Tarik Akan & Serif Sezer

Tonight I went to the premiere of the movie "Deli Deli Olma" (Don't be Crazy), More than famous actors Tarık Akan and Şerif Sezer were there. Tarık Akan is the most handsome man in Turkey, past, present and future (according to Ekin). Şerif Sezer sarted her career in the award winning Turkish movie "The Way" (1982).

Coraline

I wanted to post about this movie for a while now but dueto lack of time I didn't.
My friend Noah watched in 3D in the U.S. I really hope it's gonna come here soon and in 3D too and in English too. They say that it'll come to theaters in Europe this summer. Summer is far. Here is the trailer :

Body of Lies

Tonight I went to see the movie "Body of Lies" at the "premiere" show, thanks to the guys of sinema.com. You can learn more and see the trailer on the official website or on imdb.com.

more to come...

A.R.O.G. Photos

Cem Yilmaz as Arif









The blurry guy standing up in the front is A.R.O.G.'s actor/scenarist/producer Cem Yilmaz.









The movie theater entrance in the Kanyon mall center.

A.R.O.G.

Thanks to the Sinevidyon team (Özgür and Eren) today I had the opportunity to be among the first to watch the new comedy from Cem Yilmaz at the premiere for the Press.
A.R.O.G. is the second "episode" after the first movie : G.O.R.A.
In Gora Cam Yilmaz played the hero : Arif, a young Turk was captured by extraterrestrials from the planet GORA, fell in love with one of them and defeated the evil commander-in-chief Logar (aslo played by Cem Yilmaz). In A.R.OG. Commander Logar comes back and sends Arif 1 million years ago at the time of dinosaurs where he meets people from the A.R.O.G. tribe this time. Cem Yilmaz plays three different characters in this movie, Arif, Commander Logar and Kaaya leader of the A.R.O.G tribe.

I was afraid that he wouldn't be that funny since they overwhelmed us with commercials, advertising of all sorts. But I wasn't disappointed at all. It was a pretty good and funny movie. They apparently spend 8 million (or maybe 9) dollars to do this film but I'm pretty sure they spent most of it in commercials and in post production. The special effects are in fact pretty good for a Turkish production. The costumes and the decors were really nice too. As for the picture itself, it had a very good quality, the colors, the lighting were very good. A movie to watch absolutely, especially if you're a fan of Cem Yilmaz; if you don't like him you won't like like him here either.

The casting is actually pretty good with almost the same actors from G.O.R.A. : Ozan Güven (played the Robot in G.O.R.A.), Özkan Uğur (comedian and musician - from the MFÖ music band), Özge Özberk and the beautiful singer Nil Karaibrahimgil in her first appearance on the big screen.

Just for your information : The movie is coming out on December the 5th in Turkey as well as in 8 other European countries (Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, U.K. and France). It has been distributed with 400 copies here and 160 copies in Europe.

Quantum of Solace

Last night I finally went to see the last James Bond. I'm a fan of the sequel and a fan of good action movies. Everybody said that there is more action in this one than in any other James Bond film so I was expecting much more action than Casino Royal or Die Another Day but there wasn't that much. It is actually a good point I think. Less action but the action scenes seems more real and is then more believable and bring back James Bond to a normal Human being.
By the way, not once in the movie, is he carrying the weapon he's holding on the poster.
If you're a fan of the James bond series, got watch it. I'm one of those who like Daniel Craig as a James Bond. If you don't like him, you might be bothered by his postures and looks.
By the way, it started as a joke by Daniel Craig but it is starting to be taken seriously by the Studios, they're apparently thinking of doing a black James Bond. I don't know if it is a good idea. It would change the character. It would be like doing a white Shaft ! ;)

Mustafa

As we celebrate today the 85 years anniversary of the creation of the Turkish Republic, a new movie called "Mustafa" came out in the theaters today. This movie is about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of the Republic of Turkey. An actually real good movie/documentary and kind of objective for a Turkish production. The Director is Journalist/Writer Can Dündar. Music is by Goran Bregovic.

Ulak - the DVD is Out

Usually in Turkey, Dvd's come out pretty quickly, but this is a very different story for Ulak (the Messenger - See previous Post). We shot the movie in June/July 2007. The movie was supposed to come out in November 2007 but the director Çağan Irmak decided to wait so he could present it to film festivals, so we waited until February 2008 to see the film. Then I was waiting for the DVD but again, in order to be able to compete for the festivals the director decided to wait and finally, after a year and a half we can find, in a nice metal box, TWO dvd's. One with the movie and the director's comment, fact rare in Turkey. And the usual "Making Of" on the second DVD, rare too.

Three Monkeys

Tonight we went to the Premiere of Nuri Bilge Ceylan's new film : Three Monkeys (Üç Maymun), thanks to Gülper.
It was excellent. I love the way he has to show peoples' emotions, thoughts. I won't say much about it, find it and watch it.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan (I call him NBC) has become very amous in Turkey by winning international awards. People do not really like his movies because they're not easy watching movies.
He has been mostly influenced by Tarkovsky, Bergman, Yasujiro Ozu, Robert Bresson and some others; Three Monkeys is easier to watch though.
I really like one of his previous movie : Uzak (Distant); although they're all very good.
The photography of his films is very good. NBC is actually a photographer, then a filmmaker and a screenwriter.
Check out his photos on his website.

Chop Shop

Today I went to see the last movie I was supposed to see : Chop Shop, by director Ramin Bahrani. The film follows the efforts of 12-year-old orphan Alejandro (played by the very talented Alejandro Polanco) to make a better life for himself and his 16-year-old sister. Working and living in a repair shop, Alejandro never stops hustling.
Taking place entirely in a gritty warren of auto body shops in the shadow of Shea Stadium. It depicts a New York rarely seen on-screen, with a big sensitivity. A must see.

Mýrin

I went to see this very intriguing icelandic movie ('Jar City' in English) today and it was actually a very good movie. The Direction, The cast, the acting, the story. The main actor Ingvar Eggert Sigurdsson was also present at the screening. He won the award for best actor in Iceland. This multi-layered murder mystery became the highest grossing film in Icelandic history, and was the country's Oscar nominee. During the Icelandic Edda Film Festival, this movie actually won best film, best actor, best music, best director, best supporting actor.
It's apparently inspired from the book of the same name by author Arnaldur Indridason. Very good thriller far from clichés.

Dante 01

Today I went to see Dante 01, the first long feature film directed by Marc Caro (without Jean-Pierre Jeunet). As I said in an earlier post it was preceded by one of his first short (with J-P Jeunet) film made in 1981, The Bunker of the last shotguns. I can say that I liked the short better than Dante 01. It was not a bad movie, it was better than average but I was disappointed. I had been waiting for Caro's new work for so long and probably with too much expectations.

Everything that happens in it is a metaphor. Its references to religious and/or biblical facts probably bothered me too.

The actors were very good and the movie didn't feel too long or too short but the ending was not satisfying to me.

Be Kind, Rewind - Sweded

We went to see Michel Gondry's last film (the website is amazing as well, you can swede a movie there). I've been following his work for years now. He's the most creative person I've ever heard of. He is a real genius. The man thinks differently from any human being, which he is not of course.

Go see it as soon as you can.


Here is a view of the Emek theater, we were sitting in the front row of the balcony. As you can see this is a pretty old theater.

The Savages and Marc Caro

This morning we went to see 'The Savages' with the wonderful Philip Seymour Hoffman; I love this actor, one of the best there is actually. He has that ability to portray an ordinary human being like no others. I loved him in all of his movies.
The talented Laura Linney is also starring in this movie as well as the great Philip Brosco. It was a great movie, a sad movie but not too depressing; it has a very human look at life. The performance of the actors make it very credible.






After the movie went and ate at Miss Pizza (one of the best pizza place in Istanbul) in Cihangir and then walked up to the Istiklal to attend a master class with director Marc Caro (one of the two creators - with Jean-Pierre Jeunet - of Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children) who came to Istanbul for the film festival to present his new movie 'Dante 01' and supposedly share his passion for cinema, his thoughts on drawing intersecting with film, and his directing.
When we entered the building, the security guy told us that we'd have to follow the class from the 4th floor if we didn't have an invitation (press...), and so we went. What was at the 4th floor ? The cafeteria with a small LCD screen and a few frustrated people sitting there and waiting for Marc Caro to appear on the small screen. It did start but we did not have the sound because the guy with the remote control was on the phone. We just decided to leave.












I hate IKSV (Istanbul Foundation for culture and arts), they've been doing this for 27 years and that's what we got ? I have so many griefs against them, like their inability to organize the tickets sales (on a later post probably) and more.

Tonight Ekin went to see 'Dante 01' by herself. She said that before the actual movie they screened the first short he realized with Jean-Pierre Jeunet : 'The Bunker of the Last Gunshots ' (1981) ; she said that at least 30 people left the room during this screening, they probably thought it was the actual movie. This short is like the movie Metropolis but on crack. Anyway, I'm going to see 'Dante 01' Monday morning so I'll tell you more about it then.

99 Francs

Today I met with Jake for lunch. Afterward we went to the film festival together to see the French movie "99 francs", from the bestseller book of the same name (actually renamed 14.99 euros after theintroduction of the euro) written by the French intellectual Frédéric Beigbeder (pronounce beg bay day) that narrates his experience as a publicist in a satirical and fashionable style.

I actually did not read the book, I usually don't like reading bestsellers but then some good friends around me read it and told me that it was pretty good, so instead of reading it I opted for the movie.

After the movie we walked up to Nisantasi and had a drink at Barnie's and ate one of the worst lemon pie ever and then walked home.
Tonight Ekin went to see the movie 'Paris', the one that I missed yesterday but she wasn't thrilled about it.

No Movies Today

This morning I was supposed to go see 'The Inner Life of Martin Frost' but I couldn't. As I came to Dolmabahce I got stuck in the traffic. There is never traffic jam at this place. So I told the cab driver to go all the way around, but it was the same. It was worse than when the Olympic flame was here last week. Anyway, I decided to go by foot and saw that the police everywhere. They had shut down the Whole Taksim Square and its area. But why ? Because they were celebrating their 163rd anniversary. They already celebrated something like that last Sunday and paralyzed the whole Mecidyekoy-Taksim area.
Once I got there, I couldn't cross the square, so I waited and took pictures.

I was also supposed to go see another movie ('Paris') but got a call this morning telling me I was working today. So here I am, at the office.

Enjoy the pics.






























Standing still during the national anthem


























































This poor guy is waiting for the signal to let those balloons free















































The Governor is here, as well as the Mayor of Istanbul

Ulzhan

No water today, so no shower. And what happens when Julien can't shower ? He stays home. I NEED MY SHOWER !!! But I wanted to see that movie. Big dilemma. Well I went to my parents' and took a shower there. Can you realized that I spent at least 20 minutes outside, dirty ? No I'm not that bad. I think I got that from my dad :
My dad parked his car in front of their building in the Taksim/Cihangir area; during the night, some street hoodlums decided to spend the night in it, so they wing opened the doors and settled inside for the night. A neighbor informed my dad about it and what did my dad say ? : "Let me take a shower, I'll be right down."

Anyway, I went to see this French/German/Kazakh movie called Ulzhan (pronounce Uljan) by German director Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum, 1979). It was a very nice movie, with a very nice picture, the two main actors were very good. But this is a drama, a real one and I wasn't in the mood for one. But still, if you get a chance to watch it you still should. The movie takes place mainly in Kazakhstan and it teaches us more about this country.

Things We Lost in the Fire

Tonight, second movie : Things we lost in the Fire. I was afraid to be disappointed because it looked like a Hollywood like drama but happily, it was not probably due to the fact that director Susanne Bier is from Denmark, no offense.
Actually, the only reason I decide to see this movie is because Benicio Del Toro starred in it and I wasn't disappointed. The man is THE man. The other actors were good too : David Duchovny, John Caroll Lynch and Omar Benson Miller; I was a bit afraid of Halle Berry's performance but she was very good too. The story telling wasn't dull, the camera movements and composition were nice. Even though it is a sad story, it's not a depressing movie. Go see it !

The Darjeeling Limited

This morning I went to see that movie and I can only say : Wes Anderson, you are the man. I loved that movie.
I really loved the Royal Tennenbaums, but not so much (a bit disappointed) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
I like the camera movements, the way he's able to use restrained spaces, the sets, the composition of each frame, the colors, the humor, the absurdity, the story telling. The actors were great too of course. A great Jason Schwartzman who also helped on the writing of the story along with Roman Coppola by the way(who was also director of the 2nd team).


The movie is preceded by a short on called Hotel Chevalier starring Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman and is actually the prologue to the story told in following movie. It was actually shot in two days (and a half) at the Hotel Raphael in the 16th district.

Int. Istanbul Film Festival

On April 4th the 27th International Istanbul Film Festival started. I bought many tickets to many movies. Today I was supposed to go see this movie called Elite Squad but last night I learned that I was working today so I couldn't go. Then I also realized that some guys were supposed to come this morning to install a new satellite dish on the roof in order to get this "new" television provider called DSmart. This is actually where Ekin is working so we're getting it for free.
Now we have two satellite receivers plus cable tv.
Short story long, I couldn't go see this interesting movie and I'm bummed about it. Learn more about it here.
Tomorrow I'm going to see two other movies ('Darjeeling Ltd' and 'The Savages') and am working in between, I'll tell you more then.