Casey Affleck is a nice guy deputy who meets a prostitue played
by Jessica Alba that doesn't follow the rules and she drags him
into hell. She manages to pull a trigger that is hidden deep inside him and he switches from abiding law officer to homicidal maniac.
Because it is a first-person narrative, it is a disturbing foray
into a diseased mind.
Casey Affleck wears a flat and ineffectual mask that covers a
sociopath inside. Most of the acting is very good but Jessica Alba
is weak and unbelievable as the prostitute. Kate Hudson as Affleck's girlfriend is very good.
Jim Thompson wrote the novel in the fifties.
For those of us in Ontario that had to put up with the Russell
Williams saga, it rings a bell of truth.
Not a great film, with two glaring editing errors but a good
independent effort.
Simon Baker from Austrailia as the investigator was great and so
was Elias Koteas from Montreal as the union brother who knows
what is going on inside Casey Affleck's character.
A good film to cosy up to with criminal minds on a lost weekend.
It is disturbing because it drags you into the role of the
narrator; the killer
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Bottle Tree Productions One Act Play Competition for Writers
Bottle Tree Productions announces its 2011 Third Annual International One Act Play Writing Competition. The winners of the first competition were Evan Guilford-Blake with 'American Blues', Talia Pura with 'Demons in the Mind' and Richard Rossi with 'Sister Aimee'.
The winners of the 2010 contest will be announced on January 31st.
So test your writing skills against the world.
There will be a first prize awarded of $1,000
Second prize of $250
Third prize of $100
The contest is open January 1st 2011. It closes November 30th 2011.
Website www.bottletreeinc.com
Hard copy Scripts need to be bound and should be mailed to Bottle Tree Productions at 445 Southwood Drive, Kingston Ontario. K7M 5P8
A manuscript-sized SASE should be attached if the script needs to be returned
There is a twenty-five dollar entry fee.
A twenty-five dollar cheque should be enclosed with any hard copy submissions and made payable to Bottle Tree Productions.
No entry will be considered until the entry fee has been paid.
You may enter as many scripts as you like but there is a twenty-five dollar fee for each entry.
The winners will be announced in January of 2012.
If you would like critical input about your play, please submit a $50 cheque made payable to Bottle Tree Productions, along with a manuscript-sized SASE.
The playwright’s name and other contact information should be included on the title page.
Please number your script pages.
For email submissions and PAYPAL deposits of the twenty-five dollar entry fee
go to the bottletree contest page
The winners of the 2010 contest will be announced on January 31st.
So test your writing skills against the world.
There will be a first prize awarded of $1,000
Second prize of $250
Third prize of $100
The contest is open January 1st 2011. It closes November 30th 2011.
Website www.bottletreeinc.com
Hard copy Scripts need to be bound and should be mailed to Bottle Tree Productions at 445 Southwood Drive, Kingston Ontario. K7M 5P8
A manuscript-sized SASE should be attached if the script needs to be returned
There is a twenty-five dollar entry fee.
A twenty-five dollar cheque should be enclosed with any hard copy submissions and made payable to Bottle Tree Productions.
No entry will be considered until the entry fee has been paid.
You may enter as many scripts as you like but there is a twenty-five dollar fee for each entry.
The winners will be announced in January of 2012.
If you would like critical input about your play, please submit a $50 cheque made payable to Bottle Tree Productions, along with a manuscript-sized SASE.
The playwright’s name and other contact information should be included on the title page.
Please number your script pages.
For email submissions and PAYPAL deposits of the twenty-five dollar entry fee
go to the bottletree contest page
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
The Girl Who Played With Fire
In the sequel to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Mikael Blumquist(Michael Nvquist) is being released from jail, and Lisbeth Salander(Noomi Rapace) is being hunted by the police for three murders attributed to her. This is a good movie, lots of action, but alas, things are only superficially dealt with this time.
In this film, Salander is beaten up, shot several times and buried in a grave, but like the Crow, the grave cannot keep her, and the earth spits this avenging angel back out.
A young reporter investigating government complicity in human trafficking is murdered along with his girlfriend. The young man has been working for Millenium and so Michael Blumquist follows up with his own investigation.
We find out more about Lisbeth's horrible background and that has a direct impact on where the film goes. You can't hide from your past and it catches up to her in some awful ways.
Blumquist, in trying to prove her innocence, finds that his investigation into human trafficking and Salander's troubles with the law have merged onto the same path.
But like most great films, sequelitis sets in and the villains get bigger and more unreal. Think Rocky in Russia.
Fire is a recurring theme in this film. While Lisbeth tried to burn her demons, there is another, almost Frankenstein scene where the soul-less demon tries to burn her friends.
Overall, a good movie that lacks the depth of the first one.
Rating ***
In this film, Salander is beaten up, shot several times and buried in a grave, but like the Crow, the grave cannot keep her, and the earth spits this avenging angel back out.
A young reporter investigating government complicity in human trafficking is murdered along with his girlfriend. The young man has been working for Millenium and so Michael Blumquist follows up with his own investigation.
We find out more about Lisbeth's horrible background and that has a direct impact on where the film goes. You can't hide from your past and it catches up to her in some awful ways.
Blumquist, in trying to prove her innocence, finds that his investigation into human trafficking and Salander's troubles with the law have merged onto the same path.
But like most great films, sequelitis sets in and the villains get bigger and more unreal. Think Rocky in Russia.
Fire is a recurring theme in this film. While Lisbeth tried to burn her demons, there is another, almost Frankenstein scene where the soul-less demon tries to burn her friends.
Overall, a good movie that lacks the depth of the first one.
Rating ***
Monday, December 27, 2010
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-Film Review
Like La Femme Nikita, this film focuses on a troubled young woman who ends up solving problems for the authorities, Lisbeth Salander played by Noomi Rapace has been institutionalized since the age of 12 when she attempted to burn her father to death. Out on probation, she works for a security company as a computer hacker. Through her surveillance of an investigative journalist by the name of Mikael Blomquist played by Michael Nyqvist, she finds someone with integrity, whom she can trust,
Much like Julian Assange of Wikileaks fame Blomquist has been sentenced to some jail time on trumped-up charges brought against him by those in the Swedish government who wish to stop his investigation of corporate interests. Before he goes to jail, Salander and he end up working together on a murder mystery.
The film is in Swedish with subtitles, but after a while your brain incorporates the subtitles into the speech of the actors and you forget that they are speaking another language.
It is a brutal and violent film with disturbing images. Stieg Larsen; the writer of the Millenium Trilogy of which this film is the first of the three that have been made from his novels, was an investigative journalist who made it his mission to expose the far right and the rise of neo-nazism in Sweden. This film focuses on a string of neo-nazi crimes in Sweden against women.
A venerated Swedish family has a few skeletons and swastikas in its closet. Blomquist and Salander are looking into a cold case file of the murder of a 16 year old girl and nothing is as it seems.
This movie has tremendous style and substance. While La Femme Nikita was mainly style, this film is a mystery, an action adventure, a political thriller, and a searing indictment of the treatment of women by men, Salander is vengeance personified. She is Skadi; the viking goddess of justice, vengeance and righteous anger wreaking a world of hurt on the bad men in the world. Blomquist has a pure and noble heart in his desire to expose corruption. Together, they form an unstoppable team. Rapace is amazing to watch as she deals with being damaged goods. Stoic in the face of adversity, she has a deep seething anger which occasionally rises to the surface in vicious pay back.
Nyquist is a highly subtle actor who plods along with his investigation within the limits of the law, analyzing the tidbits of information that come his way, slowly stripping away the lies and exposing the truth, while Rapace's dark avenger operates in the shadows. She operates outside the law to get her results.
A riveting movie experience.
Rating ****
Much like Julian Assange of Wikileaks fame Blomquist has been sentenced to some jail time on trumped-up charges brought against him by those in the Swedish government who wish to stop his investigation of corporate interests. Before he goes to jail, Salander and he end up working together on a murder mystery.
The film is in Swedish with subtitles, but after a while your brain incorporates the subtitles into the speech of the actors and you forget that they are speaking another language.
It is a brutal and violent film with disturbing images. Stieg Larsen; the writer of the Millenium Trilogy of which this film is the first of the three that have been made from his novels, was an investigative journalist who made it his mission to expose the far right and the rise of neo-nazism in Sweden. This film focuses on a string of neo-nazi crimes in Sweden against women.
A venerated Swedish family has a few skeletons and swastikas in its closet. Blomquist and Salander are looking into a cold case file of the murder of a 16 year old girl and nothing is as it seems.
This movie has tremendous style and substance. While La Femme Nikita was mainly style, this film is a mystery, an action adventure, a political thriller, and a searing indictment of the treatment of women by men, Salander is vengeance personified. She is Skadi; the viking goddess of justice, vengeance and righteous anger wreaking a world of hurt on the bad men in the world. Blomquist has a pure and noble heart in his desire to expose corruption. Together, they form an unstoppable team. Rapace is amazing to watch as she deals with being damaged goods. Stoic in the face of adversity, she has a deep seething anger which occasionally rises to the surface in vicious pay back.
Nyquist is a highly subtle actor who plods along with his investigation within the limits of the law, analyzing the tidbits of information that come his way, slowly stripping away the lies and exposing the truth, while Rapace's dark avenger operates in the shadows. She operates outside the law to get her results.
A riveting movie experience.
Rating ****
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Register for Fall Acting Classes in Kingston 2011
Starting Saturday September 17th at The Kingston Christian School
on Woodbine Road in the West End, Bottle Tree Productions offers fall classes. Classes run for ten weeks.
Through our classes we can get ticket deals for shows and discounts for workshops.
Acting classes are a great way to develop self-esteem and reading skills. We have a very child-centered approach, so most of our students do very well at school. Each child is indeed a snowflake and each child requires their own special support and instruction. We stretch kids' minds and polish their ability.
Classes are broken up into different age groups; 6-10 year olds, 11-12 year olds and teenagers. We also have an academic class for Shakespeare enthusiasts. 'Bard on the Boards' where we study Macbeth.
For further information about registering and paying for classes go to Bottle Tree Productions/ Acting Classes
on Woodbine Road in the West End, Bottle Tree Productions offers fall classes. Classes run for ten weeks.
Through our classes we can get ticket deals for shows and discounts for workshops.
Acting classes are a great way to develop self-esteem and reading skills. We have a very child-centered approach, so most of our students do very well at school. Each child is indeed a snowflake and each child requires their own special support and instruction. We stretch kids' minds and polish their ability.
Classes are broken up into different age groups; 6-10 year olds, 11-12 year olds and teenagers. We also have an academic class for Shakespeare enthusiasts. 'Bard on the Boards' where we study Macbeth.
For further information about registering and paying for classes go to Bottle Tree Productions/ Acting Classes
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