This seems to be a very promising film! #JulianneMoore #EllenPage

Red Curtain Cinema selected as "Voice of the week" by Tondo!

So thankful for being selected by Tondo as Voice of the Week ! Have a look at our special posts!
www.tondo.is

Dancing scenes in films: Moulin Rouge

"El Tango de Roxanne" is probably among the best dancing scenes in the cinema history. Red Curtain Cinema will start making a small selection of these scenes so that you can enjoy the image, the movement and the light. Everything what the cinema is all about. 

Two new clips from Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

The new "Mission Impossible" is coming! These two new clips show us that Tom Cruise wants to make a big and epic film. Enjoy!

This is the official synopsis:

With the IMF disbanded, and Ethan (Tom Cruise) out in the cold, the team now faces off against a network of highly skilled special agents, the Syndicate. These highly trained operatives are hellbent on creating a new world order through an escalating series of terrorist attacks. Ethan gathers his team and joins forces with disavowed British agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), who may or may not be a member of this rogue nation, as the group faces their most impossible mission yet

                                                              

                                          

We love this song!

From the film "Selma" comes the colossal song "Glory"

Movies that you should have seen in the cinema and you haven't: Episode III

                                          The Hurricane

We will start with a big statement: this is definitely Denzel's best role he ever did. He is colossal, he is a genius but his role in Training Day (and posthumous Oscar award) fits small compared to his acting in The Hurricane.  If there is already one solid reason for watching this film, it is Denzel Washington. We will qualify it as one of the bests we ever saw in contemporary cinema.

The second reason why you should see this film is the story. It is the real-life story about the boxer Ruben "Hurricane" Carter who enjoyed the glory of success but also the darkness of racism in the America of the 1960s. Despite a tumultuous past being convicted in juvenile detention centers and prison, he was wrongly accused of a triple homicide in 1966. Racism was, as it has been many times in the world, the greatest obstacle to fair justice. He became famous for its unfair detention, to the extent that Bob Dylan wrote a song about it, and he wrote a book that was soon left in the shelves to be forgotten. But that was not the end. A young black boy named Lesra would pick up that book many years later and would undertake the path to give freedom to Ruben "Hurricane" Carter. 

                                              The song by Bob Dylan

Even if the history has a few inaccuracies, it is still an excellent film. Moving, funny, compelling...Many words come across our minds when talking about this film. When you have a good story and an incredibly talented actor such as Denzel Washington, the consequence is a masterpiece. Of course director Norman Jewison has also a great deal in this. There is nothing pretentious about the film: the story is what matters the most. 

The Revenant trailer- we can already see DiCaprio with the #Oscar

Check the latest trailer from Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritú's new film (Birdman). This looks great!

Spectre trailer!

Finally the new trailer has arrived! So exciting!

#CinemaIsAction: Cinema as a vehicle for social integration in the city

This article has been posted in The Bartlett Development Planning Unit Blog, University College London (UCL)

Cinema is one of the least accessible forms of art. It demands a certain amount of financial investment into equipment for filming, lightning and sound, people like actors, assistants and editors – not to mention time. Nevertheless our digital world has opened new doors for visual storytelling through the democratisation and affordability of tools necessary for filmmaking [1].

Inhabitants of excluded spaces – those living outside the ‘formal’ city – are able to use the tools of the digital age, from mobile phones and affordable recording equipment, to online platforms for funding and distributing films, to tell their own stories about the cities they live and experience. Informal settlements are part of the landscape in many cities in the Global South, where for some social exclusion, discrimination, drugs and violence are part of everyday life [2].

Mainstream cinema has picked up these themes through films like El Elefante Blanco, Tropa de Elite and recently Trash. These films have been supported by formal studios and were able to find distribution channels into mainstream cinemas.

However there are directors living in informal settlements who have created fictional depictions of live, while adopted a more realistic approach with its basis in the world within which they live. The interesting link lies more between the cinematic representations of the city than with the story. The mise-en-scène and the urban space not only imply a cinematic setting, but also indicate sociocultural context.

The realistic mise-en-scène of these very low-budget films does not illustrate absolute authenticity but is rather the filmmaker’s articulation of their reality [3]. It is an invitation for the “outsiders” – people living in the formal sector – to understand where these dwellers live and what their perceptions of reality are.

These types of films – similar to post-war Italian neorealist cinema [4] – privilege shooting on location and adopt a style of cinematography visually similar to a documentary. The example of Cesar Gonzalez, an Argentine film director living in the informal settlement Carlos Gardel in Buenos Aires province, is relevant.

His films are a testimony to the power of art as a tool for social recognition and integration. Cesar Gonzalez found a voice in cinema that he didn’t have before when he was involved with gangs and smugglers. He directed his first film Diagnóstico Esperanza in 2013 which was filmed with the local people from the informal settlement Carlos Gardel (the film is available to watch on YouTube).

The film depicts life in a space within the city that has its own vocabulary, its own vision of the world, its own soul. As “outsiders” we walk in the streets of this unfamiliar world. His films progressed a wider social acknowledgement among intellectuals and movie critics of informal settlements not just being seen as excluded spaces, but also replete with excluded people.

His latest film “What can a body endure?” (Qué puede un cuerpo?) was made possible by crowd-sourcing funds and then released online via Youtube. It has currently more than 200,000 views. His two films so far have gained critical praise and have been screened in a very prestigious local cinema in Buenos Aires [5]. The National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) is currently funding his third film.

Cinema has been historically involved with political contexts they help to contribute to a collective perception of their reality, and reflect the state of society at that time. As the example of Cesar Gonzalez has shown, not only can films became a vehicle for telling a story in an artistic way but also as a tool for social recognition and integration in the city – breaking down some of the physical barriers that seem to divide the city.

References

• [1] Thomson, David (2013) The big screen: the story of the movies and what they did to us. Penguin Books, London.
• [2] Amadeo, Eduardo (2011) País rico, país pobre. Editorial Sudamericana. Buenos Aires.
• [3] Zhan, Zhen (2007) The urban generation: Chinese cinema and society at the turn of of the twenty first century. Duke University Press.
• [4] Film Reference blog, Historical origins of Italian neorealism.
• [5] Diario Clarín, 15/01/15, Los ojos abiertos del Nuevo cine villero.

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Slow West (4/5, Good)

An atypical western with bits of comedy, drama and action. A solid film led by Michael Fassbender who never stops to keep impressing us.

This is the first film from director John Maclean and what an achievement it is: it has gained since critical acclaim and won a Price at Sundance Festival 2015. It approached the story through a classic frame: an innocent young boy dreaming with love discovering society's brutality and selfishness. The result is an existentialist western with black humor. The innocence of this boy enhances chaos and further violence in a world of brutality. He has no other choice that , in order to see again the love of his life, to pull many times the trigger. Life is a hard road and sometimes you have to adapt to its violence.

The photography is stunning. It is perhaps the best ingredient in the film considering the story, real short and simple, looses a bit of its charm when we realize that we do not know much about any of them. Nevertheless the beauty of the images and the acting ( fabulous Fassbender) compensates it all. The film pace is slow sometimes but everything we see at the screen is solid.

This is a great film for Western and Non-Western amateurs. It pays an homage to a dead genre and is good at telling a funny but dark story. This is the kind of films that show its love for the cinema. That is why we recommend it. 

This is insane! Star Wars with a GoPro

A masterpiece found on the Internet. Bravo!

5 Flights Up (3/5, Regular)

A mature couple decide to sell their flat in Brooklyn, New York. However a home is tied to memories and past experiences. A film about life and its ups and downs. 

We saw this film in a rainy Friday night. It was a perfect match as it is a film made with heart. Two great actors as Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman representing this married couple in the contemporary New York is magic. They are an unbeatable couple and they struggle through the challenges of living in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Do they really want to sell their apartment? It is because it is worth a fortune today? What about their future home? Will they ever find one? 

What is great about this film is its positive tone and its view about the city. Brooklyn acquires its own personality and complexity. It moves all the time being a 'globalized space'. People greet and leave to give place to new other people from different backgrounds. Is it because cities like New York which are changing so fast that people start to get attached to old places and memories? The couple depicted in the movie surely does. The outside world tells them to sell their apartment because it is highly valued. However the stories they shared together in that apartment goes much more beyond a penny. It is invaluable. This is a story about life that gives us so many good things that cannot be economically valued. Love and happiness are intangible. That is the most important. 

It certainly has a Woody Allen touch with the city taking over our characters. It certainly has a feeling of 'deja vu' but its lightness and heart make it a warm story that will make you smile. Sometimes it is good to remember the good things that we have around us. This film helps you to do that.

Terminator Genisys (4/5, Good)

Be prepared people, Arnie is back as the Terminator! A big bet from the actor to give further shine to its action-star status. TG is a good surprise as it comes up with a creative story and great action sequences. Even James Cameron approved the film. 

It is always the same story: going back through time to avoid Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) being killed. This is 1984 (the same set as the first Terminator). However everything changed. The rules of the game are not the same. Everything seems messed up for Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney): why is Sarah Connor a warrior in 1984 when she was described as vulnerable and scared? Why is there an older T-800 in 1984? 

                         

                                       

The script is definitely a good surprise in TG. This is not the T-3 or Terminator Salvation garbage story. This one is fresh and is respectful of the the first two Terminator. How challenging is that?! That's already a good starting point. The second thing: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnie is Arnie and he is great. He is funny and performs an interesting portrait of this perfect machine attached to its mission of protecting Sarah Connor. The third thing: the supporting actors. Emilia Clark and Jai Courtney are very good and raise the bar real high: Claire Danes and Nick Stahl (T3) should hide! They are credible and make these characters have something more to say besides shooting and blowing everything up. The fourth thing: the action sequences. Of course, very spectacular and creative. 

TG will never achieve the quality of T2 (of course, it is one of the greatest action films ever made!). However it does respect the spirit of the franchise and puts forward a critical thinking of technology controlling furthermore human lives. Every step forward is dangerous and the Terminators are the symbol of it. James Cameron said it in Terminator 1 and T2. Director Alan Taylor knows it and he adapted this discourse to our post-modern times. We can also add that Taylor made a good job: a lot of pressure for a director used to film TV shows rather than big-dollar-machine-productions. 

This Terminator is worth seeing because it brings back a degree of nostalgia and excitement. However it is not only because of that: the film finds a creative way to re-tell a new story and find dramatic paths to make it worthwhile watching it. This is an achievement, especially considering Hollywood is pretty terrible at recycling old recipes. 

Trailer:

                                    

Beautiful piece by Maestro Ennio Morricone

Haven't you seen Cinema Paradiso? It is perhaps one of the most beautiful contemporary Italian films. However it is not only the cinematographic talent of Giuseppe Tornatore that made this film so stunning. Film composer Ennio Morricone is like the co-director of this movie. Listen to this beautiful piece. 

Gory but so rock'n roll

These are the advantages of having a musician as a director (in this scene here, metal singer Rob Zombie). The Devil's Reject is a disturbing horror film but whose quality ,in every aspect, is outstanding. This is perhaps one of the greatest endings for a road movie. Look at how the scene evolves along with the music. Bravo for this scene Rob.