Screenwriter Chris Sparling’s Buried ranked at the top of Hollywood’s infamous Black List, a list of the hottest unproduced movies composed annually by Universal Pictures Development Director Franklin Leonard. The story was about a U.S. contractor named Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), working in Iraq, who wakes up buried in a coffin. While a story about one actor on screen for an entire film may not have driven the box office ticket sales Lionsgate would have liked, Buried still ranks as one of the best crafted suspense thrillers of 2010. The screenplay was also noted on USA Network’s Character Approved Blog for Sparling’s writing. Now released on Blu-ray, Director Rodrigo Cortés’ film can receive the attention it deserves. It may not have the based-on-a-true story belief factor of 127 Hours (starring James Franco as climber Aron Ralston), but watching the special features makes you realize just how intense...
- 1/16/2011
- by Bags
- BuzzFocus.com
The word “sequestro” is probably unfamiliar to most people in the English-speaking world. However, once you see the documentary by award-winning filmmaker Jorge W. Atalla (In Cane for Life/A Vida em Cana), you will never be able to forget it. Sequestro (Kidnapping) is a documentary that brings to light the harsh realities of life in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Unlike glamorized movies like Ransom (Mel Gibson), Sequestro dives into the psychology of kidnapping and its political roots. Atalla chronicles actual cases of the Sao Paulo police department’s Anti Kidnapping Division (Divisao Anti-Sequestro aka Das). The footage isn’t dramatized; it’s actual footage of the victims, their families and kidnappers documented between 2005 and 2009, which makes this film all the more horrific to watch. Sequestro will have you questioning your own comfort levels as you are immersed in a world of violence and victimization. Throughout the documentary, viewers will see...
- 9/18/2010
- by Bags
- BuzzFocus.com
With its vérité footage and synthesized score, “Sequestro” at times plays like a non-trashy episode of “Cops.” After four years of following the São Paulo police force’s Anti-Kidnapping Division, director Jorge W. Atalla likely has plenty of footage for a full season of television shows, each focusing on an individual case of a civilian snatched off the streets of Brazil and held for ransom. Instead, he expertly interweaves interviews with victims and on-site investigations into real cases to expose a terrifying trend in Latin American crime.
Several kidnappings figure in Atalla’s film, but the one that he follows throughout, the one that ties “Sequestro” together, is the case of Jose Ibiapina, a husband and father whose family we first meet on day one of the investigation. His kidnappers want Us$15,000 for his return. The family can raise only $9,000, and it’s devastating to witness his grown son Alessandro...
Several kidnappings figure in Atalla’s film, but the one that he follows throughout, the one that ties “Sequestro” together, is the case of Jose Ibiapina, a husband and father whose family we first meet on day one of the investigation. His kidnappers want Us$15,000 for his return. The family can raise only $9,000, and it’s devastating to witness his grown son Alessandro...
- 9/10/2010
- Moving Pictures Magazine
There are reasons that tourists go to Rio, to the Amazon jungle, to Salvador de Bahía, but not to São Paulo-except to disembark and take a domestic aircraft to a place more amenable to travelers. One is that Brazil's largest city is for business. It is filled with skyscrapers and the hum of traffic with no beaches or waterfalls to speak of. Perhaps a more important reason is the explosion of crime. São Paulo is the most crime-ridden big city in the Western Hemisphere. Many of its criminals have realized that sticking up stories is not the most lucrative way to make a living so they have resorted to kidnapping. In many cases, even after ransom is paid, the victim is killed. In one particular case documented by Jorge W. Atalla in "Sequestro" ("Kidnapping") a small child is rescued, one who was destined to be killed whether or not ransom...
- 8/11/2010
- Arizona Reporter
We have been provided with the trailer for award winning director Jorge W. Atalla.s upcoming hard hitting documentary 'Sequestro'. The documentary follows Brazil.s Anti Kidnapping Division as they tackle one of the countries biggest crimes.Watch the trailer for 'Sequestro' below;'Sequestro' opens in New York and La from September 10th.Award-winning writer-producer-director Atalla (In Cane For Life) and executive producer Frederico Lapenda are ready to share Sequestro, a powerful documentary about Brazil.s Anti Kidnapping Division (Das), with audiences on September 10th. With the consent of the Brazilian government, the production was given unprecedented access to the unit and privy to private/ privileged information which is responsible for keeping the city.s 18 million people safe. The division, created in 2000 when kidnapping was...
- 7/31/2010
- by Anthony Pearson
- Monsters and Critics
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