Variety is the theme of my highlights this week: a fast paced Brazilian crime thriller, an Oscar nominated documentary about an American eco- terrorist group, and a drama in which Shakespeare is a fake.
Yes, plenty to discuss around the water cooler this week.
Variety is the theme of my highlights this week: a fast paced Brazilian crime thriller, an Oscar nominated documentary about an American eco- terrorist group, and a drama in which Shakespeare is a fake.
Yes, plenty to discuss around the water cooler this week.
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
Directed by: José Padilha
Starring: Wagner Moura, Irandhir Santos, André Ramiro
Screening: Tuesday 5th March, 8.30pm
This is the second hard-hitting crime thriller set in the violent favela’s (slums) of Rio de Janeiro from director Jose Padiha. The first Elite Squad film was released in 2007 but you don’t need to have seen it, all you need to know is the politicians and police are as complicit as the drug dealers and gang leaders in making the slums one of the most violent places on earth. Elite Squad follows the head of Rio's BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion), Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura), who is promoted to Sub-Secretary of Intelligence, and decides it’s time to bring the drug gangs to their knees. A pacey, violent and engaging thriller, it includes a few clichés but when the result is this entertaining they’re easy to forgive.
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Directed by: Marshall Curry
Starring: Daniel McGowan
Screening: Thursday 7th March, 8.30pm
There’s little more satisfying than watching a fair and balanced documentary about a contentious, polarising issue. This is exactly what director Marshall Curry has achieved as he follows the exploits of the Earth Liberation Front, an eco-terrorist group that specialised in arson attacks on those involved in the logging business in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Curry follows the story of Daniel McGowan who is arrested for an arson attack in Oregon and is awaiting trial - interviewing members of the ELO, FBI and police, as well as the victims and lumber workers, as it pieces together the history of the ELO and the consequences of its activities. What makes this film a success is how open everyone is; they’re thoughtful and reflective, and people from every side make astute observations on the issue.
Anonymous
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis
Screening: Saturday 9th March, 8.30pm
It’s a question academics and writers have been debating for years; how could an almost illiterate actor with a grammar school education from Stratford have created works of such literary skill that they are still relevant today? The premise of this film is that the works were written by Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. While not a terribly convincing theory, it’s a pretty looking historical drama and adds to the conspiratorial idea that all is not as it seems with Mr. Shakespeare. Nominated for best costume in the 2012 Oscars, this handsomely presented film is directed by disaster movie maestro Roland Emmerich.
Also, throughout March on Rialto Channel we’re celebrating the Oscars with the Rialto Oscar’s Collection, so it’s topical to share an amusing post-Oscar press conference featuring Jennifer Lawrence. A breathe of fresh air, she refuses to be anyone but herself and doesn’t feel obliged to answer the media’s ridiculous questions with pre-planned answers. Her publicist must be freaking, but I think she’s great.
Check out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHioi_cSlaY