film review: Blade Runner 2049

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: Hampton Fancher (also story), Michael Green, based on a Philip K. Dick novel
Featuring: Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks

ChinoKino score: A

Review by Allan Tong

When I heard there would be Blade Runner sequel, I groaned, fearing another Hollywood cash-grab of a classic film. Leave it alone. But when I heard that Quebec's Denis Villeneuve would direct, I contained my skepticism until I saw it. Well, I just saw the new Blade Runner.

Verdict: Mesmerizing.

2049 extends and completes the story of the 1982 original, resuming the storyline where the original film ends: Harrison Ford's Deckard escaping with experimental replicant Rachael (Sean Young). They're lovers in a dangerous time where blade runners like Deckard hunt down man-made replicants.

11 Scientific And Technical Achievements To Be Honoured With Academy Awards

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 scientific and technical achievements represented by 33 individual award recipients will be honored at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation on Saturday, February 13, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. In addition, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) will receive a special award recognizing a century of fundamental contributions to the advancement of motion picture standards and technology.

“This year’s honorees represent a wide range of new tech, including a modular inflatable airwall system for composited visual effects, a ubiquitous 3D digital paint system and a 3D printing technique for animation,” said Richard Edlund, Academy Award®-winning visual effects artist and chair of the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee. “With their outstanding, innovative work, these technologists, engineers and inventors have further expanded filmmakers’ creative opportunities on the big screen.”

The 6th Annual 3D Creative Arts Awards – winners

Guardians of the Galaxy Wins Top Live Action 3D Feature
The Lego Movie Wins Animated Feature of the Year
House of Cards Wins for Best 4K Productions

The International 3D & Advanced Imaging Society bestowed 23 honors for “distinguished achievement” at the 3D Creative Arts Awards on Wednesday night, at Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood.

“Directors and creative teams are pushing the emotional and technical capabilities of 3D to new heights, from China, Japan, the UK, throughout the EU, Russia, and India”

Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel Studios/Stereo D) won for Best Live Action 3D Feature while Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (Prime Focus World/Weinstein) won for Stereography – Live Action. 300: Rise of an Empire (Warner Bros./Gener8) won for Best 2D to 3D Conversion and X-Men: Days of Future Past (20^th Century Fox/Stereo D) was awarded Best 3D Sequence/Scene of the Year.

International 3D and Advanced Imaging Society Announces Top Nominees for 3D Awards

Sky, Atlantic Productions & David Attenborough to Be Awarded With Society's Sir Charles Wheatstone Award; Harold Lloyd Award for Filmmaking to Be Awarded to Academy Award Nominee & French Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet

The International 3D and Advanced Imaging Society today announced its top nominated 3D features - Live Action and Animation, as well as the 2D to 3D Conversion categories were voted on by the International 3D Society's members for the 2015 Creative Arts Awards Ceremony to be held January 28th at Warner Bros. Studios.

The top live action nominees include Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Marvel/Disney), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (20th Century Fox), Exodus: Gods and Kings (20th Century Fox), Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel/Disney), Maleficent, (The Walt Disney Studios), Noah (Fox/Paramount), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Paramount Pictures), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Sony Pictures Entertainment), The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (Warner Bros./New Line), Transformers: Age of Extinction (Paramount Pictures), and X-Men: Days of Future Past, (20th Century Fox).

21 Scientific And Technical Achievements To Be Honored With Academy Awards

David W. Gray to receive Gordon E. Sawyer Award

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 21 scientific and technical achievements represented by 58 individual award recipients will be honored at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation on Saturday, February 7, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills.

Michael Moore, Douglas Trumbull, Peter Loehr to headline 2014 TIFF Industry events

MICHAEL MOORE, DOUGLAS TRUMBULL AND PETER LOEHR HEADLINE TIFF INDUSTRY EVENTS AT THE 2014 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

TIFF announced today the initial lineup of speakers joining this year’s TIFF Industry events as part of the 39th Toronto International Film Festival®. The Industry Conference is headlined by cinema technology pioneer and visionary Douglas Trumbull; the opening keynote speaker for Asian Film Summit is Legendary East’s Peter Loehr; and Academy Award®–winning filmmaker Michael Moore participates in a keynote conversation at Doc Conference.

"We are excited to announce the participation of these visionary filmmakers in our industry programming,” said Justin Cutler, Director, Industry Office. “Our programmes will connect 180 top-calibre speakers with an extensive industry audience of filmmakers from over 80 countries, making this year's programming a true global film summit. We aim to attract the best and brightest industry professionals to inspire, motivate and transform the way our attendees think about the art and business of content creation."

7th edition of CinéBazar by MEDIAFILM - Sat, Feb 1

Winning over film buffs and film fanatics for over 7 years now!

Montréal, January 22, 2014 – As has been the tradition for seven years now, CinéBazar, the massive annual gathering of cinephiles, films fanatics and the plain curious, will take place  Saturday, February 1st from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Centre du Plateau. Proceeds will benefit CinÉcole, a film education program run by MEDIAFILM aimed at high school students.

Located at 2275 boulevard St-Joseph East, corner Fullum, the community centre welcomes the event for a second consecutive year. “In only two years, the event has become a top draw in our calendar of cultural events” says Marie-Josée Avon, director general of this invaluable institution which has just celebrated 25 years of its existence.

19 Scientific And Technical Achievements To Be Honored With Academy Awards

Peter W. Anderson to receive Gordon E. Sawyer Award;
Charles “Tad” Marburg to receive John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 19 scientific and technical achievements represented by 52 individual award recipients will be honored at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation on Saturday, February 15, at The Beverly Hills Hotel.

14 Scientific and Technical Achievements under consideration for 2013 Academy Awards

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Scientific and Technical Awards Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that 14 scientific and technical achievements have been selected for further awards consideration.

The list is made public to allow individuals and companies with similar devices or claims of prior art the opportunity to submit achievements for review.

The deadline to submit additional entries is Tuesday, August 27, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

3D Creative Arts Awards 2013 – winners

The International 3D Society bestowed 25 honors for “distinguished achievement” in the 3D Creative Arts Awards Wednesday night at a black-tie ceremony held at the Beverly Hills hotel in Los Angeles. Life of Pi (20th Century Fox) swept several categories including: Best Live Action 3D Feature, Best Stereography – Live Action, and 3D Sequence/Moment of the Year. Two of the Society’s Lumiere™ statuettes were presented to: Brave (Pixar Animation Studios) for Best Animated 3D feature, and Best Stereography – Animation. The Avengers (Paramount Pictures) was honored for Best Use of 2D to 3D Conversion in 2012. Katy Perry: Part of Me won in the category of Best Motion Picture Live Event.

Life of Pi director Ang Lee received the Society’s Harold Lloyd Filmmaker Award, which was presented by Lloyd’s granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd, and Society Co-Chairman Tom Cosgrove, CEO of 3net.

9 Scientific And Technical Achievements to be given Academy Awards

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that nine scientific and technical achievements represented by 25 individual award recipients will be honored at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation at The Beverly Hills Hotel on Saturday, February 9, 2013.

Unlike other Academy Awards to be presented this year, achievements receiving Scientific and Technical Awards need not have been developed and introduced during 2012. Rather, the achievements must demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures.The Academy Awards for scientific and technical achievements are:

2012 Subtle Technologies Festival, May 24-27

Tonight, the 15th anual Subtle Technologies Festival kicks off in downtown Toronto.

The opening show will be Elaine Whittaker’s Cc:me. She calls herself a bioartist and in this show she combines live halobacteria with archival fax material collected over a ten year period. The installation includes her poetry and sound design. Poetry reading will be by Julie Roorda, Jim Johnstone, Ruth Roach Pierson and Larry Sulky. Ambient sound work by Tom Auger.

The opening show Cc:me and reception takes place at the Red Head Gallery at 7:30pm.

Scientific and Technical Oscar winners

2011 Scientific and Technical Awards

The following Academy Awards for scientific and technical achievements were presented on Saturday, February 11, at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills, CA:

Gordon E. Sawyer Award

The Board of Governors of the Academy has voted the Gordon E. Sawyer Award to Douglas Trumbull, a visionary filmmaker who has worked as a designer, director, inventor and entrepreneur, for his lifetime of technical contributions and leadership in the motion picture industry.

Trumbull has distinguished himself as a visual effects pioneer with major contributions to such films as "2001: A Space Odyssey," "The Andromeda Strain," "Silent Running," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Star Trek – The Motion Picture," "Blade Runner" and "Tree of Life."

Call for submissions: Festival du nouveau cinéma's 3x3x3

The Festival du nouveau cinéma has put out a call for submissions for its cross-media workshop 3x3x3, part of their industry program FNC Pro. They are looking for filmmakers or content creators with projects that will function on three platforms. They will select three projects and their creators will have the opportunity to spend days during the Festival du nouveau cinéma working with three mentors.

The program also involves a pitch competition where the three project teams pitch their ideas to a jury and an audience. Prizes will be awarded by both jury and audience.

The deadline for submissions is September 1. The 40th edition of the Festival du nouveau cinéma takes place October 12-23, 2011. The transmedia component of FNC Pro takes place from October 17-19.

http://www.nouveaucinema.ca/home

17th North by Northeast (NXNE) festival - music, film, interactive; June 13-19

The 17th North by Northeast (NXNE) festival starts tonight in Toronto. Primarily a week-long music festival, it also features a companion film festival and an interactive component.

The music portion will see 650 Bands on 50 Stages. Acts include Devo, Descendents, Stars, The Pharcyde, Men Without Hats, Digable Planets, Twin Shadow, OFF!, Art Brut, Shad, Land of Talk, Chad VanGaalen, and Cults. As well, they will be joined by the likes of The Dodos, Deerhoof, Hot Water Music, The Bouncing Souls, and Anti-Flag (previously announced), plus Dum Dum Girls, Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield, Braids, Ty Segall, Suuns, PS I Love You, Crocodiles, Wild Nothing, The Pack A.D., Metz, Dirty Beaches, Forest City Lovers, The Luyas, Lower Dens, Gentlemen Husbands, Rusty, Royal Bangs, Julianna Barwick, No Joy, Prince Rama, Doldrums, Secret Cities, Evening Hymns, Snowblink, Parlovr, Talk Normal, PUJOL, Woodsman, Gauntlet Hair, Joey Cape, Tape Deck Mountain, AIDS Wolf, Houses, CJ Ramone, and Kevin Seconds. A number of free public concerts will take place at Yonge-Dundas Square.

The film festival takes place primarily at the National Film Board (150 John Street), the Hyatt Regency Toronto (370 King W) and at the Toronto Underground Cinema (186 Spadina Ave). A short film that I co-directed with Katarina Soukup called Notes from the Kuerti Keyboard with renowned pianist Anton Kuerti will play at 12:30pm Saturday, June 18 at the NFB theatre. I hope to see you there.

Inaugural Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference, June 11-14

Today is the launch of the first ever Toronto International Stereoscopic 3D Conference. Organized by York University and 3D FLIC, the event promises to be a "one of a kind international gathering of experts in the stereoscopic 3D art and entertainment arena."

The conference kicks off with a bang with renowned German director Wim Wenders presenting a Keynote/Masterclass. His latest award-winning film is PINA, a 3D feature documentary about the legendary dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch.

Other highlights include a screening and post-production case study on Resident Evil: Afterlife with producer Don Carmody and the post-production team, and other Keynote/Masterclasses by Peter Anderson, ASC – On Stereography and by Catherine Owens - On Directing 3D.

This is sure to be an interesting event, especially since 3D has undergone a decline after the huge excitement created by Avatar. After overcharging for bad conversions, recent controversies about low light levels in 3D projection at theatres, ongoing campaigns against 3D by Roger Ebert and others against 3D, and criticism within the industry as 3D ticket sales collapse, 3D is an important filmmaking tool and technique that is in danger of becoming extinct.

10th FITC Toronto, the Design & Technology Festival, May 2-4

After a day of workshops, FITC Toronto hosts their 2011 Toronto Design and Technology Festival starting today. This is their tenth year hosting the festival which began in Toronto and has expanded to 19 cities worldwide.

FITC began as a Flash Festival in 2002 called 'Flash In The Can', named as a Flash event in Canada. After a few years, it grew and beyond Canada and just Flash, so they adopted the acronym F.I.T.C.

Events take place at the Guvernment Entertainment Complex, 132 Queens Quay East. Some of the proceedings can be viewed online at http://fitc.ca/live/

The festival continues to Wednesday, May 4.