TUiW Goes to the 2011 SavFF: The Artist

Over the course of the last week, I heard several friends tell me they weren’t going to last night’s opening film, The Artist, because they didn’t think they’d have any interest in seeing a silent, black and white French film. Nevermind the critical acclaim or the fact that it was opening night, they all told me that without dialogue, they’d probably fall asleep or be bored. I was intrigued by film, not only for its premise but for the buzz surrounding it. After it screened at Cannes, the audience gave it a 20 minute standing ovation. That seemed a little extreme, but now, I can kind of understand why.My silence-fearing friends missed out big time. The 2011 festival started with a resounding bang with The Artist, a brilliant and beautiful story of a silent film star in the transition to sound. As one of the film’s stars, James Cromwell, said after, it’s textbook filmmaking. Simplicity was the name of the game here, and it worked to tremendous affect. There may not have been a 20 minute standing ovation, but I didn’t run into a single person all night who didn’t like the film. It’s hard to get consensus on the quality of a film from two film buffs, let alone a theatre of them, so it was hard to ignore the overwhelmingly positive response to it. While I don’t think we’ll be heading for a second era of silent films, The Artist is sure to be a film that resonates within those who’ve seen it for a long time.

There’s been a lot of talk from the film’s distributer, Harvey Weinstein, about getting the film nominated for more than just best foreign picture. I’m not sure the larger Oscar audience will go for it, but they should be. If you have a chance to see The Artist, do so without hesitation. You won’t regret it.

TUiW Goes to the 2011 Savannah Film Festival

For the second year in a row, I’ll be hitting the Savannah Film Festival in Savannah, GA. This year, I have the added bonus of a media pass getting me full access to the event, which features some high profile films such as Cannes hit The Artist, Sundance Winner Like Crazy, A Dangerous Method, Carnage, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and a many more. Be sure to check back here, on Twitter, and at the festival’s Voices of the Fest page throughout the week.

Savannah Film Festival Announces Competition Films

Once again, TUiW is fortunate enough to go to the Savannah Film Festival and get a sneak peak of some of this year’s Oscar contenders before they hit wide release. Headline films include Roman Polanski’s Carnage and Cannes favorite The Artist, and this morning, the festival announced its competition films. Check out the list below and check back when the festival starts to read our thoughts on them.

A Year in Mooring

USA, 2011, 91 min., HDCam
Director: Chris Eyre
Producers: Kevin Reidy, Sally Jo Effenson
Writer: Peter Vanderwall
Cast: Ayelet Zurer, James Cromwell, Jon Tenney, Taylor Nichols, Josh Lucas

Synopsis: A successful businessman, attempting to escape his past, moves aboard a dilapidated boat in a remote harbor. Told over movements framed by the calendar year, the Young Mariner meets other harbor inhabitants with pasts of their own.

Inuk

France/Greenland, 2010, 90 min., HDCam
Director: Mike Magidson
Producers: Mike Magidson, Sylvie Barbe
Writers: Mike Magidson, Jean-Michel Huctin
Cast: Gaaba Petersen, Ole-Jorgen Hammeken

Synopsis: In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, sixteen year-old Inuk lives a troubled life with his alcoholic mother and violent step-father. One morning, after pulling the half-frozen boy out of an abandoned car, the social services decide to send Inuk north to a children’s home on a tiny island in the middle of the arctic sea-ice. Shortly after arriving, Inuk meets Ikuma, a local polar bear hunter who has his own share of problems, and is asked to take Inuk on his annual seal-hunting trip. So when Inuk, the troubled boy from the city, joins Ikuma, the last great hunter of the North, on this epic dogsled journey, they will face much more than the bitter cold and fragile sea-ice.

Let Go

USA, 2011, 109 min., HDCam
Director: Brian Jett
Producer: Leif Lillihaugen
Writer: Brian Jett
Cast: Alexandera Holden, Amy Stiller, Brian Huskey, Catherine Reitman, David Denman, Dov Davidoff, Edward Asner, Gillian Jacobs, Johnny Pemberton, Kali Hawk, Kevin Hart, Kirk Fox, Maria Thayer, Rance Howard, Simon Helberg

Synopsis: A comedy that follows the intertwining stories of Walter Dishman, a melancholy parole officer struggling with the doldrums of married life, and three eccentric ex-convicts that were recently placed under his supervision. Using the afflictions of modern love as a common thread, the stories build to a poignant climax as each of the characters struggle to free themselves from both literal and figurative bonds.

Take Me Home

USA, 2011, 97min, Blu-Ray
Director: Sam Jaeger
Producer: Michael Hobert, Jane Kelly Kosek
Writer: Sam Jaeger
Cast: Sam Jaeger, Amber Jaeger, Victor Garber, Cristine Rose, Lin Shaye

Synopsis: When Claire jumps in Thom’s beat-up cab in New York, neither realize that they have just begun a journey together of self-discovery that will have them crossing the United States in an effort to find home.