Hope Not Lost

Happy Birthday to Bob Hope who is 100 today. He obviously knows the road to long life.

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If you have any news or comments to add to this blog feel free to email them to me at: valis23a@aol.com. Also, if you would like to be a regular contributor here let me know.

Matrix Reloaded

A few days ago I noted how The Times had given given it acres of editorial coverage to The Matrix Reloaded and then had given it a bad review. On Saturday another of their reviewers gave it a good review, and The Sunday Times had one good and one bad review. So it's obviously split their reviewers. I saw the beginning of the original Matrix movie on TV the other day but wasn't that impressed. Too much hype always seems to kill films for me.

Perhaps when the fuss dies down I might appreciate what is going to be a Matrix trilogy (it's frightening that filmmakers now feel they have to make a 'trilogy' rather than produce a single film).

The National Film Theatre is Doin’ Time With TCM

TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is sponsoring Crime Scene 2003, the National Film Theatre’s annual festival of fiction and crime films taking place from 10 July to 13 July 2003. To follow TCM will air its Crime Wave season 14 to 20 July.

Crime Scene 2003 is the NFT’s fourth annual festival celebrating the crime genre in the movies and TCM is the main sponsor for the third year running. This year’s festival has a French theme and celebrates the work of legendary director Jean-Pierre Melville whose stylish thriller and gangster films have inspired a generation of contemporary moviemakers in this genre.

One of the festival highlights is the screening of John Huston’s The Asphalt Jungle (1950) starring Sterling Hayden, Jean Hagen and featuring Marilyn Monroe in one of her earlier roles. The film, which inspired Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Cercle rouge (1970) (The Red Circle), was considered unique at the time of release for showing the human side of its band of criminals. A version restored by TCM will air both during the festival and as part of the channel’s own Crime Wave season.

Michael Riley, VP and Channel Manager TCM Europe Middle East & Africa said: ‘TCM is delighted to be sponsoring the Crime Scene Festival for the third year in a row. It is a wonderful collaboration and has helped to highlight our wealth of unmissable movies to a wider audience.’

'TCM’s on-going relationship with the NFT includes a commitment to keeping cinema history alive through film restoration work, as in the case of Asphalt Jungle, and nurturing future movie talent with its annual Classic Shorts competition, held at the NFT in November as part of the London Film Festival’.

TCM’s Crime Wave Season

TCM’s Crime Wave season airs on the channel from 14 to 20 July and features a variety of genres from gangster films of the 30s (The Public Enemy, 1931, Little Caesar, 1930) through to noir (The Big Sleep, 1946, The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946), heist films (The Asphalt Jungle, 1950, Ocean’s 11, 1960, The Getaway, 1972) and even detective movies (The Maltese Falcon, 1941, Dirty Harry, 1971). In addition, there will be a series of documentaries, close-ups and studio insiders on some of the stars of the season including Lana Turner, James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, to complement and give further background to these memorable movies.

Crime Scene is the 4th edition of the unique, international, annual festival of crime fiction and film held at the National Film Theatre. Crime Scene is programmed for the British Film Institute by Adrian Wootton, Head of Crime Scene and Maxim Jakubowski, Head of Crime Scene Literary programme. The British Film Institute was established in 1933 to promote greater understanding, appreciation and access to film and television culture. Find out more at www.bfi.org.uk/crimescene

JUDE LAW, RALPH FIENNES, BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI & BARRY NORMAN JOIN TCM IN SEARCH FOR BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM DIRECTOR FOR 2003!

TCM (Turner Classic Movies) announces the launch of the TCM Classic Shorts competition, which will hold the awards ceremony as part of The Times bfi London Film Festival (the festival runs from 22 October - 6 November 2003). Jude Law, Ralph Fiennes and Bernardo Bertolucci are just three of the fifteen judges to sit on the competition’s panel to find the best short film of 2003.

TCM Classic Shorts is one of the most prestigious and valuable short film competitions in Europe offering £10,000 in prizes. It has been responsible for discovering some of the best new talent in the UK including 2001 winner Brian Percival, Director of the film About A Girl that went on to win the BAFTA for Best Short. This year, TCM is making a bigger commitment and expanding its involvement with the festival by sponsoring the Short Cuts and Animation strand of the festival for the first time.

The Short Cuts and Animation strand premieres the very best of international short and animated films. The festival recognises the importance of this strand as it can act as a launch pad for new film-makers, student films and independent productions, as well as launching the careers of many high profile actors.

TCM Classic Shorts is open to all UK made short films. The opening date is 2 June and all films must be received by 17 September to be eligible for the competition. The short-listed nominations will be aired on TCM and screened at The Times bfi London Film Festival.

The panel line up features some of the biggest names involved in the British film industry:
Jude Law Actor: Road to Perdition, The Talented Mr. Ripley
Ralph Fiennes Actor, Producer: The English Patient, Schindler’s List
Bernardo Bertolucci Actor, Director, Writer: Stealing Beauty, The Last Empire, Last Tango in Paris
Barry Norman TV Film Critic and journalist
Richard Eyre Director and Writer: Iris
Stephen Frears Actor, Director and Producer: Dirty Pretty Things, High Fidelity
Mark Herman Director, Writer: Brassed Off, Little Voice
Richard Jobson Film Critic, Writer, Producer, Director: Sixteen Years of Alcohol
John Madden Director: Mrs Brown, Shakespeare in Love
Ismail Merchant Actor Director, Producer: A Room With A View
Stephen Woolley Producer: The End of the Affair, Interview with the Vampire
Colin Kennedy Editor: Empire Film Magazine
Nick James Editor: Sight & Sound Film Magazine
Wendy Ide The Times bfi London Film Festival, short film programmer
Tina McCann General Manager of Turner Entertainment Networks Europe

Further information and entry forms are available at: www.tcmonline.co.uk and for further information about The Times bfi London Film Festival, log onto: www.lff.org.uk