Director Jamie Thraves had only been out of art school for a few years when he was approached to direct the video for Radiohead’s “Just,” a single off their 1995 album, The Bends. Thraves got the gig through his new job at Oil Factory Productions, a video company run by John Stewart (the brother of Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart). “John sent my films to Dilly Gent, the commissioner of Radiohead,” Thraves recalls. “She sent me ‘Just’ to have a listen.”
Soon Thraves ended up directing one of the most iconic music...
Soon Thraves ended up directing one of the most iconic music...
- 3/13/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Ophelia Lovibond, Dominic Buchanan among names announced for best film jury.
Turkish-German director Fatih Akin will talk at an ‘In Conversation’ event as part of the 17th East End Film Festival (Eeff), held in London from April 11-29.
Akin’s appearance will be his first in the UK since his latest film In The Fade won the Golden Globe for best foreign -language film. It was the German entry for best foreign- language film at the 2018 Oscars, and screens as part of Eeff.
Also appearing for an ‘In Conversation’ event will be Us director Sara Driver (Sleepwalk), whose documentary Boom...
Turkish-German director Fatih Akin will talk at an ‘In Conversation’ event as part of the 17th East End Film Festival (Eeff), held in London from April 11-29.
Akin’s appearance will be his first in the UK since his latest film In The Fade won the Golden Globe for best foreign -language film. It was the German entry for best foreign- language film at the 2018 Oscars, and screens as part of Eeff.
Also appearing for an ‘In Conversation’ event will be Us director Sara Driver (Sleepwalk), whose documentary Boom...
- 4/5/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Directed by Jamie Thraves, the Game of Thrones actor’s sketches about the travails of mid-range celebrity are full of likable self-mockery
Like Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm or Matt LeBlanc in Episodes, the Irish actor Aidan Gillen plays an actor called Aidan Gillen in this scrappy, low-fi meta-musing on fame and life as a jobbing actor. Gillen, who co-wrote the script with director Jamie Thraves, runs the risk here of looking like a raging narcissist by making a film all about himself. Instead he sketches the travails of mid-range celebrity with likable self-mockery. The film’s running gag is that his character is constantly being recognised as “that fella off the TV” by people who then won’t believe it’s really him. “Nah. The guy I’m thinking of is much younger looking than you.”
Pickups is Gillen’s third film with Thraves, after The Low Down and Treacle Jr,...
Like Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm or Matt LeBlanc in Episodes, the Irish actor Aidan Gillen plays an actor called Aidan Gillen in this scrappy, low-fi meta-musing on fame and life as a jobbing actor. Gillen, who co-wrote the script with director Jamie Thraves, runs the risk here of looking like a raging narcissist by making a film all about himself. Instead he sketches the travails of mid-range celebrity with likable self-mockery. The film’s running gag is that his character is constantly being recognised as “that fella off the TV” by people who then won’t believe it’s really him. “Nah. The guy I’m thinking of is much younger looking than you.”
Pickups is Gillen’s third film with Thraves, after The Low Down and Treacle Jr,...
- 10/23/2017
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Dublin international Film Festival announced its full lineup today with the Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke starring folk artist biopic Maudie set to open proceedings on February 16. Along with a sizable selection of International films and guests, there'll be plenty of Irish talent on show. Cillian Murthy and Jack Reynor will be present, along with director Ben Wheatley, for a screening of Free Fire, while Aiden Gillen will arrive with the World Premiere of Jamie Thraves' Pickups. With the Irish film industry in fine health at the moment, there's plenty of locally produced films for Dubliners to discover. See below for the full announcement on the festival's many films, events, and guest appearances. All verbiage courtesy of the festival. Galas and World Premieres...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 1/18/2017
- Screen Anarchy
Sixteen years on, this Film4 flick about the loves, lives and drinking habits of young Londoners feels decidedly dated, if oddly watchable
Few organisations within the British film industry have done more to establish themselves as part of the cinematic landscape than Film4, thanks in large part to four decades of impressively consistent branding (the company must now be entitled to take ownership, Yves Klein-style, of their preferred shade of red).
This month, it releases a slew of titles from its back catalogue on iTunes and Amazon and – perhaps recognising that iconic brands are built on more than just their hits – they’re not all canonical classics. Take 2001’s The Low Down, the largely forgotten feature debut of British director Jamie Thraves. Made around the turn of the millennium, the film was one of a rash of Blair-era paeans to the lives, loves and drinking habits of the kinds of...
Few organisations within the British film industry have done more to establish themselves as part of the cinematic landscape than Film4, thanks in large part to four decades of impressively consistent branding (the company must now be entitled to take ownership, Yves Klein-style, of their preferred shade of red).
This month, it releases a slew of titles from its back catalogue on iTunes and Amazon and – perhaps recognising that iconic brands are built on more than just their hits – they’re not all canonical classics. Take 2001’s The Low Down, the largely forgotten feature debut of British director Jamie Thraves. Made around the turn of the millennium, the film was one of a rash of Blair-era paeans to the lives, loves and drinking habits of the kinds of...
- 8/20/2016
- by Charlie Lyne
- The Guardian - Film News
Aside from being one of the very best films of this awards season, the Coen brothers' lovely, melancholic Inside Llewyn Davis also features one of the very best performances from a cat we've ever seen on the big screen.
In honour of the wonder that is Ulysses the Cat, we've picked out eleven more of the movies' greatest felines. We only had one rule: these had to be domestic cats. Sorry Simba, Aslan, Richard Parker et al.
Thomas O'Malley (The AristoCats)
At first glance, Thomas O'Malley comes across as a bit of a douchebag, the self-assured charmer who you wish wasn't hitting on you in a bar (or, in the modern age, a box on the Internet). He's even got his own theme tune full of talk about how he's "duke of the avant-garde", for crying out loud.
Ultimately, though, Thomas proves to be pretty handy in a jam, saving...
In honour of the wonder that is Ulysses the Cat, we've picked out eleven more of the movies' greatest felines. We only had one rule: these had to be domestic cats. Sorry Simba, Aslan, Richard Parker et al.
Thomas O'Malley (The AristoCats)
At first glance, Thomas O'Malley comes across as a bit of a douchebag, the self-assured charmer who you wish wasn't hitting on you in a bar (or, in the modern age, a box on the Internet). He's even got his own theme tune full of talk about how he's "duke of the avant-garde", for crying out loud.
Ultimately, though, Thomas proves to be pretty handy in a jam, saving...
- 1/18/2014
- Digital Spy
This sharply observed debut about a struggling standup comic is an interesting rumination on modern London life
This low-key character study from debutant Tom Shkolnik proves quietly impressive in its ruminations on latter-day London identity. In office hours, Ed (Edward Hogg) is a softly spoken thirtysomething flunking a sales job; by night, he is what Judd Apatow's Funny People euphemistically called a "high-energy" amateur standup, raising the volume to compensate for flat material. Off-stage, Ed dithers between his French bedmate Elisa (Elisa Lasowski) and Nathan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), the charming artist who just wants him to commit. It's small and scratchy, necessarily circumscribed – like Jamie Thraves' not dissimilar The Low Down – by its protagonist's indecision, but a brace of electric, sharply observed encounters on nightbuses contribute to an air of something lived through: Shkolnik knows what it is to be shrugging along in the city with not enough money in your pocket,...
This low-key character study from debutant Tom Shkolnik proves quietly impressive in its ruminations on latter-day London identity. In office hours, Ed (Edward Hogg) is a softly spoken thirtysomething flunking a sales job; by night, he is what Judd Apatow's Funny People euphemistically called a "high-energy" amateur standup, raising the volume to compensate for flat material. Off-stage, Ed dithers between his French bedmate Elisa (Elisa Lasowski) and Nathan (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), the charming artist who just wants him to commit. It's small and scratchy, necessarily circumscribed – like Jamie Thraves' not dissimilar The Low Down – by its protagonist's indecision, but a brace of electric, sharply observed encounters on nightbuses contribute to an air of something lived through: Shkolnik knows what it is to be shrugging along in the city with not enough money in your pocket,...
- 5/31/2013
- by Mike McCahill
- The Guardian - Film News
Imagine falling passionately in love with someone unsuitable. He's 20 years younger than you, but you get over that. He's from a completely different culture and speaks another language, but you somehow bridge your differences. Then the authorities come knocking, and tell you he's someone of great interest to them. You don't get over that.
Helen McCrory and Najib Oudghiri co-star in 'Flying Blind'
This is the premise of 'Flying Blind', starring Helen McCrory as Frankie, a woman I think we can safely deem a success. Professionally, she is a scientist, charged with the development of military machines. Academically, she's a well-respected lecturer. Her father (Kenneth Cranham) used to work on Concorde. Her down time is spent, solo, on her running machine. Romantically, she's a sitting duck, which is where one of her students, Kahil (Najib Oudghiri) comes in.
Their connection is magnetic, by turns sweet and challenging,...
Helen McCrory and Najib Oudghiri co-star in 'Flying Blind'
This is the premise of 'Flying Blind', starring Helen McCrory as Frankie, a woman I think we can safely deem a success. Professionally, she is a scientist, charged with the development of military machines. Academically, she's a well-respected lecturer. Her father (Kenneth Cranham) used to work on Concorde. Her down time is spent, solo, on her running machine. Romantically, she's a sitting duck, which is where one of her students, Kahil (Najib Oudghiri) comes in.
Their connection is magnetic, by turns sweet and challenging,...
- 4/23/2013
- by Caroline Frost
- Huffington Post
There’s a great short starring Martin Freeman making the rounds this week, and I recommend watching that two-year-old film, titled The Girl is Mime, when you get the chance. But there’s another short led by the actor that I’d like to showcase this weekend in anticipation of The Hobbit. Way back in 1998, before Freeman was in Sherlock or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or Love Actually or even his breakthrough, the original UK version of The Office, he had two small yet notable gigs. One was appearing alongside Doctor Who‘s Shaun Dingwall in Vito Rocco’s music video for Faith No More’s cover of “I Started a Joke.” The other was starring in the 11-minute black and white film I Just Want to Kiss You. Written and directed by Jamie Thraves, best known for music videos he’s helmed for Blur, Radiohead and Coldplay, this...
- 12/9/2012
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The nominations for the 15th annual Moët British Independent Film Awards have been unveiled in London.
They were announced by patron Adrian Lester (above), the Birmingham-born actor whose credits include The Day After Tomorrow and TV series Being Human, Bonekickers, Merlin and Hustle.
In a statement, joint directors of the awards Johanna von Fischer & Tessa Collinson said: "In this our 15th year, we are delighted to welcome back six-time former host James Nesbitt.
"We would like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated Pre-Selection Committee who watched over 200 films in order to produce the 2012 nominations, which once again reflect the diverse range of British film talent, and also welcome this year's appointed independent jury who will now spend the next month considering the nominated films."
The highest number of nominations this year goes to Broken with 9 nominations including Best Film, Best Director and Best Debut Director for Rufus Norris,...
They were announced by patron Adrian Lester (above), the Birmingham-born actor whose credits include The Day After Tomorrow and TV series Being Human, Bonekickers, Merlin and Hustle.
In a statement, joint directors of the awards Johanna von Fischer & Tessa Collinson said: "In this our 15th year, we are delighted to welcome back six-time former host James Nesbitt.
"We would like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated Pre-Selection Committee who watched over 200 films in order to produce the 2012 nominations, which once again reflect the diverse range of British film talent, and also welcome this year's appointed independent jury who will now spend the next month considering the nominated films."
The highest number of nominations this year goes to Broken with 9 nominations including Best Film, Best Director and Best Debut Director for Rufus Norris,...
- 11/6/2012
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
Celebrating its fifteenth year, The Moët British Independent Film Awards have now been announced, honouring some of the finest independent films released in Britain this year.
This year’s awards will be held on 9th December, and you can be sure we’ll be bringing you the results on the night as they come in. It’s been another excellent year for British cinema, and it’s always nice to see films like these get the recognition they deserve.
Last year, Paddy Considine’s powerful directorial debut, Tyrannosaur, swept the top awards, taking Best Film, Best Directorial Debut, and Best Actress; Lynne Ramsay took home the Best Director award for We Need to Talk About Kevin; and Michael Fassbender’s remarkable performance in Steve McQueen’s Shame was rightfully honoured with Best Actor (whereas the film was sadly absent from the Oscars at the start of the year).
James Nesbitt...
This year’s awards will be held on 9th December, and you can be sure we’ll be bringing you the results on the night as they come in. It’s been another excellent year for British cinema, and it’s always nice to see films like these get the recognition they deserve.
Last year, Paddy Considine’s powerful directorial debut, Tyrannosaur, swept the top awards, taking Best Film, Best Directorial Debut, and Best Actress; Lynne Ramsay took home the Best Director award for We Need to Talk About Kevin; and Michael Fassbender’s remarkable performance in Steve McQueen’s Shame was rightfully honoured with Best Actor (whereas the film was sadly absent from the Oscars at the start of the year).
James Nesbitt...
- 11/5/2012
- by Kenji Lloyd
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Following our looks at actors, actresses, screenwriters and directors to watch in recent months, when the time came to put together a list of cinematographers (as we did two years ago), we went in with an open mind. But what was interesting is realizing, after the fact, that in an era where 35mm film is allegedly being phased out, that all five have done perhaps their most distinctive work on old-fashioned celluloid, rather than digital.
All have worked in digital of course, at least in the commercial world, and some have done hugely impressive work on new formats. But most of our five are fierce advocates for good 'ol 35mm, and it's another sign that the death knell shouldn't be rung for the old ways just yet. As long as there are talented DoPs like the ones below, and on the following pages, working closely with filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson,...
All have worked in digital of course, at least in the commercial world, and some have done hugely impressive work on new formats. But most of our five are fierce advocates for good 'ol 35mm, and it's another sign that the death knell shouldn't be rung for the old ways just yet. As long as there are talented DoPs like the ones below, and on the following pages, working closely with filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson,...
- 6/26/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
William Friedkin's 1975 interview with Fritz Lang
If you happen to be in the market for Fritz Lang Christmas ornaments, they do exist, though they don't come cheaply. At any rate, much of the third issue of Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism (the successor to Movie, the print journal Ian Cameron edited from 1962 to 2000) is given to the second part of its Fritz Lang dossier featuring — and I should mention before you start clicking that these are PDFs — Stella Bruzzi on Fury (1936), Vf Perkins on You Only Live Once (1937), Edward Gallafent on The Return of Frank James (1940), Adrian Martin on Scarlet Street (1945), Peter William Evans on The Big Heat (1953), Deborah Thomas on Human Desire (1954) and Peter Benson on Moonfleet (1955).
Also in this issue: Christian Keathley on Otto Preminger's Bonjour Tristesse (1958), Alex Clayton on Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake and John Gibbs on Jamie Thraves's...
If you happen to be in the market for Fritz Lang Christmas ornaments, they do exist, though they don't come cheaply. At any rate, much of the third issue of Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism (the successor to Movie, the print journal Ian Cameron edited from 1962 to 2000) is given to the second part of its Fritz Lang dossier featuring — and I should mention before you start clicking that these are PDFs — Stella Bruzzi on Fury (1936), Vf Perkins on You Only Live Once (1937), Edward Gallafent on The Return of Frank James (1940), Adrian Martin on Scarlet Street (1945), Peter William Evans on The Big Heat (1953), Deborah Thomas on Human Desire (1954) and Peter Benson on Moonfleet (1955).
Also in this issue: Christian Keathley on Otto Preminger's Bonjour Tristesse (1958), Alex Clayton on Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake and John Gibbs on Jamie Thraves's...
- 12/24/2011
- MUBI
Despite the UK Film Council's golden age, 2011 was very much a mixed bag of events
In some ways, 2011 was the strangest year in living memory for British cinema. The UK Film Council was officially wound up at the end of March, a showy act from this coalition government, annulling a Labour creation on the grounds of high salaries and cronyism, but transferring much of its budget and responsibilities to the British Film Institute. And this at a time when the Film Council was having a golden age: a bag of Oscars for The King's Speech and a feeling that it had fostered real talent. Something was going very right for British cinema. Lynne Ramsey's We Need to Talk About Kevin premiered at Cannes; Steve McQueen's Shame and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights made waves at Venice.
Two film-makers from Iran showed that cinema was able to address...
In some ways, 2011 was the strangest year in living memory for British cinema. The UK Film Council was officially wound up at the end of March, a showy act from this coalition government, annulling a Labour creation on the grounds of high salaries and cronyism, but transferring much of its budget and responsibilities to the British Film Institute. And this at a time when the Film Council was having a golden age: a bag of Oscars for The King's Speech and a feeling that it had fostered real talent. Something was going very right for British cinema. Lynne Ramsey's We Need to Talk About Kevin premiered at Cannes; Steve McQueen's Shame and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights made waves at Venice.
Two film-makers from Iran showed that cinema was able to address...
- 12/5/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Jamie Thraves and Aidan Gillen return to the big screen, while the Life of Brian controversy is explored by BBC4 and Martin Scorsese shows his favourites movies at Port Eliot
Thraves thrives
After a decade out of British cinemas, director Jamie Thraves's Treacle Jr (see Philip French's review this week) sees the return of a film-maker much admired for his debut, The Low Down, in 2000. I'm pleased to see that the Irish actor Aidan Gillen has stuck by Thraves, even now that his star has risen after roles in The Wire and Game of Thrones. The pair are now working on another collaboration, a music film, which will combine Gillen's rock-star fantasies with Thraves's skills honed making videos for Radiohead, Coldplay and Dizzee Rascal. Thraves remortgaged his house to make Treacle Jr and shot it for £30,000, composing and playing much of the soundtrack himself. The film is part of...
Thraves thrives
After a decade out of British cinemas, director Jamie Thraves's Treacle Jr (see Philip French's review this week) sees the return of a film-maker much admired for his debut, The Low Down, in 2000. I'm pleased to see that the Irish actor Aidan Gillen has stuck by Thraves, even now that his star has risen after roles in The Wire and Game of Thrones. The pair are now working on another collaboration, a music film, which will combine Gillen's rock-star fantasies with Thraves's skills honed making videos for Radiohead, Coldplay and Dizzee Rascal. Thraves remortgaged his house to make Treacle Jr and shot it for £30,000, composing and playing much of the soundtrack himself. The film is part of...
- 7/18/2011
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Cell 211 (18)
(Daniel Monzón, 2009, Spa/Fr) Luis Tosar, Alberto Ammann, Antonio Resines. 113 mins
Sometimes all you need is a great set-up: a prison guard, first day on the job, gets trapped in a cell just as a riot breaks out, and must therefore pose as an inmate to survive. It's better not to know where this tough Spanish thriller goes from there, but rest assured you're in very good hands. There's tightrope tension and breakneck pace, but wider questions of honour and justice unfold, too – everything you could ask for, in fact.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (12A)
(David Yates, 2011, UK/Us) Daniel Radcliffe, Ralph Fiennes, Emma Watson. 130 mins
Having sat through the deathly dullness of Part 1, here's our reward: a rousing finale that strikes all the right notes, ties up 10 years' worth of loose ends, plunges you into 3D battle, and perhaps even wrings the odd tear – all without inducing effects fatigue.
(Daniel Monzón, 2009, Spa/Fr) Luis Tosar, Alberto Ammann, Antonio Resines. 113 mins
Sometimes all you need is a great set-up: a prison guard, first day on the job, gets trapped in a cell just as a riot breaks out, and must therefore pose as an inmate to survive. It's better not to know where this tough Spanish thriller goes from there, but rest assured you're in very good hands. There's tightrope tension and breakneck pace, but wider questions of honour and justice unfold, too – everything you could ask for, in fact.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (12A)
(David Yates, 2011, UK/Us) Daniel Radcliffe, Ralph Fiennes, Emma Watson. 130 mins
Having sat through the deathly dullness of Part 1, here's our reward: a rousing finale that strikes all the right notes, ties up 10 years' worth of loose ends, plunges you into 3D battle, and perhaps even wrings the odd tear – all without inducing effects fatigue.
- 7/15/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
A low-key portrait of a south-east London odd-job man with a big performance by Aidan Gillen, and the return of promising film-maker Jamie Thraves
Jamie Thraves is a British film-maker whose 2000 debut, The Low Down, was a very likable movie and he has been too long absent from the screen. Treacle Jr is a low-key, low-budget portrait of the dispossessed in south-east London, with a teaspoon of Loach, a couple of teaspoons of Beckett and a very big, studied performance from Aidan Gillen to which, I must admit, I took a little time to acclimatise. Gillen plays Aidan, a sweet-natured Irish guy who wanders the streets doing odd jobs door-to-door and cheerfully talking very loudly, very rapidly, and sometimes unintelligibly to total strangers – he appears to have borderline learning difficulties. With a sublime indifference to how unwanted his attentions are, Aidan befriends Tom (Tom Fisher), a man who, in the midst of a personal crisis,...
Jamie Thraves is a British film-maker whose 2000 debut, The Low Down, was a very likable movie and he has been too long absent from the screen. Treacle Jr is a low-key, low-budget portrait of the dispossessed in south-east London, with a teaspoon of Loach, a couple of teaspoons of Beckett and a very big, studied performance from Aidan Gillen to which, I must admit, I took a little time to acclimatise. Gillen plays Aidan, a sweet-natured Irish guy who wanders the streets doing odd jobs door-to-door and cheerfully talking very loudly, very rapidly, and sometimes unintelligibly to total strangers – he appears to have borderline learning difficulties. With a sublime indifference to how unwanted his attentions are, Aidan befriends Tom (Tom Fisher), a man who, in the midst of a personal crisis,...
- 7/14/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Legendary Swiss director says we are all auteurs now
The big story
Film is over. Auteurs are out. Jean-Luc Godard says so, therefore we should listen.
"We once believed we were auteurs but we weren't," the grumpy grandfather of Nouvelle Vague told Fiachra Gibbons this week. "We had no idea, really ... with mobile phones and everything, everyone is now an auteur."
This, says Gibbons, is "the cartoon Godard we are familiar with: the Godard of the grand gesture" and this side of the great director - enigmatic, contrary, haughty - hasn't dulled with age. His latest work, Film Socialisme, a montage of link-less sights and sounds collected and crushed into 101 minutes is uncompromising, a "numbing assault on the eyes, brain and the buttocks". That's Gibbons talking, and he's a fan.
Whatever your take on Film Socialisme, there's no denying the legacy, nor the abrasive charm of its creator - a...
The big story
Film is over. Auteurs are out. Jean-Luc Godard says so, therefore we should listen.
"We once believed we were auteurs but we weren't," the grumpy grandfather of Nouvelle Vague told Fiachra Gibbons this week. "We had no idea, really ... with mobile phones and everything, everyone is now an auteur."
This, says Gibbons, is "the cartoon Godard we are familiar with: the Godard of the grand gesture" and this side of the great director - enigmatic, contrary, haughty - hasn't dulled with age. His latest work, Film Socialisme, a montage of link-less sights and sounds collected and crushed into 101 minutes is uncompromising, a "numbing assault on the eyes, brain and the buttocks". That's Gibbons talking, and he's a fan.
Whatever your take on Film Socialisme, there's no denying the legacy, nor the abrasive charm of its creator - a...
- 7/14/2011
- by Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
In this week's podcast, Jason Solomons meets director Jamie Thraves to talk about his new film, Treacle Jr, starring The Wire's Aiden Gillen. Thraves discusses his long wait to return to cinema following his acclaimed 2001 debut, The Low Down, also starring Gillen.
Xan Brooks chats to Us film-maker Liz Garbus about her HBO documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World, telling the story of the late chess genius who was vilified in his homeland.
Finally, Xan and Jason review some of this week's other releases, including the final Harry Potter film, a Turkish delight named Bal (Honey) and the Spanish prison drama Cell 211.
Subscribe for free via our iTunes feed. (Here's the non-iTunes URL feed). Follow us on Twitter to receive updates on all guests and reviews. Film Weekly is also on Facebook, where you can join our Film Weekly Fans group. And you can listen back through our archive here.
Xan Brooks chats to Us film-maker Liz Garbus about her HBO documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World, telling the story of the late chess genius who was vilified in his homeland.
Finally, Xan and Jason review some of this week's other releases, including the final Harry Potter film, a Turkish delight named Bal (Honey) and the Spanish prison drama Cell 211.
Subscribe for free via our iTunes feed. (Here's the non-iTunes URL feed). Follow us on Twitter to receive updates on all guests and reviews. Film Weekly is also on Facebook, where you can join our Film Weekly Fans group. And you can listen back through our archive here.
- 7/14/2011
- by Xan Brooks, Jason Solomons, Jason Phipps
- The Guardian - Film News
After disappearing off the map for a decade, director Jamie Thraves is making his return to British cinema. So why the time out?
In the living room of his London home, film-maker Jamie Thraves is attempting to return to its cage a china-blue budgerigar named Sparky, which has taken up residence on the frame of a mirror. Three-year-old Harvey watches nonchalantly from the sofa as his father coaxes Sparky on to a quivering forefinger and moves gingerly across the room. But the bird takes flight when he gets within pecking distance of the cage; this happens three or four times before Thraves gives up and hands bird-rescuing duties to his wife. It is, it has to be said, a pretty unbeatable metaphor for the 42-year-old's directorial career, which has been dogged by false starts, precariousness and disappointment.
Eleven years ago, Thraves was at the forefront of a modest revolution in British cinema,...
In the living room of his London home, film-maker Jamie Thraves is attempting to return to its cage a china-blue budgerigar named Sparky, which has taken up residence on the frame of a mirror. Three-year-old Harvey watches nonchalantly from the sofa as his father coaxes Sparky on to a quivering forefinger and moves gingerly across the room. But the bird takes flight when he gets within pecking distance of the cage; this happens three or four times before Thraves gives up and hands bird-rescuing duties to his wife. It is, it has to be said, a pretty unbeatable metaphor for the 42-year-old's directorial career, which has been dogged by false starts, precariousness and disappointment.
Eleven years ago, Thraves was at the forefront of a modest revolution in British cinema,...
- 6/30/2011
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
With British cop thriller Blitz out in cinemas today, we caught up with Aidan Gillen to talk about the film, and fighting Jason Statham...
An actor who’s often specialised in bringing flawed, unusual characters to the screen, including mayor Thomas Carcetti in The Wire and Stuart in Queer As Folk, Aidan Gillen may have found his most strange and unsettling role yet in the form of Blitz’s crazed murderer, Barry Weiss. A swaggering outsider with an affection for bright green shades and outlandish violence, Weiss is quite possibly the most memorable antagonist to appear on the big screen this year.
With Blitz out in UK cinemas today, we just had to find out how Gillen prepared for the role, what it was like to fight Jason Statham, and where he got that extraordinary pair of shades.
Did you base the character on anyone in particular? Weiss reminded me of Sid Vicious.
An actor who’s often specialised in bringing flawed, unusual characters to the screen, including mayor Thomas Carcetti in The Wire and Stuart in Queer As Folk, Aidan Gillen may have found his most strange and unsettling role yet in the form of Blitz’s crazed murderer, Barry Weiss. A swaggering outsider with an affection for bright green shades and outlandish violence, Weiss is quite possibly the most memorable antagonist to appear on the big screen this year.
With Blitz out in UK cinemas today, we just had to find out how Gillen prepared for the role, what it was like to fight Jason Statham, and where he got that extraordinary pair of shades.
Did you base the character on anyone in particular? Weiss reminded me of Sid Vicious.
- 5/19/2011
- Den of Geek
Muppets, Music & Magic: Jim Henson's Legacy, Edinburgh
You can marshal all the computer power, 3D modelling and animation software you want, but just look at what Henson achieved with a few bits of cloth and some ping-pong balls. He also knew what audiences wanted, of course: warmth, positivity, wit, intelligence. Somehow giving it to them through the medium of puppetry proved irresistible to all ages. This season revisits his excellent Muppet features and fantasy movies such as Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, as well as presenting special guests and rarities like Henson's early commercials, a study of Sesame Street's musical pedigree and myriad Muppetological documentaries.
Filmhouse, Mon to 28 May
London Independent Film Festival
Given the recent axe attacks on the local industry, this festival of genuinely independent, and therefore authentically modest, cinema could be a taste of the future. There's unlikely to be a future King's Speech here,...
You can marshal all the computer power, 3D modelling and animation software you want, but just look at what Henson achieved with a few bits of cloth and some ping-pong balls. He also knew what audiences wanted, of course: warmth, positivity, wit, intelligence. Somehow giving it to them through the medium of puppetry proved irresistible to all ages. This season revisits his excellent Muppet features and fantasy movies such as Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, as well as presenting special guests and rarities like Henson's early commercials, a study of Sesame Street's musical pedigree and myriad Muppetological documentaries.
Filmhouse, Mon to 28 May
London Independent Film Festival
Given the recent axe attacks on the local industry, this festival of genuinely independent, and therefore authentically modest, cinema could be a taste of the future. There's unlikely to be a future King's Speech here,...
- 4/15/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Irish actor Aidan Gillen (Love/Hate, The Wire) has received British Independent Film Award nomination in the Best Actor category for his performance in Jamie Thraves' 'Treacle Junior'. The film has also been named among the shortlist for the Raindance Award alongside 'Jackboots On Whitehall' – a film written and directed by brothers Edward & Rory McHenry and exec-produced by Irishman Frank Mannion. The Raindance Award honours exceptional achievement for filmmakers working against the odds, often with little or no industry support.
- 11/1/2010
- IFTN
This is the daily news vodcast from the London Film Festival which hosts Black Swan, 127 Hours, Another Year, Never Let Me Go, Let Me In and West is West amongst its premieres this week. Day 11 of the 54th BFI London Film Festival saw Colin Firth's organisation Brightwide hold their second annual event at BFI Southbank. The featured film was Christy Turlington Burns' documentary No Woman No Cry, which investigates maternal mortality and pregnancy care worldwide. Darren Aronofsky gave an American Express Screen Talk, discussing a life in pictures. At the filmmakers tea we caught up with a number of international directors, including Jamie Thraves (Treacle Jr) and Kim Longinotto (Pink Saris). In the west end we spoke to Danny O'Connor, whose film Upside Down investigates the legendary Creation Records. Finally Ken Loach presented Route Irish, a compelling thriller which looks at the human cost of privatising the war in Iraq.
- 10/24/2010
- by Dan Higgins
- Pure Movies
Nigel Cole’s “Made in Dagenham” scored three top prizes, including best film, at the Dinard British Film Festival this past weekend.
Formerly known under the title “We Want Sex,” the story of the 1968 strike at Ford’s Dagenham plant in which female workers walked off the job in protest of sexual discrimination shared the Hitchcock Gold prize as the festival’s best film with “Treacle Jr.” from director Jamie Thraves. “Dagenham” also took the nods for best screenplay and the Hitchcock Silver for best film as chosen by the audience.
Formerly known under the title “We Want Sex,” the story of the 1968 strike at Ford’s Dagenham plant in which female workers walked off the job in protest of sexual discrimination shared the Hitchcock Gold prize as the festival’s best film with “Treacle Jr.” from director Jamie Thraves. “Dagenham” also took the nods for best screenplay and the Hitchcock Silver for best film as chosen by the audience.
- 10/11/2010
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Treacle Jr and Made In Dagenham shared the Best Film award at the 21st Dinard Film Festival. Both pictures took home a Hitchcock d’Or on Saturday night, at the French festival designed to celebrate British film. Dagenham - or We Want Sex, as it is titled in France - also won the Best Screenplay and audience awards, while Mr Nice director/ Director of Photography Bernard Rose picked up the Hitchcock Blanc for Best Cinematography.Stuart Hazeldine’s thriller Exam won the exhibitors' award, the Hitchcock Bronze. Treacle Jr writer/director Jamie Thraves (The Low Down) re-mortaged his house in order to finance his third feature, a funny and moving London-set drama. The jury, which included The Kid director Nick Moran and a game Sienna Miller, joined in a chorus line dance to Abba’s Thank You For The Music, as the ceremony came to a rather surreal conclusion in the French costal town.
- 10/8/2010
- EmpireOnline
Jamie Thraves has revealed that he had to remortgage his home to make new movie Treacle Jr, which screens at this year's London Film Festival. Speaking at the event's launch last week, the director spoke about the difficulty in funding new projects and described the planned axe of the UK Film Council as a "great shame". Asked if the Oscar success of Danny Boyle has helped British filmmakers, Thraves told Digital Spy: "I think it's always difficult to (more)...
- 9/15/2010
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
What's cool about Pitchfork's best 50 videos countdown from the 90's are seeing how some of the least obvious names cut their teeth on music videos -- some became full fledged members of the filmmaking community, while some are still in the cross over stages. What is most odd about the list is how Chris Cunningham, who along with Spike Jonze (see Weezer video below) and Michel Gondry dominated the music video scene, never made the jump into feature film. While you've got Jonathan Glazer, Mike Mills and Mark Romanek with more than one mention, and together, Jonze and Gondry are mentioned a dozen times, I've decided to point out those who have made a feature film among the 50 list. Check them out after the jump - Yo La Tengo: "Sugarcube" Phil Morrison blasted onto the scene with indie gem Junebug, but hasn't made anything since. Blur: "Coffee + TV" Garth Jennings...
- 8/24/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
If the owl is crying, it’s because he had to sit through this awful film. Despite being based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley) this movie is a muddled mess. The book is likely much better; though it was worth adapting into film, sadly, it wasn’t adapted into a good film. Director/writer Jamie Thraves clearly has no idea what to do with Highsmith’s material.
The film is so dull that even director Thraves seems to lose interest and thus keeps changing the plot randomly. The film starts out with an interesting premise. A troubled man named Robert Forrester (Paddy Considine) going through a divorce from his beautiful wife Nikki (Caroline Dhavernas) seeks solace in a quiet, small town. He becomes obsessed with a woman named Jenny (Julia Stiles) who lives alone in a little house, occasionally visited by her boyfriend Greg (James Gilbert...
The film is so dull that even director Thraves seems to lose interest and thus keeps changing the plot randomly. The film starts out with an interesting premise. A troubled man named Robert Forrester (Paddy Considine) going through a divorce from his beautiful wife Nikki (Caroline Dhavernas) seeks solace in a quiet, small town. He becomes obsessed with a woman named Jenny (Julia Stiles) who lives alone in a little house, occasionally visited by her boyfriend Greg (James Gilbert...
- 6/13/2010
- by Rob Young
- JustPressPlay.net
The new drama/thriller The Cry of the Owl is now available on DVD, and even though it's not exactly a horror movie in the truest sense as we hoped, we figured that we would give it away anyway! After all ... who doesn't like free stuff?!?
To win just hit us off with an E-mail Here that includes your Full Name And Mailing Address. We'll handle the heavy lifting!
Synopsis:
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley) and written and directed by Jamie Thraves, The Cry of the Owl is a psychological thriller about a troubled young man, Robert (Paddy Considine), a depressed but fundamentally decent man, who leaves the big city to escape a tumultuous marriage and his ex-wife for the tranquility of a small town. He finds respite from his problems by secretly watching the normal domestic life of a woman he doesn't know...
To win just hit us off with an E-mail Here that includes your Full Name And Mailing Address. We'll handle the heavy lifting!
Synopsis:
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley) and written and directed by Jamie Thraves, The Cry of the Owl is a psychological thriller about a troubled young man, Robert (Paddy Considine), a depressed but fundamentally decent man, who leaves the big city to escape a tumultuous marriage and his ex-wife for the tranquility of a small town. He finds respite from his problems by secretly watching the normal domestic life of a woman he doesn't know...
- 6/10/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Update: Watch an exclusive clip below! Paramount Home Entertainment just floated our way three clips from their upcoming psychological thriller The Cry of the Owl . The film, directed by Jamie Thraves, hits DVD on June 8 and is based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith. Co-starring Paddy Considine, the film tells the story of Robert, a man trying to recover from a messy divorce by seeking solace in a small town. Robert becomes fascinated by the apparent domestic bliss of Jenny (Stiles), who he secretly watches through her window. When Jenny catches him, she invites him in and the two begin a relationship, much to the chagrin of Jenny.s boyfriend. But when her boyfriend goes missing, Robert becomes the number one suspect in a murder investigation, leaving him to wonder if...
- 6/9/2010
- shocktillyoudrop.com
Jamie Thraves' The Cry of the Owl hits DVD next Tuesday, June 8th, and to celebrate the flick's home video release, we have three clips for you to sink your claws into.
Synopsis:
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley) and written and directed by Jamie Thraves, Cry of the Owl is a psychological thriller about a troubled young man, Robert (Paddy Considine), a depressed but fundamentally decent guy, who leaves the big city to escape a tumultuous marriage and his ex-wife for the tranquility of a small town. He finds respite from his problems by secretly watching the normal domestic life of a woman he doesn't know (Julia Stiles) through her kitchen window, a seemingly harmless palliative to his lonely life and failed marriage. Robert becomes infatuated with Jenny. However, when Jenny catches Robert in the act, she doesn't call the police. Instead she...
Synopsis:
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley) and written and directed by Jamie Thraves, Cry of the Owl is a psychological thriller about a troubled young man, Robert (Paddy Considine), a depressed but fundamentally decent guy, who leaves the big city to escape a tumultuous marriage and his ex-wife for the tranquility of a small town. He finds respite from his problems by secretly watching the normal domestic life of a woman he doesn't know (Julia Stiles) through her kitchen window, a seemingly harmless palliative to his lonely life and failed marriage. Robert becomes infatuated with Jenny. However, when Jenny catches Robert in the act, she doesn't call the police. Instead she...
- 6/2/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
We first heard about Jamie Thraves' The Cry of the Owl during last November's Afm, but then things were rather silent. Now comes word that Paramount Home Entertainment will be releasing the film onto DVD this June 6th.
The below artwork is from DVD Active, who also says no extras of any kind will be included on the disc. Hopefully the story will be strong enough to stand on its own.
Synopsis:
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley) and written and directed by Jamie Thraves, Cry of the Owl is a psychological thriller about a troubled young man, Robert (Paddy Considine), a depressed but fundamentally decent man, who leaves the big city to escape a tumultuous marriage and his ex-wife for the tranquility of a small town. He finds respite from his problems by secretly watching the normal domestic life of a woman he...
The below artwork is from DVD Active, who also says no extras of any kind will be included on the disc. Hopefully the story will be strong enough to stand on its own.
Synopsis:
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley) and written and directed by Jamie Thraves, Cry of the Owl is a psychological thriller about a troubled young man, Robert (Paddy Considine), a depressed but fundamentally decent man, who leaves the big city to escape a tumultuous marriage and his ex-wife for the tranquility of a small town. He finds respite from his problems by secretly watching the normal domestic life of a woman he...
- 4/14/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Rather than letting a title collect dust or selling at a big loss, an uncomfortable scenario that happens to the best of film studios (see Magnolia's The Burning Plain as a recent example) and this is exactly the dilemma that Myriad Pictures has found itself in with Cry of the Owl. - If you can't sell it. Distribute it! Rather than letting a title collect dust or selling at a big loss, an uncomfortable scenario that happens to the best of film studios (see Magnolia's The Burning Plain as a recent example) and this is exactly the dilemma that Myriad Pictures has found itself in with Cry of the Owl. THR reports that the company has plans to release the thriller in theaters before the chilly weather really sets in. They have a deal with Paramount for VOD, DVD. Written and directed by video helmer Jamie Thraves, the adaptation...
- 12/13/2009
- by Ioncinema.com Staff
- IONCINEMA.com
Myriad Pictures will release the psychological thriller Cry of the Owl domestically in the fall, reports Variety . The film, which stars Julia Stiles and Paddy Considine, is based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, who wrote the "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Written and directed by Jamie Thraves, the story centers on a young woman (Stiles) who discovers she is being stalked by a troubled local man (Considine). Her fear turns to attraction until her boyfriend finds out and devises an elaborate scheme to frame Considine's character for a murder that never happened.
- 11/6/2009
- Comingsoon.net
More news out of Afm. (How dare it be this busy after the hellish month of October, by the way? Sorry. Just venting.) This time it concerns psychological thriller Cry of the Owl.
Written and directed by Jamie Thraves and based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, Cry of the Owl stars Julia Stiles as a woman being stalked by a man, played by Paddy Considine.
According to The Hollywood Reporter Myriad Pictures is planning to release the film in U.S. theaters this fall.
Dig on the early sales art and the trailer below.
Synopsis
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Cry of the Owl is a psychological thriller about a troubled young man, Robert (Paddy Considine), a depressed but fundamentally decent man, who leaves the big city to escape a tumultuous marriage and his ex-wife for the tranquility of a small town. He...
Written and directed by Jamie Thraves and based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, Cry of the Owl stars Julia Stiles as a woman being stalked by a man, played by Paddy Considine.
According to The Hollywood Reporter Myriad Pictures is planning to release the film in U.S. theaters this fall.
Dig on the early sales art and the trailer below.
Synopsis
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Cry of the Owl is a psychological thriller about a troubled young man, Robert (Paddy Considine), a depressed but fundamentally decent man, who leaves the big city to escape a tumultuous marriage and his ex-wife for the tranquility of a small town. He...
- 11/6/2009
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
More news from Afm. Myriad Pictures has inked a deal to release the psychological thriller Cry of the Owl domestically in the fall. The feature stars Julia Stiles ( The Omen 666 ) and Paddy Considine and is based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, who also wrote the The Talented Mr. Ripley . Written and directed by Jamie Thraves, the story centers on a young woman (Stiles) who discovers she is being stalked by a troubled local man (Considine). Her fear turns to attraction until her boyfriend finds out and devises an elaborate scheme to frame Considine's character for a murder that never happened. According to the original Variety post, Paramount Home Entertainment will release Cry of the Owl on DVD, VOD and pay per view, while Myriad will handle theatrical, pay TV and other...
- 11/5/2009
- shocktillyoudrop.com
More Afm news
Myriad Pictures, which first offered the psychological thriller "Cry of the Owl" for presale at the 2007 Cannes Film Market, plans to release the film itself in U.S. theaters this fall.
Written and directed by Jamie Thraves and based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, "Owl" stars Julia Stiles as a woman being stalked by a man, played by Paddy Considine.
Paramount Home Entertainment will release "Owl" on DVD, VOD and PPV, and Myriad will handle the pay TV and other markets in the U.S.
Myriad took a similar tact last year when it released the Dario Argento horror-thriller "Mother of Tears" to U.S. theaters.
"We decided to try to be more proactive and in control of the U.S. exploitation of our titles which we hope will also benefit our producers," Myriad president and CEO Kirk D'Amico said. "Our U.S. distribution model allows...
Myriad Pictures, which first offered the psychological thriller "Cry of the Owl" for presale at the 2007 Cannes Film Market, plans to release the film itself in U.S. theaters this fall.
Written and directed by Jamie Thraves and based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, "Owl" stars Julia Stiles as a woman being stalked by a man, played by Paddy Considine.
Paramount Home Entertainment will release "Owl" on DVD, VOD and PPV, and Myriad will handle the pay TV and other markets in the U.S.
Myriad took a similar tact last year when it released the Dario Argento horror-thriller "Mother of Tears" to U.S. theaters.
"We decided to try to be more proactive and in control of the U.S. exploitation of our titles which we hope will also benefit our producers," Myriad president and CEO Kirk D'Amico said. "Our U.S. distribution model allows...
- 11/5/2009
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
[This article is part of our Radiohead Fanatic Fortnight -- check out our box set giveaway here.]
With great bands often come great videos, and Radiohead is one of those bands that matured quickly and garnered talented directors early on. Some directors set out to create a good marketing tool and simply made the members look cool. Others were as cutting edge as the band whose songs they set to the moving image. Here's a look at some of Radiohead's more memorable videos and the directors who shot them:
Director: Jake Scott
Video: "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
Scott, son of Ridley Scott (and nephew of Tony), seems to have more influences, education and inspiration to draw from than he actually knows what to do with. His film debut, the 1999 feature "Plunkett & Macleane," may satisfy the urge to indulge in a roguish period picture, but it was also almost terminally frenetic. You'd never guess from watching it that four years earlier Scott directed the video for Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees.
With great bands often come great videos, and Radiohead is one of those bands that matured quickly and garnered talented directors early on. Some directors set out to create a good marketing tool and simply made the members look cool. Others were as cutting edge as the band whose songs they set to the moving image. Here's a look at some of Radiohead's more memorable videos and the directors who shot them:
Director: Jake Scott
Video: "Fake Plastic Trees" (1995)
Scott, son of Ridley Scott (and nephew of Tony), seems to have more influences, education and inspiration to draw from than he actually knows what to do with. His film debut, the 1999 feature "Plunkett & Macleane," may satisfy the urge to indulge in a roguish period picture, but it was also almost terminally frenetic. You'd never guess from watching it that four years earlier Scott directed the video for Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees.
- 4/6/2009
- by Brandon Kim
- ifc.com
Cologne, Germany -- Swiss-based film group Ascot Elite Entertainment has acquired all rights in German-speaking territories for Steve McQueen's BAFTA Award-winning drama "Hunger" and Jon Foster's cop thriller "Tenderness," starring Russell Crowe.
The double pack follows a busy Berlin for Ascot, which picked up German rights to half a dozen titles at the European Film Market, including writer-director Julian Gilbey's upcoming action thriller "A Lonely Place to Die" starring Franka Potente; Korean creature feature "Chaw" from Jeong-won Shin; Sci-fi horror title "The Thaw" starring Val Kilmer; Jamie Thraves' "Cry of the Owl"; Gerald McMorrow's "Franklyn"; and soccer hooligan tale "The Firm," directed by Nick Love.
The double pack follows a busy Berlin for Ascot, which picked up German rights to half a dozen titles at the European Film Market, including writer-director Julian Gilbey's upcoming action thriller "A Lonely Place to Die" starring Franka Potente; Korean creature feature "Chaw" from Jeong-won Shin; Sci-fi horror title "The Thaw" starring Val Kilmer; Jamie Thraves' "Cry of the Owl"; Gerald McMorrow's "Franklyn"; and soccer hooligan tale "The Firm," directed by Nick Love.
- 3/17/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cologne, Germany -- Sytze van der Laan, the former head of German production giant Studio Hamburg, has been named the new director of the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam.
The Dutch native will join the Academy on Sept. 1 and take over from current director Willem Capteyn in 2010.
Van der Laan left Studio Hamburg suddenly late last year in a move that surprised many in the German industry.
A veteran TV and film producer, van der Laan's credits include the kids feature franchise "The Three Investigators" and the Patricia Highsmith adaptation "Cry of the Owl" directed by Jamie Thraves.
The Dutch native will join the Academy on Sept. 1 and take over from current director Willem Capteyn in 2010.
Van der Laan left Studio Hamburg suddenly late last year in a move that surprised many in the German industry.
A veteran TV and film producer, van der Laan's credits include the kids feature franchise "The Three Investigators" and the Patricia Highsmith adaptation "Cry of the Owl" directed by Jamie Thraves.
- 3/16/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- After presenting it in a trio of markets, Myriad Pictures is now showing off the goods - a 20-minute reel for the adaptation of the 1962 novel by Patricia Highsmith. Cry of the Owl sees Julia Stiles playing a woman who falls in love with her stalker. Paddy Considine will play the man who moves to Stiles' suburban town and begins spying on her. Speedman will play her jilted ex, who complicates matters further when he plots revenge against her. This is Jamie Thraves directorial debut. ...
- 5/15/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
- If I were to give some form of advice to budding filmmakers it would be to: keep your day job. By "day job" I don't mean holding down some other occupation, I mean switching gears and directing other stuff that allows to to flex your creative muscles. The video clip is the perfect venue for just that. As many of you are fascinated by the moving image, I thought it would be cool to point to the music videos that have made a mark on the 07' calendar. The folks over at Pitchforkmedia.com made a fairly comprehensible list (there are some unofficial fan videos and concert selections) which includes some already established veteran filmmakers and some burgeoning new talents. Below I've included some of those names.We'll be featuring director Jeff Nichols in the new year - especially since Shotgun Stories will be finding its way into theaters after a long festival tour.
- 12/20/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
CANNES -- Sienna Miller is set to star in A Woman of No Importance, Sarah Polley, Paddy Considine, Debra Messing and Scott Speedman will star in Cry of the Owl, and Lena Headey will star in Six Bullets From Now, all part of Myriad Films' Festival de Cannes presales lineup.
In the Oscar Wilde adaptation Importance, Miller plays a 19-year-old American who finds herself falling in love with the womanizing Lord Illingworth (Sean Bean) in the English countryside until his mother (Annette Bening) throws a wrench in his plans. Bruce Beresford is directing Howard Himelstein's screen version of Wilde's comedy, set to begin shooting in September.
In Owl, an adaptation of the novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Polley plays a woman who falls for her stalker (Considine). Things take an ugly turn when her jilted ex (Speedman) plans revenge. Messing plays the ex-wife of Speedman's character in Jamie Thraves' upcoming thriller.
Bullets, loosely based on a true story, features Headey as the good-hearted girlfriend of a thief (Josh Lucas) who plans a heist at New York's Pierre Hotel in 1971.
In the Oscar Wilde adaptation Importance, Miller plays a 19-year-old American who finds herself falling in love with the womanizing Lord Illingworth (Sean Bean) in the English countryside until his mother (Annette Bening) throws a wrench in his plans. Bruce Beresford is directing Howard Himelstein's screen version of Wilde's comedy, set to begin shooting in September.
In Owl, an adaptation of the novel by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Polley plays a woman who falls for her stalker (Considine). Things take an ugly turn when her jilted ex (Speedman) plans revenge. Messing plays the ex-wife of Speedman's character in Jamie Thraves' upcoming thriller.
Bullets, loosely based on a true story, features Headey as the good-hearted girlfriend of a thief (Josh Lucas) who plans a heist at New York's Pierre Hotel in 1971.
- 5/17/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
'The Low Down" is a British slacker movie with an annoying, self-conscious style adapted by writer-director Jamie Thraves, a video director hoping to make a big impression with his debut feature. After banging around the festival circuit, "The Low Down" is now getting a U.S. release via Shooting Gallery's spring film series.
Its clear-eyed, minimalist look at a group of young Londoners adrift in their lives is no doubt a healthy antidote to the "Bridget Jones's Diary"/"Notting Hill" romantic fantasies about that city. But the film's off-putting characters and alienating style aren't likely to engage many American moviegoers.
Thraves has, in fact, tackled a difficult subject -- that sense of vague malcontent many feel after college as one moves into adulthood. This unsettled angst stems from no real class or social struggles as with the "angry young men" plays and movie that came out of the United Kingdom in the late '50s or '60s -- or race relations as it does in plays or films written by Hanif Kureishi.
So the cause of this malaise is harder to pinpoint. It has, of course, something to do with simply not wanting to grow up. But clearly Thraves wants to portray a general discontent in British society, a post-Thatcher hangover that the tonic of Tony Blair has not cured.
The protagonist, Frank (Aidan Gillen), works as a designer of TV props and hangs out with friends who relax with beer and pot. But he realizes he is treading water both professionally and socially. He probably believes he has an artistic bent but lacks the confidence to investigate his talent. He knows he should move out of the college-style flat he shares with a roommate and buy his own flat, but he's uncomfortable with such a change in lifestyle.
His half-hearted search for a new flat in a better neighborhood leads him to Ruby (Kate Ashfield), an attractive real estate agent whose upbeat personality and need for affection have a profound effect on him. Yet he holds back emotionally, sending mixed signals to Ruby, while continuing to pal around with his aimless buddies.
All of which might be compelling were it not for Thraves' decision to make his hero such a dolt. The dialogue that dribbles from his mouth belongs to a lower-class lout who dropped out of school at an early age. Frank is also portrayed as being scared of his own shadow, a degree of paranoia that nothing on screen or in his life justifies.
Frank's pals are even worse. If a viewer wants a wallow in inane conversation with hapless personalities, then he can always make friends with people whose world revolves around auto parts or baseball statistics. Movie characters may be dazed and confused, but they should at least have a spark of dramatic interest or comic possibilities. Frank's pals are such losers that a brief scene with a junkie-prostitute near the end contains more drama than all the endless parties and outings.
The major turn-off, though, is Thraves' style, which means to be hip but is merely retarded. Cinematographer Igor Judie-Lillo's camera focuses on actors' faces in intense close-ups. Other times, the camera frame cuts off the tops of actors' heads or wanders lazily from actor to actor. Most damagingly, Thraves lets his story drag as if aimless drama will somehow reflect the aimlessness of his characters' lives. It doesn't; it simply bores.
THE LOW DOWN
Shooting Gallery
FilmFour and British Screen
in association with Bozie present
an Oil Factory/Sleeper Films production
Producer: Sally Llewellyn, John Stewart
Writer-director: Jamie Thraves
Director of photography: Igor Jadue-Lillo
Production designer: Lucy Reeves
Music: Nick Currie, Fred Thomas
Costume designer: Julie Jones
Editor: Lucia Zucchetti
Color/stereo
Cast:
Frank: Aidan Gillen
Ruby: Kate Ashfield
Mike: Dean Lennox Kelly
John: Tobias Menzies
Terry: Rupert Proctor
Lisa: Samantha Power
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Its clear-eyed, minimalist look at a group of young Londoners adrift in their lives is no doubt a healthy antidote to the "Bridget Jones's Diary"/"Notting Hill" romantic fantasies about that city. But the film's off-putting characters and alienating style aren't likely to engage many American moviegoers.
Thraves has, in fact, tackled a difficult subject -- that sense of vague malcontent many feel after college as one moves into adulthood. This unsettled angst stems from no real class or social struggles as with the "angry young men" plays and movie that came out of the United Kingdom in the late '50s or '60s -- or race relations as it does in plays or films written by Hanif Kureishi.
So the cause of this malaise is harder to pinpoint. It has, of course, something to do with simply not wanting to grow up. But clearly Thraves wants to portray a general discontent in British society, a post-Thatcher hangover that the tonic of Tony Blair has not cured.
The protagonist, Frank (Aidan Gillen), works as a designer of TV props and hangs out with friends who relax with beer and pot. But he realizes he is treading water both professionally and socially. He probably believes he has an artistic bent but lacks the confidence to investigate his talent. He knows he should move out of the college-style flat he shares with a roommate and buy his own flat, but he's uncomfortable with such a change in lifestyle.
His half-hearted search for a new flat in a better neighborhood leads him to Ruby (Kate Ashfield), an attractive real estate agent whose upbeat personality and need for affection have a profound effect on him. Yet he holds back emotionally, sending mixed signals to Ruby, while continuing to pal around with his aimless buddies.
All of which might be compelling were it not for Thraves' decision to make his hero such a dolt. The dialogue that dribbles from his mouth belongs to a lower-class lout who dropped out of school at an early age. Frank is also portrayed as being scared of his own shadow, a degree of paranoia that nothing on screen or in his life justifies.
Frank's pals are even worse. If a viewer wants a wallow in inane conversation with hapless personalities, then he can always make friends with people whose world revolves around auto parts or baseball statistics. Movie characters may be dazed and confused, but they should at least have a spark of dramatic interest or comic possibilities. Frank's pals are such losers that a brief scene with a junkie-prostitute near the end contains more drama than all the endless parties and outings.
The major turn-off, though, is Thraves' style, which means to be hip but is merely retarded. Cinematographer Igor Judie-Lillo's camera focuses on actors' faces in intense close-ups. Other times, the camera frame cuts off the tops of actors' heads or wanders lazily from actor to actor. Most damagingly, Thraves lets his story drag as if aimless drama will somehow reflect the aimlessness of his characters' lives. It doesn't; it simply bores.
THE LOW DOWN
Shooting Gallery
FilmFour and British Screen
in association with Bozie present
an Oil Factory/Sleeper Films production
Producer: Sally Llewellyn, John Stewart
Writer-director: Jamie Thraves
Director of photography: Igor Jadue-Lillo
Production designer: Lucy Reeves
Music: Nick Currie, Fred Thomas
Costume designer: Julie Jones
Editor: Lucia Zucchetti
Color/stereo
Cast:
Frank: Aidan Gillen
Ruby: Kate Ashfield
Mike: Dean Lennox Kelly
John: Tobias Menzies
Terry: Rupert Proctor
Lisa: Samantha Power
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
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