The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival: Wallace & Gromit's 20th Anniversary
Master animator Nick Park discusses his illustrious career and helps us celebrate 20 years since Wallace & Gromit hit our screens.
As a child, Nick Park’s career aspirations included being an artist for the Beano comic and an inventor. By far, his best invention has been Wallace & Gromit, who first appeared on our screens 20 years ago. In 1985, Park became an invaluable addition to Aardman Animations, and A Grand Day Out (which he began as a student at the NFTS) earned him his first of many BAFTA awards. Four Academy Awards followed, not just for his much-loved shorts Creature Comforts, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave, but also for his feature Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Park’s perfectionist attention to detail and his ability to infuse his plasticine characters with humanity and humour (not to mention giving an immense vocabulary and emotional range to a dog that never speaks a word) is testament to the genius of his imagination and to his unsurpassed talent as an animator. To celebrate Park’s ‘cracking’ achievements we are delighted to be able to screen A Grand Day Out, digitally remastered for the occasion. Nick Park will be interviewed on stage after the screening by journalist David Gritten. Timothy Smith
Where
BFI NFT1
When
15:15 Sat 24 October
Duncan Jones's next film Mute & the fate of Sam Bell
By know you know that Director Duncan Jones’s next film will not be an adaptation of “Escape from the Deep” as anticipated.
It sounds like “Escape from the Deep” the true story of a WW2 submarine crew that go to hell and back will be tackled after another forage into the Sci Fi with “Mute”. More information about the Alex Kershaw book “Escape from the Deep” can be
found here http://www.escapefromthedeep.com/.
Mute
The Mute concept art released via Jone’s Liberty Films website looks pretty damn spiffy and tantalising enough to keep Sci Fi fans wanting more. The artwork is very reminiscent of Syd Mead’s conceptual art for Blade Runner. Interesting to note that the signage in the street scene says Fremde which is German for strange, but could also mean foreign or Alien. Jones has said that Mute is not about Aliens as such. I’m guessing that this scene is some high class clientele leaving a bar/club that caters for strange tastes. This is possibly the club that the lead’s girlfriend works at before disappearing. Then again it could just be a street scene.
Mute is basically the other side of the coin from Moon. Moon is about isolation, loneliness, living on your own and having to find a way to deal with that.
Mute is based in a future Berlin, so it’s a big city film, a thriller in a city that so full and so unfriendly in a way. It’s going to be a very different kind of film – but a good companion piece.
Mute is a much busier, nosier kind of film. It’s a thriller based in a future Berlin…. If Moon is inspired by films like Outland and Silent Running, then Mute, is inspired by Blade Runner.
For twitter updates on everything Duncan Jones’s including Mute follow: @manmademovies
You can follow Duncan Jones here: @manmademoon
You can follow Moon Producer Stuart Fenegan (One of Variety’s 10 Producers to Watch) here: @LibertyStu (Warning! Does not update much – yet)
The most media rich news can be found on the Liberty Films blog here: http://blog.manmademovies.co.uk/
Follow the Moon Facebook Group here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/manmademovies/151750620947
Film Networking : FILM NETWORKING PARTY @ The Kingly Club
You are cordially invited to THE KINGLY CLUB’S FILM NETWORKING PARTY on Tuesaday 15 September, 2009. 9PM till late.
An event exclusiverly for film creatives who want to hobnob & mingle. Come network & make exciting connections in film.
Staged at the chic and illustrious Kingly Club, the event is designed exclusively for film creatives who want to hobnob and mingle. It will be attended by some of the leading aficionados of the movie industry from directors to writers, producers to investors, actors and many others. This will be your chance to come network and make exciting connections that could lead to new and inspiring projects. Or just meet like minded individuals and have a laugh over a cocktail or 2. Or 3.Whilst listening to Fabulous superstar DJ Kris Di Angelis who will be spinning some movie themed tunes.
If you are passionate about the film industry, then this event is not to be missed.
NB: These networking events work via recommendation and word of mouth so do forward this email to anyone else you think might be interested.
Where
The Kingly Club
4 Kingly Court Soho London W1B 5PW
When
Tuesday 15 September from from 9pm
Film Networking : Raindance Boozin' N' Schmoozin" this Monday
Raindance hold an informal networking drinks on the 2nd Monday of each month called Boozin’ n’ Schmoozin’.
Talk is cheap!
As always, our popular and informal networking event featuring film related chit chat, an opportunity to catch up with old buddies from past RD courses and a damn fine way of connecting with like minded filmmakers.
And much beer drinking… (cash bar!)
Who should attend:
Anyone interested in filmmaking!!
Where
Downstairs at the Royal George
Goslett Yard, 133 Charing Cross Rd, London, W2CH 0EA
Nearest tube Tottenham Court Road.
When
Monday 14 September from 6:30pm
Kevin Smith appearing at Forbidden Planet, London
Mother flipping Kevin Smith will be popping into Forbidden Planet to sign copies of his new book ‘Shootin’ the Sh*t – The Best of SModcast’.
Shootin’ the Sh*t – The Best of SModcast are the captured freewheeling conversations with his friend and producer Scott Mosier (as heard on their top-rated podcast, known as SModcast), we discover — to pick just four random examples of the riches therein — the genesis of Stalin’s Monkey Soldier army, the horrifying tale of Kevin vs. Steak Tartare, how to make bukkake eggs, and how Kevin was once willing to let Alanis Morissette get mugged…
Defiantly lewd, crude and hilariously rude, Shootin’ the Sh*t with Kevin Smith is a must for all his fans!
Where
Forbidden Planet Megastore,
179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR
When
Tuesday 6th October 6 – 7pm.
Play: The Shawshank Redemption at Wyndham's Theatre
Based on the 1982 Stephen King novella, The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of Andy Dufresne, who is sentenced to life in Shawshank Prison after being convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Stripped of his freedom, Andy is forced to endure a spirit-crushing routine, but with his quiet strength and inner courage there is one thing Andy never loses: hope.
Andy Dufresne is convicted of murdering his wife and his lover and is sent to the notorious Shawshank Prison to serve two life sentences.
Stripped of his life, family and freedom, Andy is forced to endure a spirit-crushing routine. But with his quiet strength and inner courage, there is one thing that Andy never loses – and that is hope.
This unforgettable story of courage, friendship and daring to hope stars Kevin Anderson (Sleeping with the Enemy, member of the acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater Company) and Reg E. Cathey (from cult US television The Wire).
Where
Wyndham’s Theatre
32-36 Charing Cross Road
Leicester Square, London, WC2H 0DA
When
4 September 2009 onwards
Preview of Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee and Q&A
Preview of Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee and Q&A with Shane Meadows, Paddy Considine and Mark Herbert.
Rock roadie, Le Donk, has lived, loved and learned. Along the way, he’s lost a classy girlfriend but gained a sidekick, Scorz-Ayz-Ee. He sets out to make Scorz a star with a little help from the Artic Monkeys.
A freewheeling, no-budget experiment by one of the UK’s most prominent and successful producer/director teams, LE DONK was born out of Shane Meadows’ and Mark Herbert’s frustration at the sheer expense of time and money required to get a new project off the ground. Why not just get together an enthusiastic team (including the actor often cited as the De Niro to Meadows’ “Scorsese of the Midlands”, Paddy Considine), cobble together a skeleton script, and simply play for a few days? So, Considine broke out an earlier comic creation of his, an endearing/repellent rock’n’roll roadie known as Donk; an Arctic Monkeys gig provided the backdrop; and Meadows played himself, as a documentary-maker seeking to capture the secrets of a life lived just beyond the reach of the bright lights. Irrepressible fun.
When:
Curzon Soho
99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London ,W1D 5DY
Where:
Sunday 11 October, 4:00pm
Curzon Screen Salon: Special Preview of The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS AND THE FANTASTIC WORLDS OF TERRY GILLIAM
This Curzon Screen Salon will look back over Terry Gilliam’s career, which has featured as many tragedies and disappointments as it has successes. The Curzon Screen Salons are a series of illustrated lectures before our regular screenings hosted by Ian Haydn Smith, Editor of the International Film Guide.
Dir: Terry Gilliam Starring: Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger, Tom Waits,
A director seemingly affiliated with bad luck, that Terry Gilliam got to complete this at all is a minor miracle. A fantastical morality tale set in present-day London (for the most part at least), the alternate realities Gilliam spins will be more than familiar to fans of TIME BANDITS and BRAZIL. With more than a hint of Doctor Faustus, the film’s kernel is an ambitious travelling magician whose ambition has caused him to enter a number of deals with the devil, the most personally damaging of which has seen Parnassus (played impeccably by Plummer, THE NEW WORLD) trade immortality for his daughter (Lily Cole) on the occasion of her 16th birthday. A characteristic feast for the senses, the film is a fitting epitaph to Ledger, whose character is also ably portrayed in its transformative states by Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp. Extremely entertaining, the film also has at its heart a larger than life turn from Tom Waits as the devil
Where:
Curzon Soho
99 Shaftesbury Avenue London W1D 5DY
When:
Sunday 11 September, 5pm
Douglas Coupland talk on What Words Look Like, in London
Douglas Coupland on What Words Look Like
A lecture from the Canadian author about what words look like, and the power of text as an art object. He will be in conversation with Rick Poynor, founder of Eye magazine.
Thursday 3 September 2009, 6:45 pm
ICA The Mall,
London,
SW1Y 5AH
The Independent Interview with Spike Lee at The BFI
To coincide with the BFI’s ‘Fight the Power: Do the Right Thing in Context’ season, the BFI are pleased to announce that Spike Lee will be interviewed on-stage by David Lammy MP. The interview will focus on Lee’s career to date, as well as exploring his thoughts around Do the Right Thing, 20 years on from its original release.
NB – Do the Right Thing screens at 18:30 in NFT1. Tickets to be booked separately.
The Independent Interview with Spike LeeMonday September 21, 2009 at 8:45pm
BFI Southbank NFT1
Belvedere Road
London, England SE1 8XT Get Directions
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