During the month of February, 20 teams of amateur filmmakers will be competing in the 1st ever 28 Days Later Challenge around the UK.
Over the course of four weeks they will be required to plan, script, shoot and edit a 70min Feature film. At the end of the month the completed features will go before a panel of judges comprised of film industry professionals, screenwriters and film critics. The winning film will be distributed on DVD , and will also be screened at the ICA cinema in London. It will also be screened at the Abattoir Film Festival, as well as in Cannes and at other major film festivals .
The theme of the competition is ‘B-Movies’, and each team will be given a random theme & title plus a story outline. Everything else, from catering to equipment to animation & music , is down to the team members. In addition to making their films, each team will be keeping a video diary of their experiences, and it will be possible to keep up to date with their progress through media partner HeyUGuys.co.uk. also on twitter @28dayfeature
Director: Lee Daniels Starring: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz
Reviewed by pjowens75.
PRECIOUS: Based on The Novel PUSH by Sapphire
Some movies are harder to watch than others. Not because they’re bad, but because they show us a world that makes us uncomfortable; a world that we know exists, but have never consciously wanted any part of. They make us uncomfortable because they are real…too real.
PRECIOUS: Based On the Novel PUSH By Sapphire is one of those movies. It shows us a world so bleak and full of despair that we find ourselves squirming in our seats. But director Lee Daniels doesn’t shove it into our faces or hit us over the head with it. Instead he shows us this world through the eyes of one young girl who is caught in the middle of it all.
Claireece P. Jones is the “Precious” of the title, and is played by Gabourey Sidibe. She is an overweight 16 year old who is pregnant with her second child. But this is not a movie about dealing with the consequences of her own bad choices, but of dealing with the situations that have been forced upon her. For both babies are the results of being raped and abused by her own father. And in one of the welfare system’s many unfairnesses, Precious is suspended from school, seemingly slamming the door on the only escape from her terrible life.
But the biggest villain in this movie, even more than the abusive father, or the system seemingly at odds with itself, is Precious’ own mother Mary, unforgettably played by Mo’Nique. She allows the sexual abuse to take place, to produce babies and increase the size of her welfare check, and is constantly abusive to Precious, intentionally tearing apart her hopes & dreams, calling her “stupid” and saying “I knew I should’ve aborted you.” Mary is a woman with no redeeming values whatsoever and may easily be one of the most hateful characters ever filmed. It is to Mo’Nique’s credit that she makes her so much more than the one dimensional caricature tempted by the script. We can see all the calculating rationalizations going on inside her as she heaps abuse after abuse on all of those around her.
Eventually, Precious finds her way to an alternative school, and in the midst of her uncaring world, finds people who do care, in friends and in a teacher, Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), who gives her a journal and makes her write something in it, every day, even if she must force herself to do it.
And gradually, just as Precious slowly learns to care about herself, we begin to care about her and hope that the seething volcano of emotions we see building inside her will erupt, bringing explosive justice to all her abusers. But this isn’t an action film where the villains “get it” in the most gruesome ways imaginable. No, this is real life, and when the eruption finally does happen, we may not be completely happy with the outcome, but must be satisfied simply with the hope that Precious is taking control of her life and is on her way out of her predicament.
And perhaps that is what makes us so uncomfortable, not the content of the film itself, but the knowledge that this world really exists and is every bit as dark and unfair as the movie portrays. And perhaps we are upset that the filmmakers have spoiled our bright sunny day by making us aware of this world. But it is a world we should be aware of. And it is well written, directed, and especially acted movies like PRECIOUS that keep bringing it to our attention in a way that makes us care.
On February 20th the first ever ‘Ghouls on Film’ festival comes to The Mixing Bowl theatre in Birmingham, to celebrate horror films made by women. As part of Women in Horror Recognition Month, the event will include short films, two feature-length films and very special guest, cult star Emily Booth.
Ghouls on Film will play host to the UK premiere of the acclaimed Soska Sisters’ debut feature film, ‘Dead Hooker in a Trunk’, as well as a screening of Kate Glover’s outback slasher ‘Slaughtered’. The short films include a brand new short by Maude Michaud and the award-winning film ‘Pop Art’ by Amanda Boyle. Emily Booth, best known for her TV presenting and roles in films such as Evil Aliens and Doghouse will be talking about her career in horror, as well as leading a discussion on the role of women in the horror industry.
The event begins at 3pm. Entry costs only £6, which can be paid on the day or beforehand. This is a not-for-profit event: if any profit is
made, it will be donated to charity. For full details, please visit http://ghoulsonfilm.blogspot.com.
Looks like this is a bit saucier than the previous trailer made out.
An average joe (Jay Baruchel) who works as a TSA security guard meets the perfect woman (Alice Eve), but his lack of confidence and the influence of his friends & family begins to pick away at the relationship.
John C Reilly and Tilda Swinton are to star in the adaption of Lionel Shriver’s We Need To Talk About Kevin. The novel follows a mother’s shock and horror when her son initiates a high school killing spree.
Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams are set to star in the romantic drama Take This Waltz says Dark Horizons. The story follows a young woman (Williams) who struggles with her infidelities and the budding realization that she may be addicted to the honeymoon period of her relationships. Sarah Polley (“Away From Her”) directs.
Edgar Wright’s adaption of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World will be released on 13th August 2010 so will go head to head with Stallone’s The Expendables.
Danny Elfman is scoring The Green Hornet film starring Seth Rogen and directed by Michel Gondry.
Ryan Reynolds talks to the Deadpool screenwriters (“Zombieland” writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick) everyday.
AICN had the new poster for the Tim Blake Nelson film, Leaves of Grass. It stars Edward Norton as Twin Brothers and has been knocking around for a while now without a general release (I posted about it first way back in September 2008).
An Ivy League professor (Edward Norton) is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown, where his twin brother, a small-time pot grower, has concocted a simple scheme to take down a local drug lord.
It also stars Keri Russell, Susan Sarandon, Melanie Lynskey, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell and Richard Dreyfuss.
Looks like Beat Takeshi is back to his Yakuza goodness with this one.
The story begins with Sekiuchi (Kitamura Soichiro), boss of the Sannokai, a huge organised crime syndicate controlling the entire Kanto region, issuing a stern warning to his lieutenant Kato (Miura Tomokazu) and right-hand man Ikemoto (Kunimura Jun), head of the Ikemoto-gumi. Kato orders Ikemoto to bring the unassociated Murase-gumi gang in line, and he immediately passes the task on to his subordinate Otomo (Takeshi Kitano aka Beat Takeshi), who runs his own crew. The tricky jobs that no-one wants to do always end up in Otomo’s lap…
During the month of February, 20 teams of amateur filmmakers will be competing in the 1st ever 28 Days Later Challenge around the UK.
