Almost steals the show

• Frantic preparations have been occurring for the Woodstock Film Festival where Pride and Glory will be screened tomorrow. For all the info/gossip/details, see the official website (above), the Daily Freeman and the International Herald Tribune.

• You Tube, also on the Pride and Glory front, have a Canadian Press video we seemed to have missed from Toronto, featuring snippets from Gavin O'Connor and Edward Norton at the film's press conference. Also worthy of a peek are a comprehensive one-on-one with Mr N and a short collection of red carpet comments from various Pride and Gloryers, courtesy of the aptly-named RedCarpetDiary.

• In other quarters, it seems one is less likely to find Snakes on a Plane than Rains on a Plane. One blogger mentions that Before the Rains was one of the available selections on her long-haul flight, even if it 'wasn't as good as [she] had hoped'.

• The film however is given the highest mark of movies reviewed this week by The Vast Picture Show, who come up with several thumb ups:

[...] Director Santosh Sivan approaches the theme of betrayal with classical simplicity. Also a cinematographer, [he] conjures lush topography and sensuality.

But he coaxes too some wonderfully nuanced performances from his excellent players. Henry’s wife (Jennifer Ehle) makes a late entrance and her face, a slow-motion car crash of realisation, almost steals the show.

Sivan is aided by a fine script from Cathy Rabin [and] the film’s moral complexity captures precisely the political and emotional tenor of the period. [...]

• Another member of the blogosphere loosely agrees with the 'yay' verdict, arguing that:

[...] while Before the Rains is not nearly as powerful a film as Sivan’s The Terrorist...this Merchant Ivory production [nonetheless] is a beautifully realized, thoughtful and thought-provoking study of the three characters who all make terrible choices. [...]

• Debashine Thangevelo from Tonight speaks with Rains' Nandita Das who, on the experience of making the film, says:

[...] It was shot like a dream and the backdrop is beautiful. ... Everyone involved with the film made it so special with what they brought to the table. Santosh, with his cinematic vision, created a comfort level that energised the actors. The making of this film has been one of my best experiences. [...]

• Lastly, Buzzine's Issac Butler asks whether the US should have a national theatre, in a Utopia-mentioning piece that avid theatre readers might find a pleasant way to spend five minutes. Enjoy!