#Peter Hedges

[femmewithahammer]

Some films I would recommend for anyone to watch!

(Specifically cool people)

Appropriate Behavior (2014)-Desiree Akhavan

Pieces of April (2003)-Peter Hedges

Linda Linda Linda (2005)-Nobuhiro Yamashita

Twins in Paradise (2020)-Victoria Vincent

Catscape (2019)-Victoria Vincent

Cat City (2017)-Victoria Vincent

Kiss of the Rabbit God (2019)-Andrew Huang

Lily Chan & The Doom Girls (2020)-Andrew Huang

The Sarah Vaccine (2021)- Sarah Sherman

Strawberry Short-Cut (1991)-Tom Rubnitz

Pickle Surprise (1989)-Tom Rubnitz

Tampopo (1985)- Jūzō Itami

Supermarket Woman (1996)-Jūzō Itami

Brain Dead (Dead Alive) (1992)-Peter Jackson

Bad Taste (1987)-Peter Jackson

Meet the Feebles (1989)-Peter Jackson

The Final Exit of the Disciples of Ascensia (2019)-Jonni Phillips

May I Please Enter? (2018)- Alan Resnick

Snowy Bing Bongs Across the North Combat Zone (2017)-Rachel Wolther, Alex Huston Fischer

[haveyouseenthisromcom]

[ruleof3bobby]

DAN IN REAL LIFE (2007) Grade: F

Might be pound for pound one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Almost nothing positive to say. They should study this in classes on what not to do.

[chicinsilk]

US Vogue April 1, 1958

Chinese pattern dinner dress, red, green and gold By Peter Hedges, in Paisley silk.

Robe de diner à motifs chinois, rouge, vert et or Par Peter Hedges, en soie Paisley.

Photo Horst P. Horst vogue archive

[adamwatchesmovies]

Pieces of April (2003)

Pieces of April wears its indie filmmaking origins like a badge of honour and I can’t blame it. Quirky, funny, often sweet without becoming cloying and just weird enough to stand out, I’m surprised it isn’t mentioned more often around American Thanksgiving. There’s no way your family is as playfully dysfunctional as the one in this film by writer/director Peter Hedges but some of it is so out there it actually comes back around and becomes universal.

For the first time, April Burns (Katie Holmes) is hosting Thanksgiving with the help of her new boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke). This celebration is particularly important, as her mother is dying from breast cancer. As we speak, her parents, grandmother, and brother are on their way to her rinky-dink Manhattan apartment. Unfortunately, the oven has suddenly stopped working.

At first, we follow April as she scrambles to host the perfect Thanksgiving dinner. It will be a meal to remember and she wants to be sure it’s for all the right reasons. The turkey must be cooked to perfection. Not only is it the centerpiece of any Thanksgiving meal, it’s become a symbol of her adulthood. If she can’t get it right, no one will allow her to forget it. Her parents already basically think of her as a failure. Considering how crappy her apartment building looks, you can see why. Only minutes in, you understand completely the importance of this bird. If only the other tenants could too, maybe they’d be more sympathetic. Some of them are. Most of the eclectic people she attempts to quickly befriend are weirdos you instantly know will be zero help. In fact, she might've been better off remaining unaware of their existence. Some of them are a tad cartoonish, even for this movie, but overall, they generate some good laughs.

The second storyline follows Jim (Oliver Platt), Joy (Patricia Clarkson), Grandma Beth (Alison Pill) and Timmy (John Gallagher Jr.). They may act like April is the black sheep of the family, the one they failed and allowed to go astray but they’re all so alike you’d never believe she belonged to anyone else. They’re all full of the kind of surprises that feel real because they’re so absurd no one could just come up with them without reference. They make you laugh as much as the oddballs April has to ask for help but there’s also an underlying sadness in their drive. You can see how hard April is trying to get things right and meanwhile, they have no faith in her whatsoever. Despite this or maybe because of this, you grow attached to them. You want them to have this one perfect day. Realizing that they think it’s impossible is unexpectedly upsetting. It may be a very April thing to be in a spot where she needs to cook a turkey but has no oven (and that’s only the beginning of her troubles, Bobby’s got his own crazy tale) but they could have a little faith in her. Then you have this crazy thought "If it doesn't work out, maybe it won't be so disastrous. Maybe a catastrophe could be the thing that brought them together like nothing did before!"

Pieces of April shows what a strong (though not perfect) script can do when combined with enthusiasm from the director and dedicated performances. The actors and actresses give it their all and it adds up to more than the sum of the film’s parts. It’s got a couple of racy moments and some ideas you won't want the kids to hear but I could really see this one becoming a yearly tradition for the family, the movie you all watch together while waiting for that one person that’s always late to arrive. (Full-screen version on VHS, June 10, 2021)

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: The Odd Life of Timothy Green

Rating: PG

Director: Peter Hedges

Cast: Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, Ron Livingston, Rosemarie DeWitt, CJ Adams, Patrick Brouder, Chan Creswell, William J. Harrison, Odeya Rush, Shohreh Aghdashloo, David Morse, M. Emmet Walsh, Lois Smith, Dianne Wiest, James Rebhorn

Release year: 2012

Genres: fantasy, family, drama, comedy

Blurb: A childless couple bury a box in their backyard which contains all of their wishes for a baby. Soon, a child is born...though Timothy Green is not all that he appears.

[nonesuchrecords]

It was 20 years ago: The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt made his Nonesuch Records debut with the release of the soundtrack to Pieces of April, the Peter Hedges film starring Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, and Oliver Platt. Merritt offers four previously unreleased Magnetic Fields tracks and the specially written “One April Day” on the soundtrack to the acclaimed film, which, like Merritt’s songs, deftly balances humor and pathos. The Independent (UK) praised his “exquisite, finely-rendered adult pop.” You can hear it here.

[littlealienproducts]

Vintage Peter Rabbit and Brembly Hedge Embroidery Hoop Art by LolaStitchesThreads

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Our new Dunk and Egg!

Dexter Sol Ansell, playing Egg (the future King Aegon V Targaryen), is best known for playing the (very) young Coriolanus Snow in the opening scene for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

I think Dexter is a perfect choice for Egg! He looks very HBO-Targaryen, and IMO has a strong resemblance to Leo Ashton (young Aemond in HOTD S1), as well as Emma D'Arcy (Rhaenyra). Of course he'll be shaving his head (poor kid), and with those light eyebrows, I'm sure he will be very very egg, lol.

Our new Dunk, Peter Claffey, from Portumma, Ireland, used to be a rugby player (he's 1.96m, 6'5"), but left the sport in 2018 and got into acting. Here's a clip from his agent's site, and for more videos see here.

I personally think this clip is highly convincing of Peter's potential in this role. "We could use a man-mountain like you", indeed.

[westeroswisdom]

In this collection of clips released by HBO/Max, you get ti see a tiny bit from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. It is basically long enough for Peter Claffey to say, I"'m Ser Duncan the Tall" and then slug somebody. There's another blink and you'll miss it Hedge Knight moment near the end.

Not much, but we'll probably see a teaser or two and a trailer as we get closer to the series debut.

[hadesismybaby]

How will I survive A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?! I smile at nothing listing to the audio book, strangers think I'm flerting with them

And this man will be Duncan?!

I was in love just with the words!!!!!

[kiurit]

[balaenabooks]

Happy Easter from Lucy and I to all who celebrate!

[cinemaslife]

#125 Tres anuncios a las afueras

Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) vive en un pequeño pueblo llamado Ebbing y tiene tres carteles gigantes camino a su casa que llevan 20 años sin un anuncio, así que decide poner en jaque a la policía de su pueblo para poder hacer que se centren en el caso de su hija Angela.

Mildred está interesada en dejar esos anuncios 1 año, para ello hace un primer pago de 5000 dólares por el primer mes, y así lo hace, en el momento en que lo hace todo el departamento de policía y parte del pueblo vuelven a tener el nombre de su hija Angela en la boca, por lo tanto, su misión funciona.

El responsable de la policía es Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) el jefe de la policía es querido y respetado en el pueblo y nadie tiene nada malo que decir sobre él, desde hace un tiempo corre el rumor de que tiene cáncer de páncreas y que morirá en breves, dejando a su joven esposa y a sus dos hijas pequeñas solas en su bonita granja.

Bill visita a Mildred para contarle lo de su cáncer y ella le dice que lo entiende, pero que necesita que resuelva el crimen de su hija porque han pasado 7 meses y no ha habido detenciones, el jefe le explica que compararon el ADN con la base de datos y que no arrojó resultados ni en el pueblo ni en el estado de Missouri, y que quizás fue una persona de paso y que no podía hacer nada al respeto, Mildred, como madre, le dice que eso no la tranquiliza, que quizás hay que controlar mejor a los hombres mayores de 8 años, porque su hija fue: secuestrada, violada, asesinada y su cuerpo fue quemado y parece ser que a nadie le importa.

Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell) es otro oficial que trabaja en la comisaria y que es odiado en toda la ciudad por sus metodos y sus crimenes de odio hacia las personas negras del pueblo, ya que no es la primera vez que se muestra agresivo con los habitantes del lugar, Jason intenta amedrentar a Mildred, también lo intenta su exmarido, una persona maltratadora, y abusiva, que siempre ha buscado hacerle daño mediante los golpes y usando a sus hijos. Ahora que Mildred se ha quedado sola con su hijo Robbie (Lucas Hedges) este le pide por favor que piense en él, que ha intentado evitar saber lo que le ocurrió a su hermana para poder continuar con su vida, pero que esta guerra contra el jefe Bill estaba complicándole más la vida.

Mildred se muestra comprensiva con todo el mundo, pero parece que nadie quiere entender que su herida es tan profunda que no puede entender como nadie ha pagado por la muerte de su hija. Pese a que la relación con su hija adolescente era tensa, ella adora a sus hijos, ha peleado mucho para rendirse y parece ser que es la única que quiere que se la trate con justicia.

Bill Willoughby decide pasar un último día espectacular con su mujer y sus hijas, y después decide suicidarse en su establo rodeado de sus caballos, todo el mundo lo achaca a los tres anuncios que hay con su nombre, pero en realidad el jefe Bill quería tener el control de su vida por un instante, y le escribe una carta a cada uno, incluida Mildred para decirle que él le pagará un mes más los anuncios de las afueras para que el caso de su hija sigue presente.

Jason decide ir a por los amigos de Mildred para que quite de una vez los anuncios y permita al jefe Bill irse con dignidad, pero la madre no le tiene miedo a nadie y lo demuestra varias veces, tanto que a quien sea solo se le ocurre prenderle fuego a los tres anuncios, cosa que hace que Mildred entienda que ha sido Jason y decide quemar la comisaria sin saber que él estaba dentro leyendo la carta que le dejo el jefe Bill.

Manda a Jason al hospital y descubre que quien quemó los anuncios fue su exmarido Charlie (John Hawkes) porque no quería seguir recordando lo que le había ocurrido a su hija, y lejos de querer vengarse de él, entiende su dolor y decide no tomar represalias contra él.

Un hombre al que no conoce de nada va al trabajo de Mildred y la amenaza por los anuncios, y por volver a ponerlos, ya que la imprenta les ha mandado una copia de las mismas para que las vuelvan a poner. Este hombre le asegura que podría ser un amigo del jefe Willoughby o de su hija... o el hombre que le hizo aquello tan horrible y que podría volver a hacerlo... Mildred no se acojona y le dice que se las pagará, el hombre se va de la tienda y Mildred se rompe. Es difícil mantener la esperanza con tantas trabas para poder hacer justicia.

A Jason le quitan su placa por atacar a Red, un amigo y quien le coloca los anuncios a Mildred, y una noche mientras sale y se recupera de las quemaduras, escucha al hombre que amenazó a Mildred (aunque él no sabe quién es), jactarse con otro hombre de haber agredido y violado a una joven hace casi un año, Jason ata cabos, y decide atacar al hombre, arañándole la cara para tener su ADN y dejar que le parta la cara. Jason lleva las muestras a analizar y le cuenta todo a Mildred para que mantenga la esperanza.

A los pocos días ambos descubren que el ADN no coincide y que ese hombre estaba destinado en Irak cuando ocurrió el crimen de Angela, pero Jason está convencido de que ese hombre es un violador y un abusador, por lo que le dice a Mildred que tiene la matrícula y su dirección y que quizás deberían de hacerle una visita y hacer justicia. Y así se preparan para ir a Idaho, y buscar a ese hombre y hacer algo de justicia.

Ninguno de los dos están convencidos de lo que van a hacer, pero prefieren hacer algo al respecto, que seguir esperando sentados en casa.

[stuff-diary]

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Movies watched in 2023

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017, USA/UK)

Director & Writer: Martin McDonagh

Mini-review:

I liked this much more than The Banshees of Inisherin, but it still left me with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the acting is simply phenomenal and the script has some biting social commentary. The story also packs a few twists that took me by surprise, which I always appreciate. However, some of its dark humor didn't really work. I feel like it was trying to criticize or parody certain types of people, but sometimes it ended up doing the exact same things it seems to criticize. In this regard, the comedic parts of the movie were somewhat confusing. At this point, I'm starting to think that Martin McDonagh's movies are just not my thing. They're obviosly well-made and he can direct the hell out of his actors, but his sense of humor and his choice of dramatic beats are too hit or miss for me.