Berlinale 75: Islands, Reflection in a Dead Diamond, and Köln 75

by Elisa Giudici

 

Three more reviews for you from the 75th edition of the Berlin Film Festival, all of them successful films, too. 

KÖLN 75 by Ido Fluk (Belgium/Poland/Germany)

The word that best describes this film is energetic. While it firmly belongs to a well-trodden genre, Köln 75 immediately stands out for the sheer force and irresistible vitality of its young protagonist. That energy pulses through this fast-paced, sharp-witted musical biopic, which engages directly with its audience, frequently breaking the fourth wall to recount a remarkable yet nearly unthinkable chapter of 1970s music history.

The film centers on the legendary Köln Concert, Keith Jarrett’s solo performance that would later become an iconic album. What makes the story feel so fresh, though, is its unexpected perspective...

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Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

This review originally appeared in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad...

Lily James, from Cinderella to Zombie Slayer

“Pride and Prejudice,” Jane Austen’s classic novel about the Bennet sisters and their suitors, has one of the most famous opening lines in all of literature.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an adaptation Jane never could have seen coming despite her gifts, twists the opening line so that we’re no longer talking courtship but hunger; zombies in want of brains. So let’s twist the line again. ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that pop culture, possessed by the love of fanfic, must be in want of works in the Public Domain!’

more...

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Make Way For The Many Angel-Headed Hipsters

JA from MNPP here, with the first couple of pictures from Walter Salles' adaptation of Jack Kerouac's semi-autobiographical classic On the Road. (via) On the right that's Sam Riley as Kerouac stand-in Sal Paradise, with Garrett Hedlund as Neal Cassidy stand-in Dean Moriarty. No look at Kristen Stewart or Kirsten Dunst or Viggo Mortensen, amongst others, yet. Apparently the few people who've seen the film so far are saying the film, and Stewart in particular, as very good. No specific release date's set yet but it should be out before the end of the year.

We just saw Kerouac and Cassidy on-screen last year in Howl, played by Todd Rotundi and Jon Prescott, seen here:

It's a popular time to be a Beat, eh? I wonder why On the Road's finally able to get made after all these years. Does anybody think Mad Men's successful fetishization of the Sixties has anything to do with it?

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