virtuous ( 2014 film )
director joere estremadura and star lauren ross stone at the premier of a virtuous life at the unlock the vault film festival .
reviewed at the landmark, los angeles, sept. 30, 2014. mpaa rating: pg - 13. running time: 111 min .
sylvester stallone, antonio banderas, jason statham, wesley snipes and dolph lundgren in the expendables 3 (2014). photograph: allstar / millennium films
just exactly what is a scottish film has developed in many different ways since being defined at the 2014 film summit. but both legally and creatively it is now firmly established and best of all – recognised and loved by audiences all over the world .
el palacio puma méxico en ficunam matar extraños festival premiere berlin international film festival los mejores temas awards best film - la roche sur yon international film festival, best mexican film – baja international film festival, fipresci award – havana film festival, festival premiere locarno film festival verano de goliat orizzonti award (best feature film) - venice international film festival (italy), best film cinema of the future bafici (argentina), best film official competition – valdivia international film festival (chile), critics valdivia international film festival (chile), best actress – ficcmexico, (mexico), honourable mention –l’alternativa (spain), festivals premiere at venice international film festival and toronto international film festival todo, en fin, el silencio lo ocupaba awards images prize (best canadian media art work), images festival, toronto festival premiere international film festival rotterdam perpetuum mobile awards best film guadalajara international film festival (mexico), best film monterrey international film festival (mexico), best director gramado international film festival (brazil), best actor gramado international film festival (brazil), best actor belfort international film festival (france), best work in progress toulouse film festival (france) festival premiere cannes film festival (acid) juntos awards best film world cinema amsterdam (netherlands), festival premiere guadalajara international film festival entrevista con la tierra awards best film levante film festival (italy) best documentary curtas vila do conde (portugal), best documentary expresión en corto (mexico). , best documentary flexiff (australia), festival premiere toronto international film festival, international film festival rotterdam ¿dónde están sus historias? awards best feature film morelia international film festival (mexico), french critics’ discovery award toulouse film festival (france), festival premiere morelia international film festival
in addition to actors including eliot sloan of blessid union of souls and angelita nelson of the 2011 christian film “courageous, ” a number of local faces will be seen in “virtuous. ”
in modern times, the text of the 31st chapter of proverbs could seem outdated, yet film producer jason campbell has brought these concepts into the 21st century with the movie
virtuous .
virtuous is a movie starring erik estrada, ben davies, and erin bethea. virtuous is a modern day version of proverbs 31. it' s the story of a hollywood starlet, a soldier on the battlefield, the successful businesswoman, and the housekeeping and cooking skills of dear old mom .
she met campbell while he was in west virginia promoting the 2013 film
finding faith ,
which starred erik estrada of tv series
chips
fame. campbell offered lynch a part in his next film ,
virtuous ,
and she accepted. lynch had a speaking part and her iraq experience was loosely depicted in the film .
campbell said “virtuous” follows plots involving eight different women that eventually intersect and attempts to portray what it means to be a virtuous woman in today’s society. “it’s basically the story of a small town in georgia where a tragedy happens, and how all of these different women’s roles interact with that tragedy, ” he said. “it’s a film that reaches all aspects of women’s issues. ”
the movie premiere of the christian film
virtuous
will occur on wednesday, june 11, and thursday, june 12, downtown at the sunset theatre. admission is free. after the screening of the film, several celebrities that star in the film and the producer will be present for a q & a; session and to sign autographs .
edinburgh international film festival held its inaugural scottish film summit on june 18th. hopscotch' s john archer was invited to attend .
virtuous
is the fourth family - friendly and faith - based film created by jc films. it features some familiar names, such as erik estrada (best known for
chips
), jessica lynch (former pow) and christian recording artist brandy allison .
j. c. films president jason campbell met lynch while he was in west virginia promoting the film
finding faith .
. he offered her a spot in his next project
virtuous ,
and the rest is history. he believes that she is a
natural .
too few risks have been taken in iranian mainstream cinema to depict the oppression of iranian women but reza mirkarimi’s film emrooz (today, 2014) subtly chronicles a day in the life of a pregnant single mother named sedighe who desperately looks for support from a taxi driver named younes. the film’s portrayal of the pregnant woman can be seen as evidence of the lack of social support for single mothers in iran and how iranian women have no legal right to defend their motherhood without the support of a child’s father .
in addition to the film, campbell said jc films intends to offer screenings as part of weekend events that will include a women’s conference and appearances by and discussions with the film’s actors .
passion projects like these have helped salomon and the crew carve out careers working on the sorts of projects they want to be involved in, creating virtuous circles of getting paid to create the work they are passionate about. as visual creatives – photographers or film makers – we should all be aiming to follow in these foot steps .
lynch spends considerable time traveling to talk about her personal experiences along with her recent film work .
helping make the film, for some at rock springs church, has become a community cause .
campbell said last year, he and estrada visited more than 200 churches for screenings of “finding faith, ” including rock springs. out of that visit, campbell said, a conversation started that eventually led to the “virtuous” script and rock springs’ participation .
friday, october 31 8: 00pm: dracula (1931) film synopsis: the ancient vampire count dracula arrives in england and begins to prey upon the virtuous young mina. 9: 50pm: frankenstein (1931) film synopsis: dr. frankenstein creates a monster from various posthumous ‘donors’ and combines them into a massive creature, to whom he wishes to bestow life. the movie centers on this monster and his struggle in this ‘life after death’ .
the film is being produced by jc films and has an anticipated release date of mother’s day weekend .
“deadline for film dirt. ” variety, june 13, 1933, i, p. 6 .
the christian - oriented movie “virtuous” was due to wrap up nearly a month of filming in and around butts county on monday. locations over that time have included local homes and offices, as well as the butts county courthouse and butts county sheriff’s office .
former prisoner of war jessica lynch notched her second role in a christian film titled
one church .
despite the predominant atmosphere of despair, judgment, and lack of general human sympathy among almost all the hospital attendants, and regardless of the fact that the taxi driver does not know anything about the pregnant woman’s past, the taxi driver never disappoints sedighe and the film ends with a symbolic happy ending. however, the motivation behind the taxi driver’s apparently virtuous deed is not quite clear .
john was invited to share a vision of the scottish film industry in 2024, which got a great response .
wall, james m. “interview with geoffrey shurlock. ” louis b. mayer library, american film institute .
yet, if you look at those principles, you see they do get into the modern day virtuous woman. we took the text of proverbs 31 and put it into a script by using the diversity of different women in the different places they are in their life .
john archer of @ hopscotchuk is dreaming of future film production in scotland, summing up # scotfilmsummit. # indyref urltoken
baxter, peter. just watch: sternberg, paramount, and america. london: british film institute, 1993 .
jc films producer jason campbell, in an interview at the sheriff’s office friday, said his company makes family friendly and culturally relevant faith - based films. the company’s other titles have included “finding faith” and “uncommon, ” both of which featured erik estrada, who is also cast in “virtuous. ”
cecilia de mille presley, vice - chairman for the national film preservation foundation, has been a leading activist for the preservation of our cinematic history for many years. she produces documentaries, is a long - time benefactor to the academy of motion picture arts and sciences; currently serves on the boards of the american film institute, the chapman university school of film and cinema, ucla’s school of film and television; and works with the world society for the protection of animals .
the scottish film sector is facing a period of immense change, challenge and opportunity. the aim of the summit is to provide a forum for the whole of the industry to come together to discuss the future scotland’s film industry wants to build .
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the wickedest movie in the world: how cecil b. demille made the sign of the cross - bright lights film journal
merrick, mollie. “film official tells outlook. ” los angeles times, september 30, 1932, p. 12 .
“musical duel to be seen in demille film. ” los angeles times, september 11, 1932, p. b11 .
but this film is far more than a women’s movie. it has been written to encompass the interest of men, as well .
even more notable, however, is the film’s release strategy. because it will be self - distributed in the uk (opening nov. 28 on over 80 screens, a substantial spread by local standards) by a bespoke company (alchemy releasing), the filmmakers will be able to channel a substantial cut of their profits to four charities devoted to helping veterans. creating a virtuous circle, the charities are helping to niche market the film to potential audiences, and altogether the project is generating a healthy head of publicity in media outlets such as news international - newspaper the sun, and others .
, perhaps pereda’s best film. what can we say about it? that it contains the best opening of all his films? the great anomaly of the film, what is original about it, consists of the brutal transformation of one of its characters. is this a warning, a sign of what is to come? in this film, pereda reached maturity as a film - maker and his approach achieved perfection. where to go from here? it seems that the way forward is to leave this universe and its creatures behind .
let me tell you of a dream i had earlier this week. i woke in 2024, in a different scotland and a very different film landscape. this is how it is in 2024. film production in scotland has stabilized after the heady year of 2020 when two different scottish films won the cannes palme d’or and the oscar for best film. the five leading film companies, all very different, grew out of the great collaboration of 2015, when working as a co - operative, scottish film companies benefitted from a huge injection of public support from creative scotland and scottish enterprise. though controversial at the time, looking back it was just the boost that the industry needed .
we start our film immediately with a battle scene. we don’t want men to not come to this film or feel turned off by this film. the first scene of the movie is barreling down a convoy of military soldiers being taken at gun point, big explosions and all that kind of stuff. when men come to watch the movie, they look at the first couple of scenes, they realize it’s pretty cool .
and we can. if we bear in mind what has been shared here, play to our strengths by bringing in like - minded collaborators to support our vision, and push ourselves throughout the entire project to the last hurdle, there’s no reason why we can’t create our own virtuous circles of fulfilling project work which leads to paid work of the same nature .
of course the timing was perfect. the erdf fund for scottish film from 2015 provided a huge extra resource for production funding. following scotland’s decision for extra tax breaks for production in scotland, combined with the attraction of new eis funds, scotland could draw on unprecedented production capital. this was a virtuous circle with the new studio providing the production space and an appetite for a throughput of new projects. joining eurimages in 2016 provided a shot in the arm for co - productions, as producers forged links all over europe .
but i remember in the last moments of sound mixing, watching the film with dallas taylor at defacto sound. up until that point, i had not heard the film mixed yet. i remember listening and turning around to dallas (who was sitting behind me) every 5 minutes saying “damn - i' m really feeling it”... in those moments i emotionally connected to the film and its characters in way i hadn' t yet before .
this post was adapted from the new book by cecilia de mille presley and mark a. vieira, cecil b. demille: the art of the hollywood epic (running press, 416pp, december 16, 2014). reprinted with the kind permission of the authors and publisher. the photos were taken from the book. for those lucky enough to live in los angeles, ucla is featuring a demille series (jan. 9 - feb. 28, 2015), introduced by mark vieira, that will include a new print of sign of the cross restored from demille’s personal print. see here for details .
all things where now overtaken by silence is a film about the filming of a play. the play is a monologue of sor juana ines de la cruz’s poem
tom cruise, now 53 and strongly committed to stunt work, has just appeared in a fifth mission impossible film and signed up for another. by the time of its scheduled release, in 2017, he will be as old as bruce willis was in the first red film, when he was retired (though allegedly also extremely dangerous, to complete the acronym of the film’s title). for cruise it seems that the real mission impossible would be calling it a day .
i have this theory that a film at 98 percent done, will feel like a film at 25 percent to the average viewer. the last 2 percent of work that you put in can take a project from mediocre to incredible... i think a lot of people underestimate that - they abandon projects at 98 percent .
another important element to consider in today is the reference to time. the title of the film is a direct time reference which symbolically implies that today is a depiction of contemporary iran. however, once observed within the context of the film, it addresses a longer duration of time and directly implies the continuation of this condition into the future. it is not surprising that the title credit of today only appears thirty minutes into the film, which in itself reinforces different interpretations of time. the abrupt and delayed appearance of the film title credit also wittily emphasizes the realism of today in its portrayal of everyday chance encounters such as that of younes and sedighe .
a version of this review ran during the tribeca film festival. “virunga” will be released on netflix this friday along with theatrical bookings in new york and los angeles .
the sign of the cross concludes in tragedy, a downbeat ending for a film released in the worst months of the depression, yet it was a huge hit .
demille had taken a chance in making the film. would the censor boards slash it to ribbons? after a few anxious weeks, reports came in to the src. not one board had cut the so - called “lesbian dance. ” the few who did cut the film concentrated on alligators, apes, and asses’ milk .
pratt, george c. “interview with cecil b. demille. ” hollywood, 1958. unpublished audio tape, george eastman house international museum of photography and film .
lynch first played a role in the film
virtuous ,
where her speaking part was loosely based on her experience in iraq. she was captured during the iraq war back in 2003 when her unit took a wrong turn and was ambushed. she suffered two spinal fractures, nerve damage and a shattered right arm when their humvee crashed during the firefight. eleven u. s. soldiers were killed and six were captured, including lynch. she was the first successful prisoner of war rescued since world war ii and the first ever to be a woman. the story of her rescue made her an overnight celebrity .
network. the buzz and excitement around new scottish productions on their home turf was matched by a growing international following, with audiences around the world eagerly awaiting the new scottish film .
fstoppers aren' t marketing our film - just so you know. neither is any other blog or publication - as we mentioned, we didn' t have a budget for any marketing, or anything other than production. we' re thankful for anyone who wants to spotlight that project, as we hope it gives other film - makers a bit of encouragement .
when three witches tell macbeth that he is destined to occupy the throne of scotland, he and his wife choose to become the instruments of their fate and to kill the first man standing in their path, the virtuous king duncan. but to maintain his position, macbeth must keep on killing – first banquo, his old comrade - in - arms; then, as the atmosphere of guilt and paranoia thickens, anyone who seems to threaten his tyrant’s crown .
last week saw the release of ‘ anomaly ’, a film that is redefining the approach and model for independent, narrative film making. co - director salomon ligthelm outlines how he managed the project as it grew from “a 2 minute art film” into the astonishing 38 minute - long final masterpiece, and provides key takeaways for all of us that we can apply to our own stills or motion projects. if you have any interest in what' s coming over the horizon for cutting edge, independent, visual media production, this is for you .
friday, october 24 8: 00pm: the night of the living dead (1968) film synopsis: the dead come back to life and eat the living in this low budget, black and white film. several people barricade themselves inside a rural house in an attempt to survive the night. outside are hordes of relentless, shambling zombies who can only be killed by a blow to the head. 9: 50pm: the mummy (1932) film synopsis: a living mummy stalks the beautiful woman he believes is the reincarnation of his lover .
lisa wofford, a rock springs member from zebulon, worked in craft services for the film, making sure cast and crew had access to snacks and refreshments throughout long days of filming .
the response was overwhelming. and today, the 16 official selections are going to be screened at the first - ever white house student film festival. click here to see the films .
mark a. vieira is a photographer, film historian, and author of numerous books. see his home page here and his amazon page here for details. he lives in los angeles .
. we see the actress jesusa rodriguez patiently waiting between shots and the director and crew deciding shots, moving lights and placing the camera. the film is a meditation on filmmaking and its process .
in today, silence is an important performative element. in fact, at the very beginning of the film, the audience is indirectly shown the implications of silence in today when almost five minutes into the film we hear the radio playing a popular song in younes’ taxi: “oh, the unfaithful lover, hear the secret of my heart from my silence. do not leave my silence unheard. ”
men can also relate to the men who are in the scenes. erik plays a great role in the film, being a protector and provider. we see the failures of some men in this movie. how they’ve helped women and how women have overcome and also how men have overcome. there are a lot of neat relationships that are built within this film, both women and men .
through a series of interviews and enactments we learn the story of nico and amalio, two children who lost a friend while climbing a mountain. documentary and fiction seamlessly merge creating a hybrid poetic film .
those who attacked the film bore witness to an artistic feat. demille had told so transporting a story that even isolated elements could be affecting. in 1932, hollywood mastered the art of the sound film. even so, shanghai express, scarface, grand hotel, love me tonight, a farewell to arms, trouble in paradise, and the sign of the cross could not be fully appreciated for the achievements they were. the vocabulary of the critical fraternity was insufficient. no critic could speak with authority on a film’s groundbreaking visual and aural effects. only in retrospect could these works of art be properly appraised .
watching this film was the best way for me to end the year. marvelous. and this post just gives us more insight on how this extremely low - budget masterpiece was done. thank you fstoppers .
this morning da parents karen berman and rajeev dharmapurikar shared news of tonight' s pbs re - airing of the documentary film the prep school negro. for those unable to watch tonight, the film will also be streamed on urltoken. the prep school negro is the visual memoir of andré robert lee, who attended philadelphia' s chestnut hill school on a full scholarship. durham academy hosted lee in 2010 for a screening and q & a - part of our longer and deeper conversation about how to make da a place where all families thrive. click here to read a great slate article about the film. or see the synopsis below. better still - join us on march 25 for a screening of american promise, a film with similar themes that has energized our faculty this year. click here for more information … …
friday, october 17 8: 00pm: the wolf man (1941) film synopsis: a practical man returns to his homeland, is attacked by a creature of folklore, and infected with a horrific disease his disciplined mind tells him cannot possibly exist. 9: 15pm: invisible man (1933) film synopsis: a scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane .
when a young woman, simone burner (singer / songwriter, brandy allison), is accused of murdering the man who assaulted her, she seeks out the help of attorney jack evans (erik estrada, tv' s chips) to prove her innocence. a ruthless and corrupt prosecutor engages her in a trial that brings the past she' s longed to escape to the forefront of her defense .
virtuous
will inspire and ignite you to live the principles of proverbs 31 - faith, integrity, wisdom and honor .
in this film mirkarimi properly reminds us of both the lack of social infrastructure and civil rights to support women (especially single mothers) in a patriarchal society, coupled with the unwritten religious law that, paradoxically enough, obligates the very men of the same patriarchal society to become chivalrous in order to support defenseless women. one may argue that today is a film attempting to point out the vulnerability of women and defend those affected in iran .
i attempt to evoke the sentiment of an entire town. it is a town in which people have grown with resentment to one another. family members abandon each other, soldiers wish to intimidate people, stories of mysterious deaths haunt the town, and an overall feeling of abandonment lures over all the characters. it is a film that seeks to evoke feelings and desires by emphasizing moments of the everyday. my concern in constructing such a film is to understand and ultimately to evoke the experience of the everyday within this environment, and to convey through film –albeit a visual medium - a physical sense of feelings, place, and culture
. n. p .
friday, october 10 8: 00pm: invasion of the body snatchers (1956) film synopsis: a small - town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates. 9: 25pm: it came from outer space (1953) film synopsis: a spaceship from another world crashes in the arizona desert, and only an amateur stargazer and a schoolteacher suspect alien influence when the local townsfolk begin to act strange .
“demille visualized nero as the menace in the film, ” said elsa lanchester, laughton’s wife. “charles thought him merely funny. demille was shocked by the idea. he had old - fashioned ideas of villains and heroes. ”
campbell wrote the screenplay. a father of two teenage daughters, he wanted to do a feature that highlighted the diversity of women. utilizing the biblical text, he applied a virtue to each of the 11 women in the film .
retired da history teacher dave gould sent news of an interesting online student film screening today at 2: 30. a few months ago, the white house challenged students all across the country to create short films answering a simple question :
anomaly is more than just a great piece of film - making. it' s a model for the changing landscape of small scale, high impact, independent and collaborative film - making projects, and there is much to learn from how the crew pulled it off. i was very fortunate to get some time with salomon ligthelm (salmon and his friend / collaborator dan difelice directed anomaly jointly) to explore how he, dan and the crew made it all happen .
is a fantastic film about people working as a team on a well - defined plan, which does not prevent the occurrence of a misfortune which becomes the central event of the film, its moment of splendour. the final shots of the rain are beautiful and quite literally to be admired; black and white seem to combine mysteriously into a colour whose name escapes us, lying outside the scheme we use to label the colours and which links them to objects and phenomena .
butts county fire chief mike wilson and assistant chief randy prince both have roles as emts in the film, and during friday’s filming, both sheriff gary long and chief deputy arthur white had non - speaking roles during the military briefing scene .
in order to situate the invisible discourse of power in the role of interviewer. he creates his own system of film and, in order to change the focus of his argument, pereda takes on a new theme to portray: politics .
the film never tells us anything about what sedighe has been through but her helpless condition and frightened, trembling voice (in a gripping performance by soheila golestani) tells a lot about the tyranny that she has endured. younes, a middle - aged taxi driver and man of few words (vaguely reminiscent of martin scorsese’s 1976 film taxi driver), decides in an apparently chivalric move to play the role of the child’s father when the hospital authorities need to know who that is .
all of that makes the film almost critically unassailable. to cast any doubts over its quality, and therefore potentially put off viewers from seeing it for themselves, would almost be tantamount to kicking the prosthetic leg out from under a wounded veteran .
the advertising campaign for the sign of the cross gave the impression that paramount pictures was having a gay old time. this film was the first in hollywood history to feature homosexual characters in its ads; they were painted by dan sayre groesbeck .
we should guess from younes’ lack of interest in engaging in any sort of dialogue (except for brief exchanges with sedighe) that, for whatever reason, he is secretly frustrated. in today, silence seems to also be a critical means of allowing the film to revive the spiritualism that is associated with it. in a film where either people speak when they want to judge others or like sedighe who speaks out of helplessness, the taxi driver’s denial of speech seems to function at deeper levels .
today is not an entertaining film in any conventional sense but it poses a range of crucial questions to more politically conscious viewers. why does the taxi driver, in spite of being negatively judged by the hospital staff, never stop supporting the pregnant woman? did he make a plan to adopt (or steal) the child after the death of the mother? or did he act virtuously because of his religious beliefs? the film never directly answers these questions and leaves them open to the audience’s judgement .
friday, october 3 8: 00pm: dr. jekyll & mr. hyde (1932) film synopsis: dr. jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that changes him into the animalistic mr. hyde. 9: 40pm: the creature from the black lagoon (1954) film synopsis: a strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the amazonian jungle. a group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study .
that takes the edge off a lot more when you' re with a group of people that are all like - minded in making this film that hopes to change the culture ,
campbell explained .
everyone there is your best cheerleader .
that takes the edge off a lot more when you' re with a group of people that are all like - minded in making this film that hopes to change the culture ,
campbell said .
everyone there is your best cheerleader .
the current incarnation of youth in films is not in the equivalent of a john hughes comedy, but in richard linklater’s high - concept movie boyhood, in which ellar coltrane is made to age convincingly from child to man by the drastic decision to film him over 12 years. linklater’s film seems to have outwitted the enemy, containing and controlling the poignancy of the passage of time, but that is just how it looks now. there is no inoculation against mortality on film, except, strangely, tragic early death. if coltrane is spared that, then one day soon he will be snapped unshaven and with bags under his eyes, and then he will be all over the media world, the shaming image appearing alongside the dewiest frame of him from boyhood .
after making several films with the same actors playing similar roles i decided to make a film about the process of representation. this opened a world of new possibilities including rehearsals, repetitions and interactions between fictional characters and the actors playing those characters. i continued this search by replacing one of the actors with my uncle half way into the shooting. my uncle enters the film as a documentary subject who has to relate to fictional characters that act as if he was one of them .
n. p .
there were angry comments from other protestant writers, but most of the condemnation was catholic. “this film, with its sadistic cruelty, its playing up of roman lust and debauchery and crime, is intolerable, ” wrote demille’s adviser, father lord. cleveland bishop joseph schrembs called the film a “damnable hypocrisy. ” jesuit america magazine called joyzelle’s dance “the most un­pleasant bit of footage ever passed by the hollywood censors. ” catholic publisher martin quigley wrote: “this scene be­comes an incident liable to an evil audience effect. ”
, seems to be something very different. the director himself stated that this film aimed to offer an alternative take to the traditional “behind the scenes” view. in this way, he sought to justify the significant number of long shots, which he thought were more appropriate for a “behind the scenes view”, although his own film, truth be told, actually consists of some scenes in which the well - know actress, activist, performer and writer, jesusa rodríguez, appears as sister juana inés de la cruz in the play
after watching mirkarimi’s film, viewers are left with one critical and unsettling question: will this child live in the same nightmare in which his or her mother lived or will he or she live in a better world? mirkarimi never gives a specific answer to this question but the vivid image of the child at the end of today might easily be seen as a symbol of hope resting at the heart of the film –a solitary image of a figure that, with the forces of its universal implications, could continue to haunt any viewer’s mind .
this film follows the lives of 11 women, beginning in the battlefields of afghanistan and going to small town georgia. it looks at women who are at different stages of their lives, whether a college student, a soldier, a single mother or a professional woman nearing retirement .
starts with the slow movement of an old woman. singing as she inches forward, she goes from the living room to her bed. pereda then decides to radically exclude her from the screen until virtually the very end of the film, when her presence will cause a disturbance for the two main characters, living on the outskirts of mexico city. between the beginning and the ritual and ceremonial journey with which the film closes, pereda focuses on a young man named gabino (gabino rodríguez, his regular muse who appears in all his films) and his mother .
pereda’s stories have focused on family issues, but now a new theme can be glimpsed: the asymmetry of social ties and the discontent they cause. the interview, the film - maker’s preferred format with which to examine what is not shown in the shot, is the format chosen in
celebrity has become an incurable condition, without remission. i can almost find it in my heart to sympathise with film stars who ban eye contact on set, or from their staff. fame is a treadmill, and having your own gym does not seem to make the legwork any easier .
in the conversation between younes and sedighe in the labour room, younes acknowledges that “for years, he wished to wait behind a labour door, ” which implies that he had not been able to have a child with his wife. therefore, his apparently virtuous act of stealing or adopting the child is more of a sketch in nature. the irony of the situation lies in the fact that in an oppressive patriarchal society such as iran, it is still a man (the father) who will finally resolve the crisis and twist the plot at the price of the denial and death of the mother. in light of all this, one cannot decide whether _ today _ ’s ending is optimistic or dark. in fact, no one knows the future of the child .
building on film’s position as being both cultural and industrial, ips developed a collaborative and co - operative plan that was known variously as film’s common weal, and by the tag ipso facto – the very fact of it existing meant that it did good for all. the pooling of resources meant that any company of scale was able to draw upon legal, business and creative development support while freeing producers to do what they should be doing – produce. and the companies involved – ranging from low budget to high, fiction to documentary and animation – benefitted from their joint knowledge, drawing on each others experience and expertise .
repetition is a characteristic pattern of the film (as it is in all pereda’s cinema); also, how to represent the events (both dramatically and politically) as an intellectual exercise is a dilemma to resolve; the discontinuity and the continuity between the different points in history is a source of pragmatic curiosity .
film stars, offering themselves as screens on to which audiences can project their fantasies, cannot expect to control the process, except in the most indirect way. a shrewd film star is both a work of art and its curator. the supreme practitioner in this line must be marlene dietrich – when you hired her, you got her lighting man, too, so that she retained full control over the product. alongside the erotic mystique, she had a strong hausfrau side, which did not show up on film, but she certainly kept her glamour swept and dusted. that professionalism extended to her home, where she received visitors in a chair placed under a spotlight, with a silver stripe painted down her nose to correct the proportions that did not meet her standards. without any such crude mechanisms, cary grant maintained an astonishingly consistent persona over the decades, defending his narrow range (stylised ease, controlling suavity) against any possible challenge .
but rather than taking its value for granted, von einsiedel gives us something to root for in the form of andre bauman, the serene gorilla caretaker whose father was killed in the civil war, along with the genial animals—most of whom lost their parents in poaching incidents—that thrive under his care. bauman’s virtuous efforts form a striking contrast with ongoing attempts to soco representatives to blackmail members of the park’s authorities, several of which are caught on camera. (in one incident, a soco employee outright tells the clandestine videographer that “we’re buying you, ” offering him the paltry sum of $ 3, 000 to do their bidding .) to scrutinize these shady dealings, von einsiedel finds freelance french journalist melanie goubie forcing her way into this ongoing battle as she charms the corporate schemers while using their information against them .
in what was surely a first in the annals of motion - picture marketing, an early ad for “ left behind ” featured a quote taken not from a film critic, but rather from satan himself, who allegedly quipped, “please do not bring unbelievers to this movie. ” this presents a rare scenario in which christian moviegoers ought to feel perfectly secure heeding the advice of the devil, as this faith - based thriller is likely to inspire far more dorm - room drinking games than religious conversions. with a “sharknado” - inspired visual style and a deeply weary lead performance from nicolas cage, “ left behind ” is cheap - looking, overwrought kitsch of the most unintentionally hilarious order, its eschatological bent representing its only real shot at box office redemption. the film hits theaters this weekend, but as for when believers can expect to see the tenets of their faith reflected with any sort of sophistication or intelligence in a mainstream genre film, we still know neither the day nor the hour .
i feel that feeling of inadequacy all the time. i feel it when i share the script with close friends, i feel it when i talk to the actors the first time, i feel it the first day on set, and during the first assembly (cut) of the film. i keep feeling that up until the last cut of the film just after sound design and grade. up until that point, i think the project could be the worst thing i have ever done - literally - no lies. i even said to dan just before thanksgiving ,
maybe we shouldn' t release this... i don' t know if its any good .
today lacks the “cool effect” that one might usually find in contemporary hollywood films. instead, as a work of world cinema with subtle use of the realistic mise - en - scène at which iranian neorealist cineastes excel, the elements found in this film can be seen as producing psychological effects of melancholy while having the spiritual impulses of undecided hope .
i was so stoked to see this post this morning. i' ve been following his work for over a year now and this film speaks so much to the heart of his talent. he is behind much of the film and production for hillsong church, and i think for him this is just the beginning. salomon is inspiring many folks working in the faith - based media world to challenge ourselves to think broader and bigger on how the gospel of jesus can be told. take the time to peruse his vimeo account. the most recent promo trailer shot for hillsong conference 2015 (speak we' re listening) is breathtaking. so proud of him and his team. anamoly is incredible .
in what was surely a first in the annals of motion - picture marketing, an early ad for “left behind” featured a quote taken not from a film critic, but rather from satan himself, who allegedly quipped, “please do not bring unbelievers to this movie. ” this presents a rare scenario in which christian moviegoers ought to feel [ … ]
i aimed to create a poetic film that merged fiction and documentary. my intention was to make a film where the person on the screen could be at once the actor and the character. it is never clear what occurs in the world of fiction and what in the world of documentary. perhaps, a better explanation could be that at every moment, in every frame, there are elements of fiction and of documentary. i believe this to be a very interesting approach because it creates a sort of awareness that neither forms of filmmaking are closer to reality, they simply are a point of view on reality, and at the same time, a particular reality of their own .
n. p .
what nicolás pereda’s next films be like? will they be westerns? will he film discontent from a more political point of view? will he shoot science fiction? after a first exceptional stage in his career, he seems to be heading towards other areas. repetition and differentiation. a logical step for him to take was to collaborate on his last film with' another'. the other is the one who points out and calls our attention to differences. what is to come will be straightforward and yet also a crossroads. it will concern some kind of invention, or rather something which another pereda has found within pereda himself, something which will then be repeated with all the new issues contained in nicolás pereda’s films .
he has had the advantage of a late start, though it can hardly have seemed like an advantage at the time. there were plenty of male stars from hollywood’s classic period who could not easily be imagined young, among them the ones who most seem to symbolise integrity: humphrey bogart and spencer tracy. a young actor can embody idealism easily enough (james spader, say, in sex, lies and videotape, stephen soderbergh’s 1989 drama of fetishism and repression) but integrity is something that needs to have been tested over time, if not actually by time. for actors such as bogart and tracy (plus james cagney and edward g robinson, though less reliably virtuous), their heyday was middle age. wrinkles formed part of their appeal, rather than undermining it. maturity was their present tense, and they had no visual history, lacking facebook pages to plunder their own lives and archive the mistakes of adolescence .
demille was very lucky to have leisen. if leisen had been only a superb art director, or a skilled costume designer, or a gifted assistant director, he would have been a precious asset. to have all three in one person was nothing short of miraculous, and a miracle was what demille needed. while demille was checking the construction of the arena, leisen blocked the scene in which marcus follows mercia to a well of pure water and flirts with her as she tries to go up a stone stairway. leisen designed the scene so that when marcus gains an advantage over mercia, he is above her on the stairs, but when she regains control, she is above him. leisen thus isolated the plot point: the christian girl realizes that a roman can be sexy; the dissolute roman realizes that a virtuous girl can be powerful. when demille returned to the set, he shot the scene as leisen had choreographed it .
the pool of writers available to producers had expanded greatly not only through the increased training courses dedicated to script production, but also thanks to the swinney charter, which meant that any creative writer living and working in scotland lived tax free provided that at least 50% of their work was on qualifying scottish productions – whether books, poetry, television or, crucially, film .
christian reisner, a methodist episcopal minister and the author of god’s power for me, attacked the film. “it is repellant and nauseating to every thinking christian, ” he wrote. “it endeavors to get a lot of lewd scenes and sex - appeal exhibitions on the screen and then dresses the whole with a cheap and unhistorical hodge - podge of incidents from sacred christian martyrdom. ”
virtuous is a 2014 american christian drama film produced by christian film company jcfilms . directed and produced by bill rahn , written by jason campbell & tara lynn marcelle , based upon an original story by jason campbell , and starring erik estrada , erin bethea , ben davies , and jessica lynch . 
virtuous is a 2014 american christian drama film produced by christian film company jcfilms. directed and produced by bill rahn, written by jason campbell & tara lynn marcelle, based upon an original story by jason campbell, and starring erik estrada, erin bethea, ben davies, and jessica lynch.
virtuous is a 2014 american christian drama film produced by christian film company jcfilms. directed and produced by bill rahn, written by jason campbell & tara lynn marcelle, based upon an original story by jason campbell, and starring erik estrada, erin bethea, ben davies, and jessica lynch.