DHAKA: As in the previous years, Time magazine has selected a list of best movies for their readers. Taking the names from the magazine, bangalnews Entertainment Desk arranges this report for its readers.
Gravity
3D thriller and space drama film ‘Gravity’ is directed, co-written, co-produced and co-edited by Alfonso Cuarón. The film stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts involved in the mid-orbit destruction of a space shuttle and their attempt to return to Earth.
‘Gravity’ opened at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in August. The film met universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike; both groups giving praise for Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography, Steven Price’s musical score, Cuarón’s direction, Bullock’s performance and the advancements in visual effects under Tim Webber’s supervision.
The Great Beauty
‘The Great Beauty’, an Italian film directed by Paolo Sorrentino, was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. It was screened in competition for the Palme d’Or. It was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival and at the Reykjavik European Film Festival. The film has been selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, making the January shortlist.
American Hustle
‘American Hustle’ is an American crime comedy-drama film directed by David O Russell, from a screenplay written by Eric Warren Singer and Russell. It is based on the FBI ABSCAM operation of the late 1970s and early `80s.
Her
‘Her’ is an American science fiction romance film written, directed, and produced by Spike Jonze. The film centres on a man who develops a relationship with a female voice produced by an intelligent computer operating system. It marks Jonze’s solo screenwriting debut. ‘Her’ was chosen the best film of 2013 at the National Board of Review Awards.
The Grandmaster
‘The Grandmaster’ is a Hong Kong martial arts drama film based on the life story of the Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man. The film was directed and written by Wong Kar-wai and starred Tony Leung as Ip Man. It was the opening film at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival
Fast and Furious 6
‘Fast & Furious 6’ is an American action film written by Chris Morgan and directed by Justin Lin. It is the sixth instalment in the Fast and the Furious film series, which stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Sung Kang, Luke Evans, Gina Carano and John Ortiz.
‘Fast & Furious 6’ follows a professional criminal gang led by Dominic Toretto (Diesel) who have retired following their successful heist in Fast Five, but remain wanted fugitives.
Frozen
‘Frozen’ is an American computer-animated musical epic fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures.
Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Snow Queen’, and featuring the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, and Santino Fontana; the film tells the story of a fearless princess who sets off on an epic journey alongside a rugged, thrill-seeking mountain man, his loyal pet reindeer, and a hapless snowman to find her estranged sister, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom in eternal winter.
The Act of Killing
‘The Act of Killing’ is a documentary film directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, and an anonymous co-director. It is a Danish-British-Norwegian co-production, presented by Final Cut for Real in Denmark and produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen.
The documentary shows the time when Sukarno was overthrown by Suharto following the failed coup of the 30 September Movement in 1965, the gangsters Anwar Congo and Adi Zulkadry in Medan (North Sumatra) were promoted from selling black market movie theatre tickets to leading the most notorious death squad in North Sumatra, as part of the Indonesian killings of 1965–66.
They also extorted ethnic Chinese locals, killing those who refused to pay. Anwar personally killed approximately 1,000 people, usually by strangling with wire.
12 Years a Slave
‘12 Years a Slave’ is a British-American epic historical drama film and an adaptation of the eponymous 1853 autobiography by Solomon Northup, a New York State-born free negro who was kidnapped in Washington, DC in 1841 and sold into slavery.
He worked on plantations in the state of Louisiana for twelve years before his release. The first scholarly edition of Northup`s memoir, co-edited in 1968 by Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon, carefully retraced and validated the account and concluded it to be remarkably accurate.
This third feature film directed by Steve McQueen was written by John Ridley. Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Solomon Northup and has been widely praised for his work.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ is an epic fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is the second instalment of a three-part film adaptation based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.
‘The Desolation of Smaug’ is set in Middle-earth sixty years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, and portions of the film are adapted from the appendices to Tolkien’s ‘The Return of the King’.
The film`s screenplay was written by Peter Jackson, his longtime collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro, who was originally chosen to direct before leaving the project in 2010. The ensemble cast also includes Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom, James Nesbitt and Ken Stott, and features Stephen Fry, Sylvester McCoy and Manu Bennett.
Source: Wikipedia
BDST: 1809 HRS, DEC 31, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor
