 |
| January & February, 2006 |
| Nine Lives DVD Release Date: February 14, 2006 (article added 3/8/06) Product Details Actors: Glenn Close, Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Holly Hunter, Elpidia Carrillo, Amanda Seyfried, Robin Wright Penn, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Sissy Spacek, Mary Kay Place Director: Rodrigo Garcia Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only) PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here. Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Rated: R Studio: Sony Pictures Run Time: 82 minutes DVD Features: Available Subtitles: English, German, French Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1) Q&A with the cast and crew Four featurettes on the making of the movie Sunday, February 12, 2006 Winston-Salem Journal Vignettes: Director, cast are on target (article added 3/8/06) By Mark Burger JOURNAL ARTS REPORTER Nine Lives, a collection of nine vignettes written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, also bears the imprint of executive producer Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams) in that it explores how people influence one another. In that regard, it's not unlike Paul Haggis' acclaimed, Oscar-nominated Crash. But Nine Lives is the more contemplative and meditative of the two films - which doesn't necessarily make it a better film. Its concerns are much more internalized, although no less potent as a result. The "nine lives" profiled are all women. We meet each at different times in their lives. Each of the nine vignettes has been filmed in a single, continuous take - an adventurous approach that pays off quite nicely. As is typical of anthology films, some episodes are more effective than others, and some are only tenuously linked to others. Most of the episodes are good, and some are even better than that. An adulterous rendezvous between Aidan Quinn's Henry and Sissy Spacek's Ruth is unexpectedly moving, with Spacek in especially good form. There's the reunion of former lovers Damian (Jason Isaacs) and Diana (Robin Wright Penn) in a neighborhood supermarket, as well as the reunion of Lorna (Amy Brenneman) and her first husband (William Fichtner), at the funeral of his second wife. Camille (Kathy Baker) is facing her mortality as she awaits cancer surgery, while her ever-patient husband (a superb Joe Mantegna) offers tender support. The final vignette, featuring Glenn Close and Dakota Fanning visiting a cemetery on a sunny day, is a real tearjerker. There aren't a lot of laughs in Nine Lives, but the anthology approach allows Garcia to incorporate a bit of impish humor. It's fun to see which characters reappear, and in what capacity within the context of a fresh story. Others of note in the fine ensemble cast include Amanda Seyfried, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Elpidia Carrillo, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stephen Dillane, Lawrence Pressman, a coquettish Holly Hunter and Mary Kay Place, who is, as always, a delight. Although Nine Lives is a weighty film, it's not a heavy-handed one. The actors are extremely good company and are in complete attunement with the attitudes and ambitions of their individual stories. Tying them together and making them a cohesive whole is Garcia's task, and, to a large extent, he pulls it off. � Mark Burger can be reached at [email protected] January 26, 2005 The Hollywood Reporter Film review: Nine Lives (article added 3/8/06) PARK CITY, Utah - Writer-director Rodrigo Garcia's Nine Lives is a bold film both in its storytelling strategies and its filmmaking logistics. Here are nine stories focusing on nine women. Each is a snapshot, a moment in time from which audiences must infer the totality of that life. And each vignette is shot in real time. The camera never stops rolling in a single location. Of course, some vignettes are more powerful than others. Sometimes the authorial hand is evident, but the sustained energy of each continuing tracking shot gives the film a pleasing dynamism, and most vignettes attain a beguiling poignancy. The film, which acquisition execs first saw at Sundance, should perform well in upscale specialty venues that attract college students and young professionals. The name cast is a huge plus. In reality, Garcia's career has pointed toward Nine Lives all along. A self-described miniaturist, Garcia has gone the vignette route in each of his previous pictures � Things You Can Tell Just Tell By Looking at Her (five stories) and Ten Tiny Stories (10). This time each stands alone, though characters from one can drift into another, often in ways that cause you to re-examine the previous story. Garcia keeps you on your toes as new characters and dilemmas appear every 10-12 minutes. One forgets how infrequently movies turn into such an adventure. The first episode introduces Garcia's theme. Sandra (Elpidia Carrillo) is in prison. Her only desire is to speak briefly to her visiting daughter. These women, Garcia declares, are all trapped by situations and predicaments in life, some of their own making and others out of their control. Married and pregnant, Diane (Robin Wright Penn) confronts an old flame (Jason Isaacs) while on a mundane supermarket excursion. In her case, Holly (Lisa Gay Hamilton) wants confrontation with a stepfather who all but ruined her life � and it might be very messy. A seemingly innocent social occasion turns into an unwanted True Confessions for Sonia (Holly Hunter). Teenage Samantha (Amanda Seyfried) becomes a human pinball, bounced back and forth between her wheelchair-bound dad and long-suffering mom, who don't much care to speak to one another. Lorna (Amy Brenneman) unwisely attends the funeral of her ex-husband's wife only to discover her own inadvertent role in the woman's suicide. Ruth (Sissy Spacek) ventures from married life for a tryst in a sad motel. Unexpected comedy emerges from anxiety over imminent, life-altering surgery for Camille (Kathy Baker). Finally, Maggie (Glenn Close) makes an annual pilgrimage to a gravesite with daughter Maria (Dakota Fanning). The rigorous ballet between actors and a crew operating the smooth Steadicam comes off without a noticeable hitch. Actors never break from character; indeed, nearly all show remarkable skill in how they move and out of precious moments of epiphany or insight. Garcia and cinematographer Xavier Perez Grobet seldom wind up with an awkward frame or missed object. Each vignette has a wonderful flow. There are minor flaws: The Sandra/prison sequence is inconsequential, the Sonia/True Confessions vignette feels contrived, and Maggie and Maria's cemetery visit is a tad skimpy. But it is in the cumulative weight of these small tales that the film achieves its emotional impact. Garcia has told you a lot about these women's lives using only the slenderest of story threads. Cast: Ruth: Sissy Spacek; Diana: Robin Wright Penn; Sonia: Holly Hunter; Maria: Dakota Fanning; Maggie: Glenn Close; Camille: Kathy Baker; Lorna: Amy Brenneman; Alma: Mary Kay Place; Lisa: Molly Parker; Holly: Lisa Gay Hamilton; Samantha: Amanda Seyfried; Sandra: Elpidia Carrillo; Richard: Joe Mantegna; Henry: Aiden Quinn; Martin: Stephen Dillane. Screenwriter-director: Rodrigo Garcia; Producer: Julie Lynn; Executive producer: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu; Director of photography: Xavier Perez Grobet; Production designer: Courtney Jackson; Music: Edward Shearmur; Costume designer: Maria Tortu; Editor: Andrea Folprecht. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter � Copyright Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. |
 |
|
 |
|
| Visitors Since February, 2006 |
 |