RECENT PRESS
17th ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FILM LINE-UP
Festival to Open with New Line Cinema The New World Palm Springs, CA (December 14, 2005) – The 17th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival has announced its roster of 232 films, culled from more than 70 countries for the 2006 Festival. The selection of films...
I love karaoke so don’t stop me now
Nothing beats the thrill of singing at the Shanghai Shuffle, writes the actress. When people see me on television or acting on film with Samantha Morton in Morvern Callar, they ask why I still sing karaoke three nights a week at the Shanghai Shuffle on Glasgow's Bath...
AP Film Critics’ Top 10 Lists
As film critics, we had a problem this year. There were too many great movies to choose from and only 10 spots on our best-of lists. After much soul-searching and paring, here's what we came up with - the absolute best of the best. The top 10 films of 2005, according...
Sharp Shooter
Alan Sharp, the man who wrote the scripts for Rob Roy, the recently rereleased The Hired Hand and a new film about Scotland's national bard, Rabbie Burns, calls his work "pastiche". Brian Pendreigh finds that others are not so dismissive. Peter Fonda turned Hollywood...
Beowulf and Grendel ***
(Sturla Gunnarsson, Canada/Iceland/UK, 2005) Making the most of what was obviously a small budget, this could have been an interesting humanitarian interpretation of the Beowulf legend but for one thing: Sarah Polley. In a movie where we come to accept everyone as...
Movie Q&A: Inspiring mystery singer named
Q: I saw a preview on a rented movie for a film about a mother who tells her son his father is at sea on a certain boat and writes a letter to him from the supposed father. When this boat is supposed to come home she has to come up with a father, so she hires one. I...
Beowulf mania: new films, opera, musical breath life into ancient poem
TORONTO (CP) - Move over Troy. Bye-bye Greek heroes. You've had your turn Frodo. Make way for the blood-soaked medieval adventure of Beowulf and Grendel. With at least two major feature films, an opera and an off-Broadway play, the epic poem Beowulf - about a warrior...
Taming the Beowulf giant
Filming the epic in Iceland was a physical challenge. Director Sturla Gunnarsson and actress Sarah Polley talk to Katherine Monk. 'Right now, I've got a big knot in my stomach," says Sturla Gunnarsson, looking just a little ashen around the mouth. "The film just came...
Tragically timeless spirit of war
Copyright 2005 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All Rights Reserved The Vancouver Sun (British Columbia) Tragically timeless spirit of war: Director Sturla Gunnarsson tackles his biggest project to date 'Right now, I've got a big...
Mini reviews: Brief reviews of festival films
BEOWULF AND GRENDEL Going back to the very beginning of the English literary tradition, Canadian director Sturla Gunnarsson takes on the heavy task of adapting this epic Anglo-Saxon poem to the big screen. Thanks to a modern adaptation from screenwriter Andrew Rai...
European Directors Promote Their Films
Fifteen European directors introduced their latest works, including ``Beowulf And Grendel’’ and ``The Nine Lives of Korean Cinema,’’ at a press conference held at Paradise Hotel Sunday. Called ``The European Film Promotion,’’ the promotional event was designed to...
Beowulf & Grendel is Impressive
[b]See link above for complete article.[/b]
One Week in Another Town: Whackadoodle history, evolving myth and the abiding banality of evil
The richness and variety of artistic endeavor displayed in the Toronto International Film Festival's splendid lineup can't help but renew your faith that smart, caring folk are still wrestling with the world's pressing problems. And in such heady environs, it's easy...
A lesson in survival
You think reading Beowulf is tough, try making the movie PREVIEW BEOWULF AND GRENDEL STARRING Gerard Butler, Sarah Polley and Stellan Skarsgård. DIRECTED BY Sturla Gunnarsson Sunday, October 2 Jack Singer Concert Hall (Epcor Centre) A lot can go wrong when you’re...
Circus maximus
As the Toronto film festival went star-crazy, the Oscar buzz began It's over. The circus has left town. For 10 days, the stars converged on Toronto for film's annual September rite. Sidewalks were cordoned off with velvet ropes and red carpets. Hotel entrances were...
A literary monster movie
Even though it's been around for centuries, there are remarkably few film adaptations of the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. Committed to sheepskin 1,000 years ago after generations of campfire recountings, Beowulf tells the story of a great Norse warrior who slays the...
TIFF Report: Beowulf & Grendal Review
http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/003569.html I'm sure if I had told either of the Wonder Twins I had an opportunity to see a film pertaining to the poem 'Beowulf' and did not go they would have strung me up and found interesting ways to make amends for my...
Films and books on Burns ‘distort his legacy’
Academic blasts Burns industry's 'false mythology' The film A Red Rose, about the life of Robert Burns, has been criticised as 'melodrama' by Dr Gerard Carruthers CONTEMPORARY books and films depicting the life and works of Robert Burns have created a "false...
Beowulf and Grendel
[Canada/UK/Iceland; Sturla Gunnarsson] How could I resist? With all the noise around The Lord of the Rings, this classic story was ripe for the telling. In fact, it's being told twice; here and in a film scripted by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery. To be honest, I really...
On with the shows: Film Fest lineup has global feel
Break out the popcorn -- Calgary's annual celebration of movies is upon us. And this year, you might want to break out a little something extra with that popcorn -- try dahl, some hangikjot, and a side of ginger beef, all topped off with a layer of maple syrup. That's...