What price would you pay to stand up for what you believe is right? That’s the question posed by director Jeta Amata in this politically charged drama set in Nigeria. The film, which is a fiction based on actual events, explores the rise of a movement for change after an oil spill tragedy leaves hundreds dead and the living left to pick up the pieces. The voices of the few willing to stand up for their rights echoed loud and act as a rallying cry for a region. This is their story. Read More →
Time traveling is not a new concept for the world of cinema, but Predestination attempts to add a new ripple into the genre with a highly innovative story by directors Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig (Daybreakers). Reuniting with the directors for a second go around is actor Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), who leads this exceptionally talented international cast, which includes Noah Taylor (Edge of Tomorrow) and Sarah Snook (Jessabelle), into a complex world of intrigue which will have you guessing until the final act. Buckle up for a wild ride. Read More →
Films for adults are fewer and far between these days. No superheroes? Not based on a bestselling young adult novel? Too bad, so sad. There are a couple that squeak through the system, though, and Michael Radford‘s Elsa & Fred was among them. With an all-star cast including Oscar winners Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer and Marcia Gay Harden along with George Segal, James Brolin, Scott Bakula and Chris Noth you have the making of a pretty good movie in names alone. Does the film live up to the cast, though? Read More →
Having never been to Barcelona, I have missed seeing the great bulk of world renowned architect Antoni Gaudí’s work. Ubiquitous as it is in books and photos, it can’t be the same as ever being right in front of it. This clearly extends to La Sagrada Familia, Gaudí’s unfinished cathedral masterpiece, its three façades the telling of the story of Jesus Christ – one depicts the birth, the next the passion, the last the story of his ascendance. Started 132 years, La Sagrada Familia is still undergoing construction and Stefan Haupt gives us not only a historical tour of La Sagrada Familia but a metaphysical one as well.
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Coming from the theater, director Rob Marshall has always had a passion for the musical. Starting as a choreographer and ascending to the directors chair, the adaptation of beloved Broadway shows has always attracted Marshall to film projects as he has previously brought Chicago and Nine to the big screen. Naturally there was little surprise when he was announced as the director of Disney’s Into The Woods film adaptation, based on James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s Tony Award–winning Broadway musical of the same name. Question is, can he bring the same magic that made the Broadway show so timeless? Read More →
Peter Jackson faced some staunch criticism from fans when he announced he was splitting his announced Hobbit adaptation into a trilogy. Many cited the sheer size of the book as a cause for concern but the underlying belief was that the move looked more like a cash grab for the studio who were facing their final trip to Middle Earth. The Battle Of The Five Armies posed the biggest challenge for Jackson simply because of the subject of the film was presented to readers as a footnote that takes places place after the story (The story was published in the back of The Return of the King), but Jackson has put all the speculation to rest and released his best film in the Hobbit trilogy. Read More →
Grief is a very personal experience. Some of us cry, some lash out at loved ones, some shut down. A few even look at a loss as an excuse to reassess their lives. Either way, it is a loss. Five years ago yesterday, I lost someone very special to me. I had experienced the loss of family members before, but this, this was something altogether different. Tyler was a beloved friend. I guess I never actually knew how close we were until after he was ripped from my life without real explanation. The hole gets smaller each day but just barely. There are moments, songs, pictures, that still take the wind out of me. It’s the most horrible feeling. Grief owns me at times. It’s still a process. In Blake Robbins new film, The SUBLIME and BEAUTIFUL, all those feelings rush back into my brain and heart. Read More →
Alan Turing was a key figure in helping the allies win World War II. Known for his expertise as a mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and philosopher, he was a pioneering computer scientist who created the template for what would become the computers we use today. However, his accomplishments were never publicly known due to his criminal prosecution for being a homosexual. Read More →
For fifty years now, families have gathered together to sit and watch the children’s classic movie Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer. As I have again started to watch this with my own children, I’ve always been struck by one thing – Santa the slave-driving fascist, King Moonracer of the Island of Misfit Toys and the bulk of the other reindeer surrounding Rudolph, including his father Donner, are just outright assholes.
From the day of Rudolph’s birth, Santa is on his ass about his nose. When Santa visits to see the new buck and Rudolph’s nose starts to glow (as the ubiquitous song points out), Santa says, “Great bouncing icebergs! Let’s hope [it stops] if he wants to make the sleigh team some day.” As if having a red nose somehow prohibits his ability to fly a damn sleigh. And his bastard of a father shows what backbone he’s got (none) by agreeing with Santa. So what does he do? He first covers Rudolph’s nose with mud and when that doesn’t work, he puts on a cap making him sound like a kid with an allergy to cats who gets locked in an animal shelter. Not exactly setting him up for success, are they?
Despite this auspicious beginning, Rudolph goes to try out for the sleigh team on the day of the Reindeer Games. There he meets Fireball and despite his ridiculous sounding voice (courtesy of the stupid nose cap), he and Fireball hit it off. When they see a couple of does nearby, the mack is on. Fireball prods Rudolph into talking to one exceptionally cute doe named Clarice. After throwing out his smooth lines and getting her to agree to walk home with him, Clarice tells him she thinks he’s cute. This literally sends him into orbit and he jumps into the sky and flies better than all of the other mean ass reindeer at the games.
But when he and Fireball engage in a little reindeer fun, his nose cap comes off. And that’s when the shit hits the fan. Fireball immediately yells at Rudolph to get away from him and that’s when the other lemming reindeer come in and start the insults. Instead of stopping the nonsense, Santa scolds his father. “Donner, you should be ashamed of yourself. What a pity.” And to add insult to the injury, Comet the coach, dick that he is, announces to all of the other bucks as they head back to practice, “Oh no, not you. You better go home with your folks. From now on gang, we won’t let Rudolph join in any Reindeer Games, right?” Clarice is the only stand up deer in the bunch as she is still interested in Rudolph despite his “malady”. Of course, her assfaced father comes and busts them up because he doesn’t want any doe of his with a red-nosed reindeer.
When Rudolph meets Hermey the Dentist Elf, he at least finds a kindred spirit. Hermey, like Rudolph, was run out of Christmastown because he didn’t want to be like every other single-minded toy slave that the other elves were. He probably didn’t dig Santa bagging on the elves for their singing either. They pal up and along their way, they pick up Yukon Cornelius, a precious metals prospector and loner himself. The triumvirate, in escaping the terrible Abominable Snow Monster, Bumble, end up on the Island of Misfits Toys where they, misfits in their own right, hope to stay. Of course, King Moonracer isn’t having any of it stating that the island is only for toys, stating, “Unlike playthings, a living creature cannot hide himself on an island.” I guess he missed the part where he is a living damn creature. After denying them asylum, Moonracer has the balls to ask them a favor! This guy. He asks them when they return to Christmastown, would they ask Santa to come pick up all of the misfit toys and get them to children? Uhhh, Moonracer – Santa basically consented to Rudolph being run out of town, much in the same way you did. Why would they ever go back let alone do you a favor?
The last turn of assholishness occurs at the end of the movie when Santa declares Christmas is canceled because of some storm. Now, did it not occur to Santa that Christmas could be delayed? That he would rather just ruin the lives of every child on earth who celebrate the holiday rather than reschedule is insane to me. Talk about tunnel vision. Perhaps the most insulting thing he does the entire movie is when he literally sees the light (of Rudolph’s nose to be exact). Only when he figures out that Rudolph can be of any use to him in this exact moment does he embrace him. “That nose. That beautiful, wonderful nose of yours!” Wait a minute – you told his father he should be ashamed of him because of that nose, now it’s beautiful and wonderful? Fuck that. And Donner in true fashion says, “I knew that nose would be useful someday. I knew it all along!” No you didn’t. You were as much of a dick to him as Santa was, Donner, you sycophantic ass, so cut the shit. You see a chance to capitalize on your son’s new status, no different than Honey Boo-Boo‘s mom.
It’s no wonder kids who grow up watching this turn into assholes, too. This is the blueprint on how to be racist, afraid of “others” (poor Bumble), tyrannical, indifferent and cruel. Get ’em while they’re young, I guess. I don’t know what their intentions were, but maybe the writers and director were using the film as a mirror for American society to look at itself as a way to change these behaviors. I seriously doubt that, though.
My kids love this movie and I remember it with fondness from my childhood as well. That doesn’t mean there isn’t some bad shit in there, though. It’s a wonder kids love Santa at all after watching this. His dickheadedness is hardly subtle. The only thing he doesn’t seem to do is punch his wife or kick a dog. Maybe Tarantino will direct a grindhouse version of it and we’ll get those two elements taken care of. Fifty years on, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is still a staple in American households. My questions is, should it be?
When I first heard of director Ridley Scott’s willingness to make a feature length interpretation of the story of Moses and his quest to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, I had my doubts of the outcome. Scott has not had a very good track record of making historically epic films with duds like 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Kingdom of Heaven in his resume. Armed with a cast of white actors to play the lead roles of Hebrew and ancient Egyptian characters, Ridley Scott sets out to retell the story of Moses no matter what the cost and what audience he alienates in the process. The portrayal of Moses which will no doubt leave religious audiences scratching their heads and others with little more than a visually stunning movie with little substance. Read More →
What would you do if your life was suddenly thrown into turmoil and you could no longer support your family? That’s the premise of the new film from first time director Saar Klein who explores the basic human needs and survival instincts of a man on the brink and the mental toll that the subject experiences throughout his change. Can you justify your actions when you know that what you are doing is wrong? After The Fall will leave you wondering what you would do. Read More →
I will admit to being one of the more nostalgic people that I know. Perhaps it is a flaw, but I think it serves a great purpose. While I’m happy to live in the moment, the things that I’m nostalgic for, and reflection upon them, help keep that past as close as possible, which can’t be all bad, right? Especially when we are talking about people like The Iron Sheik, the former WWF bad guy who helped usher in the era of Hulkamania and the golden age of wrestling as entertainment. While many people today only know The Sheik from his exceedingly humorous Twitter feed, his backstory, which Hecht draws out in this film, has remained largely uncovered. The Sheik gives us the whole gamut of the wrestler’s life, up to and including his foray into becoming a social media star. Read More →
Step into the life of Michael White, a fearless, charming producer of stage and screen, lived the celebrity lifestyle in the 70s and 80s. He’s that guy who knows everyone at the party, stays out until the wee hours of the morning, and loves every minute of it. He has an amazing list of successful productions and features. He’s The Last Impresario. Read More →
I injured my neck a few years ago. This year, it flared up and I found out I have the spine of an 80 year old. In case you are wondering. In case you are wondering, I am a very long way off from 80. I had to cancel about two weeks worth of meetings, appointments, and life in general because I could not move. It was not fun. Other than my husband, who is essentially legally obligated to care for me (I have a license that we both signed that says so) no one was around to help me do the simplest of tasks. In fact, the only person that offered to bring me dinner was my very own managing co-editor, Melissa. Shout out is official now. In the new film, TAKE CARE, a woman is stranded in the same way I was. Post car accident, she is forced to rely on a person from her past. Read More →
I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a weird gal. It’s fine. It’s sort of my thing. I like what I like and I’m proud of it. That being said, if someone killed my best friend, I’d hunt them down like the scoundrels they are. (Prime example, I use words like scoundrel in regular conversation). In the new film MURDER OF A CAT, Clinton (Fran Kranz) also, a bit of a weirdo, finds his beloved cat-friend brutally murdered. It is his moral duty to find out who, what, when, where, and why.
Marriage is difficult. I got married 5 days before my husband started business school at Yale. He was on the Investment Banking track. What that meant in my world was that I wouldn’t see my husband for the next 4 months as he prepared for innumerable interviews, events, and attended the accelerated course load that comes with an ivy league school. Even after 6 years together, I had to become a whole new woman. In the new film RED KNOT, a young, newly married couple take this idea to the extreme as they honeymoon on a research vessel near Antarctica.
Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. In Magnolia Pictures new release, PIONEER, we find a story based on true events that is both disturbing and heart-pounding. The film is based upon the scientific and political race to get a group of deep sea divers to 500 meters; a feet never even attempted prior. An American Team and a Norwegian team train side by side and the best men win, or so they think. Petter (Aksel Hennie) and his brother are part of the Norwegian team chosen to pursue the dive which would ultimately allow Norway to build an oil pipeline. After a tragedy during their first real attempt to dive, Petter is thrust into a conspiracy so deep, it is astounding to think that any of this actually happened. Though, if you know anything about international politics, you might think twice.
I’m going to put this bluntly – this film pissed me off, made me incredibly angry. I don’t know how it couldn’t. This isn’t a reaction to the technical merits of the film, which are quite well presented, nor is it the narrative focus itself. This is a story that needed to be told. The fact that what happened in this movie happened at all is what angers me. The abuse of power that is so prevalent in the world today – taking advantage of others so that a select group of already well-off people can get more – turns my stomach. Robert May‘s Kids for Cash details one of these scenarios and it is heartbreaking. Read More →
I have always found Antarctica to be a profoundly interesting place. From the fact that it (or the Atacama Desert in Perru, depending on the source) has the driest place on earth (the Dry Valleys), that it’s the home of five breeding species of penguins or that it has just two season, winter and summer in which winter has 24 hours of dark for 6 straight months and summer has 24 hours of daylight for the other six months. Couple that with the harshest landscape and weather on earth, one might ask why in the hell does anyone ever go there. That’s precisely what Anthony Powell does in his fantastic documentary Antarctica: A Year on Ice. Read More →
Passing the torch. Rise and fall. Student bests teacher. All of these are oft repeated themes in films, especially in sports films from He Got Game to Hoop Dreams to Bull Durham. Sometimes these themes bring out the best in people, other times they bring out the worst. In a cutthroat world like sports, where ego, money and self-promotion usually trump all, it’s rare to see a film of any kind run counter to these notions. But in Grant Barbeito & Christo Brock‘s documentary Touch the Wall, we see the best of the relationship between two athletes, Olympic swimmers Kara Lynn Joyce and Missy Franklin, who are at opposite ends of their career spectrum – one a champion trying to hold on and the other a phenom up and comer trying to make her mark. What unfolds over the multiple year filming is heartfelt, emotional and really a triumphant journey of these two women who, in and out of the pool, exemplify how best to deal with adversity, fame, victory and defeat. Read More →
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