tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

tMF is introducing a new feature called tMF Indie Spotlight - where we get to focus on some of the most exciting, innovative and thought-provoking independent films soon to be shown on the big screen. In our first post, we're featuring the critically-acclaimed The Stoning of Soraya M.

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Comments SoYun Kim, the PR Interactive director of the Palisades Mediagroup:

This film is so timely especially in light of what is happening in Iran and the need for change. As the title suggests this film is about stoning - the brutal form of punishment usually for women. The intent of the film is to bring awareness that this is still practiced today and hopefully to end it forever.

It already won the Audience Award for best picture at this year's Los Angeles Film Festival and is consistently receiving rave reviews from critics.

I had the opportunity to live and work in the Middle East, particularly in Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen.While the goverments of these countries are promoting their people's new and modern ways and that anyone can visit and enjoy their beautiful lands, there still exist certain tradition and practices, that in the Western world, would not be acceptable anymore.

Duane Hopkins is regarded as one of British cinema's emerging talents. His first feature, Better Things, premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. He started his work as a filmmaker doing short films, and in this movie, he cast unknown actors. It might sound unconventional, but Hopkins hired his actors directly, discovering them on the streets. Drug use, one of the central themes of Hopkins' film, proved to be quite a challenge for the budding filmmaker. In order to make sure that his actors understamd the characters, he observes:

When I was doing the research into the drugs I met people who had been off drugs for two or three years. They were very generous with their information.

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Asked if his film is an exploration of "the pain of love", Hopkins reacted and said:

There's an absolute beauty in it. And there's an absolute cruelty in it. The beauty of it is you can have this incredible relationship with someone for your whole life. But the cruelty of it is that one of you will pass away before the other. Then someone will be left. How much of you disappears when that person goes? That's what's interesting about the younger characters. They have no idea about compromise. So being in love for the first time is a mixture of intimacy that you've never felt before, but it's also violent. The first love almost never lasts. One of you always pulls away. And because you're so young, you take it so deeply and you don't understand that you'll meet someone else. You don't understand this is a learning process. You can't see the positive. There's just this negativity that eats away.

I wanted to juxtapose this against the older group. If you put it side by side, you see what love looks like at the start and at the end of life.

Watch the film's trailer. I'm pretty sure, you'll agree with me, poetry in motion, plus there are also hints of sex, longing and more! [ just right after the jump]

I have been intrigued by this movie way way back. I first read the news about a certain 'Countess' who is regarded during her time as quite notorious and controversial and that her story is being made into film by the beautiful French actress Julie Delpy. Now that the film - The Countess - is finally done, I could not contain my excitement! By the way, among the cast is Germany's most sought-after actor, Daniel Brühl, who plays Delpy's lover.

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Here's more about the movie:

The true story of Countess Bathory born in 1560. At the age of 14, she married a powerful warlord, 10 years her senior. Although their relationship became cold and distant she bore him four children. While he was away fighting wars, she kept up their estate with the help of her confidant, the witch Anna Darvulia, becoming increasingly powerful. She was feared, admired and loathed by many - even the King had to obey her wishes. After her husband died, she met a handsome young man. They fell passionately in love. However, she was desperately concerned that she was not young enough to keep him. For 12 years, she waited for his return and in mad desperation, began to bathe in the blood of virgins, convinced that it would provide her with eternal youth and beauty, setting in motion the chain of bloody and treacherous events that led to her demise.

Our friends over @ICM (that's Rupert Grint's awesome fansite!) has launched a promotional campaign for the young actor's latest movie, Cherrybomb. tMF would like to join their cause and to find out more about this campaign, here's an excerpt of what they intend to do...

The Official Cherrybomb Campaign has been launched by ICM and The Little Film Company in order to ensure the widest possible cinematic release for Cherrybomb! In the present financial climate, it is proving difficult to sell independent movies to distributors; however, if the fans worldwide express their enthusiasm for Cherrybomb, then the chances of securing a distribution deal will rise dramatically! Here’s how you can get involved. There are six separate petitions targeting the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Brazil. This is based off of statistics we gathered that show a large amount of people in these areas who have either viewed the Cherrybomb trailer, visited ICM or other websites/communities that link Rupert Grint news.

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Tao from ICM wants to make sure people are aware of this movie and the details as to what you can do to help promote this film are all over here.

I'm a big fan of Jamie Bell, and Mr. Foe is definitely one of his most amazing performances as an actor. I know that his next movie Defiance will rock, but Hallam Foe (Mr. Foe) is his most significant role following Billy Elliot and Undertow. I just hope people get to watch and see how talented he is. So, we're bumping this post to give our viewers more info and insights into this amazing film.

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Hallam Foe, the new film by David McKenzie, is destined to surpass even our biggest expectations. With an exciting mix of sights and sounds, thrills and chills, and surprising twists and turns, it is a modern take on the coming-of-age genre that only McKenzie can deliver. With an amazing cast and an awesome soundtrack, it was premiered at the recent Berlinale to much acclaim.

A few years ago, McKenzie gave us the amazing Young Adam, featuring Ewan McGregor and the multi-talented Tilda Swinton. With its deliberately slow pace and a hypnotic and remarkable story, it is notable for the powerful and truthful performances of the actors. In Hallam Foe, we witness another film that has its own unique agenda and style. It’s like sitting down to watch the sequel of a story that still lingers up to this day. But don't get me wrong, Hallam Foe is a separate and totally engrossing film, surpassing Young Adam in many ways.

Updates! Summit Entertainment presents “The BROTHERS BLOOM” in theatres October 24th!

Rian Johnson, who gave us Brick, one of 2006's most innovative and memorable films, has wrapped up production for his new movie, Brothers Bloom. The new film, described as the story of 'the world's greatest con men' stars some of today's most talented actors- Mark Ruffalo (last seen in Zodiac), Adrien Brody, Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kukuchi (quite a revelation in BABEL)

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Nick Stahl is back in the limelight! Not that he ever left the industry - he just seemed rather elusive for a while, becoming quite selective regarding the roles he played. After taking the lead in The Terminator way back in 2003, Nick only made one film a year for the next four years. But 2008 will be a banner year for Stahl - he has four movies on offer and one of them is Quid Pro Quo.

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“I told the actors in rehearsal to think of the story as unfolding entirely within that moment that transpires between deep sleep and wakefulness. So from the earliest rehearsals and creative discussions, all the way through scoring and final sound design, we approached the film within that framework -- that the film itself should be experienced as a kind of dream. Even to the extent that we avoided the usual overtly "dreamy" filmmaking and editing tricks -- in favor of a straightforward style that would, like an actual dream, invite you to perceive it as real.”

I've been dying to see Ben Whishaw in another role after Perfume! I just think this guy is an awesome actor and that he can be really good in both modern and classical roles. I'm glad that Hanway Films just announced the completion of the much-awaited Brideshead Revisited, featuring Whishaw and two other topnotch actors- Matthew Goode and Hayley Atwell. Get to see the trailer (via youtube, below!)

More updates! Now comes the homoerotic flavor between Sebastian and Charles! Says the Independent:

But what have they done to the story? Something that will drive Waugh aficionados wild with rage.

For in comes a scene set in Venice, where Charles Ryder begins a love affair with the aristocratic Julia Flyte, under the nose of her brother, Sebastian, whose descent into alcoholism starts here. The film implies that this is a love triangle – a homoerotic friendship between young men that is displaced when one of them begins a heterosexual love affair, bringing emotional destruction to the other. [ read more ]

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What it’s about: Waugh’s novel, set in pre-war England as the privileged aristocratic class begins to decline, is an evocative and poignant tale of forbidden love and the loss of innocence. The story begins in 1925 at Oxford, when Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) is befriended by the louche and flamboyant Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw), son of Lord Marchmain. Charles is quickly seduced by an exciting new world of money, glamour and outrageous behavior.

Moviegoers were divided upon seeing Charlie Bartlett, one of the most recent coming-of-age flicks to hit the theaters. While I found it to be quite entertaining and in general a good film, I still look forward to what many at Sundance have been raving about:  The Wackness. This film is director Jonathan Levine's eagerly awaited follow-up feature to All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.

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Winner of the Audience Award at Sundance 2008. NYC, summer 1994. A tender and cool coming-of-age story. Pot-dealing kid Luke Shapiro is trying to figure out how to solve his parents’ insolvency, beat depression, and get laid before pushing off for college. Luckily he’s got a deal going with a psychiatrist, Dr Squires, who trades therapy sessions for grass. It happens that the doctor’s marriage is crumbling, so the two – one in late adolescence, the other in late middle age – embark on a passage into new life stages. As Luke falls for a classmate who just happens to be Squires’s daughter, the summer heats up as he follows the doctor’s orders, learning to coexist with pain and make it part of himself, rather than let it become his downfall. A great, energetic soundtrack of vintage hip hop standards punctuates the movie throughout.

The movie stars Ben Kinsley, Josh Peck, Famke Jannsen and Mary-Kate Olsen. We're especially thrilled to see the up and coming young actor, Josh Peck.