The 64th BFI London Film Festival s is thrilled to announce that this year’s Opening Film will be Mangrove, directed by the multi-award-winning visual artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen, starring Letitia Wright, Shaun Parkes and Malachi Kirby.   Marking 50 years since the events depicted in the film, Mangrove tells the true story of the Mangrove 9, the group of Black activists who clashed with London police during a protest march in 1970 and...

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Review: Good, but not as Tarantino was, once upon a time It is inspired by the murders of actress Sharon Tate and her friends at the hands of a hippy cult in 1969, only the film re-writes this historical fact. It is inspired by the super-hit spaghetti Westerns of the mid to late 60s, led by Italian director Sergio Leone, only he is never mentioned in the film. It is a satirical take on martial arts’ ‘God’ Bruce Lee, but takes an amazingly unfla...

Papillon, Review: Watchable remake of impressive 1973 prison escape saga A hard act to follow, Papillon 2017 finds release a year after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Michael Noer and starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek, reprising the roles of late Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman in the original made 44 years earlier, this prison escape epic nearly manages to match the original, but the operative word here is “nearly”. Based on the intern...

Actor Martin Landau, Oscar-winner at 66, dies, aged 89 Martin Landau, who landed his first and only Oscar in 1994, at age 66, playing Bela Lugosi in the Ed Wood biopic, has died, aged 89. He is also well-remembered as the star of the Mission: Impossible TV series (1966-69). Starting his career in 1959, he had been nominated for the Academy Award twice before, for Tucker: The Man and His Dream (Francis Ford Coppola, 1988) and Crimes and Misdemeanours (Woody Allen, 1989). Brooklyn-born Landau ...

  By Adrienne Papp I get invited to a lot of social events  as a journalist / publicist, but there is nothing quite like the Oscars.  Excitement is in the air, everyone is full of wonder, looking forward to this fairytale-like evening with its never ending magic. The unexpected always happens just to keep things fresh year after year ( just likeU2 performing live  on stage.)  The 86th Oscars was really by far one of the best ever produced in Ho...

By Adrienne Papp I get invited to a lot of social events  as a journalist / publicist, but there is nothing quite like the Oscars.  Excitement is in the air, everyone is full of wonder, looking forward to this fairytale-like evening with its never ending magic. The unexpected always happens just to keep things fresh year after year ( just likeU2 performing live  on stage.)  The 86th Oscars was really by far one of the best ever produced in Hollywood. O...

By Maria Esteves – March 3, 2014 The 86th Academy Awards presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) for outstanding film achievements of 2013 hosted by Ellen DeGeneres commenced Sunday, March 2, 2014, 8:00pm ET at the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, California and aired live with 40 million viewers worldwide. GRAVITY received seven Oscars including Best Director Alfonso Cuaron. Three Oscars went to 12 YEARS A SLAVE including Best Picture and DALLAS BUYERS CLUB in...

By Adrienne Papp In a star-studded gala ceremony, the International Press Academy celebrated the distinguished accomplishments of artists in thirty-eight categories last Sunday night at the 18th Annual Satellite™ Awards held at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City.  "12 Years a Slave" received Motion Picture and Director honors, while "Dallas Buyers Club's" Matthew McConaughey, Cate Blanchett, and Jared Leto w...

Patricia Norris knows a thing or two about costume design. A half a century in the business will do that. And now the 82 year old is poised to learn something else: whether she'll finally take home an Academy Award after being nominated six times. The work currently under consideration is for Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave, based on the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man kidnapped into slavery for more than a decade. To stitch together what went into designing costumes f...

By Maria Esteves – January 16, 2014 The 86th Academy Awards (2014 Oscar) Nominations were announced by Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs and actor Chris Hemsworth, Thursday, January 16, 2014, 5:38 AM PT at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Beverly Hills, California. Ten Oscar nominations went to AMERICAN HUSTLE, directed by David O. Russell, and GRAVITY, directed by Alfonso Cuaron. 12 YEARS A SLAVE, directed by Steve McQueen received nine nominations including Best Director....

By Maria Esteves – October 13, 2013 The 51st New York Film Festival 2013 (NYFF51) Presentation of 12 YEARS A SLAVE, directed by Steve McQueen commenced Tuesday, October 8, 7:30PM at Walter Reade Theatre in Lincoln Center. Presented by Film Comment Magazine, red carpet arrivals included industry executives, celebrity guests, cast and crew. Golden Globe Award winning artist Madonna appeared as a surprise guest. 12 YEARS A SLAVE in theatres Friday, October 18, 2013. Watch Trailer NYFF51...

Sunday, October 23, 2011 20th Philadelphia Film Festival - Shame Michael Fassbender has a Dirk Diggler size schlong!  And an Adonis rear-end. Beyond that, I don't remember anything about the film Shame.  Just kidding. Well, about the film resonance, not about Fassbender.  In actuality, the film stayed with me for quite awhile.  Seeing two people in so much pain with no clue how to get relief, yet basically from the outside, look as if they are managing the day in a...

by Marla Lewin A controversial film will World Premiere in the US Documentary Competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. SMASH HIS CAMERA, from Oscar-winning filmmaker Leon Gast (WHEN WE WERE KINGS) documents the life of Ron Galella, the self-proclaimed paparazzo superstar who pursued and made art of a celebrity world that despised him. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sued him, Marlon Brando broke his jaw and Steve McQueen gave him a look that would have killed, if looks could ki...