latest notices
Funded Breaks filmmakers announced at Metro Screen
200 local filmmakers submitted applications to First Break, Breakout and Indigenous Breakthrough. A selection committee comprising industry professionals and representatives from state and national screen agencies rigorously assessed the suitability of each application. The 14 Australian filmmakers below will now...
Final Cut Pro Intermediate with Metro Screen
Metro Screen, Paddington Town Hall(NSW)
TV Producing at Metro Screen
Metro Screen, Paddington Town Hall(NSW)
Young Filmmakers Workshop at Metro Screen
Metro Screen, Paddington Town Hall(NSW)
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Director makes a unique debut feature film inspired by social networking sites
Another Win For Carmilla Hyde
A revenge thriller takes out Best Feature at the 2010 South Australian Screen Awards
Calling All Screenwriters
A new social networking site claims to help aspiring screenwriters showcase their work to industry professionals
Lurking Beneath
An Australian sci-fi/horror flick is set to hit local cinemas in the next few months, but not as you know it
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All You Need Is Love by Yumi Stynes
Away We Go, Broken Embraces and Nowhere Boy. Love, love, love!
When the casting of John Krasinski was announced for role of Jim in the American The Office I was a little aghast. His English predecessor Tim, played by Martin Freeman was a short man, crumpled and a bit hopeless, wearing a permanent hangdog expression that made it clear his future contained neither inbuilt privilege nor luck. Perfect for Tim, one of life's underdogs, destined (hopefully) for love but never for greatness. Jim, on the other hand, was athletic with great teeth and though he worked hard to disguise it with the hairstyle equivalent of a cardigan, he was handsome.
Krasinski made Jim work because his character evolved away from Tim and his hopelessness became self-imposed. Krasinski looks poised to become this generation's John Corbett.
Corbett is an actor who made his career playing gentle guys who worship women.
John Corbett's Top 3 SNAGs
Max - The United States of Tara.
The long-suffering husband of Toni Collette's mega-Crazytown Tara, he puts up with an army of psycho female personalities from just one wife!
Aidan Shaw - Sex and the City
The long-suffering lover of Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw, he offers her loyalty, sturdiness and trust: direct opposition to Big's manly cold indifference.
Chris Stevens - Northern Exposure
The thoughtful and kinda groovy radio announcer of small-town Cicely, Alaska, he portrayed sensitivity, loyalty and a love of women and set it off with a Jesus haircut.
Krasinski is one of the stars of the new Sam Mendes film Away We Go and he establishes his SNAG credentials in the opening sex scenes. It's pretty funny! His hotness is disguised with a woolly beard and he plays Burt, a mid-30s insurance salesman deeply in love with his girlfriend Verona (Maya Rudolph). On discovering that his parents really don't care about the impending birth of their grandchild, Burt and Verona set off on a road trip zig-zagging America, looking for prototype parents to emulate.
This comedy, like the couple, is shambling and likeable. It's been criticised for its lack of structure but I quite liked its form. My main hesitation in recommending this film is that it really is only for people who have or really want children. If that's you then this film is recommended.
I'm fascinated to hear that English art-world hero and director of Nowhere Boy, 42 year-old Sam Taylor Wood, hooked up with her 19 year-old star Aaron Johnson and months after the film's completion, they are still together. He's impossibly cute as a young John Lennon in the film, with none of Lennon's angular sharpness but enough of his charm to push through the idea that this kid will eventually become a Beatle. If you're a fan this film offers you a terrific version of the key events in Lennon's adolescence and maybe a few clues about what led him to Yoko Ono. The scenes where Paul McCartney and other close friends react to the tragedy in Lennon's life are particularly good and for me, offer a moving and true insight into the bonds between boys in bands.
Finally, this is a time of year when a lot more people head out to the cinema than usual, so I'd like to offer my pick of the bunch. If you haven't already been sucked in to the maelstrom of Avatar hype, and you're the sort of person who can hack subtitles, then you need to go and see Broken Embraces. The film is the latest collaboration between Spanish auteur director Pedro Almodovar and his favourite actress Penelope Cruz. She stars as a gifted wannabe actress and sometime call-girl who falls passionately in love with her director, Mateo (Lluís Homar). The tragedy that ensues from their inability to compromise their art forms the greater part of the story, but it's joyful in its sadness and celebrates love. Love! It's inspiring. Just what you need this time of year.
Happy Christmas with love from Yumi. X X X