Motion Picture: Honey Drop, TIFF Festival, Oscar Issac
Action/Fantasy/Sci-fi: The film, Bigil, follows a former professional athlete who becomes a coach for a women's soccer team, struggles to fulfill the wishes of his father and the respect from his team due to his violent background. Director Atlee Kumar has been awarded numerous rewards such Vijay Award for Favourite Director for his previous work. His first film Raja Rani in 2013 won him Best debut Director for Tamil films. Formerly known as Atlee his films have become quite popular, Bigil can be seen in selected theaters for a limited release.
Les Miserables is a french drama film that studies social unity in a time of havoc. Stemming from Victor Hugo, classic Les Miserables, the story revolves around political justice. Director Lady Ly released a short in 2017 of the same name and expanded the story of a group of individuals developing an anti-crime brigade but discover the issues between different social groups in different districts in France. The film will be released on November 20th in select theaters.
Star Wars actress Kelly Marie Tran will be joining the cast in Dreamworks The Croods sophomore film. Reporters say the film will be about The Croods meeting a new family, The Bettermans’ after leaving the cave. Stan will voice Dawn Betterman the sheltered only child, Director Joel Crawford says "From the moment Kelly stepped behind the mic, we knew we had found our Dawn Betterman. She brings the perfect mix of quirkiness and heart to the role and is a perfect addition to our incredible cast." The film will be released in December 2020, but in the meantime, Tran will can be seen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as Rose Tico.
Documentary: One Child Nation focuses on China’s 1979’s one-child act- policy as a form to help control the population crisis. The film discusses the issues the policy caused such as abortion, sterilization and child abandonment. After becoming a mother Filmmaker Nafu Wang took the time to grasp the efforts the nation made to better a situation and how it has affected the lives of millions of people across the country. The film can be seen online with an Amazon Prime membership.
Imagine Entertainment
Comedy: Netflix is releasing a sequel to the hit comedy film, Undercover Brother. Taking inspiration from Blaxploitation the first film was about a secret agent who tries to take down “The Man” plan to rid the chances of having a black president. The story will pick up sixteen years after the first film originally starring Comedian Eddie Griffin the sequel will star Michael Jai White (Arrow) as then undercover agent little brother who will finish the mission of taking down the “The Man”. UnderCover Brother 2 can be streamed on Netflix on November 5th.
TOKYO FILM FESTIVAL
Drama: A Beloved Wife is an autobiographical story of writer-director Shin Adachi’s life. This Japanese film follows the toxic relationship of a married couple struggle to find love in a frustrating sexless marriage. 10 years have passed and the couple has nothing to show for their meaningless marriage except for the mutual love they have for their daughter, Aki. The films gleam a light of the hardships of marriage and all the things that come to play when in sustaining a marriage. Director Shin Adachi previously took home the Japan Academy Film Prize for Screenplay of the Year in 2016 in regards to her film 100 Yen Love. A Beloved Wife screened in this past weekend’s Tokyo International Film Festival.
Honey Drop is a film based on Shila La Beouf rocky childhood the unsettling relationship with his father that has affected his life as an artist. The film displays numerous stages of the La Beouf growing pains as a child star and struggles his adulthood as adduction and rehab come to play. Working with the renowned filmmaker, Alma Har’el known for her specialty in blurring the lines between fiction and documentary, the Israeli American director was nominated for multiple awards including the Independent Spirit Awards for her previous work Bombay Beach. Singer/Songwriter FKA Twigs makes her acting debut as a friendly next-door neighbor, Honey Drop stars Shia Labeouf as his own father, Lucas Hedges ( Boy Erased )as Otis the name used in the film for Labeof’’s character, at 22 and child actor Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place) as Otis age 12. The film has received numerous amazing reviews, Honey Drop can be seen in selected theaters upon release on November 7th.
Guatemalan actor Oscar Issac will be starring in Paul Schraders’ new film The Card Counter. Reports say the film is based on an original screenplay by the Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, as William Tell a gambler who attempts to help a shaken young boy seek revenge on a military colonel. The film is set to start filming early next year, will cinematographer, Alexander Dynan who previously worked with Schrader for First Reformed. Reports say managing director Gabrielle Stewart stated "This is essentially an unlikely and surprising three-hander that weaves together the entertaining world of gambling; a potent and personal revenge thriller; unafraid to ask some extremely current and uncomfortable questions. Isaac's Tell is set to be a modern, iconic anti-hero, unmistakably drawn by this genius screenwriter.”
Industry Update: The Tokyo International Film Festival also known as TIFF announced they would be adding on a new category section in the festival. After thirty-two years TIFF's director Takeo Hisamatsu has implemented the animation section as a call for celebrating Japanese culture. With the 2020 Olympics slowly approaching and Netflix reps have made an effort to attend the festival, the festival wishes to rebrand visual arts for the Japanese society. Hisamatsu says there is a loss of film culture in Japan and that many of the younger generations don’t recall the works of legendary filmmakers such as Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai). The goal is to promote more original works that will sell well overseas, Hisamatsu says this year box-office is projected to be Japan's highest gross on record. Wish you were here will be in the festival as the first animated film to be premiered in the new Animation section.