By Ron GilbertWhen I heard the song,” When you wish Upon a Star”, originally sung by Jiminy Cricket, who serves as the official conscience for Pinocchio in the classic Disney film, in the opening frames of this film ,Woody had me. That pulled in memories of my childhood and the hopes and dreams we wish for. Woody Allen is sort of a Jiminy Cricket as a director. He makes you laugh and cry and connects you in a very special way. You can find happiness in this crazy world if you believe in fai...

You will meet a Tall Dark Stranger the film fulfills that promise By Ron Gilbert When I heard the  song,” When you wish Upon a Star”, originally sung by Jiminy Cricket, who serves as the official conscience for Pinocchio in the classic Disney film, in the opening frames of this film ,Woody had me. That pulled in memories of my childhood and the hopes and dreams we wish for. Woody Allen is sort of a Jiminy Cricket as a director. He makes you laugh and cry and connects you ...

Doug Liman presented his In Competition film Fair Game,starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, Thursday morning. The press conferencefollowing the screening addressed the true story of scandal, truth and lies of US spies Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson. Fair Game marks the third time Watts and Pennhave worked together, and she expressed her relief when she learned she’dbe playing alongside her longtime friend. “Everytime he’s infront of me, Ielevate my game to match his,” Watts said.Liman empha...

                                     The American director, Doug Liman, presents his first film in Competition at the Festival de Cannes. Fair Game is the backdrop for the 2005 Plame-Wilson scandal, where Valeria Plame (played by Naomi Watts), a CIA agent in the nuclear non-proliferation department, sees her reports on uranium trafficking between Nig...

 Woody Allen's highly anticipated film You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger met less-than rave reviews following Saturday night's premiere screening. Exit polls from Saturday morning's press screening yielded positive reviews from audience members, thoughthe critics were hardly blown away by Allen's film. Impossible to avoid comparisons with Allen's most recent film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which garnered a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Penelope Cruz, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger fai...

            You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger by Woody Allen, filled Cannes with liveliness early Saturday afternoon. The film gathered more movie lovers and curious media than any other afternoon showing in the Grand Theatre Lumiere of the Cannes Film Festival. Fan hopefuls desperately searched for spare tickets and the lucky attendees filed in an un-organized, bulky line awaiting the gates to open.     Allen's film was set to capture me...

Thursday, 5 February----For the Berlin Film Festival, which opens this evening, the choice of an international action thriller is an odd choice for an Opening Night Film. The Festival, which has the reputation for championing gritty, social issue-oriented films, the choice is not as strange as it first appears. THE INTERNATIONAL, a globe-trotting espionage tale starring UK heartthrob Clive Owen and Australian thrush Naomi Watts, is directed by Tom Twyker, the German wunderkind who singlehandedly...

The 59th Berlin International Film Festival will open on February 5, 2009 with the world premiere of the British-German co-prodution The International. Directed by Tom Tykwer (Perfume, Run, Lola Run) and featuring a star-studded cast, the action thriller traces the criminal business transactions that finance war and terror.   The leading roles are played by Clive Owen (Inside Man, Closer) and Naomi Watts (King Kong, 21 Grams). Armin Mueller-Stahl (Die Budd...

The 59th Berlin International Film Festival will open on February 5, 2009 with the world premiere of the British-German co-prodution The International. Directed by Tom Tykwer (Perfume, Run, Lola Run) and featuring a star-studded cast, the action thriller traces the criminal business transactions that finance war and terror. The leading roles are played by Clive Owen (Inside Man, Closer) and Naomi Watts (King Kong, 21 Grams). Armin Mueller-Stahl (Die Buddenbrooks, Illuminati), Brian F. O’Byrne ...

 Friday, March 21-------It is a very rare thing indeed for a European director to have the opportunity to remake a small art film in another language (the only other recent example was Dutch director George Sluizer’s THE VANISHING). But Michael Haneke is that rare director. The English-language version of his domestic thriller FUNNY GAMES, originally shot in his native Austria in the German language and starring Ulrich Muhe (the Stasi spy in THE LIVES OF OTHERS) has just opened in the United ...

 Sunday, October 21--------It has been a busy weekend on the Red Carpet at the London Film Festival. Friday night saw the UK Premiere of three exciting new films, which could not be more different. First was the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS, directed by current hot Romanian director Cristian Mungiu. The film, which is the current frontrunner for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, is a harrowing account about one woman’s odyssey of desperation in 1980s Roman...

Opening Gala photosEnjoy our gallery from the opening night gala of Eastern Promises.   BFI Chairman Anthony Minghella and Festival Artistic Director Sandra Hebron Livia Guigglioli, Colin Firth David Cronenberg Naomi Watts  Elle MacPherson Sam Taylor-Wood and Jay Jopling Naomi Watts, David Cronenberg, Vincent Cassel Stephen Frears Terry Gilliam Vincent Cassel...

 Thursday, October 18----------Naomi Watts, whose film career is suddenly on fire, will appear as a special guest at the TCM Screen Talk tomorrow evening at the London Film Festival. Watts was one of the stars at last night's Opening Night Gala screening of EASTERN PROMISES, the new film from Canadian auteur David Cronenberg, which stars her opposite Viggo Mortenson and Vincent Cassel. The prolific actress also toplines the English-language remake of Austrian director Michael Haneke's FUNNY G...

 Thursday, October 18----------Naomi Watts, whose film career is suddenly on fire, will appear as a special guest at the TCM Screen Talk tomorrow evening at the London Film Festival. Watts was one of the stars at last night's Opening Night Gala screening of EASTERN PROMISES, the new film from Canadian auteur David Cronenberg, which stars her opposite Viggo Mortenson and Vincent Cassel. The prolific actress also toplines the English-language remake of Austrian director Michael Haneke's FUNNY G...

 Monday, October 1----------EASTERN PROMISES, the acclaimed new film from legendary Canadian director David Cronenberg, will open the Times BFI 51st  London Film Festival on Wednesday, October 17th. The film, which recently won the Peoples Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, has received some of the strongest reviews of the year  when it opened theatrically in North America in the past week. Oscar nominations and end-of-the-year critics prizes should be in the offing for ...

Canadian director David Cronenberg says that he is “delighted” to participate in the San Sebastian International Film Festival in a text sent by him to the Festival organisation for its circulation.Cronenberg, who will open the San Sebastian Festival on 20th September with his new film Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts and Vincent Cassel, and who will also compete in the Official Selection, wished to show his interest in participating in the event because “people have...

David Cronenberg to open the San Sebastian Film Festival with Eastern PromisesFlawless, directed by Michael Radford and starring Demi Moore and Michael Caine, will bring the 55th Festival to a close. Writer Paul Auster, Chairman of the Official Jury, will present his new film as a director, The Inner Life of Martin Frost, out of competition.The documentary film Earth will also be screened out of competition in the Official Selection.Canadian director David Cronenberg’s new film will open the 5...