TIFF Tribute Awards 2021 Winners
The TIFF Tribute Awards, originally introduced in 2019 to honour actors and filmmakers for distinguished achievements over the course of their careers, unveiled this year’s winners in a televised ceremony on 18th September.
The first two honorees announced were Alanis Obomsawin as the recipient of the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media and Denis Villeneuve as the winner of the Ebert Director Award. Villeneuve’s adaptation of science fiction classic Dune was showcased at the festival but ineligible for competing for the main People’s choice award on technical grounds,
Jessica Chastain and Benedict Cumberbatch were subsequently announced as the recipients of the Actor Awards. Cumberbatch also had both The Power Of The Dog and The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain featured in this year’s festival line up. With The Power of The Dog in particular earning considerable early awards buzz for the British star.
Dionne Warwick received the special tribute award, filmmaker Danis Goulet was named the recipient of the Emerging Talent Award and cinematographer Ari Wegner received the Variety Artisan Award
The festival also separately held the annual People’s Choice Awards via public voting, with Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast securing the top prize at this year’s festival.
The Matrix Resurrections First Official Trailer Released
The long-awaited trailer for the fourth Matrix installment is finally here alongside the film’s official title: The Matrix: Resurrections. The trailer for Resurrections was first previewed at a CinemaCon presentation from Warner Bros. Pictures on Tuesday, August 24th, in Las Vegas before being released online today.
The trailer features the return of Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) alongside a host of new cast members including Neil Patrick Harris, Jonathan Groff and Yahaya Adbull-Mateen II.
The brief trailer is packed with nostalgic references to the much beloved original film whilst also setting the stage for a new imagining of the franchises familiar philosophical themes and iconic action packed visuals, as the franchise relaunches itself for a whole new generation of fans.
The film is due to arrive in cinemas and on HBO Max on 22nd December. Giving fans their long awaited red pill. Till then check out the trailer below.
BFI London Film Festival 2021 Official Trailer Released
Experience the best new films, series and XR from around the world at the 65th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express – taking place in person and online across the UK 6-17 October.
Explore the full line-up now at https://bfi.org.uk/lff
To enjoy priority booking, become a BFI Member by visiting https://www.bfi.org.uk/join
Check out the official treaser trailer below for a flavour of what to expect from this year’s line up of cinematic treats…
New Rocky IV Cut Axes Robot Butler
Sylvester Stallone’s recut and reimagined version of classic franchise installment Rocky IV is coming ever closer to release and as it does more details are emerging about exactly what will be different about this ‘Ultimate Directors Cut’.
It’s already been confirmed by the official trailer and previous announcements that the new edition of the film will feature additional footage including scenes not featured in the original release. However fans are still debating something that Stallone has chosen to remove from the film.
The original release of the film saw Rocky at the height of his fame and well earned wealth enjoying the luxuries his years as a boxing champ had afforded him. One of the most memorable things Rocky purchased was a talking life size robot butler, as a gift for his slobby brother in law Paulie. Paulie initially spurned his unusual gift as a walking trash can, but later learnt to love his new robot friend, their bonding providing the film with a memorable weird comedic subplot.
The robot in question named SICO became something of a cult favourite among fans due to it’s extravagant and somewhat bizarre placement in the otherwise musclebound slugfest of a movie. In real life the SICO robot itself even went on to have a lingering career in showbusiness, touring with James Brown, making TV cameos and even meeting presidents.
However Stallone confirmed at the end of August via Instagram that the new version of ROCKY IV will in fact remove all trace of the character, apparently making room for the new scenes and seemingly more serious tone of the new cut by removing the odd comedy subplot entirely.
It’s likely fans will mostly accept Stallone’s decision to send the robot butler ‘to the junkyard’ as the trailer for the director’s cut does seem to show that Stallon may actually have improved upon the already much beloved original release of the film. Pruning away some of the gaudy excess to bring the film’s tone back into line with the rest of the mostly serious and gritty franchise.
Check out the official trailer below:
Spring Blossom Review TIFF 2020
The Plot
A 16 year old girl bored with her school routine and people her own age discovers a fierce infatuation with an older actor performing at a local theatre. That inquisitive interest soon grows into an actual relationship, giving her the more daunting and authentically adult experiences she craves. Ultimately forcing her to confront whether or not she is truly ready to leave her childhood behind.
The Good
Suzanne Lindon directs and stars in a coming of age drama she apparently scripted when she was only 15 years old. This alone immediately distinguishes the film from countless other films that deal with the fledgling love affairs of teenage girls aching to discovering something beyond the narrow confines of high school and more childish pursuits.
It’s typical for these kinds of genre films to paint their female protagonists either as innocent victims of manipulative adult desire, or alternatively as rampantly sexually teenage temptresses. It’s at least refreshing that Spring Blossom avoids these stereotypes, presenting its young heroine as a relatively normal girl on the cusp of womanhood. It’s arguably a more authentic if mundane depiction of the excitement generated by someone’s first forays into the daunting world of adult emotions.
Though the film lacks tear stained melodrama it does deliver repeatedly joyful and sweet natured musical moments. It’s enduring watching Suzanne dance down the street in celebration at learning that her affections are in fact reciprocated. Indeed as her relationship with the 35 year old actor she befriends moves forward it is played out mostly through similarly shared moments of dancing to elegant melodies. It provides the majority of the film’s romantic spirit in contrast to their mostly awkward and banal conversational exchanges.
The Bad
First love and the tensions caused by a typical adolescent impatience to grow up are both often the subject matter of sensuous and richly emotional filmmaking. Unfortunately this film is at times lacking in the authentic drama and depth that distinguishes the better versions of this overly familiar coming of age tale. Lindon’s script is a little too languid and uneventful to capture the painful lessons that first loves usually end up teaching us.
Devoid of furious family drama, passionate sexual exploration or cruel life lessons the film doesn’t feel all that visceral or important. This particular age gap romance is mostly populated by banal breakfast conversation and random dance sequences. It’s a light and mostly pretty portrait of a fairly restrained love affair, but also entirely unremarkable.
Writer, director and star Suzanne Lindon penne the script when she was just 15, lending it a certain authenticity at least. But while sharing coffee and polite conversation with an adult can be an electrifying experience for an actual teenager, that doesn’t translate to screen for a more mature audience. Viewed from an adult perspective and without any particularly vivid insights, it appears more trivial than tantalising.
The fact that the film can barely sustain a running time a little beyond an hour perhaps gives some indication of how little the film ultimately has to say.
The Ugly Truth
Spring Blossom is an easy watch and a serves as a pleasant stroll through familiar coming of age tropes. Frequent musical interludes give a little extra elegance to a very simple tale otherwise mostly lacking in drama. The film is light and pretty as intended, but also unremarkable.
Review by Russell Nelson