?url??/url?Directed, co-written and co-produced by Film2Music judge Michael Polish, and beautifully shot by Film2Music judge M. David Mullen, ASC, THE ASTRONAUT FARMER opened last Friday across the US.
This gem of a movie about a farmer who builds a rocket in his barn to travel to space (with his 15-year-old son acting as ground control) is I think wonderfully relevant to filmmakers - more often than not, film-making is all about trying to pull of the near impossible...
It's regrettable that Warner Bros.' testosterone-laden trailer does not do the magic of the film justice. The film is really more of a Frank-Capra-meets-Wes-Anderson thing.
Review blurbs see below. Go see it. This week. And spread the word!
Thanks!
Kubi
?url? http://www.film2music.com?/url?
?url? http://theastronautfarmermovie.warnerbros.com/?/url?
=====================================
"Should anyone who complains that Hollywood movies have become too cynical, violent and anti-family. "The Astronaut Farmer" has not only the courage to remind us of what America once was but also the vision to give us a bright, shining glimpse of what it once again could be."
-BY TERRY LAWSON
Detroit Free Press Movie Critic
"The film actually earns the description of being inspirational, not only to those of us with a dream, but to those who thought the quality family film had died long ago."
--Stephen Saito/Premiere Magazine:
"A disarmingly sincere follow-your-dreams fable.
--A.O. Scott/The New York Times:
?The Polish Brothers mine a swath of Americana that seldom turns up in movies. A weary but heroic man wearing a retro spacesuit astride a horse? Cool.?
--Kevin Crust/The Los Angeles Times:
?Spielbergian boyhood dreams propelling a grown man gives The Astronaut Farmer warmth."
--Lisa Schwarzbaum/Entertainment Weekly:
"I think The Astronaut Farmer is a supreme example of Capra corn, the term that was once applied to classics like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It's a Wonderful Life. It's a badge of honor to tag The Astronaut Farmer with the same label, and also hail it as an instant classic."
by Richard Knight, Jr. Windy City Times
"The Astronaut Farmer is a rare live-action family film that engages adults and children equally."
--Leah Rozen/People Magazine:
And, Houston, we have no problem: this is a terrific movie. There's poetry in this follow-your-dream, buck-the-system inspirational drama, which not only achieves liftoff but flies high and far. The Astronaut Farmer is a gem, the first delicious movie surprise of 2007.
Bill Wine - All Headline News Movie Critic
"An inspirational, dream-all-you-can dream story."
--Thelma Adams/US Magazine:
Well, cheer up. This movie is a rarity, one that respects both your intelligence and your desire to protect your kids from the crasser elements of teenage and adult fare. "The Astronaut Farmer" is a pleasure for adults to watch and, for once in the overly saccharined family-film genre, not the guilty kind.
By Bruce Bulloch- Ballard News-Times. Seattle. WA.
"Billy Bob Thornton is so good, so charming and so inspired that he makes dreamers of us all.?
--Rex Reed/New York Observer:
"Astronaut" taps delightfully into one of our deepest cultural values: the one about the pursuit of happiness.
The film engenders audience goodwill with characters we care for.
-Desson Thomson, THE WASHINGTON POST
With "The Astronaut Farmer," they(The Polish Brothers) offer a regenerative fable for a politically traumatized nation, filled with enough good-natured optimism to provide momentary relief from the wearying cynicism of our times.
-BILL WHITE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
The Astronaut Farmer is as exciting and moving as any PG-rated "family" movie in recent years.
-Jeffrey M. Anderson, METROACTIVE WEEKLY
Without straining to preach the things studio executives mistake for values, ?Astronaut Farmer? becomes the rare family film that should appeal to parents and children equally without patronizing either group.
- JEFFREY WESTHOFF, NORTHWEST HERALD SUBURBAN CHICAGO
"Astronaut Farmer" is a beautiful movie dedicated to a simple idea that they push to its light-years-away extreme: Family comes first.
- CHRIS HEWITT, MINNEAPOLIS PIONEER PRESS
