Blind activists plan protest of movie 'Blindness' Oct 3, 2008
"Blindness" director Fernando Meirelles, an Academy Award nominee for "City of God," was shooting on location Thursday and unavailable for comment, according to Miramax. The studio released a statement that read, in part, "We are saddened to learn that the National Federation of the Blind plans to protest the film `Blindness.'". (MSNBC -- Movies)
Moore causes blind outrage Oct 3, 2008
Miramax, who are releasing the movie, have denied the claims, insisting director Fernando Meirelles had "worked diligently to preserve the intent and resonance of the acclaimed book which is a courageous parable about the triumph of the human spirit when civilisation breaks down". Moore plays the wife of an optician, portrayed by Mark Ruffalo, who feigns blindness when her husband loses his sight in a bid to stay with him. (iAfrica.com)
Review: 'Blindness' Oct 3, 2008
By Carina Chocano, Times Movie Critic October 3, 2008 In Fernando Meirelles' land of the blind, the one-eyed man isn't king -- the morally degenerate opportunist is. After a mysterious plague of sightlessness strikes an anonymous city, a shadowy Orwellian government quarantines the afflicted in a decommissioned sanitarium, leaving them to duke it out over an ever-dwindling supply of TV dinners. (Los Angeles Times)
Not A Pretty Sight Oct 3, 2008
Director Fernando Meirelles ("The Constant Gardener") situates the outbreak in an unidentified international-flavored city. When one man suddenly loses his sight while his car is stopped at a traffic light, the shocking ease with which total strangers slip into bad Samaritanism sets the grim tone. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
'Blindness': Lost In Light, By Kurt Loder Oct 3, 2008
Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore in "Blindness (Miramax) Stopped at a light on a busy street in an unnamed city, a motorist raises his hands to his eyes in panic. He has suddenly gone blind. So has a high-end call girl in the midst of servicing a client in a luxury hotel. A little boy succumbs, and a thief, and, with pointed irony, an ophthalmologist, too. As the strange plague spreads, government operatives in hazmat gear begin rounding up its victims and transporting them to a grim... (VHI.com -- Music News)
"Blindness" Oct 3, 2008
Site Presented By Friday, Oct 3, 2008. Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore in "Blindness.". (Salon)
VIFF fires up for another great year Sep 25, 2008
Directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God), and adapted from Nobel prize- winner Jose Saramago's novel by Canadian Don McKeller, Blindness is the Opening Gala for the festival. The Class (France). (24 Hours Vancouver)
'Blindness': Glimpsing humanity as it fades into white Sep 22, 2008
Julianne Moore in the soon-to-be-released "Blindness," directed by Fernando Meirelles ... Usually when I make a film, I can get started by going to Google, doing research," Fernando Meirelles said a little nervously, a few hours before a screening in Montreal of his ambitious new movie "Blindness. (International Herald Tribune)
Realism without theatrics Sep 9, 2008
It's returned at the Toronto International Film Festival this week in an altered state: director Fernando Meirelles has taken out a narration by one of the characters that explains the allegory of Blindness. "Cannes is different," Moore said yesterday, the day after Blindness had its festival premiere (it opens to the public on Oct. 3). (Ottawa Citizen)
Burn after reading Sep 6, 2008
Thompson On Hollywood - Blog on Variety. Choose the one that's best for you. (Variety)
Movie Cornucopia Aug 31, 2008
It is based on a novel by Nobel winner Jos Saramago that explores big emotions like selfishness, indifference and empathy, and is directed by Fernando Meirelles, who made "The Constant Gardener.". Religulous. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Fall film preview (23) Aug 31, 2008
" And it'd better be good, or the struggling filmmaker could be persona non grata for the foreseeable future.10 more films I'm looking forward to: "Righteous Kill" (Sept. 12) Much like Guy Ritchie, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino could redeem themselves in one bold stroke with this police thriller. "Lakeview Terrace" (Sept. 19) Remember what I said about crazy Samuel L. Jackson? In Neil LaBute's latest, he plays a power-mad cop. And it doesn't get much more terrifyingly crazy than that. "Blindness"... (Lodi News Sentinel, CA)
Fincher's 'Benjamin Button,' 'Flash of Genius' Aug 30, 2008
movie; 'Rachel Getting Married' trailer; Jonathan Demme; trailers; Anne Hathaway; 'City of God' director Fernando Meirelles directs Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo in the adaptation of Jos Saramago's epidemic novel. trailers; Mark Ruffalo; 'Blindness' trailer; video; Variety review; Julianne Moore; Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzerald, Brad Pitt stars as a man who ages in reverse in David Fincher's chronological drama. (Variety)
Coens coast into festival spotlight Aug 30, 2008
Blindness, from Fernando Meirelles ( City of God, The Constant Gardener), about a mysterious epidemic, was slammed in Cannes. And the reaction to Synecdoche, New York, the reality-bending directorial debut of renowned screenwriter Charlie Kaufman ( Being John Malkovich, Adaptation), starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as a depressed playwright, has been nothing short of horrified. (Globe and Mail)
IF YOU LIKE ... : Something for everyone this fall Aug 29, 2008
Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener) directs. lost or found. (USA Today -- Life)
The Constant Gardener DVD Review Aug 17, 2008
Fernando Meirelles stunned this author with City of God and once again does a great job handling a very heady subject: medical treatment in Africa. The Constant Gardner is indeed gripping. (Suite101.com)
Comedies Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder and the City of Ember Train Jul 25, 2008
On the other hand, Fernando Meirelles' Blindness, while exquisitely crafted, is an oddly theatrical piece that throws a group of people blinded by an infectious virus into prison to survive with limited food and water. When they finally escape into a transformed dystopian world, the film has a strange lyric beauty. (Variety)
In brief: City of God director tackles Shakespeare Jul 21, 2008
Fernando Meirelles is to make an adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost ... Fernando Meirelles, the director of City of God and the Cannes-feted Blindness, is making a loose Brazilian adaptation of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
Exclusive: City of Men Director Talks to IGN : "It's not City of God Part 2!"... Jul 18, 2008
Now director Fernando Meirelles - this time as producer - returns to the favelas once more for its long delayed follow-up City of Men, which is out in the UK on Friday. For the follow-up - which this time around examines a pair of friends caught between two warring drug barons - Mereilles handed the directorial megaphone over to long-time collaborator Paolo Morelli, and we caught up with him to ask him what we can expect from the film. (IGN FilmForce)
Feature: Jason Solomons' view Jun 30, 2008
Skilfully, and using the heightened colour palette pioneered by his compatriot Fernando Meirelles in City of God, Padilha blurs the moral line between good and evil until you just don't know whose side you're on. The new Edinburgh stands proud as a compact, buzzy little festival for discovery and debate. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
Paul Gross' Passchendaele to open TIFF Jun 19, 2008
The TIFF tradition of leading with a Canadian entry may have demanded that either Fernando Meirelles' Blindness or Atom Egoyan's Adoration, both of which competed at Cannes last month, would have been chosen as the gala opener. Passchendaele is only the second feature film Gross has directed and it's quite an ambitious leap for him after his 2002 curling comedy Men With Brooms. (Toronto Star)
paved the way for other duds Jun 15, 2008
New York Press - ERIC KOHN - That Cannes Do Spirit. Sign Up Here For NY Press Newsletter, Events and Giveaways. (New York Press)
Julianne Moore knows how to make them suffer Jun 15, 2008
The first wave of U.S. press was largely dismissive of Fernando Meirelles' dystopian allegory, set in a world where everyone except Moore's character has suddenly lost the power of sight, labeling it ponderous and heavy-handed (European critics were significantly more enthusiastic). But Moore says Meirelles is adept at leavening the film's weightier aspects with powerful flickers of human feeling. (Los Angeles Times)
* Cannes remains triumphant despite the leaden skies May 30, 2008
After a slow start with Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles somehow underwhelming disaster movie about a town ravaged by an outbreak of blindness, the festival rapidly picked up the pace. By the end of the first few days, a raft of Palme dOr favorites had already emerged with the premiere of Israeli Ari Folmans groundbreaking animated documentary Waltz With Bashir, about the events surrounding the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres, and Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylans brooding... (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
"My kids think I work in a trailer" May 29, 2008
She told us she was about to start work on a new film with Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles -- a film that of course turned out to be which opened the 2008 Cannes lineup. As for "Savage Grace," Moore said she had first read Howard A. Rodman's script on board a boat when her daughter Liv was a few months old. (Salon)
Villeneuve, Egoyan win at Cannes May 26, 2008
The other Canadian film, among the 22 competing for the Palme d'Or and other prizes awarded to close the festival tonight, is Blindness, an apocalyptic drama written by Toronto's Don McKellar, directed by Brazil's Fernando Meirelles. The film given the best chance of success tonight is Clint Eastwood's period thriller, Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie as a 1920s Los Angeles mother, whose young son is first abducted and then swapped with another boy. (Toronto Star)
Clint leads Cannes pack May 26, 2008
The opening film by Fernando Meirelles, 'Blindness', offered up an apocalyptic vision of the future starring Julianne Moore. The competition went to offer looks at dysfunctional families in Turkey and France, kids lured into a life of crime in Italy and Brazil, and the state bulldozing through citizens' lives in China. (iAfrica.com)
Cannes favourites emerge May 22, 2008
Julianne Moore in the apocalptic opening film 'Blindness' by Brazil's 'City of God' film maker Fernando Meirelles also stood out. Also yet to come are new films by Canada's Atom Egoyan and Germany's Wim Wenders as well as movies from Italy, France, Argentina and Singapore. (iAfrica.com)
Cannes Film Festival Report: Julianne Moore Talks 'Blindness' and More May 20, 2008
Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener) raved about his star. She's like a machine but in a good sense. (Hanford Sentinal, CA)
LIVE FROM CANNES Get the latest news May 18, 2008
Moore, shown here on the Cannes red carpet with her regular red hair last night, says it was director Fernando Meirelles' idea. He didn't want her to be too striking since the movie has a washed-out look. (USA Today -- Life)
Cannes balances glamor with `Blindness' May 17, 2008
CANNES, France - Fernando Meirelles did boys with guns in "City of God" and murderous corporations in "The Constant Gardener." With "Blindness," the opening night entry at the Cannes Film Festival, the Brazilian director exposes the world's ultimate savages: your friends and neighbors. A terrifying fable about how low people might go to stay alive when a plague of blindness turns them into helpless internees, "Blindness" presents an unnerving reflection of real tragedy and bureaucratic... (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier)
Rebels in a classless society May 17, 2008
" CANNES, France -- Is it really too late to call Carrie Bradshaw? Opening night at the 61st needed her badly. There was a woman a few rows behind me who clapped long and loud after the press screening of concluded here on Wednesday afternoon. One can only admire her bravery, but she was very lonely. Maybe her favorite cousin was the production designer. Maybe she hadn't traveled for 16 hours in an array of subway trains, airplanes, buses and taxicabs to get here just before the movie started,... (Salon)
At Cannes, big stars and heavy subjects May 16, 2008
The hype drums beat as strongly for some art films as for Hollywood filmmakers, and the opening night movie, "Blindness," by the Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles ("City of God") was much awaited. As with many opening night movies, it was a disappointment - a heavy-handed treatment of an idea Rod Serling might have had fun with. (Boston Globe)
Cannes opens with a dud -- but delights follow May 16, 2008
If my own foul and sweaty mood -- and my almost irresistible desire to sleep through the middle portion of Fernando Meirelles' earnest and dreary film version of Jos; Saramago's -- were directly attributable to jet lag, the general tenor of the room was unmistakable ... Fernando Meirelles' "Blindness," starring Julianne Moore, to open Cannes fest, with Barry Levinson's "What Just Happened?" as the closer. (Salon)
Blindness Review May 15, 2008
We wish we were blind after the latest effort from City of God helmer Fernando Meirelles ... UK, May 14, 2008 - Following up The Constant Gardener, an intellectually-stimulating thriller based on a John le Carre novel, with Blindness, a post-apocalyptic tale of a world in which people (as the title suggests) turn suddenly blind, would seem like an odd change in tone for director Fernando Meirelles. (IGN FilmForce)
Infotainment May 15, 2008
Opening night red-carpet glory this year is for Brazils two-time Oscar-nominated director Fernando Meirelles. Blake Livelylincoln centre: Actress Blake Lively arrives at the CW Network 2008 Upfronts. (Daily Times, Pakistan)
Sean Penn blasts Obama's 'phenomenally inhuman' voting record... May 15, 2008
The opening film, Blindness, is a thriller from director Fernando Meirelles about a town struck down by a mysterious epidemic, leaving Moore the only character with the ability to see. Based on the novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago, its story of a community hit by disaster and receiving no government help draws obvious parallels with Hurricane Katrina. (The Drudge Report)
Cannes' indie films face tough battle with 'Indy' May 15, 2008
It opened with Blindness, Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles tale of an epidemic that causes people to lose their vision, starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal and Danny Glover, and based on a novel by Portuguese Nobel laureate Jose Saramago. While critics pondered the symbolism of Blindness in a darkened cinema, paparazzi were hitting the beach to capture Jack Black pulling a publicity stunt for Kung Fu Panda, DreamWorks tale of a pudgy panda with... (MSNBC -- News)
Cannes openerThe shocking sight of the festival's first night film Blindness May 15, 2008
"One thing goes and everything else collapses," explains director Fernando Meirelles. The film, he says, can be interpreted on many levels - from the philosophical conundrum of how the rules of society are maintained, to the way humans revert to their basest instincts when they are backed into a corner. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Vive le cinema May 15, 2008
A scene from Fernando Meirelles Blindness from Brazil, starring Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore. Did certain parts of the world offer more films than others. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Star wattage brightens Blindness May 15, 2008
"It's a big honour and a big pressure, but, to be honest, perhaps this isn't the best film to open a festival," director Fernando Meirelles said of the Canadian co-production at yesterday's press conference after the film's morning press screening. One of the film's stars, Julianne Moore, concurred that the choice was "kind of odd." The generally downbeat reaction of the press - some were calling it "Lord of the Flies for grownups" - seemed to confirm their doubts. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Asian natural disasters bring sombre note to Cannes glitz May 15, 2008
There were obvious parallels between the story, starring Julianne Moore, and the reaction to disasters such as the cyclone in Myanmar, where the junta is blocking foreign aid offered to help survivors of the cyclone that killed tens of thousands, said director Fernando Meirelles. The earthquake that struck this week in China leaving more than 40,000 dead, missing or buried under rubble was also felt in Cannes. (Yahoo News -- Top Stories)
Grim Brazilian drama opens Cannes film festival May 15, 2008
Cast members Julianne Moore, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal (L-R) pose during a photo call for the film 'Blindness' by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles at the 61st Cannes Film Festival May 14, 2008 ... Directed by Brazil's Fernando Meirelles, of "City of God" renown, "Blindness" is an English-language adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning writer Jose Saramago's novel of the same name, and tells the story of a plague of blindness sweeping the world. (Xinhuanet, China)
Can Cannes Still Do It? May 15, 2008
One of these is the festival's opening night selection, Blindness, from the Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener). Based on a 1995 novel by Nobel Laureate Jose Saramago, the movie imagines that, one by one, nearly all the inhabitants of an unnamed city have been rendered sightless. (Time.com)
Tough Brazillian film opens Cannes May 14, 2008
Directed by Brazil's Fernando Meirelles, of City of God renown, the movie is an adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning writer Jose Saramago's novel of the same name, and tells the apocalyptic story of a plague of blindness sweeping the world. Julianne Moore plays a doctor's wife, who, like the film's audience, is able to see the harrowing events going on around her and who gradually becomes aware of the responsibilities that brings. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Serious filmmaking has Hollywood playing second fiddle May 14, 2008
It stars Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo, and was directed by Brazilian Fernando Meirelles, (City of God; The Constant Gardener). With similarities to such apocalyptic dramas as Children of Men or 28 Days, it sits somewhere between genre filmmaking and art-house fare, a middle ground that is particularly important to Cannes's new director, Thierry Fr. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
With affection, Cannes calls the big names home May 14, 2008
a Bernal in "Blindness," by Fernando Meirelles of Brazil, which is set to open the Cannes Film Festival. (Cannes Film Festival). (International Herald Tribune)
Dirty Harry meets Indiana Jones as Cannes catches festival fever May 14, 2008
The first stars set to walk up the famed red carpet later Wednesday were Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo who play in "Blindness," a philosophical thriller by Brazil's Fernando Meirelles which officially opens the festival ... The 61st edition of Cannes, whose jury is led by Sean Penn, has a strong Latin American contingent led by Fernando Meirelles. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
It's indie movies vs. Indy's movie at Cannes fest May 14, 2008
It opened with "Blindness," Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles' tale of an epidemic that causes people to lose their vision, starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garcia Bernal and Danny Glover, and based on a novel by Portuguese Nobel laureate Jose Saramago. While critics pondered the symbolism of "Blindness" in a darkened cinema, paparazzi were hitting the beach to capture Jack Black pulling a publicity stunt for "Kung Fu Panda," DreamWorks' tale of a pudgy panda with a love of... (Florida Times-Union)
Cannes Film Festival readies for its close-up May 13, 2008
It's directed by Oscar nominee Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardner) and based on a novel by Nobel laureate Jose Saramago. Changeling. (USA Today)
Hollywood vs arthouse at Cannes '08 May 13, 2008
From Argentina comes Pablo Traperos prison drama Leonera and thriller The Headless Woman by Lucrecia Martel, and Brazil has Walter Salless Line of Passage and Blindness, directed by Fernando Meirelles of City of God fame. I think it reflects what people have been talking about, and that is the re-emergence of quality cinema throughout Latin America, including Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, said Jay Weissberg, Rome-based critic for trade publication Variety. (India Times)
Scary 'Shelter' wraps up shooting here May 13, 2008
"Shelter" is wrapping at a propitious time as another Moore movie, Fernando Meirelles' "Blindness," is about to open the Cannes Film Festival and Rhys Meyers is making Showtime subscribers swoon over his King Henry VIII on "The Tudors.". Stein, whose knowledge of Pittsburgh before coming here had been limited to such movies as "Flashdance," "Night of the Living Dead" and "The Deer Hunter," got to know the region while scouting and shooting. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
It's Hand of God v Iron Mike - sporting documentaries are talk of film festival May 10, 2008
Sean Penn heads the jury choosing from among others: Steven Soderbergh's diptych Che; Fernando Meirelles' Blindness; Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche; and Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo. All are early favourites to take home the Palm d'Or. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Son of "Darko" May 10, 2008
Cannes has announced that Fernando Meirelles' "Blindness" will open the fest. And after some it was finally confirmed that Barry Levinson's "What Just Happened?" will close it. (Variety)
The First World chooses not to see, even though we're looking May 8, 2008
The director, Fernando Meirelles, and his camera crew are gearing up to shoot another take of Blindness, a feature film based on the harrowing 1995 parable about an unnamed city stricken with a plague of sightlessness, by the Portuguese Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago. Like nearly everyone in the film, Ruffalo's character, an ophthalmologist known simply as "the doctor", is afflicted with a terrifying malady in which the eyes appear normal but are coated with a milky whiteness that... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
"Mister Lonely" May 3, 2008
Fernando Meirelles' "Blindness," starring Julianne Moore, to open Cannes fest, with Barry Levinson's "What Just Happened?" as the closer. Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008 21:33 EDT. (Salon)
Canadian-made film Blindness to open Cannes May 2, 2008
The $25-million-plus Blindness, directed by Oscar-nominated director Fernando Meirelles (City of God), tells the fierce and fantastical story of a pandemic of blindness that eviscerates society. Videos. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Slings & Arrows finds new beginning in Brazil Apr 10, 2008
Renowned director Fernando Meirelles has purchased the rights to adapt and broadcast the cult Canadian series Slings & Arrows in his home country of Brazil ... Rhombus Media producer Niv Fichman, left, and Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles: Meirelles has bought the rights to adapt Slings s for Brazilian TV.. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Gael Garcia Bernal Actor Profile Apr 9, 2008
City of God director Fernando Meirelles has cast Bernal in his latest film Blindness, and Swedish director Lukas Moodysson has him starring alongside Michelle Williams in Mammoth. Bernal is also working on Jim Jarmusch's new film The Limits of Control and has signed up to Vanilla Sky writer Mateo Gil's new project Pedro Paramo. (Suite101.com)
City of Men Review Mar 4, 2008
February 28, 2008 - Despite the unenviable challenge of following up Fernando Meirelles' 2002 masterpiece City of God, Paolo Morelli's City of Men is an almost equally remarkable effort undermined only by the existence of its unsurpassable predecessor. Directed by Morelli, who originally tackled this material in the 2004 television series of the same name, the sequel/second installment has retained the original's feverish intensity and devastating amorality, only modifying Meirelles' effort with... (IGN FilmForce)
No 'Gossip Girl' For Mischa Barton Mar 3, 2008
Producer Fernando Meirelles returns with the City of Men in the Brazilian favelas made famous with his 2002 City of God, nominated four times at the Oscars, this time for a more human approach. Will Ferrell's semi-comedy Semi-Pro is a box office semi-flop, coming in first according to estimates, but failing to score a hit. (eFluxMedia)
Majors vow to reclaim Oscar spotlight Mar 3, 2008
Miramax has Doubt (based on the Pulitzer Play by John Patrick Shanley, produced by last weeks Oscar winner, Scott Rudin, with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman); and Blindness (Fernando Meirelles, with Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo). Par Vantage has Defiance (Ed Zwick, with Daniel Craig) and The Duchess (Keira Knightley). (Variety)
Jack Ryan Director Buzz Jan 28, 2008
Fernando Meirelles directed The Constant Gardener and City of God. His next project is the forthcoming drama , starring Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. (IGN FilmForce)
Winter movies Jan 10, 2008
"City of Men" -- Companion piece to Fernando Meirelles' "City of God," this time directed by Paulo Morelli and focusing on teens and lifelong friends who suddenly find themselves on opposite sides of a gang war in Rio. Black Maria Film and Video Festival -- International juried competition and award tour, founded in 1981 and designed to showcase cutting-edge works from indie film and video makers. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Ruffalo in Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' Nov 28, 2007
Ruffalo will next star opposite Julianne Moore in Fernando Meirelles' Blindness for Miramax and alongside Adrien Brody and Rachel Weisz in Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom for Summit Entertainment. (). (Entertainment Weekly)
