Chadwick Boseman steps into the legendary shoes of the hardest-working man in show business this weekend with the release of Tate Taylor’s “Get On Up,” the biopic of James Brown. The star of “42” sat down recently with his director to discuss the difficulty of playing one of the most beloved figures in the history of music.
Source: http://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/video-interview-chadwick-boseman-and-tate-taylor-on-get-on-up
There’s minimalist filmmaking that’s quietly intriguing, and
then there’s emotional detachment that’s stultifying to the point of being nap-inducing. “War Story” falls into the latter category.
Director Mark Jackson’s drama is a chilly study in grief
starring Catherine Keener as a war-zone photographer shattered by her
experiences in Libya. But Jackson and co-writer Kristin Gore have structured the
film as a mystery, so we don’t really know who Keener’s character is or what
happened to her until about an hour into the 90-minute running time.
Instead, Keener’s Lee smokes and sulks. She pops pills and
avoids calls from her editor. She holes up in the darkness of a sparse Sicilian
hotel room that she insists the maid shouldn’t clean. (Actually, all of her
interactions with other people are uniformly terse.) When she does leave the
room, bleary-eyed, Jackson follows her in long, Dardennes-style tracking shots
down bland hotel hallways and through cloudy city streets. There is a numbing
evenness in tone to every place she goes and everything she does.
Certainly, a film about a woman suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder shouldn’t be a laugh riot, but it should at
least offer some glimmers of humanity to engage us and keep us hanging on. “War
Story” is all about withholding key information, but it’s too languid to be
engrossing in the first place. It takes an awfully long time to establish Lee’s
isolation; the first 13 minutes are essentially wordless.
All kinds of choices are baffling here, beginning with the
placement of Keener in this kind of role. So much of what has made her so
appealing for so long—especially in her work with Spike Jonze and Nicole
Holofcener—is a zesty naturalism, a directness and an earthiness that allow
her to make an instant connection, regardless of the character. All of that has
been stripped away here, and what’s left is a dour shell.
But Lee thinks she may have found her salvation when she
meets Hafsia (Hafsia Herzi), a troubled, young refugee in need of an abortion.
Hafsia happens to resemble a young woman in Libya whom she photographed
mourning over the body of her slain brother. In this doppelganger, Lee sees an
opportunity for spiritual redemption —or perhaps just a distraction from her
own troubles. Their relationship is vague as is so much else in the film, but
eventually it seems to border on co-dependency, with the two women hiding
together in the hotel room and even sharing the same bed, platonically. Even
the introduction of Hafsia doesn’t liven things up; she’s as low-key and
enigmatic as Lee is.
A meeting with a longtime friend and colleague finally sheds
some light on Lee’s plight. He’s played by a barely-there Ben Kingsley in a
massive waste of a towering talent. Speaking of baffling decisions, Kingsley is
basically on screen for about five minutes, and when we first see him meeting
up with Keener, it’s from a distance at a high angle. Their discussion takes
place in a dark room in one long, extremely backlit take.
This is supposed to be one of the most significant moments
in the film but because of these aesthetic choices, it just doesn’t register. Kingsley’s
single scene makes you long for more of him; he’s a forceful presence in a film
desperately in need of them.
Perhaps Jackson is trying to recreate for us as viewers the
foggy, drug-induced state in which Lee has placed herself as a means of
protection or denial or self-soothing. It’s hard to figure it out, as is the
intentionally abrupt, open-ended conclusion which feels like a slap in the face
after enduring such a slog.
Source: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/war-story-2014
Sheila writes: Author John le Carré wrote a gorgeous and painful reminiscence of Philip Seymour Hoffman in the New York Times. Le Carre wrote, in part: “… His intuition was luminous from the instant you met him. So was his intelligence. A lot of actors act intelligent, but Philip was the real thing: a shining, artistic polymath with an intelligence that came at you like a pair of headlights and enveloped you from the moment he grabbed your hand, put a huge arm round your neck and shoved a cheek against yours; or if the mood took him, hugged you to him like a big, pudgy schoolboy, then stood and beamed at you while he took stock of the effect.” Read the whole thing here.
Trailers
The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? (2014). Written and directed by Jon Schnepp. Starring Nicolas Cage,
Tim Burton,
Kevin Smith. Synopsis: A documentary about the proposed 1998 Superman Lives feature film that would have starred Nicolas Cage. Release dates TBD.
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I (2014). Directed by Francis Lawrence. Written by Peter Craig. Starring Jennifer Lawrence,
Josh Hutcherson,
Liam Hemsworth. Synopsis: Katniss Everdeen reluctantly becomes the symbol of a mass rebellion against the autocratic Capitol. Opens in the US on November 21, 2014.
The Cut (2014). Directed by Fatih Akin. Written by Fatih Akin,
Mardik Martin. Starring Tahar Rahim,
Simon Abkarian,
Arsinée Khanjian. Synopsis: A dark survival drama set in the midst of the Armenian Genocide. Opens in Germany on October 16, 2014. Other release dates TBD.
Whiplash (2014). Written and directed by Damien Chazelle. Starring Miles Teller,
Melissa Benoist,
J.K. Simmons . Synopsis: A young musician struggles to make it as a top jazz drummer. Release dates TBD.
Dear White People (2014). Written and directed by Justin Simien. Starring Tyler James Williams,
Tessa Thompson,
Teyonah Parris. Synopsis: A satire that follows the stories of four black students at an Ivy League college where a riot breaks out over a popular African American-themed party thrown by white students. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the film explores racial identity in post-racial America while weaving a universal story of forging one’s unique path in the world. Opens in the US on October 17, 2014.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). Directed by George Miller. Written by Nick Lathouris,
Brendan McCarthy. Starring Tom Hardy,
Charlize Theron,
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley . Synopsis: An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order. There’s Max, a man of action and a man of few words, who seeks peace of mind following the loss of his wife and child in the aftermath of the chaos. And Furiosa, a woman of action and a woman who believes her path to survival may be achieved if she can make it across the desert back to her childhood homeland. Opens May 15, 2015.
Tusk (2014). Written and directed by Kevin Smith. Starring Genesis Rodriguez,
Haley Joel Osment,
Justin Long. Synopsis: A man is captured by a maniac and tortured, physically and mentally, into becoming a walrus. Opens in US theaters September 19, 2014.
Before I Go to Sleep (2014). * Teaser trailer * Written and directed by Rowan Joffe. Starring Nicole Kidman,
Colin Firth,
Mark Strong . Synopsis: A woman wakes up every day, remembering nothing as a result of a traumatic accident in her past. One day, new terrifying truths emerge that force her to question everyone around her. Opens in US theaters on September 12, 2014.
Horns (2013). Directed by Alexandre Aja. Written by Keith Bunin. Starring Juno Temple,
Daniel Radcliffe,
Sabrina Carpenter. Synopsis: In the aftermath of his girlfriend’s mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples. Opens in the UK and in the US on October 31, 2014.
Another Me (2013). Written and directed by Isabel Coixet. Starring Sophie Turner,
Jonathan Rhys Meyers,
Claire Forlani . Synopsis: A beautiful young girl is haunted by a secret past. Opens in the US on August 22, 2014.
Altman * Teaser trailer * Directed by Ron Mann. Written by Len Blum. Synopsis: A look at the life and work of American filmmaker Robert Altman. Release dates TBD.
Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2014). Directed by Steve Pink. Written by Josh Heald. Starring Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke. Synopsis: When Lou, who has become the “father of the Internet,” is shot by an unknown assailant, Jacob and Nick fire up the time machine again to save their friend. In US theaters on December 25, 2014.
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015). Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. Written by Kelly Marcel . Starring Dakota Johnson,
Jamie Dornan,
Aaron Taylor-Johnson . Synopsis: Literature student Anastasia Steele’s life changes forever when she meets handsome, yet tormented, billionaire Christian Grey. Opens in the US, UK and Ireland on February 13, 2015.
Honeymoon (2014). Written and directed by Leigh Janiak. Starring Rose Leslie,
Harry Treadaway,
Ben Huber. Synopsis: Young newlyweds struggle as their honeymoon spirals mysteriously into chaos. In US theaters on September 12, 2014.
Salomé (2013). Directed by Al Pacino. Written by Oscar Wilde. Starring Al Pacino and Jessica Chastain. Synopsis: The Biblical story of Salome, a girl who agrees to perform the “dance of the seven veils” in return for John the Baptist’s head on a silver platter. Release dates TBD.
2014 Halftime Checklist
Sheila writes: The folks at The Dissolve have put together a phenomenal “2014 Halftime Checklist,” with a huge listing of recommended movies that have opened this year thus far. It covers Hollywood mainstream films, indie films, documentaries, foreign films, and much more. While I’ve seen many of the films on the list, I have added so many more that I need to see! Check out their checklist, in two parts:
Part 1
Part 2
The Fast and the Furious (1955). Directed by John Ireland and Edward Sampson. Starring John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Bruce Carlisle. Synopsis: A man wrongly imprisoned for murder breaks out of jail. He wants to clear his name, but with the police pursuing him, he’s forced to take a beautiful young woman, driving a fast sports car, hostage and slip into a cross-border sports car race to try to make it to Mexico before the police get him.
The Red House (1947). Directed by Delmer Daves. Starring Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Judith Anderson. Synopsis: An old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concerning a hidden abandon farmhouse, located deep in the woods.
Nightmare (1956). Directed by Maxwell Shane. Starring Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy, Connie Russell. Synopsis: A musician has a nightmare in which he killed a man. When he wakes up he finds evidence that the crime really took place and tries to find the truth with the help of his brother-in-law who is a police officer.
Source: http://www.rogerebert.com/ebert-club/229-july-30-2014
“Glourious Basterds: A Breakdown of the Opening Chapter.” At Matthew Scott Cinematographer, another characteristically superb aesthetic analysis of a filmmaker’s work, this time about Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 WW 2 potboiler. The annotated/explanatory graphics are quite something.
“Rian Johnson on Star Wars, Episode VII.” By Wendy Weber of The Chicago Sun-Times. The director of Brick and Looper and now the eighth SW movie says the film will be partly inspired by the aviation adventure Twelve O’Clock High and Mikhail Kalatozov‘s Letter Never Sent. Also something else. Something you don’t want him to be inspired by. Trust us.
“With these films, I am trying to harken back to the original Star Wars …. Christmas special. We do have Jefferson Starship.”
“In Praise of Vintage: 10 Classic TV Shows + Where to Watch Them.” At his blog Cinematically Insane, Will McKinley provides a handy list of older series, but the piece is really a rebuttal of a Sunday New York Times piece by Neil Genzlinger arguing that old shows are old and who wants to watch a bunch of old shows anyway, old old old. Actually, the title of the Times piece is “Sure, You Loved Lucy, but Vintage Has Its Limits.” Related: “Just Shoot Me and The Deep Comfort of Mediocre Sitcoms,” by Robert O’Connell, for The Atlantic. Not really related, but interesting: “The New York Times is a Great Company in a Terrible Business.”
“What irks me most is Mr. Genzlinger’s reiteration of an endemic prejudice that has existed for years: that ‘old’ is somehow a flaw. This same perspective inspired colorization a generation ago and leads contemporary distributors and networks to crop (or stretch) shows produced in olde-fashioned 4:3 aspect ratio to widescreen, or to re-do special effects, in an effort to convince younger audiences that a show is of a more recent vintage. It’s the perspective that led to a 500-channel universe in which only one network – Turner Classic Movies – routinely aired black & white programming. And it’s the perspective that led the generation after mine to grow up with less-than-ready access to anything ‘classic.'”
“The Expendables 3 Torrent aand the Techno-Utopian Delusion.” For CriticWire, Sam Adams rebuts a piece from The Verge wherein David Pierce argues that it was OK to have downloaded a pirated version of a movie that hadn’t opened yet, because he ended up liking it and planned to see it again in a theater later.
“I’m fairly certain that most critics have torrented content at some point in their career; when a movie is out on Blu-ray overseas and you’re offered a low-quality screener defaced with anti-copyright watermarks to review, it’s practically dereliction of duty not to. (It bears pointing out that despite the increasing regularity with which distributors furnish critics with cumbersome, unreliable online screeners with “DO NOT COPY” permanently burned into the image, the leaked copy of The Expendables 3 is unblemished, and the movie hasn’t been shown to critics anywhere in the world.) But you cross a line when you start arguing that it’s not only permissible but harmless. When you start believing that the entities that hold the copyright might consider being grateful, you move into sheer self-justifying delusion. That’s what Pierce does when he argues that the online leak ‘might just be the best thing that ever happened to The Expendables 3.’”
“Attn: Actors, Actresses, Writers, Directors, DPs, Editors, Composers: What’s Your Story?” Shadow & Act editor Tambay Obenson issues an open call for a kind of mini-oral history project that the site did very successfully last year.
“I know that a significant chunk of S&A‘s audience comprises of actors, actresses, directors, DPs, editors, composers, etc, etc, etc. Some are able to earn a paycheck utilizing their artistic and/or technical skills; others – and I’d say the majority – are what we’ve labeled the proverbial ‘starving artists,’ working diligently, relentlessly, struggling to climb this incredibly steep hill, trying to reach some self-defined pinnacle of success – whether personal or professional. And still others exist somewhere between the former and the latter.
‘
Where do you fall? And, as the title of this post states, what’s YOUR story, and would you like to share it with the rest of the world?
Think of it as an extension of the successful S&A Filmmaker Diary series which we started 3 years ago, with Matthew Cherry as the guinea pig. I’m looking for your individual stories of struggle and/or success, regardless of what rung on the ladder you are currently on.”
A picture from the Twitter page of Lisa and Louise Burns, the now-46 year old “Grady twins” from The Shining, documenting their recent visit to the Stanley Kubrick exhibit’s stop in Krakow, Poland.
“A Celebration of Confusion in Close-Up.” Or “Mindfuckness.” From Jussi Tarvainen on Vimeo.
Source: http://www.rogerebert.com/thumbnails/thumbnails-7302014
Believe it or not, young readers, there was a time when the word television had a simple definition. It involved rabbit ear antennas and three networks—CBS, NBC, ABC. Decades later, the word “television” has evolved to include hundreds of networks, delivered via cable, satellite and even without an actual TV at all. And in this ever-changing landscape, it’s essential that networks develop identities. I’m going to be writing more about this in the coming months, but it struck me that the next three nights feature programming that really speak to the definitions of three of the newer players in the game as “Sharknado 2: The Second One” premieres on SyFy, “The Honorable Woman” comes to Sundance, and the fourth season of the cockroach of TV mysteries, “The Killing,” comes to Netflix. Quality varies across all three (although one is definitely worth your time) but just the diversity of the choices is a story in itself when one considers those early days of three-option TV.
“Sharknado 2: The Second One”
I’m going say something that could be misquoted: The opening action sequence in “Sharknado 2: The Second One” is brilliant. Oh, it’s not creatively brilliant. It’s not well-staged or well-acted or well-anything really. But it’s one of the first times I can remember watching something that feels entirely and completely designed to provoke a response on social media. It’s brilliant marketing. 2013’s “Sharknado” was a massive hit thanks in no small part to the way people responded to it on Twitter. So, the writers of “Sharknado 2” have frontloaded their sequel with a ridiculous, insane, B-movie opening sequence that essentially pays homage to the classic “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” episode of “The Twilight Zone”—sharknado meets plane. And if you can imagine how insane that might be, you are only half-right. It’s something that sets the stage for Troma-esque lunacy and will SURELY get people tweeting and talking.
How do you top a movie in which its lead character escaped from the inside of a giant shark? Take it to the other coast. Fin (Ian Ziering) and April (Tara Reid) have become quasi-celebrities after the insanity of “Sharknado.” April even wrote a bestselling book about it. The two travel to New York City and, well, it happens again, this time with Vivica A. Fox, Kari Wuhrer and Mark McGrath in supporting roles.
The creators of “Sharknado 2” know their target audience: people willing to embrace bad dialogue, one-take performances, and truly horrendous production values for a bit of B-movie escapism. They pepper the film with as many nostalgic cameos as sharks, including Billy Ray Cyrus, Andy Dick, Kelly Osbourne, Judd Hirsch and more. Matt Lauer and Al Roker make multiple appearances as themselves, reporting on the Sharknado. It’s a silly, silly, silly movie and fans of it will say it works because the people who made it know it’s silly. It’s intentionally “bad.” Yes and no. While I kind of love the opening sequence, “Sharknado 2” drags for a large chunk after that and, honestly, doesn’t have enough insane action to really say it completely works as B-movie escapism. A movie like “Sharknado 2” needs to be so briskly paced that you never have time to consider what Kari Wuhrer has been up to for the last twenty years. It’s not quite that well done. There are moments of insanity that will get the Twitterverse talking. It’s what happens in between that puts the blah in B-movie.
“The Honorable Woman”
Take a drastic left turn tomorrow night on The Sundance Channel and check out the remarkably solid “The Honorable Woman,” a BBC mini-series getting the import to an increasingly important cable channel that has been the home for the good-to-great “Rectify,” “The Red Road,” and “The Top of the Lake” in the last two years.
Remarkably timed to comment in its own way on the complexity of the conflict in the Middle East, “The Honorable Woman” centers on Nessa Stein (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a powerful businesswoman whose company handles data cabling construction and infrastructure between Israel and the West Bank. Choosing to give contracts to Israelis or Palestinians is only one of Stein’s problems as she turns out to have a few dark secrets in her closet and may not at all be who she purports to be. An MI6 agent played to perfection by Stephen Rea starts to suspect Nessa is hiding something when a man who was to get her biggest contract kills himself. Or did he? Janet McTeer, Lindsay Duncan, Lubna Azbal, and Andrew Buchan fill out a very talented cast.
“The Honorable Woman” hums unlike most TV thrillers, thanks in no small part to great work by Rea and Gyllenhaal. She strikes the perfect balance between a woman that it’s easy to believe titans of industry and political power brokers would consider their equal and someone with a very fragile personal life, made even more so by the terrifying end of the first episode. Some of the dialogue is remarkably over-cooked (“Like any good spy, when I leave a case, I like to leave it empty.”) but it’s somehow forgivable when it’s coming from actors as talented as Gyllenhaal, Rea and McTeer. And the unbelievable aspects of “The Honorable Woman” never overwhelm the grounded characters or fascinating narrative—they just pepper it with a bit of spy movie flair.
There’s also something deeper going on thematically in “The Honorable Woman” that I’m interested to see play out over the last four episodes (they only sent the first half for press). We’re in a time of increasing turmoil in the Middle East (and you really must read Omer M. Muzaffer’s 4-part series on how this part of the world has been reflected in cinema). There are political undercurrents at play in “The Honorable Woman” that speak to this tumultuous part of the real world without underlining them. “Nothing can change because of this. NOTHING can change.” “Except it has.” How could someone not read that as a commentary on how refusing change in any part of the world but especially one so beset by violence is impractical and even naïve? This often-brilliant thriller is doing what great political thrillers do—commenting on the real world while also presenting an escapist one for us to leave it behind. It’s also perfectly in line with the smart, adult, well-made programming Sundance has been delivering of late.
“The Killing”
Which brings us to the show that wouldn’t die. Veena Sud’s adaptation made waves when it debuted on AMC, crashed as quickly as it took off when it became clear that she wasn’t going to solve her mystery at the end of season one, and was actually canceled at the end of season two after the ratings plummeted. To everyone’s surprise, AMC brought the show back from the dead for a third outing. To everyone’s greater surprise, it was pretty great. Featuring incredible supporting performances by Peter Sarsgaard and Elias Koteas, the third season of “The Killing” was the program’s best and it felt like the show might actually find itself. And then it got cancelled again. And then it got renewed again, this time in a 6-episode run on Netflix, which, you guessed it, the company claims will be the last. Sure. Like we believe you, “The Show That Cried Wolf.”
So, “The Killing” is back again, although it feels like more of an epilogue than a return. I believe a lot of people will catch up with season three on Netflix as press builds about the launch of season four, so I won’t spoil the end of that year. Let’s just say it was ugly. And the mini-season on Netflx centers heavily on the repercussions of the third-season finale, particularly how they’ve left Linden (Mireilles Enos) shattered. Yes, believe it or not, “The Killing” is even more depressing. To distract from the PTSD, there’s a new case that allows Joan Allen a juicy supporting role.
I truly like the character work done by Enos and Kinnaman but the fourth season of “The Killing” feels like an afterthought. It would have been smart of Netflix to completely reboot the show, bring back the leads but give them new energy with a new plot. But instead they’ve created something that is not just directly attached to the disappointing finale of the third season but grafted a mystery on to it that feels like an echo of what the show has done more interestingly in the past. I do like the idea of watching a mystery series like “The Killing” in the course of a weekend. It’s easier to see what the show does well in binge form and it’s that aspect that may have hurt it week-to-week on AMC. It makes perfect sense that Netflix would add “The Killing” to its arsenal. I just wish they had done more with it to justify its existence. Other than to bring more people to a new form of television, I suppose.
Sometimes when I get exasperated, I curl my lips into a grimace. My lower lip pushes against my upper lip while my nose wrinkles in disgust. I did this for years without realizing that the expression was stolen directly from Kermit the Frog. By contorting his iconic puppet’s flexible face, Jim Henson came up with an indelible image of aggravation that no human or amphibian could possibly replicate. I loved it so much that it became a natural part of my body language.
Our relationship with fictional characters can be a profound one, a fact illustrated in abundance at Comic-Con 2014. Everywhere you looked, strangers were connecting through their shared love of pop culture by displaying how fantastical beings had influenced their very identities. No outfit was too outlandish to be greeted with public approval. Walking through the crowds outside the convention center doors was a theme park ride in itself. I could’ve simply strolled up and down the sidewalk all day and been perfectly entertained—and that’s more or less what I did. My task at Comic-Con was to promote “Life Itself” by distributing fliers, some of which cleverly portrayed the film’s subject, Roger Ebert, as a …read more