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Annual Prudential Spirit of Community Awards
By GTVW Staff
Photos Agency
The top two youth volunteers of 2015 from each state and Washington, D.C. will gather for the 20th annual Prudential Spirit of Community State Awards Ceremony. From 6-7 p.m., they will hear from Prudential Financial Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld, a keynote speaker and five past honorees who have remained involved in service.
“More Than Honey” will give a sweet taste of a realistic documentary
Review by Jenny Alvarez
– Kino Lorber is part of the critically acclaimed documentary version narrated by Oscar®-nominated actor John Hurt (Alien, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows).
The original theatrical version (with narration in German) is only available through the film’s official website.
Born into a family of beekeepers, Oscar®-nominated director Markus Imhoof (The Boart is Full) tackles the vexing issue of why bees, worldwide, are facing extinction. With the tenacity of a man out to solve a world-class mystery, he investigates this global phenomenon, from California to Switzerland, China and Australia.
More Than Honey Exquisite macro-photography of the bees in flight and in their hives (on a par with the brilliant cinematography of Microcosmos) reveals a fascinating, complex world in crisis. This is a haunting and lyrical film that raises questions of species survival in philosophical, as well as apiary, terms.
The relationship between mankind and honeybees, about nature and about our future is in risk. Honeybees show us that stability is just as unhealthy as unlimited growth that crises and disasters are triggering evolution and that salvation sometimes comes from a completely unexpected direction.
The cinematography, by Jörg Jeshel, is spectacularly and free from polemics, but it is an alarming call to action and is full of passion, sincerity and intelligence make it a worthwhile contribution to a situation baffling the scientific and bee-keeping communities.
Are you in love Like someone in Love?
By Jenny Alvarez
Photo: Courtesy
With his new film, Abbas Kiarostami goes to Tokyo and delves even more deeply into the world of artifice that he explored in his last film. The masquerade begins when Akiko (Rin Takanashi), a call girl, and her client Takashi (Tadashi Okuno), an elderly professor, pretend to be granddaughter and grandfather in order to avoid the wrath of Akiko’s jealous boyfriend when they are caught in a car together. Kiarostami builds layers of secrets into the stories that Akiko and Takashi tell each other; their lies eventually become more real and powerful than the truth and increasingly dismissive of the uninitiated third party that is Akiko’s boyfriend.
The film begins very slowly and focus on the girl’s ‘client’ is an friendly, almost doddery old academic who doesn’t seem to be remotely interested in sex; and almost everything else in the movie – not only motives but even events and identities – appear slippery and ambiguous. It’s not that the story is hard to follow; it’s just so delicate, almost evanescent, that it’s difficult to get a firm grasp on it.
Some tension is introduced when Takashi gives advice to Akiko’s mechanic boyfriend Noriaki (Ryo Kase), who claims to be her fiancé, and may now dangerously find out how Akiko makes money. So this story involves mysterious and troubling with ambiguity intentions in sentimental contours and despite of the action takes place in and around cars some characters’ relationships and moral twists you can get a good message from it. It lacks the dark streak of unpredictability end but this film is full of reflections of life in the typical Japanese style.
Your words will fly in “The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate”
By GalaTView Staff
Photo Courtesy
As one of the defining stories of the wuxia genre, the saga of the Dragon Gate Inn has already been the source material for two classic martial arts films. Now legendary writer/director/producer Tsui Hark revisits these legends in THE FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE bringing new characters and ancient conflicts to life through the vivid depth of 3D and the epic scale of the IMAX image.
The film picks up three years after the disappearance of the enigmatic innkeeper Jade and the massive fire that consumed the Inn. A new Dragon Inn has risen from the ashes, staffed by a band of marauders. Masquerading as law-abiding citizens by day, they use the cover of night to continue their true calling as fortune hunters. For legend says that the Dragon Inn is the site of a lost city buried in the desert – and a treasure that spans dynasties hidden deep within.
As they await a storm strong enough to unearth the hidden fortress, they are surprised by the arrival of a pregnant concubine and her mysterious protector, Ling. They have come seeking the sanctuary of the Inn – as two factions from the Imperial City close in on them to claim her unborn child.
Leading the Imperial Assassins is the merciless Eunuch, Yu who hopes to reclaim the Emperor’s child before she can fall into the hands of the righteous General Zhao.
In terms of visual spectacle, Tsui Hark is definitely at the top of his game, both the action choreography and the initiation of 3D into the ‘wuxia’ genre easily establishing itself as one of the must-see classics. All the choreographs are with a exuberant dance between breakneck, 90s-style high-wire action and weapons (especially flying logs) that strike with a graphic impact never seen in 2D films. The ensuing development should consolidate the physical momentum of the first part by easing off the pace to flesh out main characters and intensify the strategic standoff between Yu’s and Zhao’s followers. Sets and costumes are loudly exotic but very colorful so you can enjoy this movie in Theaters August 31, 2012.
A simple tale in “The Hidden Blade”
By Jenny Alvarez
Photo Courtesy
From director Yamada Yoji (The Twilight Samurai) comes The Hidden Blade (a.k.a. Kakushi Ken Oni no Tsume) is the epic tale of a samurai raised to respect tradition and a demanding moral code. After a political coup fails he is ordered to prove his innocence by finding and killing a former friend, samurai and brilliant swordsman. He secretly enlists the help of their former master who entrusted him with the secret of The Hidden Blade. Now he must choose between duty and honor.
Definitely, is a Yamada’s delicate drama with swordplay with the mythic ideal of the samurai culture so in the main characters with their personalities reflect bravery and loyalty in themes of evolution and change and how it affected the traditional Japanese lifestyle while also learning new military strategies, particularly the mastery of Western artillery, during the mid-19th Century. Munezo (Masatoshi Nagase) also has a personal complication. He is secretly in love–so secretly, he may not even admit it to himself–with his family’s maid, the sweet and beautiful country girl, Kie (Takako Matsu). His passion leads him to rescue her from a loveless marriage after she leaves his household; the samurai even shocks propriety by carrying away the low-caste young woman on his back. The cast is impressive Masatoshi Nagase, Takako Matsu and Hidetaka Yoshioka are the most talented actors in this genre. Many takes are full of action so this movie is one of those that are worth watching so you can get it on June 19th in DVD and blu-ray with Japanese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Cantonese: Dolby Digital 2.0 with subtitles in Mandarin (Traditional), English and Spanish.
