham river tragedy ‘like a horror movie’, says witness
Mar 18th
When Christopher Grady drove his car into the River Avon at Evesham with his petrified children inside, it was like a scene from “a horror movie”, a witness said.
Ryan and Gabrielle screamed as their 42-year-old father circled a field by the river before plunging into the freezing water, according to a dog walker and a cafe worker.
Grady was convicted of murdering Gabrielle, aged five, and attempting to murder his then six-year-old son Ryan.
Nicholas Langstone, who saw the incident unfold from a nearby cafe, said Grady put his “foot to the floor” and “just went faster and faster, straight down the edge of the riverbank into the river”.
He said: “The first thing I knew, I could hear the kids screaming in the car.
“There was somebody banging on the back window, I think it was a child… they were saying ‘Help me, help me’.”
Philippa Henley, who was walking her dog on the opposite side of the river, said she waved her arms and shouted in vain “Don’t do it” to Grady.
In a statement read to the court, the retired social worker said: “I could hear them (Ryan and Gabrielle) banging on the glass while they were going round the field and I could hear the fear in their voices.
“I was waving my arms and saying ‘Don’t do it’. It was like a horror movie.”
The court heard Grady and Ryan rose to the surface of the water a short time after the car began to sink, but Gabrielle, known as Gabby to family and friends, was pulled through the sunroof by specialist divers around two hours later.
She was pronounced dead in hospital on February 14, three days after the incident.
Julie Woodgate, a witness who was running along the riverbank, said she saw Grady surface and scream for help from the water.
From www.birminghammail.net
Ty’s weekend movie picks for 3/18/11
Mar 18th
I’ve been away from the weekend tipsheet game for a while, partially because teaching a course on Friday mornings throws a spanner in the works but mostly because the movies have been so genuinely dreadful these past few months. As spring nears, though, so do reasons to go to the movie theater instead of staying home swaddled in Netflix and on-demand. This weekend I’d even venture to say there are some solid-to-excellent films out there, cautiously poking their heads up like crocuses. (Croci? Croquettes?)
Even the bad movies are pretty good. “The Lincoln Lawyer,” an old-school Los Angeles crime suspenser based on a Michael Connelly best-seller, keeps you watching on the strength of its supporting cast (William H. Macy, Marisa Tomei, Jon Leguizamo) and a star, lazy ol’ Matthew McConaughey, who knows how to idle through a movie like this. Does it matter if the filmmaking is barely functional or that the second lead, Ryan Philippe as McConaughey’s richie-rich client, is a mopey dud? Not with a story this efficient and with bones this familiar. “Lincoln Lawyer” (named after its rascally hero’s conveyance of choice) is very much an airport-novel of a movie, and if that means you’ll wait to see it on an airplane, don’t let me stop you.
Also looking like cheese but a markedly better movie is “Limitless,” which takes its gimmick — a pill that allows the user to access 100% of his/her brain rather than the urban-legend 20% we’re all stuck with — and runs with it at increasing speed. There’s a really smart moral drama about power and addiction to be mined from this premise, and director Neil Burger (who made the great magician melodrama “The Illusionist”) isn’t interested in making it. Instead, he and screenwriter Leslie Dixon (working from Alan Glynn’s 2001 novel “The Dark Fields”) toss in more characters, more plot, more speed, more more until the whole things boils enjoyably, preposterously over. Star Bradley Cooper spends the opening scenes behaving in un-Bradley ways before the drugs kick in and he reclaims his mantle as the most amusingly smug bastard in the movies, but I think the real star here may be Burger, who lets the visual style rip in ways that don’t overwhelm the busy story. The guy has a masterpiece in him, even if “Limitless” ain’t it. Still, it’s more fun than the movies are used to having in March.
If that’s too low for your brow, there’s the excellent “Jane Eyre,” an impassioned, intelligent, respectful adaptation of the Charlotte Bronte classic that gives us yet more reasons to like Mia Masikowska and Michael Fassbender. Having seen Cary Fukunaga’s first movie, “Sin Nombre,” I certainly wasn’t expecting him to hit the moors next time out. But he’s done an expert job steering “Jane Eyre” away from canned Merchant-Ivoryisms and letting the story bloom at its own cantankerously romantic pace. Like its heroine, the movie seems a drab thing until you notice the fire burning inside.
Another surprise: A fact-based drama about doomed Trappist monks in Algeria that, by its final frames, becomes an intensely moving spiritual experience. “Of Gods and Men” (image up top) has some of the same chilly transcendental vibe as the documentary “Into Great Silence” from a few years back, but the performances by Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale are intellectually and emotionally warming, and the film uses the music from “Swan Lake” to far more profound effect than “Black Swan”. Directed by Xavier Beauvois and beautifully photographed by Caroline Champetier, it’s a film of such austere benevolence as to make grown men weep. This is not exaggeration.
Not that Darren Aronofsky was seeking greater meaning with “Black Swan”. Why bother, when he could give us cheap thrills and win his star an Oscar by remulching Roman Polanski’s “Repulsion”? Don’t believe me? The original is on view next week as the fitting climax of the Brattle’s nifty Catherine Deneuve retrospective. Until then, if you’ve never seen “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” on a big screen, Saturday night is your chance to experience it in all its wonky Technicolor Michel Legrand-y glory. The theater hosts the annual Chlotrudis awards Sunday night.
More French classics: The Claude Chabrol festival continues at the Harvard Film Archive, with “Le Boucher” (“The Butcher”) unspooling on Saturday — one of the eeriest and best works from the late master of moral suspense. The MFA is in the middle of a Francophone film festival — movies from French-speaking countries around the world.
We will not speak of “Paul,” other than to note that the statute of limitations on Seth Rogen’s charm may be running out much sooner than he wants.
From www.boston.com
Bowman: Forty Under 40 win like in a movie
Mar 18th
- David E. Bowman
- 2011 Forty Under 40 Winner
- Email: davidebowman@gmail.com
Being named to the Dayton Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 list is an incredible honor.
As part of this year’s awards I was asked to write a blog post describing what it was like to find out that I had been chosen for this year’s class of winners.
The short answer is “it felt great.”
As my colleague Linda Khan said to me, “It’s always nice to have your hard work recognized by your peers.”
In the hours following the announcement, I heard from hundreds of people whom I have known through various stages of life, all of whom said in essence “Congratulations and great job Dave.”
Oddly, the experience reminded me of the feeling I get every time I watch the classic holiday movie “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
At the end of the film, the main character George Bailey, immortalized by the great Jimmy Stewart, realizes just how many lives he has touched, how many friends he has made over the years, and how to find meaning in one’s life through understanding the impact it has on the lives of others.
Getting the e-mail from Don Baker saying “You won!” felt great.
A part of me wanted to run up Main Street, right through downtown Dayton, joyously shouting at buildings like the exhuberant George Bailey — “Hey there DBJ!” “Hello Courthouse Square!” “Hello Dayton!” and “Hello there P/O/N!!”
Alas, I settled for an equally satisfying “Woo hoo!” which I shouted out loud from my office.
As person after person reached out to say congratulations, I again thought about good old George Bailey realizing just how wonderful life is.
Each note, Tweet, and message took me to some random place or time in my career, and each brought back a flood of great memories.
It was amazing.
In my short life, I have been blessed to know some of the most amazing people in the world. Brilliant, kind, giving, creative, visionary people, many of whom have given me gifts of knowledge, inspiration and opportunity.
I have been fortunate to find work that has ignited my passion and people who have pushed me to continuously get better, try harder and accomplish more. I have a loving family, wonderful friends, and a great place to call home here in Dayton. I am a lucky man.
Being chosen as one of the Forty Under 40 reminded me of all of these wonderful things. It is not the end of my journey, but rather serves as a memorable milestone in what has so far been a wonderful life.
Thank you to Walter Ohlmann for hiring me and thinking enough of my contribution to nominate me for the Forty Under 40 award, to the DBJ for selecting me as a winner and to my family for motivating, inspiring and supporting me through it all.
David E. Bowman is chief marketing strategist for Penny/Ohlmann/Neiman and is one of the DBJ’s Forty Under 40 winners for 2011. Follow him at Twitter.com/davidebowman
From www.bizjournals.com
