Bernie Madoff Movie Among Gold Coast International Film Festival Lineup

The town of North Hempstead on Long Island is the place to be June 1-5, 2011 when the Gold Coast International Film Festival launches. It’s first year seems to be off on a good start with a film lineup that features titles from places around the world including India, China, France and England according to the Huffington Post.

One of the highlights of this upcoming event is a documentary called “Chasing Madoff” that chronicles a decade long investigation to uncover Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme that affected the wallets of many people, including Nassau County residents.

This Madoff centered movie may help to answer some questions that people have about who and what was involved in bringing justice for the crimes he committed but this is not a movie that I would exactly pay to watch unless it had some kind of educational value. I would wait for it to come on TV or Netflix streaming or something.

Now, “Holy Rollers” starring Jesse Eisenberg from “The Social Network” may be a ticket worth purchasing because it has an entertaining plot. Eisenberg plays a youngster studying to be a Rabbi who is recruited into an Ecstasy smuggling ring. The “Holy Rollers” screening should be refreshing, giving audiences a chance to see Eisenberg in another performance that is different enough to keep him from always being known as the Facebook guy.

Here is the trailer:

If you’re in or near Long Island, visit one of the screenings at the Gold Coast International Film Festival and come back here to share your thoughts on the event and movie!

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It's a Wonderful Life - Part 1

Yesterday, Anyes of Far away in the Sunshine asked about what our favorite black and white movies are. My favorite among the very few black and white movies that I've watched so far is "It's a Wonderful Life" starting James Stewart.

I like how it captures the human traditions and spirit surrounding the Christmas holiday and I also enjoyed how the main character was given a glimpse of what the world around him would be like if he did not exist.

The experience helped him realize how much of an impact he had in the lives of other people. The amount of impact, in his case, was huge so it improved his mood, perspective on his circumstances and changed his bout of self-pity.

"It's a Wonderful Life" is a pretty uplifting film and I guess this is to be expected from a holiday movie.

Stay tuned for another look at a general concept of "It's a Wonderful Life" from a different perspective, to be posted later this week.

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Black and White movies...why not?

This guest post is from Anyes of Far away in the Sunshine who is a fellow WordCount Blogathon participant. You can also read my guest post on her blog.

The attraction I still have for Black and White movies started early on, while I was watching the late Friday nights flicks every week in my living room. Those magic moments marked the beginning of my love affair with the whole genre. As everyone was asleep and the whole house had fallen into a quiet slumber, a different atmosphere could be felt all around. I order to better my English, I remember watching mostly American B&W movies, in VO (original Version) with French subtitles.

They were showing me a world, I had never dreamed of. I was about 14 years old at the time and my impressionable mind absorbed all of those wonderful images. This foreign language was music to my ears, those landscapes I had never seen made me curious and eager to know more. The actors and actresses were all surrounded with the glow of my teenage admiration.

A movie like Suspicion, where the handsome Cary Grant made me wonder if he was as bad as his co star Joan Fontaine suspected was the kind I really enjoyed. Alfred Hitchcock's quiet understated movies were always so full of suspense. This particular capacity of his to take an ordinary situation and turn it into a frightful scenario, was simply irresistible to me. Looking past the fancy decor and the well chosen words of the dialog, I could see a whole different window into a world I wanted to be part of.

Another one of my all time favourite is Bringing Up Baby this time with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn.  Every scene of this classic movie, was an excuse for a comic repartee from either actors or some physical comedy that left me crying out of laughter. I really enjoyed watching the interaction between the two actors and having a big adolescent crush on Cary Grant made the whole experience even more enjoyable.

Having fairly young children, I have made a point to try and share my love for those old fashioned movies signs of different times. I feel very lucky that both my children still come and sit with me when one of my old favourite is showing on TCM, and get to spend a bit of time into a different world, one I used to cherish in my younger years.

What is your favourite Black and white movie?