Nov. 9-13 in Houston

Ethan Hawke and Texas premieres of Oscar contenders The Artist and Coriolanusheadline Cinema Arts Festival Houston

Ethan Hawke
"The Artist" is expected to be an Oscar contender
Coriolanus, starring Ralph Fiennes, is also eagerly anticipated.

Multi-talented actor/writer/director Ethan Hawke and screenings of several films that are likely favorites for this year's Academy Awards are among the highlights of the third annual Cinema Arts Festival Houston, officials announced Monday night at The Grove.

Hawke, an actor on stage and screen (Reality Bites, Before Sunrise, Training Day, Gattaca), director of the movie Chelsea Walls and the stage play Things We Want, and author of well-received novels, The Hottest State and Ash Wednesday, will receive the festival's Levantine Cinema Arts Award.

The award honors a leading actor, director or other creative artist who has stretched the boundaries of cinematic expression. Last year's honoree was Isabella Rossellini.

"We wanted to give it to an artist who has embraced all art forms in his career. Ethan embodies that," Cinema Arts Festival Houston artistic director Richard Herskowitz told CultureMap.

"We wanted to give it to an artist who has embraced all art forms in his career. Ethan embodies that," Cinema Arts Festival Houston artistic director Richard Herskowitz told CultureMap. "He exactly fits the bill of what we are looking for — a young actor who sees no boundaries at all. Film is simply the starting point for him."

Hawke, 40, will present his latest film, The Woman in the Fifth, on Nov. 12 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Brown Auditorium, and talk about his career in a question-and-answer session with CultureMap contributor, film teacher and critic Joe Leydon afterwards.

The next day, Hawkeʼs good friend, director Richard Linklater, will join him for a 10th anniversary screening of their 2001 collaboration, Tape, at Edwards Greenway Grand Palace.

The festival, which is unique because it combines elements of an art fair with a traditional film fest, also plans a full slate of interactive installations and live performances with films in several locations across Houston Nov. 9-13.

"We have constantly built up the live performance element,"Herskowitz said. "The original vision was to make this a festival where all the arts participate. I feel like it's getting closer and closer to what that original dream was."

Among the live installations:

The Donald Sosin Ensemble, featuring vocalist Joanna Seaton and student players from Rice Universityʼs Shepherd School of Music, will perform live to accompany the recently rediscovered silent classic, Upstream (1927), at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston on Nov. 13.
In collaboration with the Aurora Picture Show, filmmaker, video artist and documentarian Braden King will present his new feature film, Here, on Nov. 11 at the Edwards Greenway Grand Palace, as well as a live hybrid film-concert Here [The Story Sleeps] at Talento Bilingue de Houston on Nov. 12.
Miwa Matreyek will present her latest performance – "Myth and Infrastructure" – at Talento Bilingue de Houston on Nov. 11. Meyek performs in a multimedia production using projected animation she has created.
As previously reported, the festival will kick off Nov. 9 with the regional premiere of Downtown Express, featuring a performance by the film's star, Russian-American violinist Philippe Quint.

Three upcoming releases with Oscar potential will be screened at the festival:

The Artist, a silent movie filmed in black-and-white about a relationship between a star whose popularity is on the wane with the advent of talkies and a young-actress-on-the-rise, has won rave reviews at major international film festivals.
Coriolanus, starring and directed by Ralph Fiennes, is a 2011 adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy about a banished hero of Rome who allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.
David Cronenbergʼs A Dangerous Method is based on the turbulent relationships between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them.

In another new element this year, the festival is bringing three major international directors — Patricio Guzmán (Chile), Zhu Wen (China), and Mahmoud Kaabour (Lebanon) — to present their latest films.

Closing night (Nov. 13) promises two blockbusters: The world premiere of Art Car: The Movie at Miller Outdoor Theater and Pina, a 3-D movie by director Wim Wenders about dance great Pina Bosch, at the Edwards Greenway Grand Palace.

One reason for the strong lineup: Although in only its third year, the festival has earned a reputation as a "go-to" place for new or unusual movies. "We've got more clout," Herskowitz said.

A full schedule as can be found on the Cinema Arts Festival Houston website.

unspecified

Movie Review

28 Years Later revives zombie franchise for new generation

Photo by Miya Mizuno

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later.

The 2000s brought two of the best zombie movies ever made in 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. Both films, despite being made by different filmmakers, featured intense action with fast-moving zombies, harrowing sequences, and real emotional connections with their main characters. Now the original director and writer — Danny Boyle and Alex Garland — have returned with the first of a possible three sequels, 28 Years Later.

The rage virus from the first two films that turns humans into insatiable monsters has successfully been contained to the United Kingdom, and one group of survivors has managed to band together on a small island off the coast of England. We’re introduced to the group through Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), his wife, Isla (Jodie Comer), and his son, Spike (Alfie Williams).

Isla is sick with an unknown illness, while Jamie is set to take the 12-year-old Spike on his first trip to the mainland to hunt zombies. That trip not only gives Spike an education as to the different types of feral zombies that now populate England, but also a clue that other people have survived there. When he discovers that one of them may be a doctor, he makes plans to take his mother there in hopes of finding a cure for whatever ails her.

While the first two films were notable for their brisk pace that kept the potency of the stories high, Boyle and Garland almost go in the opposite direction for much of this film. The first 90 minutes are relatively slow, with only a couple of sequences that raise the blood pressure. The final half hour or so go a long way toward filling that void, so it’s clear that the filmmakers were biding their time for the story to come in the sequel. A bit more balance in this film would have served them well, though.

What they do show involves some weird, wild stuff that is objectively upsetting, even for fans of the genre. The zombies have evolved in strange ways, giving them a variety of body shapes and abilities to suit the environment in which they live. These storytelling choices may thrill some and have others scratching their heads. Another human character living on his own (played by Ralph Fiennes), appears to have gone the way of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, with a revelation that is bone-chilling.

Boyle, who’s directed everything from Trainspotting to Slumdog Millionaire, doesn’t have a signature style, and he makes some choices in this film that test your patience. He occasionally employs an odd technique in which the film stutters, for a lack of better term. It’s a bit jarring, especially since it doesn’t seem to improve the storytelling. He also inserts scenes from older films involving medieval warfare that emulate the bow-and-arrow weaponry used by characters in this film, but the exact connection he’s trying to make is unclear.

The young Williams has a lot put on his shoulders in the film, and he proves to be up to the task of carrying the story. He isn’t precocious or annoying, instead reacting almost exactly like you’d expect a boy of his age to do when faced with extreme situations. Taylor-Johnson and Comer are good complements for him, drawing him out with their polar opposite characters. Fiennes makes a huge impression in the final act of the film, while Jack O’Connell makes a very brief appearance, teasing a bigger role to come.

It’s difficult to fully judge 28 Years Later because it’s designed to only give you part of the story; part 2, The Bone Temple, is due in 2026, while a third film will follow if the first two do well. This film has its moments and winds up on the positive side of the ledger, but it’s also a frustrating experience that could have used a more stand-alone story.

---

28 Years Later is now playing in theaters.

movies film

Nov. 9-13 in Houston

Ethan Hawke and Texas premieres of Oscar contenders The Artist and Coriolanusheadline Cinema Arts Festival Houston

Innovative Houston chef is the city's newest James Beard Award winner

Houston farmers market adds new indoor pickleball court with food and cocktails

Houston burger mastermind fires up new pop-up devoted to Philly cheesesteaks

Movie Review

28 Years Later revives zombie franchise for new generation