Sydney Pollack

Film-maker Sydney Pollack has died.
Pollack was born on July 1, 1934, he enrolled at drama school in New York and studied for two years under Sanford Meisner.
He made his acting debut with Redford in the 1962 film War Hunt, before they collaborated on seven films, including Three Days of the Condor and The Electric Horseman with Jane Fonda. In the 1980s and 90s, Pollack served as producer on a number of film projects including Presumed Innocent, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Sense and Sensibility and The Talented Mr Ripley. He won two Oscars for the movie Out of Africa. After a lengthy hiatus, Pollack returned in 2005 to direct the thriller The Interpreter starring Nicole Kidman. The same year, he directed his first and only documentary, Sketches of Frank Gehry, about the famed architect.

Cassandra's Dream (dir. Woody Allen)

Woody Allen wrote and directed this feature. This is one director I thought I will never blog about. Unless it was something to do with his early films. However maybe Cassandra's Dream will be his comeback. Wonderful cast: Wean McGregor, Colin Farrell, Hayley Atwell, Sally Hawkins, Tom Wilkinson amongst others. It will be interesting to see how Woody Allen dealt with this movie, has he made it yet again overly symbolistic? I don't think it's a light movie, but it would be a shame if he gave up too much of the plot too early in the film, and didn't sustain the tension.

Brief plot summary:
Two London brothers are hard-up for cash, and both have girls to look out for, too. When rich Uncle Howard comes to town and agrees to help them out, he admits his finances are under investigation, and he asks them to do him a favour and "take care of" an old business relation to keep his trouble under wraps - he says that they're family, and since he always takes care of them, the least they could do is help him out this once, as they're the only ones he can trust. The film follows their struggle with the immorality of this request and how each brother chooses to deal with it.
(the summary was written by anon)

Cadbury's Gorilla (dir. Juan Cabral)

Great creative - wonderful director.
And generally a nice person.
Wish there were more like him.

p.s. it's a black pencil at d&ad.

Shane Meadows

A personal hero of mine.
I'm actually a little overexcited as I have just spend an hour talking to him.
A brilliant, bright man.

Here's a little bio (stolen from Wikipedia):
Shane Meadows dropped out of school before he reached his GCSEs because he was more interested in stealing with his friends than getting an education. He started off in Uttoxeter making short films with his friends and family but couldn't show these films to anyone because there were no film festivals in his area. His friends started one in the local cinema which became really popular with the town. His fame started when a film scout found him and took him on as an amateur film director. His entire catalogue of films have been set in the Midlands area.

Two of his films have really stood out for me:
This is England

Don't think this film needs an introduction. Just go see it.

Dead man's shoes

As with his later films this is about a troubled man and his ways of dealing with everything.

Sven Vilhem Nykvist

Sven Vilhem Nykvist (3 December 1922 – 20 September 2006) was a Swedish cinematographer. He worked on over 120 films, but is known especially for his work with director Ingmar Bergman. He won Academy Awards for his work on two Bergman films, Cries and Whispers (Viskningar och rop) in 1973 and Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) in 1983.

His work is generally noted for its naturalism and simplicity. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest cinematographers of all time.
Selected filmography
Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)

The Virgin Spring (1960) (Jungfrukällan)

Through a Glass Darkly (1961) (Såsom i en spegel)

The Silence (1963) (Tystnaden)

Winter Light (1963) (Nattvardsgästerna)

Persona (1966)

Shame (1968) (Skammen)

Hour of the Wolf (1968) (Vargtimmen)

The Passion of Anna (1969) (En Passion)

The Touch (1971) (Beröringen)

Siddhartha (1972) of the Hermann Hesse novel and directed by Conrad Rooks

Cries and Whispers (1973) (Viskningar och rop) (won Academy Award for Best Cinematography)

Scenes from a Marriage (1973) (Scener ur ett äktenskap)

The Magic Flute (1975) (Trollflöjten)

The Serpent's Egg (1977) (Das Schlangenei)

Autumn Sonata (1978) (Höstsonaten)

Pretty Baby (1978)

From the Life of the Marionettes (1980) (Aus dem Leben der Marionetten)

Fanny and Alexander (1982) (Fanny och Alexander) (won Academy Award for Best Cinematography)

Agnes of God (1985)

The Sacrifice (1986)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) (nominated for Academy Award for Best Cinematography)

New York Stories (1989) (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Chaplin (1992)

Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

Celebrity (1998)

Unbearable lightness of being (dir. Philip Kaufman)

Now, the best thing about the film is cinematography by Sven Nykvist (more about him later - he deserves his own blog, not just an entree). It's impossible to take your eyes of the film - stunning on every aspect - even if the story was shit (which this one's not) you could still watch and enjoy it. Philip Kaufman did a wonderful job from start to end - from cast to set.
The brief summary:
Tomas, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, is a doctor in 1960s Czechoslovakia. He is also a player and has somewhat of a bohemian attitude to life: he doesn't see the need for commitment and wants to live a free and careless life. It works quite well for him until he meets an idealistic country girl Tereza, played by Juliette Binoche. She battles with his sexual addictions and tries to live with the knowledge that she will be sharing him with other women. It's a struggle. Especially since one of the lovers if a sophisticated artist Sabina (wonderful Lena Olin). The three get caught up in the events of the Prague Spring (1968). The film talks about shattered illusions and the changes brought by Soviet occupation and restricted life.