Marie writes: It's that time of the year again! The Toronto International Film Festival is set to run September 6 - 16, 2012. Tickets selection began August 23rd. Single tickets on sale Sept 2, 2012. For more info visit TIFF's website.
Beginning a new column devoted to films available via Video on Demand in all its forms.
● "How to Fold a Flag"● "We Are the Night"
To say that Javorn Drummond, Jon Powers, Michael Goss and Stuart Wilf come from different walks of life is something of an understatement. If they hadn't served together in Iraq in 2003-04, they never would've met. Now they're back home, separated by geography, uneasy peace and haunting memories of what they saw and did during a war they determined to be pointless. They might meet again someday -- or not -- but they share a bond of life, death and military service that they'll take to their graves.
These are the guys we got to know in "Gunner Palace," the superb 2005 documentary co-directed by the husband-and-wife team of Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein. They defended America as soldiers in the Army's 2/3 Field Artillery Division, never quite sure what they were killing or dying for. There was a fifth "star" in the film, Ben Colgan, who sacrificed his elite Delta Forces post to join the artillery unit in Baghdad. Then he sacrificed his life to an IED.
"Veni. Vedi. Vici"Roger Ebert accepts the Person Of The Year award with his wife, Chaz, at the Webby Awards in New York June 14, 2010. Jimmy Fallon presenter.From the Big Poobah: Our club secretary Marie Haws, who pokes here and there more than a dentist, came up with a list of the geographical locations of Club members. Most are in the U.S. and Canada, as expected, but we also have members in 40 other nations! This reflects my website's overall readership; over the last 12 months, 25% of all visitors have been non-U.S.Foreign: Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, Brazil, Iceland, Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Demark, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Greece, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, India, China, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand.
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Tina Mabry's "Mississippi Damned," an independent American production, won the Gold Hugo as the best film in the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival, and added Gold Plaques for best supporting actress (Jossie Thacker) and best screenplay (Mabry). It tells the harrowing story of three black children growing up in rural Mississippi in circumstances of violence and addiction. The film's trailer and an interview with Mabry are linked at the bottom.
Kylee Russell in "Mississippi Damned"
The winner of the Audience Award, announced Friday, was "Precious" (see below). The wins came over a crowed field of competitors from all over the world, many of them with much larger budgets. The other big winner at the Pump Room of the Ambassador East awards ceremony Saturday evening was by veteran master Marco Bellocchio of Italy, who won the Silver Hugo as best director for "Vincere," the story of Mussolini's younger brother. Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi won Silver Hugos as best actress and actor, and Daniele Cipri won a Gold Plaque for best cinematography.
Great Movies