"Moonrise Kingdom" - all the Anderson's imaginary worlds

Can't hide it, I'm a huge fan of Wes Anderson's movies. If I were to pick my favorite so far, the choice would have to be between "The Royal Tenenbaums," "Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou," "The Darjeeling Limited, " "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and the latest gem - "Moonrise Kingdom," which means almost all of his movies. "Moonrise Kingdom" really has it all - great cast, lovely atmosphere, set design, script, music, and I bet it was all supervised personally by Fantastic Mr. Anderson himself. Even if one doesn't "feel" his vibe or sense of humor, it's worth seeing, just for Edward Norton's khaki scout shorts, Frances McDormand's loudspeaker, Bruce Willis' glasses, Tilda Swinton's hat, and the two main protagonists, those kids really have their grand debut on the big screen! For me "Moonrise Kingdom" is like Bonnie and Clyde, James Dean and Holden Caulfield were all back and well and this could only happen in a Wes Anderson movie. Highly recommended!
For my review in Polish published on filmnews.com.pl go here or scroll below.
There are also three other great reviews in The Guardian, The New Yorker and by Roger Ebert, film criticism guru.

"Tango libre" - a good idea there, but execution... not really

This movie directed by Frederic Fonteyne has won the international competition this year in Warsaw. And... it wasn't the best choice. In fact, there were plenty of better movies. So why this one? Well, the idea of inmates learning to dance passionate tango is really good. That might have been a hit, provided the director dealt a little more with all the drama in the lives of his own heroes. Without an in-depth analysis of the real-life problems, the dance classes behind bars are a little not enough to consider "Tango libre" a really good feature. Too bad, too many chances were missed. Better luck next time. My review of the movie was published on filmnews.
Other reviews from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

Bakery: Buns with Marmalade Filling

A few weeks ago I made walnut buns according to the same recipe for the yeast-dough, as I use now (see here and here). But time however instead of crushed walnuts I used old-fashioned hard fruit marmalade, not jam. It's tricky business with jams sometimes, as it tends to leak from the ready-to-bake buns. And so, if you'd like to keep the lovely form of buns, it's safer to use marmalade, as I did. The way to make two types of shapes is really easy, once you try for yourself. One way, to make hearts, was already presented in the walnut buns recipe. The other, the round shape, can be found here (scroll a little bit down).

Sundance 2013 - films announced

Sundance Film Institute has already announced the films that will be shown during the 2013 edition of Sundance Film Festival between 17th and 27th January 2013. The full article can be traced here.
The news is that 16 features will have their world premieres there, which is an astonishing number. There is also one Polish film there, in the World Dramatic Section, directed by Jacek Borcuch, "Lasting."

"Lawless" and the Times of Prohibition

"Lawless" had its Polish premiere at American Film Festival in Wroclaw just recently, but for a week now it's  been storming the cinemas. The story is written by Nick Cave, directed by John Hillcoat, with great acting performances of Tom Hardy, Shia LeBoeuf, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Gary Oldman and Guy Pierce. All set in the troubled prohibition times, when booze was illegally pouring in small town and villages, and people became super-rich overnight, but could be killed as easily. The Bondurant Brothers, main protagonists of the film, try to make a decent living by production and retail of self-produced alcohol of high voltage. They're fierce, they're brave and they don't bow before noone. Making profit is not an easy task those days, but although casualties and scars are frequent, they stay strong.
The movie is bloody as it should be, violent and brutal, but very realistic at the same time. It's thrilling, it's fast and has energy and vibe. It's also very very entertaining. Can't wait for the other movie in a similar stylistic - "Gangster Squad" with Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn and Emma Stone.
Reviews from The New York Times and in First Showing.

New York's Most Important Living Writers

Cultural News and Critique FLAVORWIRE has published a list of 100 New York's Most Important Living Writers. When one realizes that New York became the centre of the world some time ago already, the conclusions are rather simple. One is for sure: the most creative and influential intellectuals are in the complex process of creation in this special city that never sleeps. Plus, if you can make it there, you can make it everywhere, as one wise man named Sinatra once sang. Here is my subjective excerpt from the list.

39. Malcolm Gladwell
Staff writer for The New Yorker, an academic, public speaker.
Works:
"The Tipping Point," "Blink," "Outliers," "What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures."

28. Michael Cunningham 
Writer, screenwriter, professor of creative writing at Yale.
Works:
Novels: "Golden States," "A Home at the End of the World," "The Hours," "Specimen Days," "By Nightfall," Screenplays: "A Home at the End of the World," "Evening."

26. Jonathan Safran Foer
Writer, essayist
Works:
Novels: "Everything is Illuminated," "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," "Tree of Codes," "Escape from Children;s Hospital" (2014).

 Malcolm Gladwell

 Michael Cunningham

Jonathan Safran Foer

British Independent Film Awards

British independent cinema is particularly close to my heart, well, actually, British cinema in general. Those indies are usually very intimate, classy and talk about crucial issues for our society. Through that thread they are also closer to Polish sensibility and sensitivity. The Moet British Independent Film Awards have nominated some great films this year, and the 15th ceremony is taking place soon, on December 9th 2012 in Central London which usually means Leicester Square or somewhere near Covent Garden (or perhaps Royal Albert Hall, like the premiere of "Skyfall"). To learn more: go or check it out here.
This year's nominees are:

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM

Berberian Sound Studio
Broken
Sightseers
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Imposter

Bakery: Nutty Twists

Very buttery nutty twists with the extra ingredient of cottage cheese. Easy to make, the list of things to buy is not so long, pretty quick to bake too. Just perfect for the nutty season that has already begun. I baked the twists with walnuts, but I suppose they would taste perfectly well with hazelnuts as well as peanuts, altough each time the flavour would obviously vary. There is a lot of butter in the twists, and I suppose next time I would add a little less of it. The Polish recipe can be found here, and in English here. When using the English recipe, notice the slight differences, namely the addition of butter is significantly smaller, and in the Polish recipe there is a sign of well ground cottage cheese (like for a cheesecake) - around 1,5 glass of it (250 g). Take it into consideration while baking, although those small differences do not have a grave importance when it comes to the taste. Below, a quick manual with pictures.

British hoaxes that fooled the public

British newspaper The Telegraph has just recently published a list of curious cases that caused confusion among the public. Lots of people were fooled to believe in impossible stories of fairies, false identities, giving birth to rabbits and so on. That only shows the naivete of some, but naivete based on actual news that appeared in newspapers. True magic of the press - and most of the cases were revealed even if there still was no TV, not to mention Internet! Hoaxes, that's what the Telegraph calls such incidents. And some of them are really curious. Some other include famous people. Here is my subjective selection of cases, and for the whole story go to the official page of The Telegraph, who knows, you might find something more to it.

"Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope" - are you a comic geek?

Documentary is a tricky business. It's pretty difficult not to get a certain thesis fixed and try to push it to the minds of the viewers. In other words, objectivity is not one of the most important features of docs.
This new film by Morgan Spurlock also has a thesis. But above all, it doesn't feel to be so pushy too much. But, you see, to me it seems, that it's enough to show up at the annual Comic-Con in San Diego to get the idea about what is actually happening there and make a brilliant documentary about it. That's my basic reservation. But "Comic-Con Episode IV" is an enjoyable watch. After all, we're all freaks and geeks, but some of us haven't found what is it that makes them geky or nerdy. Not yet, at least.
I'm really fascinated by the movie, not just because I'm a fan too myself. The doc says a lot about the American society. After all, it's all about the pursuit of happiness, this whole fan idea, isn't it?
My full review in Polish was published on filmnews.com.pl here, (included below) but I also included this movie in my Top 3 documentary list during the last American Film Festival in Wroclaw. More here.

Top 10: Contemporary Female Actors

Just a few days ago I published my Top 10 favorite contemporary actors (as opposed to all-time favorites, which I will perhaps publish one day too) here. This is finally time to give a piece of mind on female actors (not actresses) that I find particularly intriguing. It must be however stressed, that as with male actors I had no problem (in fact my initial list had over 20 names there), with female actors it gets pretty complicated. Not that there are no interesting females acting, of course not. It's just that for obvious reasons it is usually men that are observed more cautiously. Completely unfair, right? Well, that is the world we live in. A man's world. With no further ado, let's have a look at the prettier and/or more talented side of Hollywood.

10. Rebecca Hall

Favorite roles:
"Starter for 10," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," "Frost/Nixon," in theatre: "Winter's Tale," "The Cherry Orchard" in The Old Vic London, directed by Sam Mendes.

After American Film Festival

The 3rd edition of American Film Festival in Wroclaw is now over. It has been a magnificent celebration of mostly independent cinema, which you wouldn't be able to see on the big screen anywhere else, except maybe for Deauville.
Deauville American Film Festival was established in 1975, and of course for many years it has been the only festival in Europe celebrating American cinema (not blockbuster hits). In the last years that festival has gathered  lots of American film stars (George Clooney, Sharon Stone, Gregory Peck, Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt, Francis Ford Coppola), also because, let's face it, it's France, and it's the coast. Our Polish festival in Wroclaw has not yet gathered so much attention, also because it's just the third year of its existence, but notable personalities have however arrived.
The Independent Spirit Award went to Jerry Schatzberg, a director and photographer, known for "Panic in the Needle Park" or "Scarecrow." This year, I've seen 17 movies at the festival within 3,5 days, including two older pictures by Wes Anderson, whose retrospective could also be seen.
Below is my subjective Top 5 of the features as well as Top 3 greatest documentaries I saw. It should be however noted, that I have not seen the winners neither of the feature ("Safety Not Guaranteed") nor documentary ("How to Survive the Plague") competition. Perhaps I will some other time.

TOP 5 AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL MOVIES

5. Arcadia

Why should you see it:

• For John Hawkes, called recently "Sundance-regular," for his notable appearances in "Winter's Bone," "Martha Marcy May Marlene," "My and You and Everyone We Know," "The Sessions," "The Perfect Storm" and Ryan Simpkins, his teenage rebellious daughter Greta.
• Because it was awarded Crystal Bear for Best Feature Film in the Berlin Film Festival section Generation.
• A good review of the film can be read in Hollywood Reporter.

           John Hawkes (in "The Sessions" - right)

Top 10: Contemporary Male Actors

A very subjective, personal Top 10 should be at this point in order. I've been meaning to start this blog with something like this, but had no idea, who should I put first, who last and if anyway such list had any sense. Now I think it doesn't have to have any sense. It's just pure pleasure. If anyone wanted to ask, why these particular actors, not any other, I must admit that for me, the most important feature is attitide. Toward acting, life, cinema. That's the most telling feature. Not the looks, films, life partners, status. Those vary. But what stays is the attitude. So here we go.

10. James McAvoy

Favorite roles:

"Last King of Scotland," "Starter for 10," "Atonement," "Becoming Jane," "X-Men: First Class."

"The Master" - a masterful play with the mind

Finally, the new film by Paul Thomas Anderson, "The Master," enters cinemas. A magnificent picture, it really is. Set in the 1950s, in various places in America, it tells a story of a powerful persona, a charismatic mentor, husband, and leader. Philip Seymour Hoffman beautifully portrayes Lancaster Dodd, again proves how great an actor he is. To me however Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie is even better. His back hunched, drinking all the time, mumbling, not knowing what to do with his life. Phoenix as Freddie becomes prey for someone like Dodd, who desperately needs followers and believers. Beautiful setting, magical music by Johnny Greenwood (Radiohead), cinematography, atmosphere. A real treat, not just for connoiseurs, of P.T.A's fans.

My review in Polish published here.

Fun posters that never happened ...

... but tell the truth about the film. The Shiznit presented here a set of alternative movie posters of films, that were nominated for last year's Oscars. "The Help," "The Descendants," "The Girl with a Dragon Tatoo," "The Artist," "The Iron Lady," "War Horse," "Beginners," "The Tree of Life," "Moneyball," "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," "The Ides of March," "Hugo," "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," "Shame," "We Need to Talk About Kevin," "A Dangerous Method" and "J.Edgar" are all there, with new, witty taglines.
My favourites are:

Bakery: Poppyseed Cheesecake

Two in one, it is! Poppy yeast cake is one of the symbols of Polish Christmas season. Cheesecakes as well, although traditionally they were baked more often in the time of Easter. This time a noble delicious mix. Not very easy to make, I must admit, especially if you attempt to grind the poppy yourself, that might prove to be a rather tiresome and time-consuming task. But believe me - home-ground poppy makes all the difference. The lower layer of the cake is shortcake, then the poppy layer (poppy, raisins, nuts, honey, powdered sugar, eggs - separately, perhaps some orange peel, some butter) and then the cheese layer (cheese, eggs - separately, powdered sugar, butter) and you're good to go. The effect - extremely tasty if you're in for that sort of thing. If you've got some experience, that's a cake for you to bake! Satisfaction guaranteed. And so is the effect. Delicious!
For the recipe, in Polish go here, in English it would have to be something like this.

"God of Carnage" in Teatr 6. Pietro Warsaw

Last Saturday, November 10th 2012, a new play opened up in one of the most popular new commercial theatres in Warsaw. Teatr 6. Pietro (Theatre 6th Floor) is located in one of the greatest and most central spots on the map in the capital of Poland - in the Culture and Science Palace, exactly opposite Marszalkowska Street, one of the central streets in Warsaw (currently under re-construction).

The play that premiered is called "God of Carnage" and is brilliantly written by Yasmina Reza. The play became famous quite recently due to the latest film directed by Roman Polanski, entitled "Carnage" and starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and George C. Reilly. Polanski has written the script along with Reza and the film was very successful indeed.
This time, the theatre version is directed by Malgorzata Bogajewska, starring the director of the theatre himself, Michal Zebrowski as Alain, Anna Dereszowska as Annette, Jolanta Fraszynska as Veronique and Cezary Pazura as Michel. To those who do not know celebrity gossip around Warsaw or don't necessarily watch Polish TV or Polish films, it might come as a surprise, but the cast is actually constructed of few of the most popular film and television actors there currently are in Poland.

Divine Marilyn's photos on auction in Warsaw

Just two days ago, on November 7th, 2012 a very unique event on a grand scale of things took place in Warsaw's one of the auction houses (Desa Unicum). A set of 250 photographs taken by Milton Greene went on auction, and on the majority of the photos, there was Marilyn Monroe. Such a treat! The auction was possible only due to a huge hoax from the 1990s, but nevertheless the interest was huge! The original prices ranged from 500 PLN (around 130 euro) to as much as a few thousand, but the most expensive photograph turned out to be the one in which Marilyn wears a too-tight ballerina dress (60.000 PLN, around  15.000 euro). On the photographs there was not only Marilyn, but also Marlene Dietrich, Gene Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, and many more. Most of them were taken in early 1950s, when Marilyn was at her very very best.

"Aftermath" - "Pokłosie" controversial thriller made in Poland

We have waited for this film for sever long years. The producers gathered money and sponsors, donations were welcome, all because this is a film that raises controversy. It shows Polish villagers in an extremely bad light, as being responsible for the carnage of hundreds of Jewish people during WWII. Lots of people didn't want this movie to happen. But, fortunately, they were so very wrong. The film is good. Perhaps very good, due to wonderful cinematography by brilliant Pawel Edelman, and production designer Allan Starski (one of the very few Oscar winners, for "Schindler's List"). Above all however, two main protagonists take our breath away, when they are on: Maciej Stuhr and Ireneusz Czop. Truly magnificent performances!
For my review of the film, from filmnews.com.pl go.
Recommended!

Robert Rogalski, Maciej Stuhr, Ireneusz Czop

Cultural importance of boots

If you ever wondered, boots actually do have a certain impact in pop-culture. They are not only a firm base of a style, but may be a manifesto - if worn adequately to occassion (or just the opposite, for that matter). Britain obviously has to be given credit for the development of particular looks. Without the knowledge of the origins, some senses from literature, film and music might be lost forever. Here's a quick guide to what NOT to miss when listening to the Beatles or Kaiser Chiefs.

Beatle Boots
worn from 1960s, they are tight-fitting, Cuban-heeled, ankle-high boots, with sharp pointed toe. Obviously it was the Beatles who made them popular, as originally they were actually made for the group exclusively.
They are the direct descendants of the Chelsea Boot, of which below.
During the late 2000s and 2010s they started to be popular again, due to new British indie rock bands.

 <---The Beatles
Franz Ferdinand --->

Bakery: Walnut Buns

And here it is, another recipe with walnuts and yeast dough. My family loves such a combination and I don't mind making it, so let it be. The form of buns can be different, depends on your creativity and mood, same goes with the filling. Walnuts can be replaced with any type of nuts, or  sweet cottage cheese, jams, popy-seed, anything, pretty much. The filling is easy to make, the most time-consuming thing to do is crushing the nuts, but with a good nutcracker and blender, it takes no more than 20 minutes. Also, as usually with yeast dough - it takes some time for it to double its size. But that's also manageable. So, with the step-by-step photos it should also be a little easier. The recipe, from a most-beloved Polish website mojewypieki.com (Dorota advises to make hearts, although it's also quite easy, the buns are rather big after baking, and I thought of something smaller, hence twirls). The recipe for the yeast dough in English here and for the nut filling here. Enjoy!

American Film Festival soon!

American Film Festival kicks off very soon, on November 13th, 2012 in Wroclaw, and it will last till November 18th. Plenty of great films are scheduled to be seen, including "The Master", "Moonrise Kingdom", "Argo" and many many more.
The full programme can be seen here, and my short introduction to the schedule, in Polish from filmnews.com.pl - here.

European Film Awards nominations

On November 3rd, the European Film Academy has announced the nominees for the annual prize - the European Film Award. This year the ceremony will take place in Malta, and it will be quite a show - the 25th anniversary, watch out on December 1st, 2012!
Good news for all the cinema goers on the Old Continent - European cinema might have never been better.
Have a look at the best of the best in main categories. Especially the "Best Film" might be a hard nut. Personally, I can't really say. I haven't yet seen "Jagten" and really hope for the best. BUT the harder it get, the better for European cinema. Notice that each film comes from a different country and each of them is really good, although perhaps in different genres. And not all in English at last. Too bad there wasn't any Polish film worth a nod this time.

Best European Film 2012

"AMOUR" dir. Michael Haneke
"BARBARA" dir. Christian Petzold
"CESARE DEVE MORIRE" dir. Paolo & Vittorio Taviani
"INTOUCHABLES" dir. Oliver Nakache & Eric Toledano
"JAGTEN" dir. Thomas Vinterberg
"SHAME" dir. Steve McQueen

Foster to get the Globe for lifetime achievement

Isn't it a little too early for Jodie Foster to be awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the next Golden Globe Gala? Perhaps it isn't since she has worked in film for 47 (!) years now, at the age of 50. She is  like the fourth youngest receiver of the award, only Judy Garland got it at the age of 39 (1962), Charlton Heston when he was 43 (1967) and Buddy Adler (producer) - 48 (1958).
Jodie Foster has been awarded two Oscars for best female performance, in "The Accused" in 1988 and "The Silence of the Lambs" in 1995. Now her career has been somewhat replaced by family life, but nevertheless she still appears in films. Her best roles include those in "Taxi Driver" (as a 14-year-old), "Nell," "Maverick," "Contact," "Panic Room," The Brave One" and, most recently, "Carnage" directed by Roman Polanski.
More from Huffington Post.
The Golden Globe ceremony takes place on January 13th, 2013.

                    

 

Keep the Lights On

There is something very special about this new Ira Sachs movie. It's about so many different things that trying to categorize it would be just wrong. Simply put - it's a love story between two people, with all the ups and downs, uncompromising, delicate and very subtle. A wonderful completion of "Take This Waltz" directed by Sarah Polley and "Weekend" directed by Andrew Haigh.
A full review available from filmnews.com.pl here.

Italian Biscotti

Very popular in chainstore coffeeshops, this traditional Italian biscotti is a great treat for afternoon tea or coffee. It can be easily stored for a long time in a cookie jar. Be careful eating it - the best way is to just put it in a hot liquid for a moment and enjoy along with a sip of a favorite hot beverage. Lovely! My cookie jar for once is filled for a little longer time.
The recipe in Polish here, and in English here.