tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86096907031069647952024-03-04T23:49:55.408-05:00Movie-OpFess up. Opinions and biases play a role in reviews.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.comBlogger217125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-35019319689073887452016-02-25T18:57:00.000-05:002016-02-28T12:37:33.881-05:00Oscar Predictions 2016<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is the craziest Oscar season I can remember, with
key indicators pointing in different directions and us prognosticators/nerds
spinning in circles. Anyone claiming to
have the answers is lying, because at this point there’s no way of knowing what
will happen Sunday night. Despite this,
I return to give you my breakdown on who I think will take home the major
awards and who I wish would walk away with the statue. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>The Big
Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max:
Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Room, Spotlight<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>The Big
Short<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Doesn’t
deserve the nom</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">: <i>The Revenant</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>Z for Zachariah<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
haven’t seen: </span></b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Bridge of Spies<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thoughts:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">DGA, PGA, and SAG went to three different
films, and with <i>Spotlight </i>quickly
losing steam, the race has whittled down to a standoff between <i>The Big Short </i>and<i> The Revenant</i>. It’s been a
weird season, and this is a remarkably tough call. It comes down to a choice between three key
stats that indicate <i>The Big Short </i>will
win out and the gut feeling that <i>The Revenant
</i>has gained too much momentum to lose.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The three big stats supporting <i>The Big Short </i>are: <br />
1. PGA winner has won Best Pic 100% of
the time since the Oscars switched to the preferential ballot <br />
2. In the last 15 years, 100% of the
Best Pic winners were nominated for the SAG ensamble<br />
3. In the last 15 years, 100% of the
Best Pic winners were nominated for a screenplay Oscar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The momentum behind <i>The Revenant </i>comes from its DGA victory and a strong 5-win showing
at the BAFTAs (including Best Pic). DGA
and BAFTAs are strong indicators for the Oscars, but each have missed once
since the switch to the preferential ballot 6 years ago, with both misses
coming in the past two seasons. What
gives me the most pause, though, is that <i>The
Revenant </i>is the serious, grand-scale, important kind of film that makes it
feel like a Best Picture winner. <i>The Big Short </i>does not have that feel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Even with that pause, I’m a stats person, and I can’t
turn away from those three perfect indicators for <i>The Big Short</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Overall, the noms are full of good-but-not-great
films. <i>Brooklyn, The Martian, Room, </i>and
<i>Spotlight </i>are all solid, but they
either lack the depth of their source material or simply don’t have high
ambitions. <i>The Revenant </i>is a pretty, overlong picture that either doesn’t have
a clear thought or has a sophomoric point.
While I couldn’t tell from one viewing which it is, neither option makes
for a good movie. <i>Mad Max </i>and <i>The Big Short </i>are
the only two I feel really deserve their slots.
The former is one of the great action films of all time, while the
latter<i> </i>is both smart and
entertaining, which to me is the pinnacle of filmmaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Z
for Zachariah </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">is head-and-shoulders above the other
films I saw this year. Read why <a href="http://movie-op.blogspot.com/2015/08/z-for-zachariah.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Adam McKay for<i> The Big Short, </i>George Miller for <i>Mad Max: Fury Road, </i>Alejandro
G. Iñarritu for <i>The Revenant, </i>Lenny
Abrahamson for <i>Room, </i>Tom McCarthy for
<i>Spotlight<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Alejandro G. Iñárritu for <i>The Revenant<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Doesn’t
deserve the nom: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lenny
Abrahamson for <i>Room<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wish would win: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">George
Miller for <i>Mad Max: Fury Road<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thoughts: </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Every major predictor has
gone to Iñárritu, and you’d be silly to think anyone else will be accepting
this award come Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s hard to argue that Iñárritu did a bad job of
directing <i>The Revenant </i>because it’s just
so gorgeous, but it’s also hampered by Iñárritu’s indulgence. I have no doubt that this is precisely the
film that he wanted to make; it’s just a shame that no one told him to pay more
attention to crafting the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">McKay, Miller, and McCarthy also made films that I
think turned out precisely how they wanted them to, and all three are exemplary
examples of their genre. McKay molded
the most difficult material into one of the best films of the year, but Miller
fought both the powers that be and the weather to make a bombastic,
guitar-shredding good time. Unfortunately,
it’s the wrong kind of film to win any of the major awards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Abrahamson made a valiant effort of adapting a very
tricky novel in <i>Room</i>, but the film is
such a paired down version of the book that its lovers were bound to be disappointed. I was one of those book lovers, and I think
Abrahamson’s flair got in the way more than it helped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Bryan Cranston for <i>Trumbo</i>, Matt Damon for <i>The
Martian, </i>Leonardo DiCaprio for <i>The Revenant,
</i>Michael Fassbender for <i>Steve Jobs, </i>Eddie
Redmayne for<i> The Danish Girl<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Leonardo DiCaprio for <i>The Revenant<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Matt
Damon for <i>The Martian <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
haven’t seen: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Bryan
Cranston for <i>Trumbo</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thoughts:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s been decided that this is Leo’s year, so
he’ll get his award for a solid performance in an underwritten role. Still, he should have gotten this a long time
ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In a rarity, the lead actor field for 2015 is weak. While very few of these performances felt
truly great, I couldn’t come up with anyone who deserved it more. For my personal taste, I would prefer to have
Ryan Reynolds for <i>The Voices </i>and
Michael B. Jordan for <i>Creed </i>in there
instead of Fassbender and Redmayne, but they’re all on pretty equal levels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Matt Damon is the lone standout. Few people could pull off the charming
marathon he takes you on in <i>The Martian</i>,
and I can’t think of anyone else who could make it more fun. It’s a truly great performance in the wrong
kind of movie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Cate Blanchett for <i>Carol</i>; Brie Larson for <i>Room; </i>Jennifer
Lawrence for <i>Joy;</i> Charlotte Rampling
for <i>45 Years</i>; Saoirse Ronan for <i>Brooklyn<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Brie Larson for <i>Room<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Doesn’t
deserve the nom</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">: Saoirse
Ronan for <i>Brooklyn </i>(it pains me to
say it, I love her so)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Brie
Larson for <i>Room<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
haven’t seen: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jennifer
Lawrence for <i>Joy<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thoughts:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Room </i>isn’t
my favorite movie, but Larson’s performance is astounding. The look in her eyes throughout the first
part of the film is deeply unsettling, and to imagine her getting into whatever
headspace caused that dimness while drawing a great performance from her child
co-star Jacob Tremblay and emoting palpable love for her fictional child is the
best bit of acting I saw all year. For
once, the Oscars will get it right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Unfortunately, this bravura performance leaves
Charlotte Rampling’s excellent turn in <i>45
Years </i>in the dust. In most years, I
would’ve been ecstatic to see her walk away with the trophy. This year, I’ll still feel a tinge of sadness
to see her remain in her seat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2015 had a slew of great roles for women, and other
people popped out more to me than Blanchett and Ronan. <i>Carol </i>left
me cold, and I just don’t see the depth in <i>Brooklyn
</i>that others rave about. I sincerely
hope that Ronan lands a win in the future, because she’s one of the more
interesting (and one of the best) young actresses working today. But this year, I’d replace her with Margot
Robbie in <i>Z for Zachariah </i>and Blanchett
with Irena Ristic in <i>Three Days in
September</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Supporting
Actor<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Christian Bale for <i>The Big Short</i>, Tom Hardy for <i>The
Revenant</i>, Mark Ruffalo for <i>Spotlight</i>,
Mark Rylance for <i>Bridge of Spies</i>, Sylvester
Stallone for <i>Creed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Sylvester Stallone for <i>Creed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Doesn’t
deserve the nom: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sylvester
Stallone for <i>Creed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Paul
Dano for <i>Love & Mercy<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
haven’t seen: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mark
Rylance for <i>Bridge of Spies<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thoughts:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For the second straight year, I don’t
understand what’s so great about the performance that’s destined to win this
category. I found J.K. Simmons in <i>Whiplash </i>one-note last year, while
Stallone’s beloved performance in <i>Creed </i>was
wholly off-putting to me. Clunky and
monotone, he pushed his way through the film like a bull in a china shop,
stating emotions instead of actually feeling them and constantly being upstaged
by his two co-stars. Still, he’s gotten
big standing ovations whenever he’s won, so I expect the award will go to him
in a landslide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is a shame, because Paul Dano went big and made <i>Love & Mercy </i>land perfectly. Alas, he didn’t even land a nomination, while
the rest of the nominees were pretty meh in their roles. I wouldn't mind seeing Jason Mitchell take someone's spot for <i>Straight Outta Compton</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Supporting
Actress<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Jennifer Jason Leigh for<i> The Hateful Eight, </i>Rooney Mara for <i>Carol, </i>Rachel McAdams for <i>Spotlight,
</i>Alicia Vikander for <i>The Danish Girl</i>,
Kate Winslet for <i>Steve Jobs<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Alicia Vikander for her five roles in 2015, I
mean, <i>The Danish Girl<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Doesn’t
deserve the nom: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rooney
Mara for <i>Carol<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wish would win: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kristen
Stewart for <i>Clouds of Sils Maria<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
haven’t seen: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jennifer
Jason Leigh for <i>The Hateful Eight<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thoughts:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is the only acting category that isn’t a
lock, with Kate Winslet having an outside chance at stealing it from Alicia
Vikander. Vikander was fine in <i>The Danish Girl </i>(I hate how everyone is
piling on her and Redmayne just because the film is flawed), but she’ll win because
of her body control in <i>Ex Machina</i>. On top of that excellent performance, she was
funny in <i>The Man from U.N.C.L.E.</i>, devastating
in <i>Testament of Youth</i>, and a brief
but bright spot in <i>Burnt</i>. What more do you want from her?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And yet the best single performance by a woman in a
supporting role was Kristen Stewart, who is a great actress that made a knowing
statement on her own image. The way she
and Juliette Binoche played off of each other was electric, and Stewart
actually made her character feel more lived-in than Binoche did. That’s a remarkably tough thing to do,
because the characters in <i>Clouds of Sils
Maria </i>were very overwritten.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve always had trouble connecting with Rooney Mara,
and her mousey role in <i>Carol </i>seemed utterly
bland to me. Winslet is her usual flashy
but great self in <i>Jobs</i>, and Rachel McAdams
is someone who deserves better roles than she gets. Outside of replacing Mara with Stewart, I’m
fine with keeping this lineup as is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Adapted
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>The Big
Short, Brooklyn, Carol, The Martian, Room<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>The Big
Short<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Doesn’t
deserve the nom</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">: <i>Brooklyn, Carol, Room<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>Z for Zachariah<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thoughts:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>The Big
Short </i>and <i>Room </i>are filled with
tough material to adapt, and <i>The Big
Short </i>pulled it off with style. It
won WGA, Critic’s Choice, and BAFTA. It’ll
win the Oscar for sure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Both the book and the movie version of <i>The Martian </i>is a love letter to the
grinding nature of science, and as a lover of science myself, I can attest that
it got that sentiment exactly right. <i>Brooklyn, Carol</i>, and <i>Room </i>simply didn’t hit me on an
emotional level, and they were supposed to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Z
for Zachariah </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">is a brilliant screenplay because its
story works on so many levels. It’s a
microcosm of all sorts of human interaction, and its open-ended presentation
allows you to sink your teeth into whatever aspect you find most
appealing. It’s a wonderful achievement,
and it leaves me riveted every time I watch it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other films that I wish had landed noms include <i>Testament of Youth </i>and <i>The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 </i>(yes, I’m serious).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>Bridge of
Spies, Ex Machina, Inside Out, Spotlight, Straight Outta Compton<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>Spotlight<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>Three Days in September</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
haven’t seen: </span></b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Bridge of Spies<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thoughts:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Like <i>The
Big Short</i>, <i>Spotlight </i>has been
sweeping this category, so it’s a shoe-in on Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I didn’t do a ‘didn’t deserve the nom’ list because I’d
like to propose throwing out all of the nominees. Some are perfectly fine (<i>Spotlight </i>and <i>Ex Machina</i>)
while others are deeply flawed (<i>Straight
Outta Compton </i>and <i>Inside Out</i>). If it were up to me, these would be my
nominees: <i>Three Days in September</i>, <i>Star
Wars: The Force Awakens</i>, <i>Love & Mercy</i>, <i>The Keeping Room</i>, <i>The Voices</i>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 34.24px;">Bonus Round: Everything Else</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 28.5333px;">Editing<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>The Big Short, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Spotlight, Star Wars: The Force Awakens<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>The Big Short<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>The Big Short</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 28.5333px;">Cinematography<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Carol, The Hateful Eight, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Sicario<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>The Revenant<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> This is a stacked lineup, and I'd be fine with any of them winning. Although, I'm sad that <i>Meru </i>isn't included.</span><br />
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<h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 28.5333px;">Sound Editing<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Sicario, Star Wars: The Force Awakens<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Mad Max<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>The Keeping Room</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"></span></div>
</span></h2>
<h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 28.5333px;">Sound Mixing<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Bridge of Spies, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Star Wars: The Force Awakens<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Mad Max<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Mad Max</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><i><br /></i></span>
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</span></h2>
<h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 28.5333px;">Score<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Bridge of Spies, Carol, The Hateful Eight, Sicario, Star Wars: The Force Awakens<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>The Hateful Eight<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Star Wars </i>(pure sentimental choice)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"></span></div>
</span></h2>
<h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 28.5333px;">Production Design<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Bridge of Spies, The Danish Girl, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Mad Max<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Ex Machina</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><i><br /></i></span>
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</span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 28.5333px;">Visual Effects<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Star Wars: The Force Awakens<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Star Wars<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Ex Machina</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"></span></div>
</span></h2>
<h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 28.5333px;">Costume<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Carol, Cinderella, The Danish Girl, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Cinderella<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Star Wars</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"></span></div>
</span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 26.6667px; line-height: 28.5333px;">Makeup & Hairstyling</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Mad Max: Fury Road, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Windown and Disappeared, The Revenant<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Mad Max<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> I'm gonna be honest, I have zero opinions</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"></span></div>
</span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 26.6667px; line-height: 28.5333px;">Song</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> Earned it, <i>Fifty Shades of Grey;</i> Manta Ray, <i>Racing Extinction;</i> Simple Song #3, <i>Youth</i>; Til It Happens To You; <i>The Hunting Ground</i>; Writing's On The Wall, <i>Spectre</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> Til It Happens To You</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> Til It Happens To You</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"></span></div>
</span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 26.6667px; line-height: 28.5333px;">Animated</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Anomalisa, Boy and the World, Inside Out, Shaun the Sheep Movie, When Marnie Was There</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Inside Out</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Inside Out</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"></span></div>
</span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 26.6667px; line-height: 28.5333px;">Foreign Language</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Embrace of the Serpent, Mustang, Son of Saul, Theeb, A War</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Son of Saul</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Three Days in September</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 26.6667px; line-height: 28.5333px;">Documentary</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Amy; Cartel Land; The Look of Silence; What Happened, Miss Simone?; Winter on Fire</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Amy</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I wish would win:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Meru</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 26.6667px; line-height: 28.5333px;">Animated Short</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Bear Story, Prologue, Sanjay's Super Team, We Can't Live without Cosmos, World of Tomorrow</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Sanjay's Super Team</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Ave Maria, Day One, Everything Will Be Okay, Shok, Stutterer</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Ave Maria</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 26.6667px; line-height: 28.5333px;">Documentary Short</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Nominees:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Body Team 12; Chau, beyond the Lines; Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah; A Girl in the River; Last Day of Freedom</i></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Winner:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> <i>Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So how crazy do you think I am? Leave a comment and let me know your
predictions and opinions!</span></h2>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-7001048039034931332016-01-10T14:17:00.000-05:002016-01-10T14:17:35.148-05:00My Top Ten Films of 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Let me throw out the usual caveats before we get down
to business. These are my personal
favorite films. There are other films
that easily could have been included.
You won’t agree with all of them (but feel free to tell me that). Enjoy!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Films I haven’t seen:
<i>Anomalisa, The Hateful Eight,
Bridge of Spies, The Assassin, Chi-Raq, Dope, The Lobster, Son of Saul, The
Wolfpack<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Honorable mentions<i>: Star Wars:
The Force Awakens, Kingsman: The
Secret Service, The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay – Part 2, It Follows, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Very
Semi-Serious, American Ultra<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">10. The Gift</span></span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGMk5qf82XQ4yleRTGE3jTywYeg6YkWsHgkj6rT8lfVrT95YfKY0aovnjSwOqOlP0YSxI0b69sjVs55yUiMT4a7ZQBeyZDYgFI1584cOnJceI7n3ssenS4P1G3U4TSFuoc-dKWiFdeTxR/s1600/the+gift.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGMk5qf82XQ4yleRTGE3jTywYeg6YkWsHgkj6rT8lfVrT95YfKY0aovnjSwOqOlP0YSxI0b69sjVs55yUiMT4a7ZQBeyZDYgFI1584cOnJceI7n3ssenS4P1G3U4TSFuoc-dKWiFdeTxR/s400/the+gift.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Joel Edgerton made one hell of a directing debut with
this genre exercise, crafting a character-based thriller that keeps you
guessing as to who exactly the bad guy is.
The script hits all the beats you want without feeling rote, the shot
composition feeds the paranoia, and the acting trio of Edgerton, Jason Bateman,
and Rebecca Hall are near-perfect. No
other movie this year left me scrambling to figure out the ending like this one
did, and it still plays well on repeated viewings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">9. The Keeping Room</span></span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAefOu0PqlpjoKq642roaMNcN6nfi2LA9AWxlgDMdu7-toJQio8HNpg5C9vtKXDB2NNhaIwacYMh0u5fBAshH4NZK0jVsDwEUalPsUTAoN-3v4ONnO7VpoxCyyoy2XEekplVKaWrd0aTOJ/s1600/The-Keeping-Room-Movie-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAefOu0PqlpjoKq642roaMNcN6nfi2LA9AWxlgDMdu7-toJQio8HNpg5C9vtKXDB2NNhaIwacYMh0u5fBAshH4NZK0jVsDwEUalPsUTAoN-3v4ONnO7VpoxCyyoy2XEekplVKaWrd0aTOJ/s400/The-Keeping-Room-Movie-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Criminally underseen and divisively reviewed, <i>The Keeping Room </i>is a knowingly
art-house genre blender that won’t appeal to everyone. One part western, one part home invasion
thriller, and one part allegory, it’s the tale of three southern women
confronting the brutal end of the American Civil War. The allegory revolves around life never turning
out how we think it will be, and how whatever shatters that illusion will forever
remain a monster in our past. Moving on
from these moments are difficult, and while <i>The
Keeping Room </i>handles this and its other themes a bit roughly, a film this
brimming with ideas is a rarity that I always treasure. Plus, the cinematography and sound design are
second to none.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">8. The Big Short</span></span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLU2wqY7ONj48MjIb-WMucREowcZbiEbW3IiuD8ir960so5lgRGAW4kPgUNodkAiq7YE29ArN-Uaj7y45pmivS-dG28KE0C5QBeB3_4M0Sb6bGknmLpzQHNlKmOG_TCGAPN-G01gXTRgVu/s1600/the+big+short.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLU2wqY7ONj48MjIb-WMucREowcZbiEbW3IiuD8ir960so5lgRGAW4kPgUNodkAiq7YE29ArN-Uaj7y45pmivS-dG28KE0C5QBeB3_4M0Sb6bGknmLpzQHNlKmOG_TCGAPN-G01gXTRgVu/s400/the+big+short.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is the closest you’re going to get to a comedy on
my list, because while it’s about the housing crash and global economic crisis
of the mid-2000s, it goes about its unappealing premise with style. Its cocky smoothness hides a complex message,
one that we all need to learn, and the broad-based appeal of its A-list cast
and hilarious asides makes for some brilliant packaging. Let’s face it, people don’t want to be
lectured at for two hours. Films that
embrace the power of an entertaining idea like <i>The Big Short </i>are the ones that really harness what the medium can do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7. Testament of Youth</span></span></h3>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Testament
of Youth </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">is the Alicia Vikander-led sweeping epic that no one
is talking about. This is mystifying to
me because it’s the most affecting film I saw all year. Yes, it’s unapologetically tragic, but the story
it’s based on was a real-life tragedy.
The softening of the blows that come in steady succession makes the film
painful but not devastating, leaving it’s beautiful depictions of memory as the
lasting reminder of what was lost. According
to both her memoir and the people who knew her, Vera Brittain was forever
haunted by what happened to her during World War I, and the film captures that
beautifully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">6. Love & Mercy</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Two music biopics intertwined the artist’s music in
masterful ways this year, but <i>Love and
Mercy </i>took far more risks than <i>Straight
Outta Compton</i>, and it’s all the better for it. In telling the story of Beach Boy Brian Wilson
in two parts, audiences get to see the brilliant but deteriorating Wilson while
he wrote the acclaimed album Pet Sounds and his later ascent from the pits of mental
illness. The former are lush scenes of
sound and light while the latter is a more familiar tale of love, but both are
expertly sold by Paul Dano, John Cusack, and Elizabeth Banks. How the team were able to blend these two
sections together so seamlessly is one of the great achievements of the year,
but <i>Love and Mercy </i>is a satisfying
film whether you take into account the risks or not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">5. Three Days in September</span></span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTDBQ6s-FARW-OnLUPMNKuN-ewKbkjRo67bkonHMU1OGiM3LBQK56LE-ZTvFN2bKEV6-1I-i_flSh5fll1DnGjGqjApmjHWOj95gzIuaMhB69wxn5fGPp6-4ZJbzKn478pmEZJou491vH/s1600/three+days+in+september.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTDBQ6s-FARW-OnLUPMNKuN-ewKbkjRo67bkonHMU1OGiM3LBQK56LE-ZTvFN2bKEV6-1I-i_flSh5fll1DnGjGqjApmjHWOj95gzIuaMhB69wxn5fGPp6-4ZJbzKn478pmEZJou491vH/s400/three+days+in+september.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is a small film from Macedonia that played in only
a few festivals around the world. I was
lucky enough to catch it at the Chicago International Film Festival, and the
entire theater I was in seemed pretty blown away. It’s the story of two women in a remote town
slowly becoming friends while also trying to keep some dark secrets hidden. The two leads, Irena Ristic and Kamka
Tocinovski, navigate their character’s changing relationships and personal
fears wonderfully, and writer/director Darijan Pejovski keeps the tension
slowly ratcheting up. Pejovski listed film
noir and ‘70s American cinema as influences, which is an apt representation of
the film’s gritty entertainment. This is
Pejovski’s first feature-length film, and with a debut this great, I’m anxious
to see what he does next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">4. Clouds of Sils Maria</span></span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3KchFdo92IOehqdo5-mzgfOiUk7dMz52TvqhrcgllXGBrH1CeHLHhBuA2Zp-fDJeTs3_1vpjZItMYlaymqeqJuZkvfM7KM6Tj8v5wJ0a-CTemVec6pf904o4b0Ev-64ocmY34at8Fgd5/s1600/clouds+of+sils+maria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3KchFdo92IOehqdo5-mzgfOiUk7dMz52TvqhrcgllXGBrH1CeHLHhBuA2Zp-fDJeTs3_1vpjZItMYlaymqeqJuZkvfM7KM6Tj8v5wJ0a-CTemVec6pf904o4b0Ev-64ocmY34at8Fgd5/s400/clouds+of+sils+maria.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Clouds
of Sils Maria </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">is aimed pretty directly at someone like
me, who likes to ponder narratives, characters, marketing strategies, and
thematic ideas. The whole business of
storytelling and how it reflects real life is what fascinates me about film, so
watching the story of a woman prepping for a play while confronting the time
that has passed since she previously performed it ticks nearly all of my
boxes. That it also addresses the
real-life people involved with the production checks the remaining boxes, so
despite being very on-the-nose, I find myself thinking about and re-watching <i>Clouds of Sils Maria </i>quite regularly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">3. Mad Max:
Fury Road</span></span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgLTKwarSdLpK0-h0HSDAgtaYOyKNSHN5ESUaDldg5hHc4fGZ1SR4BJdB-xnUK4USxyehsWHt5ZD_riwkO9h0vOdhWEVPT_nc91a2bKasR5OxmL7Uj3I92DzaanjcXBHroBtO2GFtv1FG_/s1600/mad+max.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgLTKwarSdLpK0-h0HSDAgtaYOyKNSHN5ESUaDldg5hHc4fGZ1SR4BJdB-xnUK4USxyehsWHt5ZD_riwkO9h0vOdhWEVPT_nc91a2bKasR5OxmL7Uj3I92DzaanjcXBHroBtO2GFtv1FG_/s400/mad+max.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s hard to remember a film so universally loved as <i>Mad Max:
Fury Road</i>. I’ve had many
conversations with fellow cinephiles about it, and my co-worker has had a
picture of Imperator Furiosa posted at her desk since the film’s release. At this point, everyone’s heard the song and
dance about how great this film is, and it deserves every ounce of its
adoration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQnvKLyES2o-rHzXexgqHg_8NR5vmwPyuSNShrqa7-1Qmx9WOec4pSPZa3s1_duC8ki5NkCjyPUCFAJFFWABVKcpcjAVFOmSCgTfWepCDCZ6fnx0FD33Ksj9ZIGakyjoOHssYV2S2j_sZ/s1600/goodnight+mommy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQnvKLyES2o-rHzXexgqHg_8NR5vmwPyuSNShrqa7-1Qmx9WOec4pSPZa3s1_duC8ki5NkCjyPUCFAJFFWABVKcpcjAVFOmSCgTfWepCDCZ6fnx0FD33Ksj9ZIGakyjoOHssYV2S2j_sZ/s400/goodnight+mommy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The little horror film that could, <i>Goodnight Mommy </i>broke out of the
festival circuit on a wave of critical praise, but it’s a tough film to
sell. It takes its time setting everything
up and peppering in scary images until all hell finally breaks loose. It’s a big, horrifically glorious ending, but
like the best of the genre, all that craziness is rooted in a very real and
universal fear. I’m fine with horror
going big, bloody, and violent, and <i>Goodnight
Mommy </i>doesn’t shortchange its setup.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">1. Z for Zachariah</span></span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CmgxJAHGp7eFG_K9Db8Oq2IMoS3TbXUjBGdbvbyTkF9zqSjeDvz6i5yGX1aj9hkfr1Twfc8nfjmQ6d-O7DfHfKMv3Oujeak2dEraIwEVgeG0UbEMOn-X8fm_C2k2VuI2ob1nQPh4g-pp/s1600/z+for+zachariah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CmgxJAHGp7eFG_K9Db8Oq2IMoS3TbXUjBGdbvbyTkF9zqSjeDvz6i5yGX1aj9hkfr1Twfc8nfjmQ6d-O7DfHfKMv3Oujeak2dEraIwEVgeG0UbEMOn-X8fm_C2k2VuI2ob1nQPh4g-pp/s400/z+for+zachariah.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you couldn’t tell, I got into a lot of thrillers
this year, and <i>Z for Zachariah </i>is the
kind of slow, smart thriller that I’ve always loved. It takes place in a secluded bit of fertile
land, possibly the only one left after an unnamed disaster, and only contains
three characters. The way these three
come together and interact is where all of the tension derives from, and the
film manages to mine all the fears that come with being in a society and the
potential of being without one at the same time. This is very much the kind of film that feeds
off of what you bring to it, because it’s not going to give you any
answers. Margot Robbie, Chiwetel
Ejiofor, and Chris Pine are at the top of their games, and director Craig Zobel
delivers another unsettling, technically impressive film. As a special note, this is one of the most
complex and respectful takes on religious belief that I’ve seen out of American
cinema in a long time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-25201194168410531242015-12-20T19:54:00.000-05:002015-12-20T19:54:52.184-05:00The Danish Girl<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">November 27<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Focus Features</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Matthias
Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw, Amber Heard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tom Hooper</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lucinda Coxon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">loves Vikander, haven’t read the book<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Welcome
to your stuffy British Oscar bait! You’d
be hard-pressed to make a film more tailored for awards season than <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810819/" target="_blank">The Danish Girl</a></i>, which has the distributor,
topical storyline, and pedigree to make its run blindfolded. In a way, that appears to be what it’s doing,
as after a rousing premiere at the Venice Film Festival it stumbled in Toronto
and has been limping along ever since. But
it’s still got foolproof nominations for Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, who’s
strategically running in the supporting category, and remains in consideration
for several other categories. That’s the
power of perception for you, because taken on its own accord, <i>The Danish Girl </i>deserves little more
than a polite nod as you leave the theater.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> That
topical storyline has to do with the growing prominence of transgendered people
in Western media. <i>The Danish Girl </i>draws upon the story of one of the first people to
ever get sex reassignment surgery, the artist Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe
(Redmayne). I say draws upon because
this story plays very loose with the facts, an easy freedom that isn’t
inherently negative, but unfortunately wasn’t used here to form a
well-structured movie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>The Danish Girl</i> is adapted from the
novel of the same name, which I’m assuming is where the focus on the
relationship between Einar and has wife, Gerda Wegener (Vikander), comes
from. It’s an excellent plan to root the
story in the universally relatable situation of loving someone who’s changing before
your eyes, and the pairing of such emotive actors as Redmayne and Vikander really
allows that story to take off. They play
off of each other so well, vivaciously bubbly when they’re in love and
misty-eyed when in rough patches, that the complexities of their ever-changing
relationship is remarkably easy to track.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
problem is that screenwriter Lucinda Coxon doesn’t match this relationship’s
emotional arc to the plot’s structure, allowing the turning point in the
relationship to come far too early and for the same dynamics to drag along for
long stretches of time. The plot itself
becomes very bogged down in the physical aspects of Einar/Lili’s transition,
from the adoption of feminine movements to the surgeries themselves. This is understandable considering that her
physical transformation is what she’s remembered for, but this doesn’t bear
much emotional heft on its own. By not
pairing the plot’s climax to the couple’s relationship, the back half of this
film becomes remarkably dispassionate, and its ending feels like nothing more
than a rote bid for tears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Director
Tom Hooper has a certain self-aggrandizing tone that he uses as his de facto
mode of storytelling, which has led to two straight Best Picture nominations
and certainly produces austerely beautiful films. <i>The
Danish Girl </i>proves to be no exception, as everything from the score, sets,
costumes, and cinematography is impeccably done. His framing of shots have often resembled
posed paintings, which fits nicely with the galleries and workshops much of
this film takes place in. Stills from
this movie would look lovely framed and hanging on a wall, but this style
matches poorly with the film’s uneven emotional resonance, so much so that when
the couple’s relationship ebbs from time to time, the film becomes very
flat. Hooper does nothing to address the
story’s shortcomings, apparently feeling that a nice presentation was all the
screenplay needed, which indicates a massive failure to understand the story he
was tasked with telling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Thank god for Redmayne and Vikander, who
prove to be the only ones capable of injecting some life into these stiff
proceedings. It’s encouraging that, for
all of <i>The Danish Girl’s </i>Oscar
maneuverings, the two people who truly delivered at their jobs are the only
ones assured of its golden recognition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Ben Whishaw and Matthias
Schoenaerts give solid, if stiff, supporting turns.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Whishaw may be one of
the few people to have appeared in more films than Vikander in 2015.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">I adore the way this
film shows people painting through the back side of the canvas.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-42583796863954579672015-12-13T10:32:00.000-05:002015-12-13T10:32:45.538-05:00In the Heart of the Sea<br />
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<img alt="In the Heart of the Sea poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/In_the_Heart_of_the_Sea_poster.jpg/220px-In_the_Heart_of_the_Sea_poster.jpg" width="215" /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">December 11<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> PG-13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Warner Bros.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian
Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ron Howard</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Charles Leavitt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">never read <i>Moby-Dick</i>, likes
man-versus-nature themes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">5.3 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Walking
through the local movie theater a few months ago, I spotted a poster for <i>In the Heart of the Sea</i>. It’s a great poster, using the massiveness of
the whale to emphasize the futility of men, and then I noticed that it listed
the old March release date. The film was
delayed for nine months, allegedly to position it for an awards season run, but
few people bought that explanation. It
originally would’ve competed with the releases of <i>Cinderella </i>and <i>Run All Night</i>,
while it’s new December slot had it up against zero wide releases. A stinker was suspected, and the long wait
soured many, like me, who were intrigued by this film. Now it’s finally out in the world, and while
it’s not a complete travesty, it does blow a solid premise and a strong cast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>In the Heart of the Sea </i>endeavors to
tell the real-life inspiration for <i>Moby-Dick</i>,
where the crew of the whaling ship <i>Essex</i>
is attacked and stranded by a massive white whale. There’s no one here to call Ishmael, but the
storyteller role remains, taken over by the grizzled and haunted Thomas
(Brendan Gleeson) who was the cabin boy on the ill-fated trip. Novelist Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) drags
the story out of him, and what unravels is a tale of many, but unfortunately incohesive,
sides.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Charles
Leavitt gets the lone screenwriter credit here, but story credits also go to
the writing duo of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Leavitt’s spotty track record includes the
excellent <i>Blood Diamond </i>and the
terrible <i>Seventh Son</i>, while Jaffa and
Silver have collaborated on blockbusters like <i>Rise of the Planet of the Apes </i>and <i>Jurassic World</i>. That’s not a
particularly strong team, and they clearly struggled with the cumbersome,
sprawling nature of this story. There’s
a lot of characters to set up as well as the unfamiliar business of whale
hunting, and then they needed to condense what is a very long story into a manageable
size. They never seem to land on how to
do any of this, as characters are paper-thin but made to have unsatisfying arcs
(á la <i>Jurassic </i>World) and the story
is allowed to plod on far longer than is needed (á la <i>Seventh </i>Son). To add to the
messiness, there’s a part of the film that tries to take on the myriad of
themes that run through the story, but there’s also clearly a pull to make this
into an action film (there’s a moment where Chris Hemsworth jumps at the whale
with a hatchet). This overall disjointedness
nearly ruins what should be an epic tale, one that Melville himself was able to
form into an American classic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Luckily
for the audience, even when the story struggles there’s always a top-shelf actor
onscreen to make it sort of work. Hemsworth
leads the group, and even though his accent is a bit shaky, his shoulders and
acting ability are more than broad enough to carry the load. He, Benjamin Walker, and Cillian Murphy make
a nice threesome as the ship’s leaders, and they smooth out some of the dark
turns that the film takes. Tom Holland
plays the younger version of Gleeson, and he yet again proves to be a young
actor worth watching. But it’s the
scenes back on land with Gleeson and Whishaw that pop the most, proving yet
again that masterfully played conversations can be more riveting than CGI
spectacles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> And
there is a lot of CGI in this thing, as everything from the whales they are
hunting to the backdrop behind the characters is digitally rendered in a
strangely obvious way. It’s the kind of
film where the real things feel more palpable and set apart from those that
aren’t, and it’s such a pervasive feeling that it’s hard to determine whether
it was intentional or not. Director Ron
Howard would be the man to ask, and whether you find this effect and his
constantly moving camera beautiful or a bit annoying will be dependent on your
personal taste It certainly makes it
impossible to forget that you’re watching a movie, and while it does lead to a
few impressive shots, that doesn’t make up for how jarring it often is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>In the Heart of the Sea </i>had a tough
legacy to live up to, both from the history of its story and from the talent
involved in its production. It’s disappointing
that it is such a long, jumbled mess, but there’s still bright spots peppered
into this long slog. Then again, it’s
kind of fitting that the filmmaker’s attempt to make an epic out of the story
behind <i>Moby-Dick </i>ended up as their
white whale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Warning: this film contains unnecessary whale gore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As
good of a job as Hemsworth did, I still feel that he was miscast. He’s just too lumbering and imposing of a
figure to be in the cramped spaces of a boat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Is
it possible for Frank Dillane not to feel smarmy?</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-3975876452287228462015-12-09T17:16:00.000-05:002015-12-09T17:16:06.556-05:00The Nightmare Before Christmas<br />
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<img alt="The nightmare before christmas poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9a/The_nightmare_before_christmas_poster.jpg/220px-The_nightmare_before_christmas_poster.jpg" width="218" /></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">November 13<sup>th</sup>,
1993</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> PG<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Buena Vista
International</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara,
William Hickey<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Henry Selick</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tim Burton, Michael McDowell, Caroline Thompson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">doesn’t like stop-motion animation, lukewarm on Tim Burton<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">4 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>The Nightmare Before Christmas </i>should be
one of my classics. I was the perfect
age when it came out, was drawn to dark kids fare, and was already steeped in
Burton’s style. But <i>Nightmare </i>slipped through the cracks to become one of those films I
always knew of but never saw. Now over
twenty years later, the film seems to have lost its magic. Perhaps replication has made it seem less
original, perhaps I’m just too old, or perhaps (just perhaps) it has always
been too lightweight to hold up its own reputation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> In
a world where each holiday has its own isolated town, Halloween’s frightful
leader Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon and Danny Elfman) finds himself tired
of celebrating the same holiday every year.
While wandering the woods in misery, he comes across Christmas Town and
is enchanted by its bright cheer. Jack
brings tidings of Christmas back to Halloween Town and endeavors to lead his
newfound holiday the following year, but when his fear-loving townsfolk
struggle to grasp the concept, Jack must somehow morph ghoulish ghosts into
spry elves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> It’s
a silly plot, but to be fair, it is intended for very young children. In this case, silly is fine, but lightweight
is not. So little happens in <i>Nightmare</i> that its brief runtime feels
stretched tight. It plays out with the intentional
clunkiness of a TV special and lacks drive or stakes. It falls prey to the idea that little kids
can’t handle narrative menace, and it’s a much lesser and slightly patronizing
film for it. Consider Disney’s landmark <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>, released just two
years before <i>Nightmare</i>. This film presents kids with the prospect of
being separated from your parents, bullied by a monster, and loosing forever the
people that you love. <i>Nightmare </i>has a potentially messed up
Christmas and a bored protagonist. See
the difference? How are children, let
alone the adults being drug along with them, supposed to get invested in this
story?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> As
is often the answer with Tim Burton products, it’s the off-kilter, gothic style
that’s supposed to reel you in. The
beauty of the film can’t be denied, even when you’re looking at worm-ridden
monsters. Burton and company designed a
few truly memorable creatures here, from the lanky Jack to his pincushion admirer,
which are all just the right amount of creepy.
Surrounding them are elaborate, misshapen buildings that you can imagine
creaking and swaying in the wind.
Halloween Town is so perfectly themed that it’s a shock when things briefly
switch to Christmas Town, with its popping colors and twinkling light. It shows that the production team was capable
of so much variety, which makes Halloween Town’s rigidly Tim Burton style a bit
disappointing. The entire look is
replicated in past and future projects, the awe of which is diminished by so
much repetition. It’s still beautiful,
don’t get me wrong, it’s just not enough to support an entire film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Filling
out the scant plot is a bunch of supposedly peppy musical numbers composed by
longtime Burton collaborator Danny Elfman.
While the songs have their moments, they’re filled with repetitive and
semi-lazy lyrics. Sentiments are reworded ad nauseam, and it’s
not uncommon to hear nonsense phrases just because they rhyme. The accompanying music is often pretty
bare-bones, so if you’re not into the zany words, then the numbers will do
little to brew your excitement. Couple
that with a ridiculously undercooked romance, and the film offers little else
besides surface entertainment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Burton
had <i>Nightmare </i>cooking in his brain
for nearly ten years before the film went into production. It seems to have been a passion project for
the man, and perhaps because of that there’s little effort to make it appeal to
a wider audience. You’ll either be
charmed by his style or you won’t, because there’s little other reason to watch
this film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">I’ve
long been slightly creeped out by stop-motion animation. Everything appears lifeless to me, and I have
great difficulty connecting to any story told with this method.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Note
that this film is Tim Burton’s baby, but he did not direct it. He was too busy at the time with <i>Batman Returns </i>and <i>Ed Wood</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">The
scientific method joke made me laugh out loud.
Poor Jack, it never sways public opinion.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-15494405490649384892015-12-06T17:14:00.000-05:002015-12-06T17:14:46.189-05:00Krampus<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="Krampus poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1e/Krampus_poster.jpg/220px-Krampus_poster.jpg" width="200" /></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">December 4<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> PG-13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Universal Pictures</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David
Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrel, Emjay Anthony<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Michael Dougherty</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Todd Casey, Michael Dougherty, Zach Shields<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">was lukewarm on Dougherty’s <i>Trick r’
Treat</i>, likes genre blending<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7.3 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Christmas
horror movies have been made before, but they’re generally intended for B-movie
or hard genre fanatics. Ask the average
moviegoer to name a few and you’ll likely get:
“<i>Gremlins</i>! And, uh…”
The conversation won’t last long, because gleeful gore and Christmas
tidings just don’t seem to go together.
It’s a balance that <i>Krampus </i>struggles
to get right, but the effort, and Universal’s confident marketing push, is a
risk to be admired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Director/co-writer
Michael Dougherty is mining a very similar well here as his previous film, <i>Trick r’ Treat</i>. Both are about an impish creature punishing those
who don’t take the holidays seriously.
Perhaps they’re part of a loose series, or perhaps Dougherty just wants
us to keep our holidays more reverent.
Christmas, it turns out, already had a creepy monster in its lore, which
should come as no surprise considering how old and mixed its traditions
are. The character of Krampus is described in a
nifty story within a story as “the shadow of Santa”, bringing carnage to those
who lose the holiday spirit. He’s inadvertently
summoned by the central family’s youngest son, Max (Emjay Anthony), after
becoming disillusioned by his family’s bickering. Holiday-themed horror ensues, but not without
a lot of winks at the audience, because the whole thing is knowingly a bit
ridiculous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> How
much leeway that gives the film is going to vary for everyone, and its charm
relies on having lots of room to slip up.
The film is, in many ways, a mess.
Its characters are obnoxious stereotypes, its sentimentality seems
tacked on, and it settles for scares instead of terror. There’s also a nasty anti-middle America
streak that’s hard to get over (I know lots of nice people who like hot dogs
and mac n’ cheese), and yet it overcomes all of this because it’s so darn
gleeful. The love that seeps through
this film for oddball horror and kitschy bad guys is effervescent, and the tone
weirdly fits with Christmas’s garish traditions. It’s genuinely fun to watch this family get
terrorized, and even though you don’t want to see them die, you do want to see
what craziness gets thrown at them next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Between
this and the anthology-based <i>Trick r’
Treat</i>, Dougherty proves to have a varied and imaginative take on his
monsters. Both films send all sorts of
creepy-crawlies after their victims, and while they’re based on horror staples
like clowns, children, and ancient demons, there’s always a twist to take
things up a notch. Either due to budget
constraints or personal taste, Dougherty relies mostly on practical effects,
working with Weta Workshop to create some very memorable monsters that any
Planet Hollywood should proudly display.
Krampus himself is introduced in a rather memorable scene, and even if
he never proves to be as terrifying as his introduction implies, he’s still a
noteworthy baddie in the annals of PG-13 horror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>Krampus</i>, for all its odd mixing, never
does anything truly original. It holds
very tight to clichés, but the gleeful way it goes about its story will earn it
many laughs and cheers. The ending is a
letdown, that’s all I’ll say, but it’s a big one considering how assured it had
been up until that point. Still, there
are so many worth-while moments that its flaws become overwhelmed, leaving audiences
with an appetite for more holiday carnage should Dougherty choose to continue
his series.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s
not lost on me how difficult it must’ve been for the entire cast to hit the
same note tone-wise. Kudos all around.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Without
spoiling it, there’s a plot point early on that I was terrified that they would
renege on. Thankfully, they don’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
score in this film is inventive and near-perfect.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">And
so the legend of ‘the noodle incident’ is expanded.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-5651228747838452412015-12-02T11:48:00.000-05:002015-12-02T11:48:42.522-05:00Happy Christmas<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="Happy Christmas poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/47/Happy_Christmas_poster.jpg/220px-Happy_Christmas_poster.jpg" width="216" /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">July 25<sup>th</sup>,
2014</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magnolia Pictures</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Lena
Dunham, Joe Swanberg, Mark Webber<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Joe Swanberg</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Joe Swanberg<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">hit-and-miss on mumblecore, likes Anna Kendrick<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7 of 10</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Mumblecore
is quietly becoming one of the biggest filmmaking movements in America, but its
founders reject that there’s any organization involved. Instead, they surmise that the characteristic
low-budget, organic feel is a natural response to mainstream cinema’s swelling
budgets and rote stories. Many of the
founders are already making forays into bigger pictures, with Lynn Shelton,
Mark Duplass, and Joe Swanberg attracting a variety of mainstream actors to
their projects. Despite this shift, Swanberg
has chosen to keep his budgets low and with <i>Happy
Christmas </i>reverts back to a micro-budget style (the film was made for a
reported $70,000) after maxing out at $1 million for <i>Drinking Buddies</i>. How this
is possible with a cast that includes Anna Kendrick, Lena Dunham, and Melanie
Lynskey is a mystery, but it’s one that you won’t bother to consider when
watching the thoroughly enjoyable <i>Happy
Christmas</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> As a
hallmark of the subgenre, the film is largely improvised, leaving the plot to
be a loose, shaggy thing that doesn’t go anywhere drastic. There’s a 30ish couple (Swanberg and Lynskey)
with a young baby and a couch-surfing little sister (Kendrick) in need of a
restart. There’s hints early on of
animosity that never quite blossoms. Instead,
the film circles around a story of familial love and responsibility that is
worth the pain. It’s a gentle conflict,
but one that most people will recognize.
It’s refreshing, given the histrionics that come with most films about
families, to find one that captures the calmness of day-to-day operations. There’s annoyance and frustration, yes, but
there’s also an affectionate history and a bond that runs too deep to break.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Another
easy cliché that the film manages to avoid is pigeonholing Kendrick’s Jenny as
a good-for-nothing slacker. She’s
troubled and there’s hints that she’s rebounding from a bad relationship, but
she’s also genuinely interested in her brother and sister-in-law’s life, not
wanting to interrupt it for too long.
Kendrick plays her as someone smart enough to know that she’s intruding,
and her attempts to make herself useful is what staves off animosity. These efforts lead to a sweet relationship
between Kendrick and Lynskey, one that feels genuine and is wonderfully
navigated by the two actresses. They make
it feel as if they wander into the understatedly powerful moments that occur between
these two characters, and given the genre, perhaps that’s what actually
happened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> However,
the style sometimes gets in the way, as almost all of the moments when <i>Happy Christmas </i>stumbles can be traced
back to its mumblecore tenets. The aesthetic
simply isn’t for everyone, and the low-fi camerawork, lighting, and sound
design doesn’t make for an elegant film.
More coverage shots would give the film some energy, and the
lackadaisical plot inevitably leads to some inconsequential scenes. There’s a sense that Swanberg wasn’t out to
make a perfect film but to capture some small moments that aren’t often
observed. This is something he does
quite well, but it doesn’t make for a complete film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Despite
its shortcomings, <i>Happy Christmas </i>is
carried across the finish line on the backs of Kendrick and Lynskey. Everything about the film quickly fades from
your mind except a few raw and wholly recognizable moments between these two. If that is truly all that Swanberg wanted to
capture, then the mission was accomplished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other
Notes<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s
hoping that Lynskey gets more starring roles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve
never taken to Lena Dunham, even here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Fun
fact: the baby is played by Swanberg’s
real-life daughter.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-3116124907166004492015-11-28T11:00:00.000-05:002015-11-28T11:00:02.529-05:00Creed<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="Creed poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/24/Creed_poster.jpg/220px-Creed_poster.jpg" width="215" /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">November 25<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> PG-13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Warner Bros.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone,
Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ryan Coogler</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ryan Coogler, Aaron Covington<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">never seen a <i>Rocky </i>film<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7.8 of 10</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> It
seems that in 2015, the 7<sup>th</sup> time’s the charm. <i>Furious
7 </i>racked up money and praise back in April, and <i>Creed </i>appears to be going in the same direction. Oddly, both films find their series at tricky
crossroads, unable to continue as they had before. The <i>Fast
and Furious </i>series lost one of its stars.
<i>Creed</i> must admit that Rocky
Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) can no longer box.
The magnitude of these changes cannot be understated, and if nothing
else, both series have seized the moment and delivered a crowd-pleasing entry
for their die-hard fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> In <i>Creed</i>, the baton is passed from Rocky to
Creed’s illegitimate son, Adonis (Michael B. Jordan). Adonis is trying to prove himself without
using his father’s reputation, making his way under the surname Johnson. Of course, the illegitimate tag gnaws at him,
and he’s angered at the thought of taking the name of a man he never met. This doesn’t stop him from taking advantage
of the connection to get Rocky in his corner, though (a contradiction that is
thankful acknowledged), and the two form a relationship far beyond that of
coach and trainee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
formula for the <i>Rocky </i>movies have
always been well-worn, and <i>Creed </i>does
nothing to change that. We know all
along that Rocky and Adonis will form a close relationship, that complications
will arise, and then a big fight will bring them back together. Like all great sports movies, the winning and
losing isn’t what it’s all about. The
fight is symbolic, and unfortunately for <i>Creed</i>,
that symbol is its weakest link. The
film’s metaphor is too simple and too clean to knock you out, a misstep that is
a holdover from writer/director Ryan Coogler’s previous film, <i>Fruitvale Station</i>. Neither film is sunk by this simplicity, but
it’s more apparent in this drug out behemoth.
There’s just too much tire-spinning, too many moments of macho men
acting out, and yes, too many training montages. If these moments had built on each other to
complicate the core relationship then we’d be having an entirely different
conversation, but the film uses them only to pound down the same points,
leaving the middle section feeling a bit weary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Still,
complicated is not a defining word of the <i>Rocky
</i>series, and fans that are turning up for a good-ole underdog story won’t be
disappointed. Jordan turns in an
effervescent performance as Adonis, showing that he’s more than capable of
carrying the sweat and the charm of the series.
Stallone is as comfortable as he’ll ever be in a role, and even if he’s
not your cup of tea (he’s certainly not mine), it’s hard to argue against such
a solid performance. You’re third lead
here would have to be Tessa Thompson, another charismatic actor that, like
Jordan, has unfortunately been held back by the color of her skin. Both should be much bigger stars than they
are, and perhaps the best thing about <i>Creed
</i>is that the continued series should become a career stabilizer for both of
them. Thompson plays Adonis’s love
interest, a role that starts out as touchingly well-rounded but unfortunately
fades. And yet, Thompson and Jordan give
such excellent performances that their relationship always works, and it will
be a pleasure to see where they, along with Sly’s Rocky, end up next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> What
separates <i>Creed </i>from the sports movie
pack is just how well it’s made, partially thanks to the performances that have
already been outlined and partially because of Coogler’s direction. His faults as a writer aside, Coogler is an
unusually assured young filmmaker, taking chances here that mostly pay off in a
beautiful and moving film. The camera
swirls, ducks, and pounds with the fighters, and the score goes big and
sweeping. In spite of the film’s
simplicity, Coogler will play your emotions like a fiddle, and that last fight
will certainly leave you feeling something, even if it does fall short of the
genre’s legends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Coogler
has made <i>Creed </i>into a reboot worthy
of continued entries. There are aspects
of these characters that would be interesting to explore, and Jordan and
Thompson prove to be a duo that will be exciting to watch well into the future. It’s a rousing success for a very simple
franchise and a tantalizing taste of what it’s capable of becoming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Obviously,
<i>Rocky</i> is not a series that speaks to
me. That I responded to this film as
much as I did is pretty remarkable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">This
gets my nomination for Funniest Performance by a Turtle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">I
do sincerely applaud this series for willingly shifting its focus to non-white
people. I have full confidence that audiences
will continue to shell out money no matter the color of the actors onscreen.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-84180469076248112602015-11-25T18:38:00.000-05:002015-11-25T18:38:33.309-05:00Stranger than Fiction<br />
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<img alt="Stranger Than Fiction (2006 movie poster).jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/ff/Stranger_Than_Fiction_%282006_movie_poster%29.jpg/220px-Stranger_Than_Fiction_%282006_movie_poster%29.jpg" width="215" /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">November 10<sup>th</sup>,
2006</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> PG-13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Columbia Pictures</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin
Hoffman, Queen Latifah, Emma Thompson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Marc Forster</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Zach Helm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">likes the cast, likes novel-style narration<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">9.5 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Harold
Crick is a man who counts his toothbrush strokes. That says a lot about a person, making it exactly
the kind of detail that a novelist would hone in on when describing their
character. So precise and so orderly a
man would be perfect for high tragedy or comedy, an idea that <i>Stranger than Fiction </i>toys with for the
better part of the movie only to flip on its head. Most of the movie does this, setting up ideas
with two possible outcomes only to take option C, a sweet and steady route that
goes somewhere between what you thought was possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> In
the film, Harold (Will Ferrell) wakes up to find his life being narrated. Only he can hear the voice of Karen (Emma
Thompson), who is in fact struggling to finish a book that ends in Harold’s
death. Her observations seem to kick in
just when a novel would start, i.e. just when exciting things start to happen
in Harold’s life. It’s a tragedy that it
took Harold this long to take an interest in what’s going on around him, but
the layers that get peeled back reveal a witty, love-struck man (he’s fallen
for an anarchist baker played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) that could easily morph the
story into a comedy. These are the two
options laid out for Harold by literary professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman),
who Harold turns to to figure out which author is bringing about his imminent
death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
high-concept pitch that a writer is writing a real man’s life is one that’s
been used many times over, but what makes Zach Helm’s screenplay truly stand
out is the tone he manages to hit. It’s
on the one hand extremely literary in its wording and themes, on the other hand
sweet in its romance and characters, on one foot light and breezy in its
movement, and on the other foot emotionally impactful in its big moments. Note that I said tone, singular, because all
of this magically feels like one complete feeling. Of course, the only magic involved is Helm’s
pitch-perfect screenplay, which on top of all this makes subtle nods to
scientific and mathematic theories without being in-your-face about it. It’s one of the most approachably smart
screenplays you’ll come across, laying a groundwork that would’ve been
heartbreaking to see flubbed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Luckily,
director Marc Forster applies a perfect visual palette to Helm’s tale, picking
up on every beat and adding a little flourish to bring it all home. The film is bright and warm with oddball
little things like equations and diagrams popping up as people go about their
day. It’s a subtle nod to the fantasy
world the film exists it, one that all films exist in but few feel so
comfortable wallowing in. You are, it
says to the audience, being told a story, and it invites you to snuggle in
close and be swept along with the tale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> As
if these bountiful riches aren’t enough, the film is bursting with a superb
cast, from reliable stalwarts like Thompson and Hoffman to side players like
Queen Latifah and Tony Hale. But this is
Ferrell’s movie, and the role demands a gamut of skills audiences hadn’t seen
from the comedian in 2006. He had to be funny,
yes, but in a quiet way; the exact opposite of how he was in <i>Talladega Nights </i>and <i>Anchorman</i>. Mostly, though, Harold must be timid and
lovable. The film, like the book within
it, is about figuring out how to find happiness in your life, and its lessons
aren’t big or grand. To make the whole
thing work, Ferrell had to scale Harold’s actions down and trust that the larger
emotions of the film’s moments would ring through. Never is that more apparent than in a scene
where he strums a guitar, singing in a wavering voice that explodes into a
moment of pure ecstasy. Gyllenhaal’s
reaction to his quiet bravery is what makes it work, and this trust that Ferrell
and Gyllenhaal show in each other makes for a lovely spark of romance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>Stranger than Fiction </i>radiates a
tenderness that few films dare aspire to, which all but covers up its minor
flaws. The hairs on my neck stand up
every time the film espouses its final verdict on life, rejuvenating me in bad
times and solidifying me in good. What
more can you ask of your fiction?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Don’t
miss the fun fact that Emma Thompson plays a writer and is a writer in real
life. See her Best Adapted Screenplay
Oscar for 1995’s <i>Sense and Sensibility</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Admittedly,
not everyone else is as high on this film as I am. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 72%, Metacritic at
67%, and IMDB at 7.6 of 10.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">“Anarchists
have a group?”</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-44269989101492339392015-11-20T16:58:00.000-05:002015-11-20T16:58:56.032-05:00The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="Mockingjay Part 2 Poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/9d/Mockingjay_Part_2_Poster.jpg/220px-Mockingjay_Part_2_Poster.jpg" width="210" /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">November 20<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> PG-13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lionsgate</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam
Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour
Hoffman, Sam Claflin, Donald Sutherland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Francis Lawrence</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Peter Craig, Danny Strong<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">loved the books, felt the first two movies were rushed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">8.7 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>The Hunger Games</i> film series did itself
a great disservice with its first two installments. While they were slick, action-packed
entertainments with a good head on their shoulders, they still were paired down
too much from the books. I grimaced when
I thought what this would do to the finale, which magnifies every unsure moment
and sweeping tide into a cataclysmic revolution entirely out of Katniss’s
control. The brilliance of the book
series is in how neatly every little thread comes together. The film series had dropped too many threads,
ones that seem extraneous early on but were actually tiny building blocks for
the finale. This is why I understand
people’s aversion to the dramatic tonal shift of the two <i>Mockingjay </i>installments, but the straight and narrow gaze it gains
is precisely what elevates it into the upper echelon of popcorn entertainment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>Mockingjay Part 2 </i>finds Katniss
(Jennifer Lawrence) recovering physically from the attack by a mind-warped
Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) but without a moment for mental healing. The revolution led by District 13 is gaining
ground, with the obstacles between themselves and President Snow (Donald
Sutherland) are quickly falling away. As
usual, the tempestuous Katniss would rather be in the fight than dealing with
its aftermath, so she sets off with Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Finnick (Sam
Claflin), and company to enter the final fray:
a storming of the Capital.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Of course, President Coin (Julianne Moore) and
Plutarch (Philip Seymour Hoffman) won’t let her jeopardize their carefully
orchestrated rebellion, so she’s saddled with a protection team and kept behind
the front lines. Katniss’s removal from
center stage is something that could alternately be frustrating or thrilling to
the audience. <i>The Hunger Games </i>very pointedly doesn’t follow the ‘chosen one’
narrative, continuously making it more and more obvious that Katniss is just a
girl with a bow and arrow that happened to be in the right (wrong?) place at
the right time. No, she’s a pawn in a
much larger game, and both parts of <i>Mockingjay
</i>examines just how much she is used by both sides of the fight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> This
along with the series parallel themes about the influence of propaganda takes
the viewer down a dismal path, examining just how revolutions start and are
sustained. War is a part of it, of
course, but there’s much more sinister and damaging things afoot in <i>Mockingjay</i> that are easier to see when
the parts are viewed together. I
attended the <i>Mockingjay </i>double
feature for this review, where I saw <i>Part
1 </i>and <i>Part 2 </i>back-to-back. What’s remarkable is how difficult it is to
remember where one film started and the other ended. They really are a cohesive piece, each part
lesser on its own, but a grand, ambitious slice of filmmaking when taken
together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Director
Francis Lawrence keeps the film clipping along, adhering to the production
company’s desire for a YA smash. The
action is crisp, clean, and occasionally brutal. A little girl’s death in the woods is no
longer a cause for mourning. The
audience and the characters have moved far beyond that, but there’s still obvious
concessions made to keep the PG-13 rating.
Meaningful deaths are rarely seen, and while this takes the sting out of
some moments, there’s more obvious ways that its target audience is
acknowledged. The film’s points, at
times, are stated a bit too simply, and its plot is still hampered by a love
triangle that seems inconsequential even to those onscreen. And yet even this has a powerful payoff, a
small moment where one path is irrevocably shut down thanks to the choices made
during war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> It
would’ve been possible to tell <i>Mockingjay
</i>in one film if the series had set itself up better for the finale, but
Lionsgate wanted a blockbuster franchise, so the crazy dresses and explosions
were played up instead of the agonizing decisions faced by Katniss and everyone
else caught up in this world. The first
two installments moved at a break-neck pace, making a slowdown for <i>Mockingjay </i>necessary. Still, there’s barely a wasted moment in <i>Mockingjay</i>, as what may seem like
repetitive weariness is designed to wear you down. Yes, this is a series intended for young
adults, and yes, it’s supposed to be a thrilling blockbuster. <i>Mockingjay
</i>just wants you to be thrilled by its ideas as well as its explosions, and
it does a riveting job at entertaining you with both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other
Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Throughout
the two <i>Mockingjay </i>films, there’s
several scenes where nameless foot soldiers carry out attacks against the Capital.
Waves of them are cut down so that a
select few can complete the mission.
That’s a stark visual motif for the wanton way lives are used in times
of war. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Few
things are better than a well-used Michelle Forbes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Let’s
all take a moment and say a final goodbye to Phillip Seymour Hoffman.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-61155218793550330532015-11-18T18:30:00.000-05:002015-11-18T18:30:01.455-05:00Reprise<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="Reprise film.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/29/Reprise_film.jpg/220px-Reprise_film.jpg" width="215" /></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">May 16<sup>th</sup>,
2008</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Miramax</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Anders Danielsen Lie, Espen Klouman Høiner,
Viktoria Winge<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Joachim Trier</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">likes Trier’s <i>Oslo, August 31<sup>st</sup></i>,
likes opaque films<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">9.2 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> When it comes to serious art, not much is
expected of young people. Sure, you can
break out with a pop song when you’re 16, but just try to get a literary piece
or arthouse picture to be taken seriously when you’re twenty-five. You’ll get smacked down or condescendingly
called ‘promising’, a struggle familiar to the two aspiring writers in <i>Reprise</i> and to filmmaker Joachim Trier. <i>Reprise
</i>was his first film, released in his native Norway in 2006 and submitted in
the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars that year, but the larger
cinematic world didn’t take notice. It
took two years for the film to be released in the U.S., where it never played
in more than 15 theaters and, despite getting many rave reviews, was relegated
to ‘discovery’ sections on year-end lists.
The flippancy with which people disregard newcomers is a shame because
great art is great art, and <i>Reprise </i>is
great art.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Phillip
(Anders Danielsen Lie) and Erik (Espen Klouman Høiner) begin the film by mailing
their first manuscripts to publishers. A
flight of fancy immediately takes off, and we follow them as they imagine
tumultuous but rewarding lives as writers.
They eventually snap back to reality, but the film never really does,
continuing to take a meandering path through the young men’s lives and
thoughts. Neither of their careers take
off as planned, and the melancholy, unsure life to which they sink is dwelled
upon in intimate detail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Neither
man is particularly sympathetic, as the ooze of their privileged upbringings
and expected success makes for a rather off-putting smell. One young women needs only spend a few
minutes with their friends to disparage them all with the quip “It can’t be
easy to have problems in this crowd.”
But Phillip does have problems, and Erik is continuously unsure of what
to do. Neither prove to be bad friends,
just immature, and it’s this dynamic that Trier explores with such depth. They and Phillip’s girlfriend, Kari (Viktoria
Winge), have all found themselves in situations they don’t fully understand,
and they’re not smart enough to admit it.
Their struggles against this fact is at times pathetic but mostly
heartbreaking, particularly during a painful trip to Paris by Phillip and Kari.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> As
was previously stated, <i>Reprise </i>was
Trier’s first feature-length film, and it was early or first-time work for most
of the cast, as well. Perhaps because
they were at such similar stages in life as the characters, the tenderness with
which they observe Phillip and Erik never becomes romanticized nor absolves
them from punishment. There’s a real
sense of trying to capture life as it is, and this along with the frequent dips
into the distorted nature of the character’s brains makes the influence of New
Wave cinema impossible to miss. These stylistic
flourishes are expertly used, drawing attention to Phillip and Erik’s dreams in
a way that feels like a passionate reverie.
The small moments captured in
these asides reveals how close to home these characters must‘ve been to Trier
and company, but smartly they never let the familiarity lull them into bland
stylistic choices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> All
of this culminates in a depth that is seemingly impossible to take in on the
first viewing. There’s an overwhelming
sense of being moved by something that’s just out of your reach, something that
you understand emotionally if not intellectually. Multiple viewings is almost sure to reveal
Trier’s machinations, but you’ll want to ruminate on the experience before
plunging in again. There’s many things
to sort out after watching <i>Reprise</i>,
and a film that can affect you on so many levels is certainly worth tracking
down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Anders
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Danielsen Lie is also a
practicing physician, because being good at one thing is never enough.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Joachim
has pointedly noted that he is only distantly related to Danish writer/director
Lars von Trier.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">If
you haven’t seen Trier’s follow-up, <i>Oslo,
August 31<sup>st</sup></i>,<i> </i>I highly recommend
it as well.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-51368175045456505042015-11-15T12:16:00.000-05:002015-11-15T12:16:32.125-05:00The 33<br />
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<img alt="The 33 (film) poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/58/The_33_%28film%29_poster.jpg/220px-The_33_%28film%29_poster.jpg" width="215" /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">November 13<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> PG-13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alcon Entertainment</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro,
Juliette Binoche, James Brolin, Lou Diamond Phillips<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Patricia Riggen</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mikko Alanne, Craig Borten, Michael Thomas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">likes cast, remembers the real-life incident<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">5.8 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Five
years ago, the story of 33 trapped miners in Chile captured the world’s
attention. News teams had two ways to
approach the story: either focus on the
mine’s terrible safety record or the massive international rescue effort. One side of the story takes you down the dark
alley of capitalism and greed, while the other is an even narrower path of
international altruism. What I remember
of the story is the miners reaching the surface to a cheering, flag-waving
crowd. As a world, we chose to applaud
the men in the mine and those who saved them.
<i>The 33 </i>makes the same choice,
and while that does make it a bit of a lightweight, it still feels wrong not to
applaud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Even
without knowing the particulars of the story, it’s safe to assume that the
screenwriters played fast and loose with the facts, as everything in <i>The 33 </i>plays out in tidy, familiar
storylines. A sister, a family, and a
pregnant wife is established, the men take a portentous trip underground, and
the mine collapses. This scene, with the
rock crumbling around them in the dark, is viscerally thrilling, a top-notch
slice of disaster filmmaking that captures the chaos and confusion that must have
permeated the situation. Once the dust
settles, a drawn-out survival story ensues, as it took 69 days for the miners
to be rescued.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> If
the movie is to be believed, then it was faith and family that kept the men
going, along with the rousing leadership of Antonio Banderas’s Mario. Banderas goes big here, shaking his head and
yelling vehemently at his fellow men, an energy that is unmatched by any of the
other actors. Rescue efforts on the
outside are led by a sister played inexplicably by the very French Juliette
Binoche (her ethnicity is never commented upon) and the Chilean Minister of
Mining (Rodrigo Santoro). Both
characters have their stirring speeches, but Binoche and Santoro dial them back
a bit, making them feel more of a piece with the rest of the film than
Banderas’s strained effort. None of this
derails the film, though, as the stories of fathers trying to get home to their
families and troubled men having revelations in the dark is superficially easy
to connect with. More troubling problems
are hinted at but not explored, indicating that the screenwriters wanted to
stick with a relatively upbeat tone instead of dredging through the mud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Stylistic
choices aside, <i>The 33 </i>has a nearly
deadly pacing problem. Part of this is
due to the timeline of the true story, with the miner’s being reached and sent
supplies long before they are pulled out.
After watching dirty, sweaty men nearly starve to death, it’s hard not
to lose steam once they’re all wearing nice shorts and sleeping on bed pads,
and yet the movie drags on for a long time in this state. Without the early survival-story tension
(which is well done considering we all know how the story ends), the
cookie-cutter characters and relationship dramas aren’t enough to hold the
audience’s attention. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Even with this limp
into the finale, there’s still satisfaction in rooting for people to do right
by each other, and that’s what the world ended up doing for 69 days. In this case, a pat on the back is
well-deserved, and that’s what <i>The 33 </i>ends
up feeling like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Another
inexplicable casting choice is Bob Gunton (the warden in <i>The Shawshank Redemption</i>) as the president of Chile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Of
course the American drill makes it through.
I know that’s what really happened, but I still cringed a bit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">The
score was done by the late James Horner (<i>Braveheart</i>,
<i>Titanic</i>, <i>A Beautiful Mind</i>), and its overt manipulations match what the film
is trying to do. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-6721497706723895452015-11-11T19:00:00.000-05:002015-11-11T19:00:58.655-05:00Sunset Boulevard<br />
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<img alt="SunsetBoulevardfilmposter.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/SunsetBoulevardfilmposter.jpg" width="223" /></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">August 10<sup>th</sup>,
1950</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> NR (predates MPAA)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paramount Pictures</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von
Stroheim, Nancy Olson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Billy Wilder</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, D.M. Marsham Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">not a fan of the classics<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">9 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> “A
Hollywood Story” is the understated tagline of <i>Sunset Boulevard</i>, and it’s one that the film earns. Upon its premiere in L.A., Louis B. Mayer
(co-founder of MGM studios) famously yelled at director Billy Wilder “You have
disgraced the industry that made and fed you!”
He said this not because Wilder had made a mockery of their industry,
but because he showed the world what a mockery their industry actually was. <i>Sunset
Boulevard </i>takes place during the studio system era of Hollywood, when films
were churned out by conglomerates that controlled the development, production,
and distribution of films. It’s a
foreign concept to modern moviegoers, but at that time, the films Americans saw
were entirely controlled by the bigwigs at eight major studios. Who made them and who starred in them was
decided by long-term contracts, and once a studio was done with you, your
career was over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> This
is how people like Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) came to be. Like many real-life stars, <i>Sunset Boulevard’s </i>Norma had been famous
during the silent era but was pushed out by the studios during the transition
to talkies. With her copious amounts of
money she withdrew from life, preserving a slice of her glory days in her
mansion and pining for the day when the cameras would return. Into her clutches wanders a struggling
screenwriter named Joe (William Holden), whom she offers a job that can’t be refused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> As
with many classics, the twisted, darkly funny themes of <i>Sunset Boulevard </i>are laid bare for the viewer, but the nudging is
so thoughtfully done here, so meticulously planned out, that it’s hard not to
get sucked in. Norma’s wild
gesticulations bounce off the indifferent Joe in a way that epitomizes the
audience’s willing forgetfulness. People
at that time had no choice but to accept what the studio gave them, so when the
studio kicked out a star or a director, there was no one to catch them. These people’s insulated world would just
pick up and go, leaving many of them without the skills to exist in the real
world. What were we to do, then, when
one of these relics cropped up out of the dust?
Would we laugh at them, ridicule them, or would we take pity and try to lead
them to some sort of peace? This is the
question that Joe never finds the answer to, perhaps because the audience never
did, either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Wilder
and his cowriters clearly pulled no punches when it came to examining the Hollywood
of their time, and Wilder spared no expense when it came to seeing his vision
through. Norma’s mansion is a wonder of extravagance,
captured in impeccable black and white.
The cast is a top-notch affair, with stars of yesteryear and the future
littering the screen. It’s difficult
when watching this film not to exclaim when Buster Keaton or Cecil B. DeMille
appear for cameos, and Holden, who carries us through the film, went on to be a
well-known star in his own right (<i>The
Bridge on the River Kwai</i>, anyone?). But
it’s undeniably Swanson, a legitimate star of the silent era herself, who
steals the show. Her every movement is
pitch-perfectly wild, mining Norma for all the pathos and comedy you could ever
want, and showing us in a meta way what Norma might have been able to do if
given the chance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
fact that <i>Sunset Boulevard </i>is a
triumph will be a news flash to no one.
It’s been over 60 years since the film was released, and time has only
made it slightly worse for the wear.
Despite the move away from the studio system, the broader themes of life
in Hollywood and the average man’s relationship to it still remains poignant to
this day. I guess the question you have
to ask yourself is: how much do you really
want that pool?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Just
how meta is Swanson’s casting as Norma?
When the character exclaims that she made Paramount Studios, the same
could be said for Gloria Swanson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
is one of only 13 films to be nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actor,
Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress at the Oscars. One of the other films to achieve this feat, <i>Network</i>, also starred William Holden.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">If
only the pictures hadn’t gotten small…</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-34181326033690173392015-11-08T12:07:00.000-05:002015-11-08T12:07:12.113-05:00Spectre<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="James Bond, holding a gun in front of a masked man, with the film's title and credits" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c3/Spectre_poster.jpg/220px-Spectre_poster.jpg" width="215" /></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">November 6<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> PG-13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Columbia Pictures</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa
Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave
Bautista<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sam Mendes</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Jez
Butterworth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">not a Bond fan, liked <i>Skyfall<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> This
guy. We all know Bond, James Bond and the
cars, women, and martinis that come with him.
We also know Daniel Craig’s spin on the man, and whether you enjoy his
dour era, you can’t deny that it’s banked some good money. <i>Spectre</i>,
no matter how well it does, will be hard-pressed to continue that trend, with
the production budget inflating to a reported $350 million (for perspective, <i>Titanic </i>cost $200 million and <i>Avengers:
Age of Ultron </i>cost $250 million).
And what do audiences get for all this dough? Just an average outing, one that delivers
exactly what you expect from a Bond film and nothing more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> This
is a disappointing outcome after a promising pre-production. The return of Sam Mendes as director had many
hoping for another series highlight like <i>Skyfall</i>,
and many were excited by the more serious duo of Bond girls that were
cast. But instead of pushing the
envelope, <i>Spectre </i>falls back to its
roots, taking Bond down another secret organization rabbit hole littered with
chase scenes and loose women. It’s hard
to fault the film for the first element (these are action films, after all),
but the latter is just tiresome, as eye-roll inducing as many of the antiquated
trademarks have become. What would be so
wrong, Bond fans, with loosening the formula a bit? Wouldn’t it be better to allow Bond to become
a modern emblem of masculinity instead of the sad, boozy Sinatra impersonator
he’s in danger of becoming?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Series
issues aside, <i>Spectre </i>gets so tied up
in trying to bring you everything that you want from Bond that the
screenwriters fail to add anything special.
It’s as uninspired as a band playing their decades-old hit; they hit all
the right notes, but the boredom is undeniable. There’s no love and care given to the
villain, the love story, or even the investigation. It’s all familiar beat after beat, endlessly
referencing Bond’s past in a vain attempt to bring some meaning. On the page, none of it is menacing or
romantic, and any spark that appears is clearly coming from the excellent work of
the people trying to bring the shoddy script to life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Mendes
blew many fans away with his stylish approach to <i>Skyfall</i>, and he continues that gorgeous effort in <i>Spectre</i>.
If the film was being graded solely on presentation, it would earn top
marks, with special accommodations going to cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema
and conductor Thomas Newman. They provide
an example for how to make Bond’s tropes elegant, delivering the thrilling
action sequences and extravagant locations we all expect in a modern
package. Care was given to the
background activity of every scene, the lighting, and the music cues,
culminating in a film that leads you through every obvious beat without being
obnoxiously controlling. They never
betray the formula; they just make it the best it can be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Craig
continues to keep his Bond an arm’s length away from the audience, and you’ll
already know if he’s your cup of tea or not.
Monica Bellucci makes a brief and wasted appearance as an
age-appropriate Bond girl (woman?), quickly seceding the film to French actress
Léa Seydoux. There are certain things
you must do in the main Bond girl role, primarily serving as a seductress,
which Seydoux excelled at in the Cannes-winning <i>Blue Is the Warmest Color</i> and in this. The extra bit she brings is an air of
self-confidence, not that of a plucky upstart, but of a woman who’s taken care
of herself for a long time. She does her
best at what is the worst-written character in the film, and her energy saves
the role from being an outright failure.
The same cannot be said for Christoph Waltz’s villain, not due to any
poor effort from him, but from how largely absent he is. The lack of a proper villain, or even a clear
end goal, is the most problematic aspect of <i>Spectre</i>,
and even a mustache-twirling Waltz can’t make him seem menacing enough to last.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> It’s
lucky that such a cast and crew came together to lift <i>Spectre</i>’s stale script into decency. Their efforts make it entertaining, a thoughtless
but enjoyable ride that we’ve all been on before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I really like Ben Whishaw as Q:
“I’ve got a mortgage and two cats to feed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The intro of Waltz’s character is captivatingly weird.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">As a Bond novice, I needed more of an explanation for the octopus, but I
liked all the imagery they worked in.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-33935810811226177112015-11-04T22:07:00.000-05:002015-11-04T22:07:26.786-05:00Ruby Sparks<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="A block of text with a blank space forming the outline of a woman. A man carrying a woman over his shoulder." height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Ruby_Sparks_poster.jpg/215px-Ruby_Sparks_poster.jpg" width="204" /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">July 25<sup>th</sup>,
2012</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fox Searchlight</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina,
Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jonathan Dayton,
Valerie Faris</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Zoe Kazan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">loved <i>Little Miss Sunshine</i>,
likes mixed tones<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">4.8 of 10</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
central conceit of <i>Ruby Sparks</i> is
that an author can create a person, and not in a metaphorical sense. A flesh-and-blood Ruby (Zoe Kazan) manifests
after Paul Dano’s Calvin writers her up on a typewriter. Strangely, accepting this phenomenon is the
least problematic aspect of <i>Ruby Sparks</i>,
which plays as haphazardly with its ideas and tones as Calvin does with his
newfound creation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Calvin,
we quickly learn, is the type of sensitive man that’s as fake as his imagined
manic pixie dream girl. He treads
lightly and fumbles over words but quickly reveals a domineering, petulant
side. The pairing of the two archetypes
in their meticulously postured home (Calvin has made quite a bit of money from
a book years earlier) is as twee as it gets.
Those in tune with this aesthetic will likely find <i>Ruby Sparks</i>’ romantic meanderings endearing, as much time is spent
watching the couple, or more specifically Calvin, traverse the ups and downs of
the relationship. However, nothing much
is narratively gained during this time, leaving your enjoyment entirely
dependent on how much you like being around these two people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> For
such a high-concept pitch, it’s disappointing how much <i>Ruby Sparks </i>leans on aesthetic.
There’s a real sense that Kazan, who also wrote the screenplay, was
hesitant to dive into everything the material has to offer. The film flits around ideas of idealization,
relationship expectations, and the ramifications of free will without ever
really exploring them. It seems that
Kazan was content with planting an interesting idea inside a charming rom-com,
which is sure to frustrate anyone who either yearns for something more or is bothered
by the horrify things going on just beneath the surface.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> It’s
those horrifying things that stood in the way for me, namely the complete
imbalance of power between Calvin and Ruby.
In real life, a relationship that is controlled through physical or
emotional methods is considered abusive, and Calvin’s complete control of Ruby always
has that lingering feel. How, then, are
we supposed to find delight in their happy moments? This may be a low blow, but I imagine that the
movie has gotten a pass because it was written by a woman. A man writing about a woman being used would invite
knee-jerk accusations of sexism. A woman
writing about this is assumed to be giving some sort of commentary, except
Kazan avoids commentary throughout most of the film. Any intellectual debates the film might
incite will come from the person reading into the film’s backstory, not from anything
that Kazan put in. Therefore, why shouldn’t
Kazan be taken to task for so flippantly using a disturbing setup in the same
way that any man would be?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> By
the time the film begins to take itself seriously, those not buying into Dano
and Kazan’s admittedly sincere efforts will find it all to be too little too
late. Two scenes towards the end provide
tantalizing hints at what <i>Ruby Sparks </i>could
have been, and the exhilaration of these scenes, particularly a remarkably
staged and acted confrontation between Ruby and Calvin, reveals just what was
missing throughout the entire film:
confrontation. Calvin never has
anyone to question what he’s doing nor anything to put his cushy lifestyle into
jeopardy. It’s a rookie mistake from a
rookie screenwriter, and three years on with no follow-up, it seems like one
that’s unlikely to be learned from.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Calvin
totally would leave his Jonathan Franzen novels laying conspicuously around.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Dano
and Kazan are a real-life couple, and that translates convincingly onscreen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 42.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Oh,
how I hated Calvin’s cliché-ridden parents.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-3554309742438823782015-11-02T19:32:00.000-05:002015-11-08T12:51:52.322-05:00Goodnight Mommy<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="Goodnight Mommy.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8d/Goodnight_Mommy.jpg/220px-Goodnight_Mommy.jpg" width="215" /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">September 11<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">RADiUS-TWC</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Susanne Wuest, Lukas Schwarz, Elias
Schwarz<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Severin Fiala,
Veronika Franz</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">likes slow-burn horror<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">9 of 10</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> As
if America doesn’t produce enough horror movies, everyone else in the world has
to go express their fears cinematically, too.
Wading through this deluge is impossible even for the most fervent
horror fans, so it’s understandable that most of us ignore foreign horror
unless someone pokes their head up to tell you that you’ve got to see
one. I’m here to poke my head up, along
with a lot of other lay and profession critics, to say that you’ve got to see
Austria’s <i>Goodnight Mommy</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
film brings an uneasy brand of horror to the table, one that relies on classic genre
imagery to maintain its sense of dread.
The two boys the camera follows, twins Elias and Lukas (Elias Schwarz
and Lukas Schwarz), rarely speak to each other, and they’re left alone to play
in their rural home. They chase each
other through cornfields, wander in a misty woods, and pad softly about their
harsh, ultra-modern home. Their mother
has just returned from having facial surgery, her bandages wrapped in a distorting
fashion around her face. She’s tired and
irritable, understandable given her condition, but the boys begin to notice
that their mother isn’t behaving the way she normally does. They speculate that she’s been replaced by an
imposter, and their quiet game of clue slowly unravels their little family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> As
with all great horror, this hits on a deep-rooted fear: that your family won’t be there to protect
you. Worse yet, that they may actively
cause you harm. This fear is especially
acute as a child, when you’re essentially helpless without their care. This gives the film the latitude to build to
a big, cringe-inducing ending without feeling gratuitous. Precisely when the film takes that turn will
be different for everyone, but eventually any theater showing <i>Goodnight Mommy </i>will become filled with the
sounds of squirming bodies and audible gasps.
The climactic scenes truly offer some of the most horrific cinematic
moments of 2015, but the journey there is not so dramatic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Most of the film is
taken up by understated dread, a sensation writer/directors Severin Fiala and
Veronika Franz meticulously build. The
lack of sound that I’ve already alluded to plays a big role, heightening your
sensitivity to every stern word and pounding footstep. The pair also have a great eye for visuals,
playing out themes and twisting ideas back onto themselves through the framing
of the family’s interactions. It’s a
coldly beautiful film, as the best horror often is, and these subtle cues are
what creep under your skin and get you primed for the big finale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This slow pace will
prove untenable for some, either because they will despise the limbo the film
leads you into or they will simply find it boring. Slow burns are not everyone’s cup of tea, and
this film is certainly in no hurry to bring you any satisfaction. It’s a mere 99 minutes long, but the time you
spend in the theater will drag on. Even
those with an affinity for these sorts of films will likely find its middle
section a bit too long, and you may find yourself wondering what myself and
others were raving about. Hang in there,
because I was in the same boat and still walked out ready to declare <i>Goodnight Mommy </i>as one of the best films
of 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Are
Red Cross representatives always this pushy in Austria?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Warning: body horror ensues</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">If
you’ve seen this film, please avoid spoilers if you wish to leave a
comment. This is a film best watched
without knowing where it’s going, and I’d like everyone to have the optimal
viewing experience of such a remarkable film.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-64822344603023585412015-11-01T09:45:00.000-05:002015-11-08T12:57:34.994-05:00Burnt<br />
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<img alt="Burnt Poster Updated.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/21/Burnt_Poster_Updated.jpg/220px-Burnt_Poster_Updated.jpg" width="215" /></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">October 30<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Weinstein Company</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Omar Sy,
Daniel Brühl, Matthew Rhys, Alicia Vikander, Emma Thompson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">John Wells</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Steven Knight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">likes Bradley Cooper, not a foodie<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">4.2 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Oh
crap, a pun-ready title. That encourages
a hard stance, a snappy line that sums up the film in forty characters or less. Too bad <i>Burnt
</i>is messier than that, getting a bushel of things right and a peck of things
wrong. I’d be so easy to tell you all a
funny yea or nay, but you’ll be better served by the honest breakdown that
follows. Still, the puns must go on, so
here’s my effort: The end result of <i>Burnt </i>is really more of a singe, luring
you in with a solid couple only to give you a painful nip from the half-baked
story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Still
here? Excellent, because it’s time to
get to the good stuff: Bradley Cooper,
Sienna Miller, and all of the cast, really.
This is a film filled with people you’ll recognize but may not be
able to place, and you’ll know them because they’re as solid a group of actors as
you can get. Obviously, everyone will
know Cooper and Emma Thompson, and many will have gotten familiar with Alicia
Vikander, but the rest are a hodgepodge of people who’ve been kicking around
the international market for a decade plus.
They aren’t ones to phone in a performance, so even when this material falters,
they’re able to pick it up and carry it to the finish line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> And
the material falters quite often, taking an overdone premise (asshole genius
fighting his way back to the top) and adding an equally overdone twist by placing
it in a small subset of society (high-end cooking). If you dress up this outline correctly,
people think it’s a modern masterpiece, but if you get it wrong, it becomes a
groan-inducing bore. Unfortunately, <i>Burnt </i>falls into the latter category,
failing to make the world of chefs engaging or to make its antihero remotely likable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
film starts out on the wrong foot in the second category, showing Cooper’s Adam
Jones shucking oysters until he hits the magical number of one million. The instant he’s hit this, he takes a
satisfied breath and walks out of the hole-in-the-wall restaurant he’s in, much
to the consternation of his employers. This
is meant to play as a moment of redemption, a completion of penance for the
wrongs he has done, but by walking away mid-shift, he proves that his time away
hasn’t really changed him at all. If
this was simply a jumping-off point it would be a forgivable opening, but the
character remains this way throughout most of the film, much to the annoyance
of everyone around him, including the audience.
Cooper tries to play up his charm, but the character simply isn’t given
any redeeming qualities except that he can allegedly cook well. This, however, doesn’t engender any sympathy for
the character because an understanding and love of cooking is never conveyed to
the audience. Director John Wells and
cinematographer Adriano Goldman try to sell the cooking with some energetic
montages of Cooper and company experimenting and working the service line, and
while these scenes are visually stimulating, it doesn’t actually explain what
the hell they’re doing. The script tries
to have the characters wax poetic about it with some clunker lines that are far
too overwritten to be powerful, and in the end the cooking comes off as nothing
more than a generic thing that all of the characters happen to be doing. Given that this is a film about an obsessed
antihero, the inability to empathize with his obsession is a massive hindrance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> It’s
actually the B-plot, a cliché-ridden romance between Cooper’s Adam and Miller’s
Helene that works the best. She’s a
recruit to his new restaurant, and they allegedly bond over they’re passion and
skill for cooking. Again, the failure to
explain the cooking hinders this romance on the page, but Cooper and Miller
have enough chemistry to make it work on the screen. Their scenes have an easiness to them that
the rest of the film lacks, and for brief moments, you’re actually able to like
both of them. Unfortunately, this is the
B-plot, and after a brief moment in the sun during the middle portion of the
film, it fades behind the doldrums of kitchen life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> You’re
enjoyment of this movie will really come down to how much mileage you get out
of a charming romance and how many clichés you can stomach. If you’re driven insane by seeing the same
movie plots over and over again, then <i>Burnt
</i>will be rather unpalatable. But if
you go into it looking for an innocuous romance, then Cooper and Miller will
take you on a satisfying little trip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">If you want to feel something when you watch people eat, go watch <i>I Am Love</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Ø<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The costume design for this film was remarkably dull. The guys rarely got out of their fitted
leather jackets.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">So are cooks really evaluated by a tire company?</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-61582548762926149172015-10-28T18:47:00.000-04:002015-10-28T18:47:36.229-04:00The Adjustment Bureau<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="The Adjustment Bureau Poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1c/The_Adjustment_Bureau_Poster.jpg/220px-The_Adjustment_Bureau_Poster.jpg" width="215" /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">March 4<sup>th</sup>,
2011</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> PG-13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Universal Pictures</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie,
John Slattery<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">George Nolfi</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">George Nolfi<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">likes the cast, likes old-school sci-fi<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7.7 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Floating
in on a puff of fresh air is <i>The
Adjustment Bureau</i>, a sci-fi romance that is the polar opposite of the grim,
desaturated landscapes that dominate modern fantasy. It’s bright and bubbly, begging you to like
it just as much as much as the main characters pine for each other’s
attention. There’s an underrated value
to this sort of film, the kind that’s perfect in just about every situation for
every sort of person. Broad appeal is
nothing to be scoffed at, not when it’s done as assuredly and as winningly as
it is in this film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Undoubtedly,
the MVPs of this endeavor are Matt Damon and Emily Blunt as the love-struck
leads David and Elise. They’re two
honest-to-god movie stars, enjoyable to watch no matter what they’re doing,
even if that’s just surviving alone in space or singing about a cow in the
woods. When put together their chemistry
crackles, and watching them flirt is one of the more enjoyable things you can
do with your free time. Of course, the
film puts obstacles in their way, in particular a shady group of men in fedoras
who actively prevent them from being together, and their battle against these
men forms the crux of the film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Many
romance-against-impossible-odds stories falter when the going gets rough primarily
because the relationship isn’t well established. It’s either too rushed or not genuinely felt,
and the audience is left wondering why the pair are fighting so hard to stay
together instead of just moving on. This
is never an issue in <i>The Adjustment
Bureau</i>, not because the antagonists are weak (the fedora-clad group have
some mysterious connection to God), but because Damon and Blunt sell their
romance so well. And the writing backs
them up, making Elise and David engaging, charming folk, which the actors
pounce on and amp it up to 10. How
refreshing it is not to be taunted by a rabble-rousing antihero, but to be
given characters you instantly like, leaving you to worry only about the
machinations of the plot getting in their way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Adapted
by writer/director George Nolfi from a Philip K. Dick short story, the plot
throws enough thoughtful menace into the mix to give the fluffy romance some
weight. For all the pair have going for
them, it seems plausible throughout that they may not end up together. God is a pretty strong force, after all, even
if he is only referred to in code. Nolfi
plays around with other concepts as well, namely the positives and negatives of
free will, and although it’s not expounded upon, it provides enough layering to
keep the film from being a lightweight.
Hardcore sci-fi fans may be disappointed by the film’s airiness, but
it’s clear that Nolfi didn’t want the audience to get too bogged down by
serious thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Where
Nolfi does take some chances, and where he might lose a few viewers, is his
decision to present the film’s action with a punchy realness. Nolfi is a screenwriting alum of the <i>Bourne</i> series, and the imprint of that
can clearly be seen here. When Damon’s
David is under duress, the film becomes shakier and narrows in to the
action. Cars crunch and faces slam, the
blows palpably resonating to the audience.
It would be understandable to find this choice incongruous with the rest
of the film, but Nolfi makes it work, using it to emphasize the fedora men’s
power and to up the ante against our protagonists. This element is sparingly used, taking a
backseat to the overpowering nature of the film’s romance, but it pops up
enough to turn off those severely averse to action. To everyone else, it will simply add a jolt
of energy to the proceedings, making the romantic drive more immediate and in
more real danger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> It’s
this tidy package of action, romance, and science fiction that gives <i>The Adjustment Bureau </i>its broad appeal, and
the winning combination of Matt Damon and Emily Blunt put the film into
rarified air. This satisfying of a crowd-pleaser
doesn’t come along too often, and it’d be a shame to overlook the charm it has
to offer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My
one solid negative on this film is the score.
It’s just too basic and too prominent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
love this kind of old-school, on-the-nose sci-fi.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">This
goes down as one of the best examples of on-screen chemistry I’ve ever seen. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-43285784411409212452015-10-26T18:46:00.000-04:002015-10-26T18:46:14.399-04:00Chicago International Film Festival - (My) Day Three<br />
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</div>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Very Semi-Serious</span></span></h2>
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<a href="https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/VerySemiSerious-W.jpg" rel="lightbox" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Very Semi-Serious"><img alt="VerySemiSerious-W" class="woo-image portfolio-img" height="172" src="https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/VerySemiSerious-W.jpg" title="Very Semi-Serious" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">April 19<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Bob Mankoff, Adam Salky, Roz Chast, George Booth, Liana Finck, Ed Steed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Leah Wolchok</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">doesn’t read the New Yorker<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">8 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> A
documentary about the inner workings of the cartoon department of the New
Yorker will ostensibly seem aimed at a very particular kind of person. The cartoonists themselves certainly seem of
a type (i.e. white, Jewish men), but just as editor Bob Mankoff is shown making
an effort to expand that voice, so does director Leah Wolchok broaden this film
to appeal to a much larger audience. She
present a cavalcade of the offbeat, twitchy cartoonists who peddle their wares
to Mankoff each week, only for him to brutally lay out what he thinks of their
work and send them skittering back to their caves. The dichotomy of this phenomena, of the
painfully introverted showing up week after week only to get beaten down is
where much of the intellectual interest derives from, but largely Wolchok is
content to parade out the cartoonists and let them do their stuff, namely win
you over with their humor. Wolchok
brings a matching wry tone to the film, editing their punchlines into some big,
belly-laugh moments. This is
lighthearted fare, a dip into an oddball community that lives on the fringes of
society while making it a much better place for everyone else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">_______________________________________</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Barash</span></span></h2>
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<a href="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Barash-W.jpg" rel="lightbox" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Barash"><img alt="Barash-W" class="woo-image portfolio-img" height="172" src="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Barash-W.jpg" title="Barash" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">October 22<sup>nd</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Sivan Shimon, Jade Sakori, Divr Benedek, Bar
Ben Vakil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written and Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Michal Vinik</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">likes coming-of-age flicks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 107%;">7.2 of 10</span></h2>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Barash </i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">is a tale of first love that’s
both traditional and subversive, dreamily evoking the wonder and the pain that
inevitably comes with this situation.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Set in Israel, Naama (Sivan Shimon) falls for the more experienced
Hershko (Jake Sakori), who introduces her to the lesbian community in Tel
Aviv.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s a familiar story, but
writer/director Michal Vinik makes it seem immediate, drawing you in with
excellent music choices, lilting camerawork, and natural lighting.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Although the lead actresses were novices,
there’s never a moment when they appear to be reaching for something or fading
into themselves.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">They’re always these
two characters, continually facing us head on.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">There’s also a B plot where Naama’s sister goes missing which confronts
the heated Jewish-Arab relationships in Israel with a certain amount of honesty
and wit, but the storyline always seems like a distraction and never connects fully
to the main love story.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">With the
exception of this aside, </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Barash </i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">proves
to be an expressive entry in the gay coming-of-age genre.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">_______________________________________</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Cemetery of Splendor</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/SP-CemeteryOfSplendor.jpg" rel="lightbox" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Cemetery of Splendor"><img alt="SP-CemeteryOfSplendor" class="woo-image portfolio-img" height="180" src="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/SP-CemeteryOfSplendor.jpg" title="Cemetery of Splendor" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">March 4<sup>th</sup>,
2016</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Banlop Lomnoi, Jenjira Pongpas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written and Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Apichatpong
Weerasethakul</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">not familiar with Southeast Asian cinema<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> It’s
easy to acknowledge that other cultures can have a radically different outlook
on life than your own, but until you encounter a piece of art that comments on
a worldview that’s entirely foreign to you, you really won’t understand how
deep that divide can be. Enter
Apichatpong Weerasethakul of Thailand, who is most prominently known for <i>Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives</i>. Like that film, <i>Cemetery of Splendor </i>is laconic and drifting, evoking mood and
theme in the same obscure way as a Terrence Malick film. If you are from a Western culture like
myself, Malick would be a good barometer for Weerasethakul’s work. If you can stomach Malick, then proceed with
caution into <i>Cemetery of Splendor</i>. If not, then run far, far away. To be honest, I didn’t understand <i>Cemetery of Splendor </i>at all, hence the
lack of numerical rating. It’s
beautiful, but I never had a clue what was happening or why I was watching a
man poop for a solid minute. I’ll stop
wasting your time now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">_______________________________________</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Girls Lost</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<a href="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/GirlsLost-W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="GirlsLost-W" border="0" height="172" src="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/GirlsLost-W.jpg" width="320" /></a><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">October 16<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Emrik
Öhlander, Olle Wirenhed, Louise Nyvall, Mandus Berg<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written and Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alexandra-Therese
Keining</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">excited by the acceptance of gender fluidity<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 107%;">7 of 10</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Following
three tomboy/lesbian/general outcast girls who find a flower that temporarily
turns them into boys, <i>Girls Lost </i>is modern-day
fable about the concept and ramifications of gender fluidity. It starts as a tender introduction to the
idea, an excited game changer for the put-upon group, but as one of them
embraces their masculine side more firmly than the others, the once tight-knit clan
quickly begins to unravel. <i>Girls Lost </i>takes big risks, which I vigorously
applaud, and it gets a tantalizing amount of things right. The young actors dig deep into their complicated
roles and emote the hell out of them, complimented wonderfully by writer/director
Alexandra-Therese Keining lush visual style.
The film grabs you and takes you on this journey with the girls, and
early on that is enough to circumvent the provocative subject matter. Unfortunately, the film loses its way a bit
as it barrels towards its finale, sidestepping or over-simplifying some ideas
it had previously handled so well. Still,
it keeps you invested in these characters, and you’ll find yourself cringing as
their glee goes to hell. Also, this has one
of the best face morphing effects I’ve ever seen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-86382034730085426962015-10-24T19:00:00.001-04:002015-10-24T19:00:56.325-04:00Steve Jobs<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="SteveJobsposter.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/aa/SteveJobsposter.jpg/220px-SteveJobsposter.jpg" width="202" /></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">October 9<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Universal Pictures</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth
Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg, Katherine Waterston<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Danny Boyle</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Aaron Sorkin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">not a Sorkin or Apple fan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Anyone
who’s started to get some age on their bones knows the rough story of Apple and
has witnessed its meteoric rise over the last seventeen years. Those with a wary eye would also have noted
the mythologizing of the company and its co-founder, Steve Jobs, which has led
to both ardent worshiping and simmering animosity. By now, it would be difficult to wipe from history
the notion that Apple led us into the technological revolution, but any such
simplistic description of the tectonic cultural shift we’ve experienced would
be untrue. This is what makes the affronted
reaction to <i>Steve Jobs </i>so
surprising. Yes, the film isn’t
particularly nice to its deceased subject, but its jabs at the man were
reported on throughout his life. This
reaction is perhaps indicative of the cultural gullibility that the film hints
at, but if writer Aaron Sorkin understood this phenomena, then it begs the
question of why he thought the film could be successful at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Then
again, Sorkin isn’t known for undervaluing his own abilities, and it doesn’t
surprise me to read of the ‘great truths’ he believes he hit upon in this
film. By structuring the film around
three different product launches, it’s clear that Sorkin wasn’t going for a
traditional biopic. The film relies
instead on thematic work to give it its arc, and the carefully selected
characters that reappear throughout are the biggest hints at what Sorkin was
reaching for. Obviously, Jobs himself is
in nearly every frame, with Michael Fassbender portraying him as a borderline
megalomaniac. Representing the largest
thematic arc, namely the influence of family (or familial figures) on
personality is his daughter Lisa (Perla Haney-Jardine, Ripley Sobo, and Makenzie
Moss) and father-figure John Sculley (Jeff Daniels). Through these characters, Jobs’ early life is
used to explain his later downfalls, and his character arc and the film’s
overall storyline centers on this exploration.
The trouble is that Sorkin doesn’t handle the storyline with Lisa well,
and the constant presence of a young girl seems both manipulative and
troubling. What he’s exploring here is a
rather simple line to draw, and the overblown way in which Sorkin chooses to
examine it is, and I hate to use this word, pretentious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
other people surrounding Jobs is a group of long-time coworkers: confidante Joanna Hoffman (Kate Winslet), co-founder
Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen), and punching bag Andy Hertzfeld (Michael
Stuhlbarg). These are people who have
known Jobs intimately throughout his career, and they are mouthpieces for the
ramifications of forced mythology. Again,
this theme is hit rather hard, and while Sorkin’s observations on these and
other smaller themes are true, they aren’t nearly as insightful as he would
have us believe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> And
yet, for all its narrative downfalls, Sorkin still brings his snappy brand of dialogue
to the table, which makes <i>Steve Jobs </i>bound
along to a strong rhythm. His pairing
with director Danny Boyle proves to be a wonderful choice, as most of the film
takes place in dressing rooms and backstage hallways. Boyle has already made an hour of a man
trapped by a rock visually appealing, so I’m sure this was no great
stretch. He doesn’t do anything too
flashy, mostly some dynamic lighting and excellent music cues, which hints at
what he’s really a master of: knowing
how to work with what he has. What he
had with <i>Steve Jobs </i>is some electric
conversations, and he plays up each scene’s ebbs and flows into something that,
in the moment, feels satisfying. It’s just
too bad that he and Sorkin weren’t able to find something larger to tie it all
together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All
of the cast is very good, including Michael Stuhlbarg, who I’m afraid is
getting overlooked in favor of the more recognizable cast members.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
film seems to be getting hit with the ‘isn’t true to real life’ criticism. I don’t think that was ever the intent here,
so the criticism doesn’t seem valid to me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">In
case my feelings on Apple seem relevant to you, here they are. I generally dislike the company (I hate its
incompatibility and prices), but it’s not enough to stop me from owning an IPhone
and an IPod. I’m still a firm PC user,
though.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-8694257134212168362015-10-21T18:15:00.000-04:002015-10-21T18:15:49.355-04:00The Innkeepers<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="The Innkeepers Poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/The_Innkeepers_Poster.jpg/220px-The_Innkeepers_Poster.jpg" width="215" /></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">February 2<sup>nd</sup>,
2012</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Magnet Releasing</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ti West</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ti West<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">likes moody horror, dislikes slacker characters<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7.2 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> A
cursory glance at the horror landscape of today might leave you feeling that
your only options are jump scares or gore, but that’s an incorrect limitation,
as just below the Cineplex surface lies a thriving, diverse community of horror
filmmakers that offer up every kind of scare under the sun. After dredging it in the festival circuit,
some of these filmmakers even get to peddle their wares to the masses,
especially with the advent of streaming and VOD services. One such director is Ti West, whose
reputation has earned him segments in <i>V/H/S
</i>and <i>The ABCs of Death</i>, and with <i>The Innkeepers </i>got to remind people of a
more methodical kind of scare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Set
in a real-life haunted hotel, most of the film is taken up by the lackadaisical
investigation by the hotel’s staff of two, Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat
Healy). The ghost at the Yankee Pedlar
Inn is rather mundane: a disappointed bride
who killed herself on her wedding day. Claire
and Luke are interested, but they know they won’t find poltergeist-level events. Luke just wants some decent EVP recordings to
add to his rinky-dink website, and Claire is mostly game just because her
friend is into it. Therein lies the
charm of this film; Claire and Luke are real friends, the kind that can while
away hours in an empty hotel without being bored. The fact that they’re doing it by
investigating for a ghost just gives their well-worn games a little edge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Paxton
and Healy both shine as too-old-to-be-doing-this slackers. They know that they’re better than their current
situation, but they don’t ask you to pity their underwhelming lives,
either. Healy plays Luke as someone not
interested in getting out of his holding pattern, the kind of person you find
managing a record store at a college campus just because he doesn’t want to
leave. Paxton is a bit younger and still
believes that she can get out, but she’s not too concerned with figuring out
where she wants to go. For now, the pair
are happy to pal around the hotel together, existing moment to moment while
staving off boredom. They’re not too
unlike the resident ghost in that regard, and they’re invented entertainment
proves to be more than endearing enough to sustain the early parts of this
film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> And their
relationship has to carry you through, because West doesn’t give you many scares
until late in the game. While he
sustains unease throughout by peppering in information about the ghost and
setting up for later events, he clearly rejects the notion that audiences
demand loud bangs or big jumps to keep them interested. West instead relies on steadily building cues
to keep our attention: a locked
basement, an odd old man, and some well-placed camera holds. The lack of immediate payoff may frustrate
some viewers, but those more in tune with old-school potboilers like <i>Rosemary’s Baby </i>will find a lot to like
here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> For
all that West gets right in the early going, the climax of the film is
unavoidably a letdown. There’s a nice
ramp up of tension going into the big finale, and all the bread crumbs and
character development seems to be leading to a satisfying ending. Then it sputters, falling back on an ending
that feels too much like a ploy to satisfy more mainstream viewers. But the ending isn’t as big as it wants to be,
and it goes too far out of its way in the effort to effectively wrap up all the
small pieces. It’s the kind of ending
that satisfies no one, and it’s one that you tolerate simply because of your
affection for the rest of the piece.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
lack of effective scares may put <i>The Innkeepers
</i>in an odd section of your movie library.
If those early parts work for you, it’ll prove to be a difficult film to
watch only once. Months after your first
viewing, you’ll find yourself wanting to hang out with those two goofballs
again, and you’ll re-watch the film just to get in a bit more quality
time. The fact that the pair are hunting
ghosts will seem secondary in your lasting memory, but once the tension starts
to build, you’ll remember that West’s low-key creepiness is just as addicting
as your two fictional friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other
Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There
is one truly creepy shot from the finale that has stayed in my head for years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
like this film’s humorous aversion to the horror movie sex cliché.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">This
is one of those films that I re-watch every six months or so.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-73070277429040782842015-10-20T18:35:00.000-04:002015-10-24T20:08:06.943-04:00Chicago International Film Festival - (My) Day 2<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Three Days in September</span></h2>
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<a href="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ThreeDaysInSeptember-W.jpg" rel="lightbox" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Three Days in September"><img alt="ThreeDaysInSeptember-W" class="woo-image portfolio-img" src="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ThreeDaysInSeptember-W.jpg" height="172" title="Three Days in September" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">October 16<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Irena Ristic, Kamka Tocinovski, Adem
Karaga<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Darijan Pejovski</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Igor Ivanov Izi, Darijan Pejovski<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">likes women-centric stories<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">8.5 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> A slow-burn thriller, <i>Three Days in September </i>is all about what people aren’t
saying. Most of the characters don’t
know each other or haven’t seen each other in years. Their secrets run deep and don’t come out
easily, but as they’re all isolated in a remote town, it’s only a matter of
time before the veneer comes off. It’s
as classic a story as you can get, and first-time director Darijan Pejovski
plays his characters and their surroundings nearly perfectly. His Q&A referenced influences from film
noir and ‘70s American cinema, an apt representation of the film’s gritty
entertainment. You’ll connect with his
leading ladies very easily, but you won’t quite be sure why. In the end, they’ll take you down a path you
weren’t aware that you wanted to take, but in Pejovski and these excellent
actors hands, it’ll be impossible to resist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">_______________________________________</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Full Contact</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/FullContact-W.jpg" rel="lightbox" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Full Contact"><img alt="FullContact-W" class="woo-image portfolio-img" src="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/FullContact-W.jpg" height="172" title="Full Contact" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">October 17<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Grégoire Colin, Lizzie Brocheré<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">David Verbeek</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">David Verbeek<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">not big on abstract storytelling<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">1.5 of 10</span></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Upping
the arthouse ante is <i>Full Contact</i>, a
decidedly ambiguous film about a French drone pilot. The first section is rather straightforward,
with the military man bombing targets from a secure facility in Nevada. One of his targets, though, turns out to have
been based on bad information, and the second and third sections unravel the
mental and emotional consequences of such an act. While there’s nothing wrong with going
abstract, <i>Full Contact </i>goes about it
in all the wrong ways, with textbook film school visual metaphors and minimal
dialogue. The second section is an
almost unbearable ‘wandering through the wasteland’ type scenario, complete
with an underwater sequence and a dog that gazes knowingly into the pilot’s
eyes. If you were one of the people who
complained about the similar sequence in Terrence Malick’s <i>The Tree of Life</i>, then avoid this film like the plague.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">_______________________________________</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">James White</span></span></h2>
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a0/James_White_poster.jpg/220px-James_White_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="James White poster.jpg" border="0" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a0/James_White_poster.jpg/220px-James_White_poster.jpg" width="215" /></a><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">November 13<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott
Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Josh Mond</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Josh Mond<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">dislikes movies about irresponsible adults<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">6 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> When
a group of NYU graduates band together to make their first films, sporadically
great things can happen. Josh Mond’s <i>James White </i>sprang from just such a
group, which has already produced the memorable <i>Martha Marcy May Marlene</i>.
With his debut feature about a troubled twentysomething caring for his
dying mother, Mond shows a willingness to dig deep into characters and hold on
their less than attractive sides. This,
along with some strikingly close camerawork, leads to some riveting moments
that just lift <i>James White </i>out of the
restless slacker mold that has fatigued many viewers (including myself). Dragging it back down towards this branding
is the casting of <i>Girls </i>star
Christopher Abbott as the titular James, who successfully pulls off the role
without ever making it feel like too much of a stretch. There’s excellent supporting turns here by
Cynthia Nixon and Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), but the clichéd self-destructive
behavior exhibited by James often is nothing more than tiresome. A broader scope to pair with the
well-observed smaller moments may have made this film into something great, but
it’s still a solid, if familiar, little indie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">They Look Like People</span></h2>
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<a href="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/SP-TheyLookLikePeople.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="SP-TheyLookLikePeople" border="0" height="179" src="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/SP-TheyLookLikePeople.jpg" width="320" /></a><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">January 25<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> MacLeod Andrews, Evan Dumouchel, Margaret
Ying Drake<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed and Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Perry Blackshear</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Perry Blackshear<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">generally averse to
low-budget asthetics<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> You
may have heard whispers about <i>The Look
Like People, </i>as it has been racking up festival awards throughout
2015. It’s a micro-budget psychological
horror film, light on the horror but heavy on the suspense, centered around two
friends reconnecting while one of them possibly goes insane. It’s that or there’s an alien invasion on the
way, and by the end, it’s hard to tell which outcome would be worse. That’s because much of the movie’s charm is
in watching the two young men find in each other a partner more solid than
they’ve otherwise encountered. There’s a
pleasure in watching movies about genuinely good people, and these two guys
form one of the sweetest friendships you’ll see this year. The film is noticeably limited by its budget,
and a bit more money for effects may have upped the horror aspect to a more
respectable level. Still, the little
group of friends who made this film deserve to reveal in the recognition
they’re getting, and hopefully someone acknowledges them with a healthier
budget.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-91423278057530433922015-10-19T19:01:00.002-04:002015-10-24T20:09:16.673-04:00Chicago International Film Festival - (My) Day 1<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">I Smile Back</span></span></h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a5/I_Smile_Back_poster.jpg/220px-I_Smile_Back_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="I Smile Back poster.jpg" border="0" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a5/I_Smile_Back_poster.jpg/220px-I_Smile_Back_poster.jpg" width="217" /></a><b><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></b></div>
<b>Released: </b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">October 23<sup>rd</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Broad Green Pictures</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Skylar
Gaertner, Thomas Sadoski<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Adam Salky</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paige Dylan, Amy Koppelman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">big Sarah Silverman fan<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">6 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Based
on the novel by the same name, <i>I Smile
Back </i>follows housewife Laney (Sarah Silverman) as she struggles with
depression and addiction. It’s familiar
territory, to be sure, and while the dialogue is often too on-the-nose and the
film is not particularly well lit (it’s apparent because Silverman’s black hair
often bleeds into the background), there are enough genuine moments observed
here to remain engaging. Silverman gives
a rare and assured dramatic turn, digging into her own history of depression to
make Laney a recognizable figure to anyone familiar with these issues. Having seen her do comedy for so many years,
it’s difficult not to see the ticks she’s leaned on throughout her career crop
up, but it’s a testament to her that, by the end of the film, these things aren’t
passing through your mind at all. Josh
Charles is his usual steady self as her husband, and the scenes between the two
are highlights of the film. But the main
thing that <i>I Smile Back</i> gets right is
the understanding that people can choose to do things that hurt the people they
love without any intent to cause them harm.
This is a great source of tragedy in life, and <i>I Smile Back </i>mines this for an affecting amount of pathos. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Embers</span></span></h2>
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<a href="http://www.flickeringmyth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/12113514_1003287983068900_1495542186298704515_o-200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="12113514_1003287983068900_1495542186298704515_o" border="0" src="http://www.flickeringmyth.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/12113514_1003287983068900_1495542186298704515_o-200x300.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Released: </b></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">October 16</span><sup style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;">th</sup><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">, 2015</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> NR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Jason Ritter, Iva Gocheva, Greta Fernández,
Roberto Cots, Rucker Smallwood, Silvan Friedman, Karl Glusman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Claire Carré</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Charles Spano, Claire Carré<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">likes post-apocalypse stories<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">5.2 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>Embers </i>opens with a young man and woman
(Jason Ritter and Iva Gocheva) waking in a filthy apartment, unable to remember
each other. In fact, they can’t remember
themselves, and after some awkward bantering and the discovery of matching
bracelets, they decide that they must be lovers. Every morning begins this way for the two,
who live in a world where everyone has been struck with amnesia. They know how to walk and talk and eat, but
they have no memory of themselves or seemingly anything past their immediate
surroundings. It’s a world of heightened
emotions, and in its absence, director Claire Clarré explores the far-reaching
effects of memory on individuals and society.
It’s ambitious, to be sure, slightly experimental, and expectedly
uneven. <i>Embers </i>follows a few different members of this new society, and
certain of these sections work better than others. The lovers provide the film a backbone, but
the other stories are too fragmented to feel complete. There’s interesting moments of observation
here, particularly with an almost feral young man played by </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Karl Glusman</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
(look for him in the new Gaspar Noé film <i>Love</i>),
but there are alternately long periods of boredom. Clarré is a first-time filmmaker who also
serves as co-writer and editor, and the fact that she was able to pull off this
kind of film with so little help is a testament to her potential. Anyone looking to explore fresh blood in the
film industry should give Clarré’s <i>Embers
</i>a chance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Abandoned</span></span></h2>
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<a href="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Abandoned-W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Abandoned-W" border="0" src="http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Abandoned-W.jpg" height="172" width="320" /></a><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> NR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Louisa Krause, Jason Patric, Mark
Margolis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Eytan Rockaway</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ido Fluk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">prefers character-driven horror<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">4.5 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Appearing
in their After Dark series, <i>The Abandoned
</i>is a fairly traditional horror film that just doesn’t have anything behind
it. It follows a young woman starting work
as a security guard in a vacant building, and it’s filled with the requisite jump
scares and shocking images that litter modern horror. On the plus side, the building they patrol is
a creepily ornate monstrosity, utilized wonderfully in some early, mood-setting
sequences. Louisa Krause and Jason
Patric as the two security guards are the film’s strongest elements, bringing
banter and some genuine terror to their underwritten roles. The problem is that the whole thing is
underwritten, and the ending flat out makes no sense. Director Eytan Rockaway, who did a Q&A
after the screening, didn’t seem too bothered by the audience’s probing
questions, brushing away requests for explanations with the old ‘it’s just a
movie’ excuse. His flippancy about plot
is evident in this film, and it doesn’t bode well for Rockaway’s long-term
success.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-8820315014933744632015-10-18T16:10:00.000-04:002015-10-18T16:10:08.900-04:00Crimson Peak<br />
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<img alt="Crimson Peak theatrical poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ad/Crimson_Peak_theatrical_poster.jpg/220px-Crimson_Peak_theatrical_poster.jpg" width="205" /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">October 16<sup>th</sup>,
2015</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> R<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Universal Pictures</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom
Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Guillermo del Toro</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Guillermo del Toro, Matthew Robbins<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">loves <i>Pan’s Labyrinth, </i>mixed
feelings about the cast<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">5.5 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> With
the revival of Hammer Films and the popularity of FX’s <i>American Horror Story</i>, the indulgently thrilling subgenre of gothic
horror has been making a healthy comeback over the last few years. It’s a perfect fit for director Guillermo del
Toro, who makes lush films that unapologetically dive into whatever genre he’s selected. Commitment has never been an issue for his
films, and commitment is what you need to pull off the gothic high wire. Unsure footing easily leads to camp or
lethargy, and even an assured director like del Toro can stumble and make
something subpar like, well, <i>Crimson Peak</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Named
for a creepy mansion that oozes red goo and lets the snowfall in through its
ruined roof, the film is about a young author, Edith (Mia Wasikowska), who
falls for the dashing British man who owns the estate. The house proves to have some
less-than-hidden demons, and soon Edith finds herself warding off strange occurrences
in every cranny of the house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <i>Crimson Peak </i>certainly wears the mantle
of gothic horror with pride, seizing every opportunity to ratchet up the flair
surrounding its simple story. This is a
gorgeous film that understands how delightful it is to see intricate tapestries
and frilly dresses surrounding its monsters.
It’s got a rather traditional aesthetic, all greys and reds that, when
paired with del Toro’s inventive vision, gives you some awe-inspiring moments
of visual splendor. Expect to hear its
name called out many times come Oscar season and for it to take center stage in
the program’s clip packages, because short snippets of this film is really the
best way to take it in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
issues start piling up whenever <i>Crimson
Peak </i>tries to tell its story, which despite a long script process that
dates back to 2006, never feels more than half-baked. Part of this is because of misleading expectations;
the studio has marketed it as pure gothic horror, but long portions of it is really
gothic romance. That may seem like
splitting hairs, but when someone goes in expecting Mary Shelley and gets a
slightly bloody Jane Austin instead, they’ll almost certainly be
disappointed. The simple fact is that, despite
a clear effort, <i>Crimson Peak </i>isn’t
actually scary. The pacing is all off, the
ghosts are neither well designed nor clearly rendered, and the ending trips all
over itself. It’s possible that this
stumbling be due to the film’s age. Back
in 2006, some of the twists del Toro takes us on may have seemed genuinely
shocking, but now that we have <i>American
Horror Story </i>and <i>Penny Dreadful </i>bringing
bloody, shocking horror into our homes on a weekly basis, the story that <i>Crimson Peak </i>ends up telling seems
decidedly quaint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
more detrimental error, though, is the film’s complete inability to form full,
consistent characters. It only needs to
establish four people for the film to work:
Edith, her childhood beau Dr. Alan (Charlie Hunnam), Thomas, and Thomas’s
sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain). But
del Toro and fellow writer Matthew Robbins fail to make any of them interesting
throughout, most notably with Lucille and Alan, who are barely-drawn sketches
that Hunnam and Chastain do their best to bring to life. Thomas and Edith get a bit more attention,
but the interesting traits they are given (Edith is a bit of a feminist and
Thomas is an unacknowledged inventor) are picked up and tossed away on the
fly. As gothic stories tend to be slow
movers, of which <i>Crimson Peak </i>is no
exception, the lack of characters that you really care about cripples the film’s
slow progress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Despite
these disappointing setbacks, <i>Crimson
Peak </i>will keep your attention throughout.
The cast does their best with what they’re given, and several of them are
charming enough to watch even in their most flawed roles. Sitting back and letting its visual charm
wash over you is really the best way to take this film in, as you sure as hell
aren’t going to get anything from its story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other
Notes:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
a waste of Jessica Chastain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Those
ghosts really need to give more specific warnings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Proposed
drinking game: drink whenever the
shoulder ruffles on Chastain or Wasikowska’s dresses are larger than their
heads. You will get very drunk.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609690703106964795.post-5495409785500821392015-10-14T19:45:00.000-04:002015-10-14T19:45:46.011-04:00Hanna<br />
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<img alt="Hanna poster.jpg" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6d/Hanna_poster.jpg/220px-Hanna_poster.jpg" width="215" /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Released: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">April 8<sup>th</sup>,
2011</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rated:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> PG-13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Distributor: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Focus Features</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Starring:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett,
Tom Hollander<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Directed by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Joe Wright</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Written by: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Seth Lochhead, David Farr<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Personal Bias Alert: </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">big Saoirse Ronan fan, likes electronic music<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">7.8 of 10</span></span></h2>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
fairy tale element runs strong in this one.
You wouldn’t expect that if you saw any of <i>Hanna</i>’s print advertisements, and even the trailer quickly abandons
the idea after a mystical opening. It’s
much easier to sell action, people understand that quickly, than to try and
explain <i>Hanna</i>’s arthouse blend of
coming-of-age drama and science fiction thrills.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
screenplay, which appeared twice on the Black List (an annual list of the best
unproduced screenplays in Hollywood), is the kind of dense, ambitious piece
that gets kicked around for years before finding the right combination of star
and director to get a green light.
Saoirse Ronan signing on as the waif-like assassin got the ball rolling,
and her recommendation of Joe Wright, who previously directed her to an Oscar
nomination in <i>Atonement</i>, got the film
a healthy enough budget to see out its off-kilter vision. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Wright is well-known
for his prominent visual style, and he throws everything he can at the
fantastical story of a young girl fighting to escape the clutches of the CIA. He plays with lighting simply for the awe
factor (see the incredible escape scene early in the film), and employs his
trademark tracking shots on several occasions.
Wright isn’t an action movie director by trade, and it shows in how
unconventionally he presents these sequences.
All of them work and are made more engrossing by their originality,
eschewing the hip, quick-cutting jerkiness of most modern action in favor of
meticulously choreographed, long fights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The other odd element
of these action scenes, namely that a young girl continuously bests grown men
in hand-to-hand combat, is an overt nod to its fairy tale aspirations, but a
closer look reveals that the action itself is only a B-plot to a more
traditional fable. <i>Hanna </i>is primarily a tale about growing into the adult world, where
you make bonds and encounter complications that leave you bewildered and
overwhelmed. Ronan as the titular
character is perfectly cast, with a body not yet sprung into a woman’s but with
a face that can encapsulate the pain and the joy of being alive. Her performances have long exceed her years,
and this may be the best of her childhood work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">All these elements
make for a rather fascinating film, but not an even one. At times, the fairy tale elements overpowers everything
else, and anyone craving a solid explanation for what exactly is going on will
likely be disappointed. <i>Hanna </i>is a piece that’s content with indulgence. Some have labeled this as pretention, but don’t
mistake <i>Hanna</i>’s grasping reach for a
film that lacks goals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Anyone who has seen <i>Hanna </i>is likely wondering when I will get
to the film’s score, because it’s a prominent, make-or-break component. Done by the electronic dance duo The Chemical
Brothers, it blends the film’s elements into kookily loud beats, driving the
action forward and carrying much of the weight when it comes to keeping the
fairy tale-feel front and center. The
most prominent song, The Devil is in the Details, is even hummed by a character
throughout, and this inescapability is what makes it so divisive. It’s a bold score, to say the least, and some
people will just never be into electronic beats. No matter your personal taste, what’s undeniable
is how complimentary it is to the film’s ambitions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hanna
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">is
a film that puts itself out there, and because of that has attracted some
strong sentiments. However, its supporters
haven’t coalesced into a singular fandom, and without a strong cult status, it’s
likely to become forgotten.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other
Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
didn’t even mention how awesome Erica Bana, Cate Blanchett, and Tom Hollander
are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Speaking
of Hollander, he has quite a knack for playing characters that subtly unsettle
you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Ø<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">“Did
she turn out as you hoped?” “Better.”</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08794852291871427079noreply@blogger.com0