Movie Box Review

"THE END IS NEAR" is the catch phrase for the 16th year of the Worldwide Short Film Festival, and I love it. One of the things I always say about shorts is that if you don't like it, it won't be long before it's over, but that is rarely the case with this festival as they have such strong & interesting programming that I can't wait to see this years films. I also love that their website url is www.shorterisbetter.com. Yay for all us short people! It is better! The festival opens tomorrow night with the Opening Gala program: Award Winners From Around the World, including the fantastic Canadian short Runaway.

Ladies in the house! Two of the programs I'm really looking forward to this year are the Lunafest touring program showcasing short films by, for, about women. Keeping the same vein, there is also the Swedish omnibus program DORIS, from the Doris network which was founded to encourage and empower female filmmakers. If these are your style, you probably also want to check out Official Selection 11: Not Just From Venus which features an "eclectic group of unforgettable heroines". I'm sold!

One of the programs I always look forward to every year is SciFi Out There. Keeping it crazy there are also the Midnight Mania programs: Creepy and Freaky. Scary stuff!

From the weird to the big wigs, the Celebrity Shorts program brings familiar names and faces to the short and sweet. Twilight fans will be delighted to hear that this year's program includes the short The Summer House starring none other than Robert Pattinson pre-Twilight. More big wigs include Crispin Glover and John C. Reilly in Drunk History: Tesla & Edison, Don Cheadle and Will Ferrell in Drunk History: Douglass & Lincoln and the voices of Meryl Streep and Forest Whitaker in Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must be More to Life.

You can also travel around the world, or rather have the world come to you - short and sweetly through several of this years programs. The country focus this year turns the Spotlight on Poland (Part I, Part 2 and Platige Image), check out the grades for the Film School Spotlight: Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica in Mexico, and head over the pond with onedotzero: New British Talent '09.

Looking for laughs? Several programs should fit the bill with from Laughter Without Borders to Alternative Comedy Showcase to family-friendly Shorts for Shorties: The Great Chase. The musically inclined have interesting selections to choose from including When All is Said and Sung and Scene Not Herd: Music Videos.

All there is so much more. Check out the schedule and click through on the program name to find out more. So much more.

That is just a section of the programs. For more information, check out the Worldwide Short Film Festival website, Program Descriptions, Film Schedule, Symposium Details, Location Information, Box Office Information or Purchase Tickets online.

You can also find the festival on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

The Worldwide Short Film Festival runs from June 1-6, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

"THE END IS NEAR" is the catch phrase for the 16th year of the Worldwide Short Film Festival, and I love it. One of the things I always say about shorts is that if you don't like it, it won't be long before it's over, but that is rarely the case with this festival as they have such strong & interesting programming that I can't wait to see this years films. I also love that their website url is www.shorterisbetter.com. Yay for all us short people! It is better! The festival opens tomorrow night with the Opening Gala program: Award Winners From Around the World, including the fantastic Canadian short Runaway.

Ladies in the house! Two of the programs I'm really looking forward to this year are the Lunafest touring program showcasing short films by, for, about women. Keeping the same vein, there is also the Swedish omnibus program DORIS, from the Doris network which was founded to encourage and empower female filmmakers. If these are your style, you probably also want to check out Official Selection 11: Not Just From Venus which features an "eclectic group of unforgettable heroines". I'm sold!

One of the programs I always look forward to every year is SciFi Out There. Keeping it crazy there are also the Midnight Mania programs: Creepy and Freaky. Scary stuff!

From the weird to the big wigs, the Celebrity Shorts program brings familiar names and faces to the short and sweet. Twilight fans will be delighted to hear that this year's program includes the short The Summer House starring none other than Robert Pattinson pre-Twilight. More big wigs include Crispin Glover and John C. Reilly in Drunk History: Tesla & Edison, Don Cheadle and Will Ferrell in Drunk History: Douglass & Lincoln and the voices of Meryl Streep and Forest Whitaker in Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must be More to Life.

You can also travel around the world, or rather have the world come to you - short and sweetly through several of this years programs. The country focus this year turns the Spotlight on Poland (Part I, Part 2 and Platige Image), check out the grades for the Film School Spotlight: Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica in Mexico, and head over the pond with onedotzero: New British Talent '09.

Looking for laughs? Several programs should fit the bill with from Laughter Without Borders to Alternative Comedy Showcase to family-friendly Shorts for Shorties: The Great Chase. The musically inclined have interesting selections to choose from including When All is Said and Sung and Scene Not Herd: Music Videos.

All there is so much more. Check out the schedule and click through on the program name to find out more. So much more.

That is just a section of the programs. For more information, check out the Worldwide Short Film Festival website, Program Descriptions, Film Schedule, Symposium Details, Location Information, Box Office Information or Purchase Tickets online.

You can also find the festival on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

The Worldwide Short Film Festival runs from June 1-6, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Dir: Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mona Lisa Smile, Pushing Tin)
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Richard Coyle, Toby Kebbell, Alfred Molina, Steve Toussaint, Ronald Pickup
USA, 2010

Seen: May 28, 2010 at the Rainbow

Reason to see: I'm still on the whole Sword & Sandals kick from the marathon earlier this year. Plus, always interested to see Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley in anything they are involved in.

I've been looking forward to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time from before I even saw previews for it, but back when it was announced that Jake Gyllenhaal was cast in it. I didn't even realize it was based on a video game, and once I saw a trailer the the whole 'based on a video game' became mute - the film obviously had it's own story with a backdrop of a beautiful and fantastical world.

After seeing trailer many times over, I thought I had a good sense of what the film was about, but turns out - totally not the case. The trailer shows us the world but leaves lots of the story and characters to be discovered as you actually watch the film. What a though! I loved that. This also meant that watching it I didn't necessarily know what was going to happen next. I think I even gasped in surprize at one point, which was.. slightly embarrassing I'll admit, but still was a nice to have the story unfold before my eyes without knowing exactly what was going to happen. Kudos to the film for that.

The film has a great adventurous spirit to it, and Jake Gyllenhaal as Dustan does a great job embodying that spirit with a surprizing physical combination of stealth and agility (aka parkour), making him a bit of a bruiser as well as being someone who can sneak around. It's also a character that is easy to love, being someone true of heart and also a bit of a troublemaker.

The film is primarily an adventure film, but it still packs in a lot of action. It's refreshing that it's not overly bloody but rather carefully and creatively crafted giving us brains & brawn to pack a lot of bang for the buck. True sword & sandals here with deserts, swords, lots of fighting, an epic tale and interesting characters.

Speaking of characters, one of the things I'm always wary in adventure films of this kind is whether or not there will be any gender crap. I'll give this film that it's a lot better than most as Gemma Arterton's character Tamina is not only feisty, but also brave, cunning and (gasp!) her character is not particularly interested in a romance or relationship. That being said - it isn't perfect and I did end up feeling like it was so close to being great but was ever so slighted. It's no where near as overt as something like The Princess and the Frog (which the gender crap in there drove me bonkers) but, it is Disney so don't actually expect it to be progressive. I hope they get there one day. This was more of a side step than one back of forward, and I'll be happy if they decide to move forward. That being said, I thought Gemma Arterton does a great job, and look forward to seeing her in more films.

Overall, it's a lot of fun. I'm hoping there will be more adventure films like this to enjoy with interesting stories and characters with creative action in a beautiful, rich world. Fun times.

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I'll buy it
I recommend it to adventure film fans

8 minutes of preshow including 3 commercials and 3 previews: The Last Airbender, Tron: Legacy and The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Return to Film Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2010

Dir: Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mona Lisa Smile, Pushing Tin)
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, Richard Coyle, Toby Kebbell, Alfred Molina, Steve Toussaint, Ronald Pickup
USA, 2010

Seen: May 28, 2010 at the Rainbow

Reason to see: I'm still on the whole Sword & Sandals kick from the marathon earlier this year. Plus, always interested to see Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley in anything they are involved in.

I've been looking forward to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time from before I even saw previews for it, but back when it was announced that Jake Gyllenhaal was cast in it. I didn't even realize it was based on a video game, and once I saw a trailer the the whole 'based on a video game' became mute - the film obviously had it's own story with a backdrop of a beautiful and fantastical world.

After seeing trailer many times over, I thought I had a good sense of what the film was about, but turns out - totally not the case. The trailer shows us the world but leaves lots of the story and characters to be discovered as you actually watch the film. What a though! I loved that. This also meant that watching it I didn't necessarily know what was going to happen next. I think I even gasped in surprize at one point, which was.. slightly embarrassing I'll admit, but still was a nice to have the story unfold before my eyes without knowing exactly what was going to happen. Kudos to the film for that.

The film has a great adventurous spirit to it, and Jake Gyllenhaal as Dustan does a great job embodying that spirit with a surprizing physical combination of stealth and agility (aka parkour), making him a bit of a bruiser as well as being someone who can sneak around. It's also a character that is easy to love, being someone true of heart and also a bit of a troublemaker.

The film is primarily an adventure film, but it still packs in a lot of action. It's refreshing that it's not overly bloody but rather carefully and creatively crafted giving us brains & brawn to pack a lot of bang for the buck. True sword & sandals here with deserts, swords, lots of fighting, an epic tale and interesting characters.

Speaking of characters, one of the things I'm always wary in adventure films of this kind is whether or not there will be any gender crap. I'll give this film that it's a lot better than most as Gemma Arterton's character Tamina is not only feisty, but also brave, cunning and (gasp!) her character is not particularly interested in a romance or relationship. That being said - it isn't perfect and I did end up feeling like it was so close to being great but was ever so slighted. It's no where near as overt as something like The Princess and the Frog (which the gender crap in there drove me bonkers) but, it is Disney so don't actually expect it to be progressive. I hope they get there one day. This was more of a side step than one back of forward, and I'll be happy if they decide to move forward. That being said, I thought Gemma Arterton does a great job, and look forward to seeing her in more films.

Overall, it's a lot of fun. I'm hoping there will be more adventure films like this to enjoy with interesting stories and characters with creative action in a beautiful, rich world. Fun times.

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I'll buy it
I recommend it to adventure film fans

8 minutes of preshow including 3 commercials and 3 previews: The Last Airbender, Tron: Legacy and The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Return to Film Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2010

Writer/Dir: Michael Patrick King (Sex and the City)
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Chris Noth, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, Willie Garson, Mario Cantone, John Corbett
USA, 2010

Seen: May 27, 2010 at the AMC

Reason to see: I recently watched & enjoyed the first film, but honestly I thought I would check it out as it came in #2 as the Most Anticipated May Release on the Poll!

The ladies are back to the big screen after the success of the 2008 Sex and the City film, a continuation of the TV series set lovingly in New York. All four ladies are back from our love-focused protagonist Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), to workaholic Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) to the traditional Charlotte (Kristin Davis) to the ever lovely and sex-centric Samantha (Kim Cattrall), the ladies lunch, chat, ponder and continue to grow through life and their relationships.

One of the things I love about the film is how transparent it is in so many areas that films can shy away from or try to deny. This don't deny their ages, stages of life, or the fact that the 'current economic climate' sucks if you are into being a big spender. One of the strengths of the series and the films is that they stay true to the characters as they Carrie On with life. They do get older. Things change. Priorities shift. And sometimes - that sucks. And sometimes, it doesn't. Though all of it, the women have their friendship to see them through the ups, downs and go arounds.

It's so refreshing to see a relationship film that isn't overly romantic, but still realistic and oddly earnest. It still has romance, but the focus really is the relationships. The things you worry about when you feel you shouldn't - but you do. Mistakes. Worry. Things you don't want to explain, and fumble through when you try. Honest reactions you don't want to see. In that sense, it's so freaking real.

Whenever I watch any incarnation of Sex and the City, I always expect to feel like I should pick out whom I'm most like, or who I think the women in my life are like - but in truth I think a lot of use are a little bit of each of them. That makes it even more fun to see and recognize moments and nod along saying "I would *so* do that!" or recognize reactions and know exactly who in your life would pull a Samantha.

Overall, it's really a film for it's fans. If you liked the series and the first film, it should be a shoe in that you'll enjoy this one as well. Glitz, glam, fashion and funny truths - I'm always up for more time with these fantastic women.

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I'll watch it again
Easy recommendation here - it's no question for Sex and the City fans.

17 minutes of preshow including 3 commercials and 6 previews: Going the Distance, Life s We Know It, Charlie St. Cloud, You Again, Eat Pray Love and The Kids are Alright

Return to Film Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2010

Writer/Dir: Michael Patrick King (Sex and the City)
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Chris Noth, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, Willie Garson, Mario Cantone, John Corbett
USA, 2010

Seen: May 27, 2010 at the AMC

Reason to see: I recently watched & enjoyed the first film, but honestly I thought I would check it out as it came in #2 as the Most Anticipated May Release on the Poll!

The ladies are back to the big screen after the success of the 2008 Sex and the City film, a continuation of the TV series set lovingly in New York. All four ladies are back from our love-focused protagonist Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), to workaholic Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) to the traditional Charlotte (Kristin Davis) to the ever lovely and sex-centric Samantha (Kim Cattrall), the ladies lunch, chat, ponder and continue to grow through life and their relationships.

One of the things I love about the film is how transparent it is in so many areas that films can shy away from or try to deny. This don't deny their ages, stages of life, or the fact that the 'current economic climate' sucks if you are into being a big spender. One of the strengths of the series and the films is that they stay true to the characters as they Carrie On with life. They do get older. Things change. Priorities shift. And sometimes - that sucks. And sometimes, it doesn't. Though all of it, the women have their friendship to see them through the ups, downs and go arounds.

It's so refreshing to see a relationship film that isn't overly romantic, but still realistic and oddly earnest. It still has romance, but the focus really is the relationships. The things you worry about when you feel you shouldn't - but you do. Mistakes. Worry. Things you don't want to explain, and fumble through when you try. Honest reactions you don't want to see. In that sense, it's so freaking real.

Whenever I watch any incarnation of Sex and the City, I always expect to feel like I should pick out whom I'm most like, or who I think the women in my life are like - but in truth I think a lot of use are a little bit of each of them. That makes it even more fun to see and recognize moments and nod along saying "I would *so* do that!" or recognize reactions and know exactly who in your life would pull a Samantha.

Overall, it's really a film for it's fans. If you liked the series and the first film, it should be a shoe in that you'll enjoy this one as well. Glitz, glam, fashion and funny truths - I'm always up for more time with these fantastic women.

Shannon's Overall View:
I enjoyed it
I'll watch it again
Easy recommendation here - it's no question for Sex and the City fans.

17 minutes of preshow including 3 commercials and 6 previews: Going the Distance, Life s We Know It, Charlie St. Cloud, You Again, Eat Pray Love and The Kids are Alright

Return to Film Reviews

© Shannon Ridler, 2010

Pre-Festival Coverage:
Festival Preview

Film Reviews:
And Then Lola Came
Assume Nothing
Eyes Wide Open / Einaym Pkuhot
Joan Rivers - A Piece of Work (from Hot Docs 2010)
Man Who Loved Yngve, The
Owls, The
Prima Donna: The Story of Rufus Wainwright's Debut Opera
Regretters
Secret Diary of Miss Ann Lister, The
Strella: A Woman's Way
Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls
Undertow / Contracorriente
We are the Mods

Post-Festival Coverage:
Awards

The Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival 2010 ran from May 20-30, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Pre-Festival Coverage:
Festival Preview

Film Reviews:
And Then Lola Came
Assume Nothing
Eyes Wide Open / Einaym Pkuhot
Joan Rivers - A Piece of Work (from Hot Docs 2010)
Man Who Loved Yngve, The
Owls, The
Prima Donna: The Story of Rufus Wainwright's Debut Opera
Regretters
Secret Diary of Miss Ann Lister, The
Strella: A Woman's Way
Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls
Undertow / Contracorriente
We are the Mods

Post-Festival Coverage:
Awards

The Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival 2010 ran from May 20-30, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Juries have deliberated and audience ballots have been counted. Here are the results! The 2010 Inside Out Awards are:

Canadian Jury Awards:

Entertainment Partners Canada/ Canada Film Capitol Award for Best Canadian Feature
Mark by Mike Hoolboom

Colin Campbell Award for Best Canadian Short
Our Compass by Tess Vo

Best Up-and-Coming Toronto Film or Video Maker Award presented by Charles Street Video
Chris by Don Bapst

International Jury Award:

Bill Sherwood Award for Best First Feature
Plan B by Marco Berger, Argentina 2009

Audience Awards:

RBC Royal Bank Award for Best Feature Film or Video
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister by James Kent, UK 2010

Elle Flanders Award for Best Documentary Film or Video
Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls by Leanne Pooley, New Zealand 2009

Mikey/Schmikey Award for Best Short Film or Video
The Armoire by Jamie Travis, Canada 2009

The Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival 2010 ran from May 20-30, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Juries have deliberated and audience ballots have been counted. Here are the results! The 2010 Inside Out Awards are:

Canadian Jury Awards:

Entertainment Partners Canada/ Canada Film Capitol Award for Best Canadian Feature
Mark by Mike Hoolboom

Colin Campbell Award for Best Canadian Short
Our Compass by Tess Vo

Best Up-and-Coming Toronto Film or Video Maker Award presented by Charles Street Video
Chris by Don Bapst

International Jury Award:

Bill Sherwood Award for Best First Feature
Plan B by Marco Berger, Argentina 2009

Audience Awards:

RBC Royal Bank Award for Best Feature Film or Video
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister by James Kent, UK 2010

Elle Flanders Award for Best Documentary Film or Video
Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls by Leanne Pooley, New Zealand 2009

Mikey/Schmikey Award for Best Short Film or Video
The Armoire by Jamie Travis, Canada 2009

The Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival 2010 ran from May 20-30, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

You've had your say and the votes are in, you what's your favourite Jake Gyllenhall film comes in with a mini-sweep tie between Brokeback Mountain and Donnie Darko, both getting an impressive 37%. Trailing at at 12% is The Day After Tomorrow (my pick, hehe), than another tie at 6% between Zodiac & Bubble Boy (as Other). Left in the dust is Brothers & Jarhead at 0%.

I'm actually surprized Zodiac didn't place a bit higher. Mind you, I'm also surprized I never reviewed Brokeback Mountain! Very interesting all around. Thanks for voting!

37% - Tie: Brokeback Mountain & Donnie Darko
12% - Day After Tomorrow, The
6% - Tie: Zodiac & Other (Bubble Boy)
0% - Tie: Brothers & Jarhead

You've had your say and the votes are in, you what's your favourite Jake Gyllenhall film comes in with a mini-sweep tie between Brokeback Mountain and Donnie Darko, both getting an impressive 37%. Trailing at at 12% is The Day After Tomorrow (my pick, hehe), than another tie at 6% between Zodiac & Bubble Boy (as Other). Left in the dust is Brothers & Jarhead at 0%.

I'm actually surprized Zodiac didn't place a bit higher. Mind you, I'm also surprized I never reviewed Brokeback Mountain! Very interesting all around. Thanks for voting!

37% - Tie: Brokeback Mountain & Donnie Darko
12% - Day After Tomorrow, The
6% - Tie: Zodiac & Other (Bubble Boy)
0% - Tie: Brothers & Jarhead

Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast - Episode 53 is up!

Lots to discuss this week as we get closer to the release of Eclipse, and it's a fun week over at Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast, as Marina & I chat about recent Twi-news including oodles and oodles of images, lots of soundtrack news, a few funny spoofs and as always updates on work of the cast & crew.

Next week is our Eclipse book discussion! So if you want to read along be sure to have it up to date and read when you swing by and check out the June 7th, 2010 podcast. Or - just listen is as we'll let you know out thoughts on revisiting the book and what we are looking forward to with the film.

Check it out over at Before the Dawn.

Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast - Episode 53 is up!

Lots to discuss this week as we get closer to the release of Eclipse, and it's a fun week over at Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast, as Marina & I chat about recent Twi-news including oodles and oodles of images, lots of soundtrack news, a few funny spoofs and as always updates on work of the cast & crew.

Next week is our Eclipse book discussion! So if you want to read along be sure to have it up to date and read when you swing by and check out the June 7th, 2010 podcast. Or - just listen is as we'll let you know out thoughts on revisiting the book and what we are looking forward to with the film.

Check it out over at Before the Dawn.

Undertow / Contracorriente *

*indicates co-production

Back to Countries List

Undertow / Contracorriente *

*indicates co-production

Back to Countries List

Fire On the Amazon
Undertow / Contracorriente *

*indicates co-production

Back to Countries List

Fire On the Amazon
Undertow / Contracorriente *

*indicates co-production

Back to Countries List

Dolphin Boy
Eyes Wide Open / Einaym Pkuhot

*indicates co-production

Back to Countries List

Dolphin Boy
Eyes Wide Open / Einaym Pkuhot

*indicates co-production

Back to Countries List

Reading. Gotta love it. Hmm, love it so much that I feel like I should have said 'got to' not gotta because it's more of a real word and all that. But, gotta feels right. Anyhow, I've been doing a lot of reading this year and in February and March wrote about progress of the Lord of the Rings readalong with Fellowship & The Two Towers. The book for April was Return of the King and I barely read any of it, which means I didn't write about it. But I did read a lot of books for the 2010 Book to Film Challenge (10/20 read!) along with books not on the challenge but still film related. So, just because I feel off one readalong train doesn't mean I should stop sharing what I've been reading - so here are my thoughts of what I've been reading for the past 2 months.

2010 Book to Film Challenge Books:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Oh. My. Goodness. Getting through Wuthering Heights was a huge challenge. The version I had was only 300 pages, but it felt like 1,000. The majority of the time I had no clue what was going one, who was narrating, when or where it was. No clue. I literally read every word on all the pages, but didn't understand it until I read a summary afterwards and than a cascade of light bulbs lit up bridging the story together. The inspiration to read it in the first place was remembering that it's mentioned in Eclipse, and that I skipped over those passages the first time I read that - plus the fact that it's just 'one of those' books you have to read. Retrospectively I can how it's viewed as a tragic love story, but there was a lot of tragedy and almost no love, and very little time with the central characters actually present at the same time. Although I didn't enjoy reading it all that much, I did end up with a sense of triumph for actually getting through it!

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (re-read)
Reason to read this one should be clear with the upcoming film adaptation of Eclipse hitting theatres June 30, 2010 so I wanted to refresh my memory of the book and holy noodle, I didn't remember that much from my first read back in winter 2008. I only retrained pretty much the love triangle aspect of it and nothing else. The re-read has me more confident in David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) as the director choice, and I was so surprized the number of times I had to give kudos for Edward in this one. Being a big fan of Jacob - it was tough to admit that! Bella has a bit of a rough ride in this one, but I think she stands pretty strong here. It's really strange thinking "Oh, I know they kept that because I've seen the images" because a fair amount of pics have been release (see here and here) along with the trailer, it's pretty clear to see what's being kept and what's not. I'm still so shocked how little we've seen on Victoria in the imagery that's out there. I'm hoping they don't have Riley steal the thunder there, as awesome as Xavier Samuel (The Loved Ones, Newcastle) is, I really want to see Victoria. If you want to hear more about my impressions of the book, check out Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast next Monday June 7, 2010 where Marina & I will discuss the book in detail.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling (re-read)
The majority of what's left on my 2010 Book to Film Challenge are Harry Potter books. I'm re-reading the entire series in anticipation of the release of the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (out Nov19, 2010). Last year I watched all the films, but this is the first time I've re-read the books and it absolutely amazes me with this one how much it was literally translated in to the film version Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It's actually a really good reminder on how difficult that is, but also when you consider a 200ish page kids book was almost verbatim translated into a 2hr+ film, that with anything longer, or adult, stuff will be edited out. I did really enjoy reading the book and revisiting the magical world. And the book has more Neville. And everything is better with more Neville.

MAX by James Patterson
Fifth and final book in the Maximum Ride series (although there is a FANG book out, not sure how that places in the chronology), and I love these crazy avian-human hybrid group of misfit kids with their fearless leader being the teenage girl, Max. Like the third and fourth book, it feels a little 'message-y' but, in my opinion, it's not a 'bad' message so I don't really mind. I also just love how fast and frantic these books are, I usually finishing them in 1-2 days. They remind me of that weird lemon sorbet stuff I remember having at a chichi French restaurant once, that cleanses the palette between course. They totally do this - they cleanse the palette and leave you ready for more.

General Reading
These are on my list, but are (shock!) still film related and interesting so I'm sharing!

Fallen by Lauren Kate
This one it's a little big of a challenge to talk about without spoiler so I'm going to be brief. Young adult, paranormal-esque romance, female protagonist (Luce) gets sent to reform school and meets someone who feels so familiar. It's a solid read, I enjoyed the characters and the imagery which was quite beautiful. It's been picked up by Disney for a film adaptation, and I'm not surprized as could make a really great film. I did have a bit of a grrr moment though because I thought it was stand alone book, but it isn't. Part II is anticipated to be out this summer, and I'll happily read more of the world but I'm also trying not to get into more series - they seem never ending these days! Actually it looks like it's going to be a 4-book series. We'll see.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
I had hoped to read this one before the film Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief came out, but alas no luck there. Turns out - that's okay! The book has more than enough interesting in it that it's worth a read on it's own. It's a modern interpretation of a What If? scenario of if Greek Gods where still around and kicking up some trouble here and there on Earth. Like the film, I really enjoyed the creative interpretations of abilities, strengths and weaknesses. It's clever, cute and pretty fun. Although doesn't look that likely that we'll get more films in the series, I'm highly looking forward to continuing the 5 book series to see what adventures and trouble Percy gets into. Update: According to Wikipedia an adaptation of the second book The Sea of Monsters is in the works for a film to be released in 2012.

Titles For Consideration to Add to the 'To Be Read' list:

Let The Right One In / Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvis
After seeing the images of the upcoming film, I think I'm going to have to read the book. As much as I want to look down my nose at this one as the original Swedish film Let the Right One In / Låt den rätte komma in is so great it doesn't need an English remake, I reconsidered after realize that the upcoming film is an adaptation of the original book by John Ajvide Lindqvis rather than the Swedish film. Even so - those stills show a very strong resemblance to the film. Anyhow, have a bit to decide, Let Me In hits theatres in October 2010.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
A veterinary student leaves his studies to join a travelling circus. If that wasn't enough to sell me, the film adaptation (set for a release 2011), will be directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine), starring Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) and Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild). Um, yeah - I'll be reading that.

Update on The Tempest: a release date has been set for the film version in the works from director Julie Taymor (Across the Universe) starring Helen Mirren: Dec 10, 2010. Same day as Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Because it's so late in the year it's likely going to be one of the last books I get to this year. With The Tempest I'm considering throwing a reading party to actually read the play aloud instead of reading it on my own. Not sure though, we'll see.

Regular updates of my reading over at GoodReads, feel free to friend me!

Titles on Amazon.ca(Canada):


Titles on Amazon.com (US):

Reading. Gotta love it. Hmm, love it so much that I feel like I should have said 'got to' not gotta because it's more of a real word and all that. But, gotta feels right. Anyhow, I've been doing a lot of reading this year and in February and March wrote about progress of the Lord of the Rings readalong with Fellowship & The Two Towers. The book for April was Return of the King and I barely read any of it, which means I didn't write about it. But I did read a lot of books for the 2010 Book to Film Challenge (10/20 read!) along with books not on the challenge but still film related. So, just because I feel off one readalong train doesn't mean I should stop sharing what I've been reading - so here are my thoughts of what I've been reading for the past 2 months.

2010 Book to Film Challenge Books:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Oh. My. Goodness. Getting through Wuthering Heights was a huge challenge. The version I had was only 300 pages, but it felt like 1,000. The majority of the time I had no clue what was going one, who was narrating, when or where it was. No clue. I literally read every word on all the pages, but didn't understand it until I read a summary afterwards and than a cascade of light bulbs lit up bridging the story together. The inspiration to read it in the first place was remembering that it's mentioned in Eclipse, and that I skipped over those passages the first time I read that - plus the fact that it's just 'one of those' books you have to read. Retrospectively I can how it's viewed as a tragic love story, but there was a lot of tragedy and almost no love, and very little time with the central characters actually present at the same time. Although I didn't enjoy reading it all that much, I did end up with a sense of triumph for actually getting through it!

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (re-read)
Reason to read this one should be clear with the upcoming film adaptation of Eclipse hitting theatres June 30, 2010 so I wanted to refresh my memory of the book and holy noodle, I didn't remember that much from my first read back in winter 2008. I only retrained pretty much the love triangle aspect of it and nothing else. The re-read has me more confident in David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) as the director choice, and I was so surprized the number of times I had to give kudos for Edward in this one. Being a big fan of Jacob - it was tough to admit that! Bella has a bit of a rough ride in this one, but I think she stands pretty strong here. It's really strange thinking "Oh, I know they kept that because I've seen the images" because a fair amount of pics have been release (see here and here) along with the trailer, it's pretty clear to see what's being kept and what's not. I'm still so shocked how little we've seen on Victoria in the imagery that's out there. I'm hoping they don't have Riley steal the thunder there, as awesome as Xavier Samuel (The Loved Ones, Newcastle) is, I really want to see Victoria. If you want to hear more about my impressions of the book, check out Before the Dawn: A Twilight Podcast next Monday June 7, 2010 where Marina & I will discuss the book in detail.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling (re-read)
The majority of what's left on my 2010 Book to Film Challenge are Harry Potter books. I'm re-reading the entire series in anticipation of the release of the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (out Nov19, 2010). Last year I watched all the films, but this is the first time I've re-read the books and it absolutely amazes me with this one how much it was literally translated in to the film version Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It's actually a really good reminder on how difficult that is, but also when you consider a 200ish page kids book was almost verbatim translated into a 2hr+ film, that with anything longer, or adult, stuff will be edited out. I did really enjoy reading the book and revisiting the magical world. And the book has more Neville. And everything is better with more Neville.

MAX by James Patterson
Fifth and final book in the Maximum Ride series (although there is a FANG book out, not sure how that places in the chronology), and I love these crazy avian-human hybrid group of misfit kids with their fearless leader being the teenage girl, Max. Like the third and fourth book, it feels a little 'message-y' but, in my opinion, it's not a 'bad' message so I don't really mind. I also just love how fast and frantic these books are, I usually finishing them in 1-2 days. They remind me of that weird lemon sorbet stuff I remember having at a chichi French restaurant once, that cleanses the palette between course. They totally do this - they cleanse the palette and leave you ready for more.

General Reading
These are on my list, but are (shock!) still film related and interesting so I'm sharing!

Fallen by Lauren Kate
This one it's a little big of a challenge to talk about without spoiler so I'm going to be brief. Young adult, paranormal-esque romance, female protagonist (Luce) gets sent to reform school and meets someone who feels so familiar. It's a solid read, I enjoyed the characters and the imagery which was quite beautiful. It's been picked up by Disney for a film adaptation, and I'm not surprized as could make a really great film. I did have a bit of a grrr moment though because I thought it was stand alone book, but it isn't. Part II is anticipated to be out this summer, and I'll happily read more of the world but I'm also trying not to get into more series - they seem never ending these days! Actually it looks like it's going to be a 4-book series. We'll see.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
I had hoped to read this one before the film Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief came out, but alas no luck there. Turns out - that's okay! The book has more than enough interesting in it that it's worth a read on it's own. It's a modern interpretation of a What If? scenario of if Greek Gods where still around and kicking up some trouble here and there on Earth. Like the film, I really enjoyed the creative interpretations of abilities, strengths and weaknesses. It's clever, cute and pretty fun. Although doesn't look that likely that we'll get more films in the series, I'm highly looking forward to continuing the 5 book series to see what adventures and trouble Percy gets into. Update: According to Wikipedia an adaptation of the second book The Sea of Monsters is in the works for a film to be released in 2012.

Titles For Consideration to Add to the 'To Be Read' list:

Let The Right One In / Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvis
After seeing the images of the upcoming film, I think I'm going to have to read the book. As much as I want to look down my nose at this one as the original Swedish film Let the Right One In / Låt den rätte komma in is so great it doesn't need an English remake, I reconsidered after realize that the upcoming film is an adaptation of the original book by John Ajvide Lindqvis rather than the Swedish film. Even so - those stills show a very strong resemblance to the film. Anyhow, have a bit to decide, Let Me In hits theatres in October 2010.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
A veterinary student leaves his studies to join a travelling circus. If that wasn't enough to sell me, the film adaptation (set for a release 2011), will be directed by Francis Lawrence (Constantine), starring Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) and Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild). Um, yeah - I'll be reading that.

Update on The Tempest: a release date has been set for the film version in the works from director Julie Taymor (Across the Universe) starring Helen Mirren: Dec 10, 2010. Same day as Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Because it's so late in the year it's likely going to be one of the last books I get to this year. With The Tempest I'm considering throwing a reading party to actually read the play aloud instead of reading it on my own. Not sure though, we'll see.

Regular updates of my reading over at GoodReads, feel free to friend me!

Titles on Amazon.ca(Canada):


Titles on Amazon.com (US):

courtesy of takungpao.com

Rose Chan Ka Hung, Ip Chun, To Yu Hang

To Yu Hung, Tony Wong Yuk Long

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday May 28, 2010! It's a bit of a quiet week for in terms of volume of releases with only 5 films hitting the screens this week but considering two of them are Sex and the City 2 and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time I have a feeling it will be a busy week at the theatres!

In limited release this week we have Micmacs / Micmacs à tire-larigot, the latest film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet who brought us Amelie, City of the Lost Children and Delicatessen. Second and final limited release of the week is the Academy Award nominated film Ajami, which was nominated for Foreign Language film.

In wide release this week we have Kites: The Remix, a 90 minute remixed version of the Bollywood film Kites which full 140 version came out just last week. Next up is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the adventure film starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton that is based on the video game of the same name. Last up is yesterdays midweek release of Sex and the City 2 with Carrie & the girls are back to continue their adventures and escapades, and it's a lot of fun.

Also this week is the official opening of the new Toronto theatre: The Toronto Underground. They are starting off with their opening weekend with fantastic screenings choices ranging from Rumble in the Bronx to The Runaways to The White Ribbon. See more info at their Facebook Page and website.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Inside Out
20th Annual Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival
Continues until May 30, 2010 in various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Hello Film Fans and Fanatics!

Welcome to Film Fan Fridays for Friday May 28, 2010! It's a bit of a quiet week for in terms of volume of releases with only 5 films hitting the screens this week but considering two of them are Sex and the City 2 and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time I have a feeling it will be a busy week at the theatres!

In limited release this week we have Micmacs / Micmacs à tire-larigot, the latest film from Jean-Pierre Jeunet who brought us Amelie, City of the Lost Children and Delicatessen. Second and final limited release of the week is the Academy Award nominated film Ajami, which was nominated for Foreign Language film.

In wide release this week we have Kites: The Remix, a 90 minute remixed version of the Bollywood film Kites which full 140 version came out just last week. Next up is Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the adventure film starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton that is based on the video game of the same name. Last up is yesterdays midweek release of Sex and the City 2 with Carrie & the girls are back to continue their adventures and escapades, and it's a lot of fun.

Also this week is the official opening of the new Toronto theatre: The Toronto Underground. They are starting off with their opening weekend with fantastic screenings choices ranging from Rumble in the Bronx to The Runaways to The White Ribbon. See more info at their Facebook Page and website.

Have a great weekend!

Shannon

Festival Watch

Inside Out
20th Annual Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival
Continues until May 30, 2010 in various locations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada