FILM SPOTTING: December 2009 in Polish cinemas
{FILM SPOTTING}
(500) Days of Summer (USA, 2009)
Release Date (Poland): 4th December 2009
Release Date (worldwide): 17th January 2009
I originally spotted this in November, but the Polish release date has been moved.
Spread (USA, 2009)
Release Date (Poland): 4th December 2009
Release Date (worldwide): 11th January 2009
Runtime: 97′
Director: David Mackenzie
Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, Margarita Levieva
Production House: Barbarian Films, Katalyst Films, Oceana Media Finance
Plot: (from imdb)
In Los Angeles, Nikki is homeless, car-less and closing in on 30, but he’s amoral, good-looking, and adept in the sack, moving from one wealthy woman of 35 or 40 to another, a kept boy-toy. His newest gig, with Samantha, an attorney whose house overlooks L.A., is sweet, although it’s unclear how long she’ll put up with him. Then Nikki meets Heather, a waitress. Is the player being played, or might this be love? What will Nikki discover?
Trailer
The sceptical part of me thinks that…
If this is indeed a romantic comedy (which is what it’s being marketed as) then it’ll probably be awful. In fact, even if it’s not what it’s being marketed as (and there are some things that point that way), I’m not that sure it’s going to be any good…
The excited part of me thinks that…
I’m always a bit intrigued when I get the vibe that a film is being marketed as something different than it is. That usually means it’s some sort of weirdo film.
The director of this did Young Adam (a small British Ewan McGregor film that became infamous when McGregor’s full frontal was cut for the American release). That’s a film I rather enjoyed and also I can’t quite believe that this guy would just make a standard rom-com/sex comedy kind of flick. Besides, there are no big studios in the credits.
When you delve into the reviews, it gets weirder. A lot of the reviews straight out say that they were expecting to see a sex comedy and the film isn’t even a comedy - let alone a sex one. Most of these reviews totally slam the film of course. Then there are the few reviews that say the film actually has something interesting to say and is pretty daring. But unfortunately even those reviews are rarely positive. A lot of them seem to say that the film starts off really well, but it goes down hill as soon as the protagonist meets the young girl (they start moralizing - he has to be punished for his bad ways).
All in all I’m curious… even though I’m really not sure this film will be any good…
Królik po berlinsku (Poland/Germany, 2009)
Release Date (Poland): 4th December 2009
Runtime: 52′ (+ 25′ - it’s being shown with an animated film entitled Esterhazy)
Director: Bartosz Konopka
Production House: MS Films, Ma.Ja.De Filmproduktion, Telewizja Polska, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), Lichtpunt, Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep (VPRO), Polish Film Institute, Media, Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing
Plot: (from imdb)
The untold story about wild rabbits which lived between the Berlin Walls. For 28 years Death Zone was their safest home. Full of grass, no predators, guards protecting them from human disturbance. They were closed but happy. When their population grew up to thousands, guards started to remove them. But rabbits survived and stayed there. Unfortunately one day the wall fell down. Rabbits had to abandon comfortable system. They moved to West Berlin and have been living there in a few colonies since then. They are still learning how to live in the free world, same as we - the citizens of Eastern Europe.
Trailer + Interview
The sceptical part of me thinks that…
My sceptical part is actually relatively quiet about this one ;)
The excited part of me thinks that…
Bartosz Konopka is a pretty interesting documentary director by the accounts I’ve heard (in fact I think I’ve seen a short film of his and it was really good). And this sounds great - it’s a fantastic way of talking about the system changes in Eastern Europe.
Blindsight (UK, 2006)
Release Date (Poland): 11th December 2009
Release Date (worldwide): 11th September 2006
Runtime: 104′
Director: Lucy Walker
Production House: Robson Entertainment
Plot: (from imdb)
Six blind Tibetan teenagers climb the Lhakpa-Ri peak of Mount Everest, led by seven-summit blind mountain-climber Erik Weihenmayer.
Trailer
The sceptical part of me thinks that…
I’m not particularly drawn to the topic matter and the trailer rather put me off.
The excited part of me thinks that…
The film has a lot of awards and positive reviews to its name.
