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	<title>Obsessed With Film &#187; Agora</title>
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		<title>Big &amp; Beautiful, But Too Little Heart: Simon Reviews AGORA</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/big-beautiful-but-too-little-heart-simon-reviews-agora.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/big-beautiful-but-too-little-heart-simon-reviews-agora.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2009 08:40:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Agora]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cannes 2009]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cannes 2009 Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Top Stories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=23928</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

Status: Out of Competition

While there is undoubtedly something to be said about the timely nature in Agora's presentation of the dangers of fundamentalism and oppressive religions, the manner in which this is achieved leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Aside from the abysmal violence of the Christians (and the Jews on one occasion), certain images and character swerves feel somewhat self-consciously provocative and needlessly inflammatory. The appearance of a pile of the burning carcasses of Jewish victims of the Christians' vengeful culling offer a stark and heavy-handed link with the most famous Holocaust iconography- which no doubt the filmmakers saw as an appropriate commentary on the current fundamentalist nature of so many world governments, but there has to have been a more subtle way of presenting it. Okay so the vision of the bodies lie in stark contrast to the beauty of the Alexandrian scenery around them, and are made profoundly more affecting for it, but this was a particularly crude moment in a film whose tone was otherwise not in sync with it.

A thought occurred to me during the screening which kept presenting itself- Agora acts like a Forrest Gump story for the origins of mass Christianity in the ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Morning Glory</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/agora/morning-glory.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/agora/morning-glory.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 18 May 2009 18:26:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Agora]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Antichrist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cannes 2009]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Looking For Eric]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Screen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tzar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=23880</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Day 6. Somewhere in Cannes.

The Press Room to be precise.

Inhuman wake-up call this morning (I recorded myself shouting to use as my alarm, as all of the ringtones available are too quaint and unintrusive to encourage anything at 5.30am), but it meant I was down at the Palais in plenty of time to catch the 8.30am screening of Ken Loach's Looking For Eric. It doesnt disappoint.

My taxi journey (too early for buses in these parts) was an eye-opener. To see the rolling hills in the countryside above Cannes still swaddled in their morning mist is an epic experience, and one I look forward to as the highlight of my early rises to catch the 8.30am screenings. Wandering around a deserted Cannes was equally as affecting- to see the streets without the usual buzz of badged wanderers and Invitation Beggars was a surreal experience, and gives you the opportunity to marvel at some stunning architecture, instead of just the bullshit glitz.

My hotel inexplicably lost internet connection last night, so I was left to hand-write reviews of Agora and Tzar, to write up tonight, so apologies for their tardiness. The yellow badge struck for the first time last night, leaving me standing ...]]></description>
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		<title>An Unholy Trinity for the Sabbath</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/agora/an-unholy-trinity-for-the-sabbath.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/agora/an-unholy-trinity-for-the-sabbath.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2009 15:00:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Agora]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Antichrist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cannes 2009]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Willy: South Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Screen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tzar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=23853</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cannes Day 5

Having enjoyed a "day off" in the sunshine yesterday (not fully though: I went to catch the Day After screening of Thirst), today represented a gruelling challenge. Agora, clocking in at 149 slow minutes, followed swiftly by 2 hours of Tzar, and then a break of two hours before Antichrist at 7.30pm this evening. Thank God I didnt plump for the 8.30am screening of Johny To's Vengeance as well, as I may not have been in any fit state to type anything by now. As it is, I'm tired, but mercifully the false-adrenaline of copious espressos has kick-started me.

Interestingly, the festival organisers chose to show Agora, Tzar and Antichrist together on the first Sunday of the run- something I'm sure that will incense the religious element, especially considering the portrayal of Christianity in the first, and the anti-religious elements of the second (not to mention the implication of the third's title). I'm all for parity in selection, and the religious link seems a simple one to make, but is there some proverbail thumbing of collective noses in the direction of the Church going on here? Whatever: who am I to complain, I abandoned the call of the church long ...]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Further Developments&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/agora/further-developments.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/agora/further-developments.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 19:57:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simon Gallagher</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Agora]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cannes 2009]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=23743</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Day #3 in the Big Brother Hou... I mean in Cannes. Im beginning to go a little stir crazy already in my prison cell of a room, but at least I have Battlestar Galactica as company for the dark, hot, sticky hours.
Inside the Pa- "12.10pm 14th May 2009 Palais des Festivals interior: scouting from the undergrowth. Apparently"

Couple of things to tell you all...

Firstly, I missed the ITN ladies yesterday in the throng of journos and film buffs (despite wearing a bright purple shirt), despite one of them shouting my name repeatedly, which I did hear, but attributed to those pesky internal voices I often suffer at the hands of. Long and short is, we're going to meet up when schedules allow, which is made immeasurably more simple by the fact that I now have a phone. A comedy of errors, but one hopefully that is rectifiable.

Secondly, and pretty excitingly, on Tuesday I have time set up to meet Matt Dentler, formerly the head hencho behind SXSW and now head of the programming and marketing division of Cinetic Media,who are repping the twin major releases of Agora and The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. Lots to ask him about digital distribution- especially seeing ...]]></description>
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		<title>AGORA poster, biggest Egyptian epic since CLEOPATRA?</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/agora-poster-biggest-egyptian-epic-since-cleopatra.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/agora-poster-biggest-egyptian-epic-since-cleopatra.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 May 2009 09:58:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Holmes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Agora]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cannes 2009]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movie News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Posters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=23492</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I'm posting this message in Simon's Cannes Coverage but I don't think he will mind too much. Agora is premiering at the festival as it's in need of distribution. It's the latest movie Alejandro Amenabar (The Others, Open Your Eyes) and is a classic Egyptian epic that from what I've heard, is insanely large on scale. 

We have never seen Egypt at this sheer size before. The poster, released today at Rope of Silicon certainly carries that idea of bigness...


The film stars Rachel Weisz as an astrologer-philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria who fights to save the collected wisdom of the ancient world. Max Minghella plays her slave, who must juggle his desire for freedom by joining Christianity or giving himself up to his mistress.



It's been an awful long time since we've seen a character drama film set in this period, and on this grand scale no less. Probably not since the 60's. Out of all the movies playing at the festival, I have a feeling this one might surprise a few people and be the stand-out film. ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>First look: Rachel Weisz on the set of AGORA!</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/first-look-rachel-weisz-on-the-set-of-agora.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/first-look-rachel-weisz-on-the-set-of-agora.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:22:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Holmes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Agora]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alejandro Amenabar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Max Minghella]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movie News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rachel-Weisz]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/?p=18379</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I've had a few people e-mail me about the upcoming Egyptian epic AGORA, the new movie from Spanish maestro Alejandro Amenabar (THE OTHERS, OPEN YOUR EYES) and they keep telling me to think "BIG". Like really, really big.

CLEOPATRA sized big.



Rope of Silicon have come across some new photo's today which give us our first look at Rachel Weisz as Hypatia the legendary astronomer who whilst trapped in the Library of Alexandria attempted to save the world's old wisdom from the growing religious riots.

Max Minghella is the poor slave stuck in the middle between his love for his mistress and the freedom religion will offer him.





Remember, BIG...



No CGI Colosseum like GLADIATOR in this one...

LOTS OF AERIAL IMAGES FROM THE SET OF THE MOVIE HERE
AGORA is set for a December 2009 release.

source - twitch ]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>First set photo of AGORA</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/first-set-photo-of-agora.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/first-set-photo-of-agora.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 26 Apr 2008 07:29:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Holmes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Agora]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Max Minghella]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movie News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rachel-Weisz]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/first-set-photo-of-agora.php</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks to Times of Malta, we have our first look at Alejandro Amenabar's next movie Agora, an Egyptian epic based around the fourth century AD.

The film stars Rachel Weisz as an astrologer-philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria who fights to save the collected wisdom of the ancient world. Max Minghella plays her slave, who must juggle his desire for freedom by joining Christianity or giving himself up to his mistress.

It's Amenabar's second English-language movie after The Others. His films in his homeland include Open Your Eyes (the original version of Vanilla Sky) and The Sea Inside.

His intention with the movie is to make the setting as epic as possible - to make this feel real allowing the characters to not stand-out against the backdrop of what looks like a Hollywood set. It's very much a throwback to the kind of long-assed Egyptian movies of the 50's and 60's and is about as far away from  Stargate and The Mummy as you could imagine.

Filming began in October and should be wrapped sometime in June. It's the biggest and longest production ever seen on the small island of Agora and all being well it should hit sometime between September 2009 and November 2009.

source - ...]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rachel Weisz returns to Egypt!</title>
		<link>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/rachel-weisz-returns-to-egypt.php</link>
		<comments>http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/rachel-weisz-returns-to-egypt.php#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:58:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Holmes</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Agora]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alejandro Amenabar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Max Minghella]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Movie News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Project]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rachel-Weisz]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/movie-news/rachel-weisz-returns-to-egypt.php</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The awesome Rachel Weisz who wisely didn't want to touch The Mummy 3 with a barge pole is returning to Ancient Egypt after all, for the epic movie Agora says Variety.

The film is from Spanish maestro Alejandro Amenabar, the brilliant helmer of Open Your Eyes (the original mind-bending thriller which got a Hollywood remake as Vanilla Sky), The Sea Within and The Others, possibly the best period horror film for decades.


Set in Roman Egypt in the fourth century A.D. Weisz plays astrologer-philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, who fights to save the collected wisdom of the ancient world. Her slave Davus (Minghella) is torn between his love for his mistress and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity.
Minghella refers to Max Minghella, the 22 year old English actor who appeared in Syriana and has a large role in the upcoming British drama Hippie Hippie Shake. The dude was 13 when Weisz burst onto the scene in The Mummy. Nine years later he goes to Egypt and will likely get a love scene with the ultra hot Weisz, the god damn lucky son of a bitch!

I really like the work of Amenabar, a guy who remarkably seems ...]]></description>
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