Film-Forward

Book adaptation

The Selfish Giant

Written & Directed by Clio Barnard, inspired by the short story by Oscar Wilde Produced by Tracy O’Riordan Released by Sundance Selects UK.  93 min. Not rated With Connor Chapman, Shaun Thomas, Sean Gilder & Siobhan Finneran British director Clio Barnard’s career began as an artist/filmmaker, and her work in video was seen in galleries […]

Saving Mr. Banks

Directed by John Lee Hancock Written by Kelly Marcel & Sue Smith Produced by Alison Owen, Ian Collie & Philip Steuer Released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures UK/USA. 125 min. Rated PG-13 With Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford, Annie Rose Buckley, Ruth Wilson, B. J. Novak, Rachel Griffiths, Kathy […]

Blue Is the Warmest Color

Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche Written by Kechiche & Ghalya Lacroix, adapted from Le Bleu Est une Couleur Chaude by Julie Maroh Produced by Alcatraz Films, Olivier Thery Lapiney & Laurence Clerc Released by Sundance Selects. French with English subtitles France. 179 min. Rated NC-17 With Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Salim Kechiouche, Mona Walravens, Jérémie Laheurte […]

12 Years a Slave

Directed by Steve McQueen Written by John Ridley, based on the book by Solomon Northup Produced by Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Bill Pohlad, McQueen, Arnon Milchan & Anthony Katagas Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures USA. 134 min. Rated R With Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Scoot […]

The Wall

Written & Directed by Julian Roman Pölsler, based on the novel by Marlen Haushofer Produced by Rainer Kölmel, Antonin Svoboda, Martin Gschlacht & Wasiliki Bleser Released by Music Box Films With Martina Gedeck English & German with English subtitles Austria. 109 in. Not rated With Martina Gedeck I find it almost impossible not to compare […]

As I Lay Dying

Directed by James Franco Written by James Franco and Matt Rager, based on the novel by William Faulkner Produced by Lee Caplin, Matt O’Toole, Rob van Norden, Caroline Aragon, Miles Levy & Vince Jolivette USA. 110 min. Rated R Released by Millennium Entertainment With James Franco, Tim Blake Nelson, Danny McBride, Jim Parrack, Logan Marshall-Green, […]

The Patience Stone

Directed by Atiq Rahimi Produced by Michael Gentile Written by Rahimi & Jean-Claude Carriére, based on Rahimi’s novel Released by Sony Pictures Classics Farsi with English subtitles Afghanistan/France/Germany/UK. 102 min. Rated R With Golshifteh Farahani, Hamidrez Javdan, Hassina Burgan & Massi Mrowat The Patience Stone is as specific as it is mythic. Set in an […]

Broken

Directed by Rufus Norris Written by Mark O’Rowe, based on the novel by Daniel Clay Produced by Dixie Linder, Tally Garner, Nick Marston & Bill Kenwright Released by Film Movement UK. 90 min. Not rated With Tim Roth, Eloise Laurence, Cillian Murphy, Zana Marjanovic, Robert Emms, Faye Daveney, Rosalie Kosky-Hensman, Martha Bryant, Bill Milner & […]

Moon Man

Written, Produced & Directed by Stephan Schesch, based on the picture book by Tomi Ungerer Released by Tribeca Film France/German/Ireland. 96 min. Not rated More than four decades after the 1966 publication of Moon Man, a children’s tale by author/illustrator Tomi Ungerer, Stephan Schesch brings this simple story to life through animation. Maintaining the simplicity […]