The movie adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning ‘The Goldfinch’ is now in theaters. Photo: google
Donna Tartt is an American author best known for the novels “The Secret History,” “The Little Friend” and “The Goldfinch.” She won the WH Smith Literary Award for “The Little Friend” in 2003 and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for “The Goldfinch” in 2014. The latter is the coming-of-age story of 13 year-old Theodore Decker, who survives a terrorist bombing at an art museum where his mother dies. The movie adaptation is now in theaters and stars Ansel Elgort as Theodore. It is directed by John Crowley and written by Peter Straughan.
“The Goldfinch” is told is retrospective first person narration by Theodore “Theo” Decker. His life is turned upside down during a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with his mother and she is tragically killed when a bomb explodes in the museum. They were there to see an exhibition of Dutch masterpieces, including a favorite painting of hers, Carel Fabritius’ The Goldfinch, which Theo takes with him during his panicked escape. Abandoned by his father, he goes to live with the family of a wealthy friend but he feels out of place and is constantly tormented by memories of his mother. Through it all, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her, the painting. Throughout the years, it becomes a source of hope for him as he descends into a world of crime.
The movie adaptation of Maria Semple’s best selling novel opens in theaters this Friday August 16. Photo: google
Maria Semple is an American novelist and screenwriter best known for the novels “This One Is Mine,” “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” and “Today Will Be Different.” Her television credits include Beverly Hills, 90210, Mad About You, Saturday Night Live, Arrested Development, Suddenly Susan and Ellen. “Where’d You Go, Bernadette” spent a year on The New York Times’ bestseller list, won the American Library Association’s Alex Award and was shortlisted for Women’s Prize for Fiction. It centers around an agoraphobic architect, mother and wife who is struggling to adjust to life in Seattle and goes missing just before a family trip to Antarctica. The movie adaptation starring Cate Blanchette will be in theaters starting this Friday August 16.
In “Where’d You Go, Bernadette,” everyone has their thoughts about Bernadette Fox. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she is a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she is a disgrace; to design mavens, she is a revolutionary architect; and to 15-year-old Bee, she is her best friend and, simply, Mom. Then Bernadette vanishes. It all began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette is so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic. To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents and secret correspondence.
The Prey will have an October theatrical release followed by VOD and DVD release. Photo: EG-PR, used with permission.
Dark Star Pictures has announced today that it has acquired North American rights to action thriller The Prey. The company is planning an October theatrical release followed by VOD and DVD release. The film has excited audiences and critics at festivals including Busan International Film Festival 2018, BFI London Film Festival 2018, Hawaii Film Festival 2018, Night Visions and most recently Fantasia Film Festival 2019. (Dark Star Pictures, 2019)
Loosely based on Richard Connell’s story of survival and adventure “The Most Dangerous Game,” The Prey comes from writer/director Jimmy Henderson and the team behind genre festival hit Jailbreak. Undercover Chinese cop Xin (newcomer Gu Shangwei), is on a secret international mission when a surprise raid puts him in a remote Cambodian jungle prison that plays by its own rules. Ruthless warden (Vithaya Pansringarm of Only God Forgives) sells prisoners as human prey for rich hunters looking for thrills in the jungle. After years of hunting down ruthless criminals, Xin suddenly finds himself running for his life. If Xin manages to survive this sadistic game, he will walk out of the jungle the same way he came in: as a free man. If Xin fails, he is just another hunting trophy.
Theatrical openings will include Los Angeles, New York, and more to be announced. The deal was negotiated by Dark Star President Michael Repsch and Pip Ngo of XYZ Films on behalf of the filmmakers.
DIRECTOR: Jimmy Henderson (Jailbreak)
WRITTEN BY: Jimmy Henderson, Michael Hodgson, Kai Miller
CAST: Byron Bishop, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Nophand Boonyai, Vithaya Panringarm (Only God Forgives), Gu Shang Wei
Distributed by LA-based Dark Star Pictures.
RT: 93 minutes; Color; Language: Cambodian and Chinese with English subtitles; Rating: Not Rated
“The Prey is an exceptionally fun, high strung action film that is exhilarating from start to finish. But what really drew us to the film was the societal context – specifically the look at how class systems can be taken to the extreme, which could not be more relevant in our society today.”– Michael Repsch
Tilman Singer’s LUZ opens this Friday July 19 in New York and Los Angeles. National release to follow. Photo: EG-PR, used with permission.
LUZ is a new German horror movie opening theatrically in New York (IFC Center, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema City Point, Nitehawk Cinema Williamsburg) and Los Angeles (Laemmle Monica, Laemmle Playhouse 7) on Friday July 19 with a national release to follow. (EG-PR, 2019)
LUZ begins as a young female cabdriver (Luana Velis, in the title role) drags herself into a run-down police station. However, a demonic entity follows her there, determined to finally be close to the woman it loves.
Dazed and numb, Luz, a young cabdriver, drags herself into the brightly lit entrance of a run-down police station. In a nightspot, Nora seductively engages police psychiatrist Dr. Rossini in a conversation. She tells the Doctor about her old schoolmate Luz’ rebellious past at a Chilean school for girls. Nora is possessed by a demonic entity, longing for the woman it loves – Luz. Increasingly drunk on both alcohol and Nora’s story, Rossini turns into easy prey. When called to the police station, the now demonically revived doctor puts Luz in a state of hypnosis, supervised by his colleagues, commissioner Bertillon and her translator Olarte. Luz recalls the events predating her arrival at the police station. But the entity that has taken control of the doctor wants something more. Bit by bit it slips into Luz’ reenactment and makes old memories come to light. (IMDb)
Shooting entirely on 16mm, first time feature film director Tilman Singer pays homage to horror masters David Cronenberg, Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci, while infusing the genre with a fresh take of his own.
Written and directed by Tilman Singer
Produced by Dario Mendez Acosta and Tilman Singer
Starring Luana Velis and Jan Bluthardt
Official selection: Fantasia Film Festival, Fantastic Fest (US Premiere) Berlin International Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival and many more.
The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center recently announced the official film lineup for the nonprofit’s 41st Annual CineFestival sponsored by the San Antonio Film Commission. This year’s festival will take place Thursday July 11 through Sunday July 14 with the theme ‘Frontera in Focus.’ Of the films featured in this year’s lineup, 30 of the films were shot in Texas or directed by Texas filmmakers with 17 of the films directed by San Antonio filmmakers or shot in San Antonio. The four-day Latino film festival will feature 42 films from Latino artists, including the Texas premiere of Phoenix, Oregon, starring San Antonio native Jesse Borrego. Now celebrating its 41st year, CineFestival is the longest running Latino film festival in the country. Festival details and schedules are available online. (Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, 2019)
‘The Infiltrators,’ directed by Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra, will open the festival on July 11 at the Guadalupe Theater. The festival’s opening night will serve as the South Texas premiere for the film, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the NEXT Innovator Award. The Infiltrators tells the true story of young immigrants who get arrested by the Border Patrol and put in a shadowy for-profit detention center on purpose. Marco and Viri are members of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, a group of radical Dreamers who are on a mission to stop deportations. The best place to stop deportations, they believe, is in detention. When Marco and Viri try to pull off their heist, a kind of “prison break” in reverse, things don’t go according to plan. By weaving together documentary footage of the real infiltrators with scripted re-enactments of the events inside the detention center, ‘The Infiltrators’ tells this incredible true story in a boundary-crossing new cinematic language.
‘Premature,’directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green, will close out the festival on July 14 at the Guadalupe Theater. The critically acclaimed film follows Ayanna, who is making the most out of her last summer in Harlem before heading to college. She is bold, confident and not really looking for love, until she meets the slightly older Isaiah. After one of those rare first dates that last for hours, she knows there is something different about him. Ayanna has found herself at an intimidating crossroads: one foot is still under her mother’s roof, while the other is primed to step out on her own with Isaiah. ‘Premature’ debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and makes its South Texas premiere at CineFestival.
CineFestival will also feature the Texas premiere of ‘Phoenix, Oregon’ directed by Gary Lundgren on July 13. Starring Jesse Borrego and indie film veterans James Le Gros (Drugstore Cowboy, Living in Oblivion), Diedrich Bader (Napolean Dynamite, Office Space) and Kevin Corrigan (Pineapple Express, True Romance), ‘Phoenix, Oregon’ takes a comedic look at the existential crisis many face when trying to find meaning and relevancy at midlife.
Tickets can be purchased online. Ticket options include:
• Festival Badge – $50 (Includes all Films)
• Evening Film Tickets – $10
• Daytime Film Tickets – $8
• After Parties Admission – Free (beverages available by donation)
Guadalupe Theater
1301 Guadalupe Street
San Antonio, TX 78207
(210) 271-3151
The movie adaptation of Philip Reeve’s ‘Mortal Engines’ opens on Friday December 14.
Philip Reeve is a British author and illustrator of children’s books and is best known for the 2001 young adult novel “Mortal Engines” and its sequels. “Mortal Engines” won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize in ages 9-11 years and made the Whitbread Book Award shortlist. The book is the first in a series called the Mortal Engines Quartet which includes “Predator’s Gold,” “Infernal Devices” and “A Darkling Plain.” This was followed by the Fever Crumb prequel series: “Fever Crumb,” “A Web of Air” and “Scrivener’s Moon,” which depict events many years prior to those of “Moral Engines.” The books feature two young adventurers, Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw, who live in a lawless post-apocalyptic world inhabited by moving cities. The movie adaptation of “Mortal Engines,” directed by Christian Rivers and a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, opens this Friday December 14. It stars Hugo Weaving, Hera Hilmar, Robert Sheehan, Jihae, Ronan Raftery and Stephen Lang.
“Mortal Engines” is set in a post-apocalyptic world that is a product of a “Sixty Minute War” which caused geological upheaval. To escape the earthquakes, volcanoes and other instabilities, a nomadic leader named Nikola Quercus installed huge engines and wheels on London and enabled it to dismantle (or eat) other cities for resources. London is now hunting again, chasing a terrified little town across the wastelands and soon, it will eat. The book focuses on a futuristic steampunk version of London, now a giant machine striving to survive on a world running out of resources. Tom is a young Londoner who has never lived outside his traveling hometown. His first taste of the outside world comes when he gets in the way of an attempt by the masked Hester to kill Thaddeus Valentine, a powerful man she blames for her mother’s murder and both Hester and Tom end up thrown out of the moving “traction” city to fend for themselves.
The summer film series ‘Native Texan Films’ is a tribute to the new Native Texan beer from Independence Brewing Co. Photo: Independence Brewing Co., used with permission.
Independence Brewing Co. is partnering with Alamo Drafthouse to bring a Texas-inspired summer film series celebrating the launch of the new pilsner Native Texan. The series “Native Texan Films” will take place from July 17 to August 27 and includes Texas-inspired film screenings at Alamo Drafthouse locations statewide. Each of the selected films, which include Friday Night Lights, Dazed and Confused and Urban Cowboy, is inspired by Texas pride as a tribute to the company’s new, authentically Texan pilsner. (Independence Brewing Co., 2018)
The film series will kick off with a screening of Bottle Rocket in Denton, Texas, where the cult classic was filmed nearly 23 years ago. Additional films will be screened at Alamo Drafthouse locations in Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Dallas (Las Colinas), Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, New Braunfels and San Antonio. Admission will be free to the public; however, attendees can reserve a seat by purchasing a $5 voucher, which can be redeemed at the theater for an ice-cold can of Native Texan or another concession item.
Independence Brewing Co. chose Alamo Drafthouse as the venue for its summer film series because of its distinct Texas roots and the fact that the cinema house was founded on the principle of enjoying great beer while watching great films. Tickets are now available for all 11 of the scheduled film screenings. Details are available online.
Independence Brewing Co. is a local craft beer brewery and taproom located in Southeast Austin, Texas. Founded by Amy & Rob Cartwright in 2004, Independence Brewing Co. has grown from a small mom, pop, and dog operation to a team of 40 people producing more than 17,000 barrels each year with distribution throughout Texas and Arkansas. Independence Brewing Co. is now one of the largest and most beloved breweries in Central Texas.
The movie adaptation of ‘Wonder’ by R.J. Palacio is now in theaters.
R.J. Palacio is an American author, art director and book jacket designer. Her previous works include “Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories” and “365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts.” She is best known for “Wonder,” her first novel and The New York Times best-seller about Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face. The feature film adaptation is now in theaters everywhere and stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay.
According to Amazon, “Wonder” tells the story of August Pullman who was born with a facial difference that has always prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Now he is starting the fifth grade at Beecher Prep and he wants nothing more than to be treated like an ordinary kid, but his classmates can not get past his looks. The narration begins from Auggie’s point of view and then switches to his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend and others. This serves to highlight one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion and acceptance. Friendship is the central theme with Auggie as the hero many will root for as he proves that people can not blend in when they were born to stand out. This book inspired the Choose Kind movement.
The new movie adaptation of Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ is now in theatres.
Agatha Christie was an English crime novelist, short story writer and playwright. She wrote 66 detective novels and 14 short stories but is best known for her novels featuring the fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Her works have sold billions of copies worldwide and is she is listed as the best-selling novelist of all time. Most of her works have been adapted for television, radio, video games, comics and more than thirty feature films. The most recent is Murder on the Orient Express, based on her best-selling 1934 novel of the same name featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It stars Kenneth Branagh as Poirot, with Penélope Cruz, Willem Defoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer and is the fourth adaptation of the book.
According to Amazon, in ‘Murder on the Orient Express,’ Poirot is on holiday and on his way to Istanbul aboard the famous Orient Express. On his first day, he is approached by Samuel Ratchett who believes his life is threatened and asks Poirot to be his bodyguard, but he refuses due to his instant dislike for the man. The next morning, he is found dead and Poirot is drawn into the investigation into his death. Isolated by an avalanche that disabled the train, he must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man’s enemies on board before the murderer strikes again.
The feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘It’ opens in theaters on Friday September 8, 2017.
The last time audiences experienced Stephen King’s “It” was in 1990 by way of a television mini-series starring Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown. The latest adaptation of the best-selling horror novel opens in theaters on Friday September 8, 2017. It is also known as It Part 1 The Losers Club because it is intended to be the first installment in a planned duology. The supernatural horror movie tells the story of seven children in Derry, Maine who are terrorized by a shapeshifting supernatural being while facing their own personal demons. This time around it is Bill Skarsgård’s turn to give life to Pennywise.
In “It,” Seven adults return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they had first live through as teenagers and it is an evil without a name so they call it ‘It.’ They are now grown men and women who have moved on with their lives and achieved success and happiness. Twenty-eight years ago, they promised to return if it ever resurfaced. Now that children are being murdered again they are back and so are their repressed memories of a terrifying summer when they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. The creature appears in the form of a clown to attract its preferred prey of young children, but it also exploits the fears and phobias of its victims to disguise itself. The story is told through alternating narratives between two time periods and recurring themes include the power of memory, childhood trauma and overcoming evil through mutual trust and sacrifice.
Stephen King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and many of them have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, television shows and comic books. He is best known for “Carrie,” “It,” “The Green Mile” and the Dark Tower series.
