#Peter Hedges

[scenesandscreens]

Pieces of April (2003)

Director - Peter Hedges, Cinematography - Tami Reiker

"Once, there was this day... this one day when... everyone realized they needed each other."

[letterboxd-loggd]

Pieces of April (2003) Peter Hedges

April 5th 2025

[thishadoscarbuzz]

321 - Ben is Back

Guess who's back in the house?! We finally close the loop on the 2018 troubled son trifecta of films with Ben is Back, a grim Christmas tale of a family in the throws of addiction recovery. Lucas Hedges stars as the titular Ben, who returns home from a recovery center for the holiday, and against the advice of his sponsor. Ben's presence is somewhat unwelcome, even with the complicated feelings of his doting mother (played by Julia Roberts), and it's not long before the demons of his addiction come to haunt. The film lingered just outside of predictions in a competitive year before an unceremonious and short-lived December release.

This episode, we talk about the film's portrait of the opioid crisis and the career of writer/director Peter Hedges. We also talk about the 2018 Best Actress race, the film's very quiet TIFF premiere, and the unfulfilled potential of the August: Osage County adaptation.

Topics also include "that's Ben," being an uncle, and the AARP's Best Intergenerational Film.

The 2018 Academy Awards

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[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.

[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)

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[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.

[cotton-dream]

[blondebrainpowered]

Greenan Maze in County Wicklow, Ireland

This family farm in Greenan, a small village in County Wicklow, has a hedge maze and a meditative labyrinth path, both in the 'celtic maze' style. 

Photographer: Peter Krocka

[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.

[jt1674]

[happy-mokka]

Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri

I know Tumblr is not really the place to put things like this out in the open and hope of many notes, but once in a while I watch a great movie that gets to me and makes me want get something out my system...

So, I watched "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri" this morning. For breakfast more or less.

Yeah, not exactly the kind of uplifting light stuff I usually watch to my coffee and sandwich, but I kinda felt like it today.

It made quite some waves in 2018 when it came out. Rightly so. I am once again pissed at myself for not watching a good movie like this earlier. But I guess I had my reasons.

I mean, the topic is not something you want to put yourself through on a daily basis

Mildred Hayes (played by the incredible Frances McDormand, Oscar for best lead) lives in Ebbing Missouri, is divorced to a wife-beating now dating 19 year-olds drunk asshole, works at a small tourist-trap gift-shop and is as grumpy as they come. At the beginning of the movie, she rents 3 old oversized billboards at the side of the road leading to town right outside her house. (Quote by the surprised young advertising guy "Oh, yeah. They do belong to us. No one has put up anything on them since...let's see...1987.")

"Raped while dying."

"And still no arrests?"

"How come, chief Willoughby?"

Her teenage daughter was raped, killed, and burned 7 months ago and this is the way she decides to put pressure on the local Police Department, to finally bring them to put more effort in trying to find the murderer.

Chief Bill Willoughby (played by an equally great Woody Harrelson) is understandably not very amused about that, but also shows understanding for why she did it. He has his own weight to carry, having pancreatic cancer in the final stage and a wife (Abbie Cornish, lovely as usual) plus two little girls to leave behind.

The case of Mildred's daughter and the fact he wasn't able to solve it bothers him just as much as it does her, but he is having a hard time showing this to her and to get through and around all her anger.

Also, he has his hands full to keep his lot of officers in check, some being the sadly usual no-good country i-got-a-badge-and-a-gun-now-show-me-some-respect-assholes-pushing-people-around types.

The worst of them is Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell, brilliantly hateable and still relatable, Oscar for best supporting role). A violent, drunk, racist out-of-book asshole cop, living and being pushed around by his equally no-good bitch Mom.. Constantly harassing people and being a dick. Tough on the outside, but a complete loser on the inside. He completely over the top idolizes Chief Willoughby and thus makes it his mission to make Mildred's life (and the viewer's for that matter) hell on earth from the very beginning, when he discovers the freshly put up billboards.

This is the setup, supported by an equally great cast of side characters, all adding beautifully to the story.

I don't want to spoiler much more, only that the movie, apart from the rather depressing setting, evolves into a very deep and heartfelt tale about anger and hate and how it is always is worth to try everything you can to put it behind you. That in the end there is always a chance to forgiveness and redemption.

A lovely quote taken from the movie: (leaving some blanks to not spoiler too much)

"[...] I do think you’re too angry though [...] but as long as you hold on to so much hate, then I don’t think you’re ever going to become, what I know you want to become [...]. Cause you know what you need [...]? And I know you’re gonna wince when I say this, but what you need [...] is love. Because through love comes calm, and through calm comes thought. And you need thought to detect stuff sometimes, [...]. It’s kinda all you need. You don’t even need a gun. And you definitely don’t need hate. Hate never solved nothing, but calm did. And thought did. Try it. Try it just for a change. No one’ll think you’re gay. And if they do, arrest ’em for homophobia! Won’t they be surprised! Good luck to you, [...]. You’re a decent man, and yeah you’ve had a run of bad luck, but things are gonna change for you. I can feel it."

[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!!!!!

[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.

[kiurit]