#cinema lacks of comedy period drama so i need this one to do well

[weak-hero]

Rosaline /// My Lady Jane

[heavencollins]

Top 10 Films of 2020: Part One

2020 was a rough year for a lot of reasons, but even more rough due to the lack of an existent film industry for over half of the year.  Sure, there are small productions happening and movies being released on VOD, as well as some in theatres, but so many great films were pushed back this year—movies I was excited to possibly have on my top ten.  Minari, Promising Young Woman, Zola, The Green Knight, Saint Maud.  Okay most of those are A24 releases but A24 literally released next to none of their slate for this year and it’s one of the most disappointing things to happen in the entertainment industry in my opinion.  

Alas, I still found cinema through streaming, paying $20 for a VOD rental, and those amazing $1.80 rentals from Redbox (remember when they were only a dollar?  because I do).  And honestly?  It was probably the hardest time curating a top ten that I’ve had in a long time; with so much just available through the internet and owning every single popular streaming service, it was both impossible to watch everything I wanted but also since I watched a lot of what i wanted, I ended up loving most of it.  For a year that was so dismal in every other way possible, the films that were released ended up being a shining light more often than not.  Of course, like every other year, a lot of hot garbage came out too, but that isn’t the focus of this—the great, amazing, can’t believe these are real films.  

So let’s start from number ten.  This was my first and only $20 rental this year, starring a man who I personally admire: Pete Davidson.  

10. The King Of Staten Island, directed by Judd Apatow and written by Judd Apatow, Pete Davidson, and Dave Sirus.  

Judd Apatow is one of the first directors who I watched religiously, and hearing that he was doing a film with Pete Davidson that was essentially based on Davidson’s life meant that I knew I’d have to watch it.  Scott, played by Davidson, is a twenty-something with no direct path in life; he lives with his mother, his sister is going off to college—something he never attempted—and he has no real career.  His father died in a large building structure fire, much like Davidson’s actual father, a firefighter who passed away while responding to the twin towers during 9/11.  Scott is emotionally a wreck, plagued with depression and anxiety, a chronic weed smoker, and dreams of being a tattoo artist that he practices by tattooing his group of rag-tag friends, but none of the tattoos are very great.  

The thing about an Apatow film is they border the line between comedy and drama very well, kind of a complicated little dance.  But, King of Staten Island is very much a drama more than a comedy.  Bill Burr plays Ray, the father of a kid that Scott tattoos earlier on in the film.  Ray comes stomping up to Scott’s mother’s house, and Margie, played by Marissa Tomei, opens the door.  It’s essentially love at first sight.  She hasn’t dated since Scott’s father passed, and to make matters worse, Ray is also a firefighter.  This complicates emotions for Scott, as he loves his mother but also doesn’t know how to deal with the feeling that his mother is finally moving on and may face heartbreak again.  

Davidson puts it all on the table in this film.  It’s poignant and realistic; at the start, Scott is driving down the highway and closes his eyes, way longer than you should.  It sets the tone from the start that this man isn’t okay, but also he’s scared of dying because as soon as he opens his eyes again and sees he may be about to crash, he quickly panics and readjusts his wheel.  This struck a chord with me as most people know that Davidson has struggled with suicidal thoughts in the past.  It’s a beautiful film that memorializes both how much Davidson’s father meant to him, but also the cycles of grief and trauma that last throughout your life.  

9: Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), directed by Cathy Yan and written by Christina Hodson.

Suicide Squad is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen period, fact.  Birds of Prey is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen period, fact.  I never, ever, ever thought I’d see a day where a DC movie was in my top ten, but this year anything is possible.  Birds of Prey is a display of feminism, badassery, and all around perfection.  You jump right into the story, hearing Margot Robbie’s classic Harley Quinn voice laid over an animation showing what we missed in her life so far, which means you don’t have to have any previous knowledge of the other films.  Birds of Prey is meant to stand alone from any other movie preceding this one, and that’s just part of why it’s so great.

This film knows not to take itself too seriously.  Margot Robbie is a dream as Harley Quinn, using just the right amount of playfulness to put a little edge on her, while also maintaining the manic-panic-pixie-dream-girl effect.  Perhaps the best scene is when Harley goes and purchases the perfect egg breakfast sandwich, and then she drops it, causing a dramatic slow motion effect that proves she really does love that sandwich more than anything in the world.  Or her realistic apartment, nothing truly fancy, just a little hole in the wall above a rundown Chinese restaurant.  But then she has an amazing ensemble of other women actors around her, which are what really uplift her performance. 

The funhouse fight scene at the end may be the best in superhero movie history.  I mean, I guess, is Harley Quinn really a superhero?  She’s kind of the anti-hero, which is what makes her so great.  She’s somebody who isn’t even close to perfect but she still succeeds and tries to help and uplift the other women on her team.  There’s just something special about this movie that made me smile and laugh the entire time.  It’s a reminder that it’s okay to have fun every once in a while.  

8: The Assistant, directed and written by Kitty Green.

For those who don’t know, I work as an assistant during the day for a small business here in Vermont.  The work is mundane but it’s a job that’s giving me experience for the future.  In The Assistant, Jane, played by Julia Garner, is an assistant to a “powerful entertainment mogul.”  She gets lunch, answers phones, is the first one into the office, the last one out of the office, finds herself overshadowed by her male counterparts and getting the majority of the “grunt” work, and becomes more and more aware of what’s really going on at this office throughout a day in her life.  

What’s interesting about this film is nothing is ever seen; everything Jane starts to feel is just based on intuition.  Her boss is tricky, finding ways to keep his abuse of women out of the public eye, out of the eye of any female employees.  This is obviously in response to #MeToo, Times Up, and the Harvey Weinstein news from the last few years, and it works surprisingly well as a film that just unnerves you and gets under your skin.  

The reality of assault in the film industry is that until it’s widely public and known, nobody is going to know about it.  You can report it to your company, to other women, to other men, to anybody, and nobody will take you seriously until they either experience it themselves or know somebody else who has.  The Assistant hits the ball out of the park with the ending, even if it doesn’t give a vindictive satisfaction to viewers, because it’s simply the truth of the matter.  

7: Tenet, directed and written by Christopher Nolan.

I really don’t know what to say about this one.  It’s really controversial to like it but I absolutely LOVED this movie, it’s pure fucking vibes.  A lot of people are cinema purists, which I am not, and will never claim to be, which was a huge deal with this film.  Personally, this works way better at home than it ever would in a theater.  It’s slightly long, the sound mixing makes it so it can be hard to hear dialogue over loud noises and the score, and it’s the type of movie you may have to rewind  a few times.  

My partner and I watched this in 4K Ultra HD with subtitles on, and let me tell you, it was amazing.  Everything about the acting, the diversity in the film, the fact that Nolan literally has a character say “Don’t try to understand it, just experience it”???? VIBES.  That’s all I can say about it.  Plus, Elizabeth Debicki plays an actual badass who stands against her abuser and that enough is five stars.  A tall queen standing up against her short joker—absolute feminism.  

Sure, no character gets any development, but is that seriously necessary for every film?  It’s an action flick about time and space and none of it makes sense and you can’t force it to.  Why does everything need to make sense in a time where we are literally living through a pandemic?  Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the experience of Tenet.  It’s more fun when you don’t take it seriously.  

6: The Devil All The Time, directed by Antonio Campos and written by Antonio Campos, Donald Ray Pollock, and Paulo Campos.

I never read the book this was based on, but this film made me want to.  I love a film where multiple plot lines converge into one central story and this one did it so well, all with the same theme surrounding every single character: the guilt of sin and how no matter how much you think you can save yourself, you can’t truly save yourself.  I’m not a huge fan of Tom Holland, but he shines as Arvin from beginning to end.  Pattinson brings a creepy southern preacher to life with an accent that he will never be able to match again.  Keough gives a performance you can only sympathize with as you know she’s being manipulated the entire time.  Every character in this is corrupt in their own way but some in worse ways than others.

I don’t know how much to say about this one without spoiling it, either, because the core of this film is on the characters and what leads to their untimely ends, because pretty much everybody ends up dead.  It’s grim and dark but it’s so beautiful and tells the story in a way that keeps you interested throughout the entire run time.  It surprised me but there’s never truly been a Robert Pattinson starring movie that I’ve hated, so am I really surprised?  I’m a TwiHard at heart even at age 22. 

[kwispayne]

The Top 10 Films Of 2019

Sadly my keep up with film this year wasn't as active as I would have liked it to have been. But I did see a lot of great films. Maybe none that will be in my century list, but there was some great moments throughout. Hopefully I can keep up better this year, but here is my opinion on what I did see

So here is some rules

1.Technically some of these movies have been released in 2018, but some where only released at film festivals or had overseas release. I usually go by the rules of if it was released in cinemas, Netflix or DVD in 2019.

2. This is a personal list. So some opinions are biased and selfish.

3. I haven’t seen every film from this year sadly. So any recommendations or even your top 10 lists would be helpful. I always want to watch more and I have an odd fetish for lists and stuff, so if you have any send me links and stuff.

10. Dragged Across Concrete (S. Craig Zahler)

S. Craig Zahler's films in the past few years have only just keep getting better and better. Also how this guy was able to give careers back to Vince Vaughan & Mel Gibson is a feat if extraordinary skill too. Dragged Across Concrete is a complex story, with a lot of interesting twists and turns, but one of the best skills that Zahler has as a film maker is his ability to set up scenes. He never spoonfeeds his audience, and gives the characters dialogue and scenes that are very lifelike. While this may be his least bloodiest affair, it does have some rather upsetting moments in it which leave a bigger lasting impact than a bloody gore fest.

9. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)

I was a tiny bit let down by Tarantino's last film The Hateful 8. Overall it wasn't the worst, but there was a lot of padding. But, this film has a lot of padding too. But it's padding which I deem necessary. In fact, this level of padding I haven't seen Tarantino do since Jackie Brown. But overall, the film, even though it is slightly based on true events, constantly has the audience guessing what is going to happen, leading to an incredibly leftfield and satisfying climax. The dialogue throughout is at times Tarantino by numbers, but at times he does verge away from what we are used to, which I've got to admit, is an impressive feat by Tarantino so late into his career. Also, big props to Leonardo DiCaprio who deserves an award for his performance in this film.

8.  Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Chris Smith)

The movie which launched a thousand memes. Back in the day, documentaries used to fill my lists, but that has died down, because they've been so saturated since the rise of Netflix & Amazon. But, I'm glad to say that this  is the example of one that has slipped through the cracks, mainly because the story  of this documentary is so insane. A failed music festival that was doomed from day one, spearheaded by a rapper with a lot of hubris and a pied piper entrepreneur. In many ways this movie very much is the perfect parable of today's obsession with capitalism. It's all glitz with no results. Netflix, you've done it again.

7.  Lords Of Chaos (Jonas Åkerlund)

Being a fan of metal, the story of this film has been among the metal lore for the past few years. Now...do I believe everything the movie is portraying...no, but the movie does claim that it is based on lies too. But at the heart of it all, I think  Åkerlund did get a great theme going. That at the end of the day, the guys involved in this whole affair were just kids. This is a controversial choice I know, but I genuinely loved the choice of shots in the movie, the aesthetics used and I thought out the dialogue throughout was very strong and acted well. So as a film, it's great. As a piece of metal history...not so much.

6. Fighting With My Family (Stephen Merchant)

After being blown away by Florence Pugh in Lady Macbeth, I was surprised to hear that her next project was a comedy film about wrestling. But then I saw that Stephen Merchant was directing and writing it, and my mind was put to rest. Personally I think The Office & Extras are 2 of the best TV shows ever made, so I knew that Stephen could pull of a big Hollywood comedy. But...this has such great British charm in it, that whenever I wasn't laughing I was nearly in tears with the drama. The screen play in this film is fantastic, but Stephen has always been a brilliant writer. The cast in the film is fantastic, but Florence Pugh just blows everyone out of the water. I will talk about her more later. 

5. Vice (Adam McKay)

After being shocked by The Big Short, Adam McKay again proves that he has a certain style which was only veily shown in his earlier comedy films. The comedy of this film comes from the twist of what we usually except with films of this calibre, but behind the veneer of Cheney himself, this very much adds to the tone of the film. The obvious elephant in the room is Christian Bale's performance and the changes he made to become the character, which are insane as always, but the actual performance and manner of Cheney is perfectly modeled and may be one of his greatest performances, although I hope for his benefit he just sticks to a fat suit and make up next time he needs to play an older large man.  Now this movie isn't the most factually accurate from what I gather, but if it is...wow...McKay has given life to an absolute monster.

4. Midsommar (Ari Aster)

Ari Aster has now made 2 of the best modern horror films. Hopefully he can make it a hat trick. This film blew me away. The psychedelic cult aspect of this movie was dripping from the screen, but it was done is such a bright and vibrant way so it seems to be safe, but it's actually very dangerous. A fantastic cast also drives  the film, but Florence Pugh shows up again to prove that she may be the greatest actor that we currently have working at the moment. Jack Reynor is also fantastic in the film and I really hope he gets more work because he is fantastic (he's gorgeous too). Warning to anyone about to watch this film...it gets very freaky.

3. Avengers Endgame (Anthony & Joe Russo)

Ok...again this is mainly just for my own satisfaction. I have been following the Marvel films for a long time, and some of them have actually been able to get their way into my top 10 lists, but this one is different. This movie never would have worked if the studio didn't take their time. And the arc that they have told over the past few years with specific characters in general has come full circle, and the pay off is glorious. Now when it comes to the actual plot of the film and the time travel stuff...yes it is a bit silly, but the concept itself is silly too, so I take it with a pinch of salt, and I only focus on the story we are given. The best performance though comes from Robert Downey Jr., who I believe deserves some sort of award not for this film but for all the Marvel movies he took part in. The build up to Josh Brolin's Thanos is also a fantastic performance. And the climax of this film is one of the most grandiose and epic closers of any superhero movie that we have ever seen.

2. Us (Jordan Peele)

I felt that Get Out was a movie where the concept was brilliant, but the actual execution was lacking. I still enjoyed it, but it was one of those films where people enjoyed it a lot more than I did. But when I saw the trailer for Us, I became very excited, because the trailer made it seem overly creepy to the point where I didn't understand what was going on. So I went in knowing nothing and coming out completely blown away. To think that Jordan Peele directed this, the same guy that made me laugh from his sketches on Key & Peele has directed an incredibly smart, funny and interesting horror film. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone (obvious joke alert). But this movie would be nothing without the stellar performance from Luptia Nyong'o. This lady deserves a lot of awards and recognition for this role, and I hope she works with the horror genre again, because he is a fantastic scream queen.

1. The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos)

Yorgos Lanthimos' films have been an interest of while. With his directorial debut Dogtooth, I was blown away. It was so unique that no one could follow this incredibly odd turgid and absurdist style. He then came back with The Lobster, which I found the idea of more enjoyable than that actual execution of the film itself. And he got closer with The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, but it didn't fully stick to landing. But this is his biggest film. A weird one to chose foe a style of his calibre. A period piece focusing on feminism. How could he keep his style without it distracting the audience too much with the story. But thankfully he found the perfect marriage between the 2. Now, his style did get watered down a bit, but thankfully his absurdist approach hasn't fully evaporated, with some very odd but brilliant use of shots. Acting wise, the film has a fantastic cast, and obvious props should be given to Olivia Coleman who won her Oscar for this role, but Emma Stone & Rachel Weisz also give fantastic performances too, and should be recognized too. I'm glad to see Lanthimos making his acclaimed masterpiece, and am looking forward to his next artistic endeavor.

[unnursvanablog]

The TV shows I have watched in 2021, part 1.

Shows I finished:

The Uncanny Counter: Exciting, full of humor and heart and found family, and the character is so lovable and pulls very hard on your heartstrings. That is the strongest aspect of that show, for me. There's a lot of talk about human greed and corruption and other things as that is how the demons in the show feeds, which I sometimes felt a little too heavy handed and the shows spend a bit too much time on that aspect of the plot, but the story manages to be pretty fast-paced, does not drag on too much and there is always some tension there to grab you, so I was never bored.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, s4: This show was so self-aware of itself; both in terms of their flaws and what made them great that they actually managed to be a pretty chill and fun watch. But as the series progressed they somehow lost that spark and the ability, took itself maybe a bit too seriously and yet not serious enough so a part of it was just too silly and some things felt like they were trying to hard to be bold and dark but failed.

Mr. Queen: Shin Hye Sun's amazing performance in the lead role makes Mr. Queen a pretty decent and fun show. It's rather light, funny and exciting. The drama would not be the same without her. It did drag a bit, especially in the beginning, or feel a bit all over the place. A fun, light fusion sageuk.

Signal: I can understand all the praise this show has received and I enjoyed it, but they also never hooked me in the way that I did. But then again this isn't my type of genre and a lot of these types of shows don't manage to do so.

Extraordinary You: At its core, this is a very ordinary teendrama about love and friendship and finding oneself. The drama does a lot of these things incredibly well It's not perfect, but it's so sweet and with a huge heart behind it where you can feel all the emotions the characters are feeling and all of the character, or almost all of them, are so lovable. The concept of it is quite neat, and it does manage to do something new, while also just telling a very standard teendrama story.

Dickinson, s2: It doesn't look or feel like your standard period drama with it's use of modern popmusic and other things are used to make everything a bit surreal and not quite normal. Death comes to visit or someone uses modern slang that pulls you out of the story, but in a good way. It adds to the carm of it. I think the episodes are strangely fun and work well in their absurdity and I hope we get more series of these episodes because I think they just have room to grow.

Merlin, s1-3: The first three series of these episodes are just really good adventure family show. It has this fairytale vibe to it, which I really enjoy. They are never trying to be more than they are, although they sometimes rush through things, but I really do appreciate how light and fun this fantasy show full of adventure and magic is considering how dark and bold some of these new fantasy shows post-GOT all feel. I miss this sort of feel-good fantasy.

The Office, s1-4: It's taking me a while to get me through this show. I do not know if it's out of all these memes I've seen and I feel like I've already seen a lot of these jokes or if that humor isn't really my thing. I like it well enough and often have it on in the background but I am not often in the mood for it. I do not think they are that funny.

Crash Landing on You: I was was not that into this one. The characters were good and I found many things interesting about this drama, but the romance and just the story itself dragged on for such a long time. The episodes were some over an hour long and it did not have enough story for that. So towards the end I was really bored.

Alice in Boarderland: This was a real roller coaster ride and the story is something I espect more from a Japanese movies than dramas (though I may not have seen enough Jdramas). The story was fast and constantly surprising you. Really good, the story was so gripping and full of twists and interesting characters. Bloody and brutal, but in a good way.

Vincenzo: Vincenzo surprised me so much, but I was not expecting this entertainment when I started it. A strange mix of soap opera level drama, comedy and legal drama that works somehow so well together. Very colorful, wacky and fun characters, one of the most entertaining bad guys I have watched in a kdrama in a long time. I was always looking forward to watching the next episode and the story never seemed to drag or drop in intensity or action throughout it's run. Could well end up being my favorite drama of the year. Pure and simple entertainment that I will not easily forget.

Sisyphus: The Myth: I need to stop torturing myself through the Park Shin Hye drama just for Park Shin Hye. This drama had a really great idea behind it and it started of pretty well, but I thought the mystery in the episodes dragged on for a long time and just wasn't that well put together or that exciting to watch. This was more romance than science fiction and I was not feeling the romance here and I found the lead male character so boring.

Age of Samurai - Battle for Japan: At first I thought it would be a drama, but it turned out to be a documentary. Really interesting history which I really immersed myself in.

The Lost Pirate Kingdom: I felt like I knew about a lot of these events that this documentary talked about through the tv show Black Sails that it might have damaged the suspense a bit. Sometimes I felt like I was getting a really detailed recap of that show. Still quite fun.

Wandavision: It was just like I expected a Marvel tv show to be. It was great fun, great action and fun characters. The episodes take advantage of a slightly slower story that TV shows offer compared to movies, but still have this Marvel feel to them. Marvel knows its audience very well.

Lost Cities with Albert Lin: I got Disney+ and enjoyed so many of the documentaries that were on there. I loved learning about all the lost, secret treasures and cultures that history has to offer, that are almost hidden from modern view.

Lost Treasures of the Maya: Albert Lin has some great series on Disney + that are really fun to watch. He's almost like the modern Indiana Jones. I devoured his shows over the course of a few days.

Drain the Oceans: So much fun learning all that's hidden on the ocean floor. I did not watch all the episodes in this series, but I went between the episodes that had more to do with ancient history and things that I'm interested about.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: It went a slightly different route and had more to say than I honestly expected from a Marvel tv show. And while it did have a rather slow start it manage to say everything they needed and wanted to say and manage to build these characters well enough so that this origins story of the new Captain America is well set up and established for the next phase of Marvel cinema. It was very fun and exciting.

Navillera: really heartfelt show that truly did tug at my heartstrings every episode. The story is really emotional and sincere without being too sad or depressing. It never drags you down, but much rather gives you a bit of hope and wholesome vibes.

Not Yet Thirty: Very short but fun stories about three friends. The pacing wasn't the best, it felt a bit rushed, and I didn't think they divided the time between these friends that well, so parts of it felt underdeveloped and boring to watch.

Shadow and Bone: a rather traditional YA fantasy story and maybe a bit lacking in depth here because there was a lot going on and it only had eight episodes to tell it all. But the characters were really fun and there was always a lot of excitement going o.. And thanks to the Crows  there was always something that surprised me at every turn and it was just so fun how they wove it all together. Came out much better than I thought it would and I'm really excited for what's next.

Youth of May: I did not expect much from this drama at first, but it still surprised me how light it was, despite the Gwangju uprising being one of the topics it covered. The story got darker as time went on, but it never got too hard to watch or too sad. It was really well done and the despite how short it was compared to many other kdramas it never felt rushed or anything.

The shows I dropped:

Lovestruck in the City: The characters were just so boring, especially the male lead. And the format that the episodes were trying to have - almost like they were filming a documentary - just did not work for me.

Royal Secret Agent: I love period dramas and I find Myungsoo really cute. But there was just nothing really going on here and the story felt like it was trying to be more clever than it actually was and the characters didn't seem to be going through any type of character development. It was just kinda boring.

My Father is Strange: While cute and cozy, these types of stories aren't really my cup of tea. They just don't seem to hold my attention that well.

Beyound Evil: Might give them another chance, because even though I'm not very fond of crime and murder mysteries like this, I have heard almost nothing but praise for this drama and I'm a huge Yeo Jin Goo fan. The mystery didn't hook me that much though, but maybe I just didn't get far enough into it.

Doom at Your Service: I do not know what it is… but this kind of paranormal romance does not really work on me even though I love fantasy and I like rom-coms. I prefer ghosts and such to these immortal supernatural beings... unless it is the main female character who is supernatural and lonely. The romance of a immortal male and a human female just doesn't seem to work for me.

[movieswithkevin27]

Two for the Road

Having seen the other Stanley Donen-Audrey Hepburn collaborations, Funny Face and Charade, and having enjoyed both, I was certainly reasonably excited about Two for the Road. A road comedy-drama about a couple whose marriage is on a major downturn and reaching divorce territory embark upon one final trip in Europe, which naturally brings up memories of when they first met, when they were newlyweds, and when they were with their only child, and were similarly traveling the country. Cutting between each of these time periods, Two for the Road centers on Mark (Albert Finney) and Joanne (Audrey Hepburn) as the married couple, which should have been quite promising. However, by the end of the film, Donen’s unconventional narrative structure winds up being the only thing that makes the film compelling the face of hit-and-miss chemistry, poor acting, a lack of romantic chemistry throughout, listless drama, and stodgy pacing. In the end, Two for the Road winds up being an unfortunate “final” film for Hepburn who took another nine years to return to cinema. After watching this film, one cannot blame her for needing a bit of a break.

This narrative trick utilized by Donen in cutting between these various timelines is certainly challenging to watch at times due to possible incomprehensibility issues - as well as the fact that the only thing that changes about Finney and Hepburn are their clothes, hair, and Hepburn’s make-up - due to how carelessly it just skips through time. This is definitely a minor knock against the film, as it too readily assumes the audience will be able to understand what is going on without any tip that things are changing, especially since the locales and supporting characters are often the same. However, Donen’s neat usage of this certainly gives this a very strong artistic punch, especially when the film blends time periods and makes it appear as though one moment bleeds into another as Mark and Joanne’s car whips past them on the side of the road or as one of their friends’ cars pass by them. However, this style is not just gripping, it also does a great job of demonstrating the rise and the fall of this relationship. We see them fall in love, we see them fight, we see them cheat, and we see them fall back in love only to then fall apart again. It becomes engrossing and rather thematically resonant as Donen shows the fickle nature of love, how one day you can be gaga and the next gagging for more space. It is a borderline bi-polar endeavor and one met with great trepidation by those afraid of being hurt, but also one that can change one’s life and one’s views. Certainties and foregone conclusions are eventually turned into reality. Two for the Road beautifully depicts this relationship and the turbulent nature of all long-term relationships, in large part because of Donen’s style. Though there are some that view that as an influence on Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, Two for the Road’s stylistic choices are hardly reminiscent of Linklater’s work, which is linear even if shown over the course of twenty years. Instead, stylistically, Two for the Road feels like a precursor to the far darker and more depressing Blue Valentine by Derek Cianfrance, which similarly shows the rise and fall of a marriage while cutting between key moments of the relationship.

While the writing of the film is incredibly strong in demonstrating the problems that arise from the very beginning of the relationship and remain present throughout, Two for the Road is unfortunately often undone by the pairing of Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn. As lovers, they are never convincing. In fact, they seem almost repulsed to be touching one another. While Finney is more committed to his role as Mark, Hepburn gives off a significant degree of indifference in this film that, in turn, makes her performance feel very inauthentic and practically mailed in for the check. For a role that earned her a Golden Globe nomination, one would not be wrong to expect from Hepburn in this role, yet she has none of her natural charisma or magnetism in the role, instead feeling rather flat and non-emotive. However, Hepburn is certainly better than Albert Finney here who forces everything just a bit too much and always feels as though he is pretending to be somebody else. He never sinks in this role and disappears, instead it is not hard to realize that this is just Albert Finney pretending to be somebody else. This inability to really capture the character and the matching inauthenticity given off by Finney’s performance further exacerbates the films problems. While Frederic Raphael wrote a brilliant script - which was rightfully nominated for an Academy Award - the two actors miss the mark, read out the emotions instead of living them, force themselves to look interested in the other, and lack any shred of charisma or chemistry. Instead, the entire film just feels fake, never capturing the rich emotional depth in Raphael’s script.

Unfortunately, the problems for Two for the Road are not just in the romance element of the film, but also in the comedy. On occasion, Donen’s film does manage to hit the mark and elicit some hearty laughs. Examples such as Mark pretending to drown or the running gag about Mark misplacing his passport, certainly stand as Two for the Road’s greatest comedic accomplishments. Otherwise, and this is where Raphael’s script does fall short a bit, Two for the Road is just not funny. While Raphael’s script lacks any punch or zip in this area in scenes of them bickering and engaging in possible comical banter, the acting of Finney and Hepburn together hardly helps as they never establish a great comedic rapport. Though this film may wish it were one of the classic Golden Age romantic comedies in which husband and wife trade comedic barbs that come packed with both dramatic and comedic impact, Two for the Road’s comedy is rather lackluster and hard to identify. It is so infrequently funny that its joke attempts are not just misses, they in fact barely register as attempted jokes.

With two strikes from both the romantic and comedy sides of the film, Two for the Road is left with the drama of the situation and this bit is a lot stronger. It is not good, but it is stronger. As the film’s romance crumbles due to poor acting, Two for the Road leans heavily on Raphael’s script to create dramatic tension and deliver compelling moments. At times, it is rather successful as the audience does become rather invested and captivated by these two detestable people falling in and out of love with another over the course of their relationship. However, it is Donen’s direction that often disappoints here as the film drags on for far too long and makes 110 minutes feel like 220. It is a film in no hurry to reach its conclusion, instead opting to drag out this often dull and passionless film out until it nearly hits two hours in length. It is, quite plainly, boring. With no romantic intrigue, comedy, and limited drama, Two for the Road is left to rely upon the great thematic development the script lays out as we see the romance rise and fall, the loss of passion, a discussion of sex in-and-out of marriage, and other rather risque conversations for 1967. Though Two for the Road may have been a rather ground-breaking film for its frank discussion of these topics, but it does not make it any good as a film. Not only have many of these themes been represented in far stronger films since 1967, but these same themes - especially infidelity - had been shown in films long before Two for the Road and even those films were able to do more with the ideas in the process of making a great film with the significant restrictions of the Production code holding them back.

There is no excuse for Two for the Road being so emotionless, so unfunny, and so dramatically inert, yet here we are. A film directed by Stanley Donen and pairing Audrey Hepburn with Albert Finney winds up being a film that, honestly, is rather middling. The only saving grace here is the film’s tremendous narrative structure that allows for a great representation of the ups-and-downs of a relationship, showing them in full detail and never shying away from the gloomy and gritty details. Unfortunately, this does stand as one of the few positives for Two for the Road though it is nearly strong and innovative enough to make Two for the Road better than average. However, it is nearly impossible to ignore the film’s flaws and there are many of them.

[weekendwarriorblog]

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND September 27, 2019  - ABOMINABLE, FIRST LOVE, JUDY, THE LAUNDROMAT

There’s only one movie in wide release this week, and it’s the second DreamWorks Animation/Universal animated movie of the year, ABOMINABLE, which is also the third animated movie involving some sort of Bigfoot, Sasquatch or Yeti (if you don’t include Monsters Inc. and Monsters University). 

I actually really enjoyed this movie quite immensely, even though I’m not sure I’m up for a full review. It features the voice of Chloe Bennet (from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Yi, a young Chinese girl who finds a young Yeti on the roof of her apartment building and goes on a magical adventure to bring the beast (she dubs “Everest”) back to his home (on Mount Everest) along with her two friends, one voiced by Albert Tsai from Fresh Off the Boat. DreamWorks has been somewhat erratic in my book as far as their recent animated films, but Abominable really offered a lot to enjoy, from some of the sillier humor to the magical fantasy elements. There’s also a lot of really touching and even moving moments that really hit me in the feels, partially thanks to the score by Rupert Gregson-Williams. (How this guy has not been nominated for an Oscar is beyond me.) So yeah, this is the third animated movie of the last year involving a Yeti, but I think DreamWorks and director Jill Culton really nailed the storytelling and visuals in a way that was lacking, at least in The Missing Link earlier this year.

You can read my interview with Chloe Bennet over at The Beat later today.

The movie that people should definitely try to find is Takashi Miike’s latest crime thriller, FIRST LOVE (Hatsukoi), released by Well GO USA in New York (at the Angelika) and L.A. (at the Laemmle Nuart) on Friday then expanding on October 2.

Besides returning Miike to his crime roots, being a movie that involves the Yakuza, it also is as much a love story as Ichi the Killer only without all the genre weirdness that made that one (and many of Miike’s other movies) such a hard sell to mainstream audiences. First Love still has a lot of fun and a tiny bit of weirdness, but it’s also something more akin to the work of Tarantino, at least with Kill Bill.

It stars Masataka Kubota as a young boxer named Leo, who learns he has a tumor and little time to live when he encounters a call girl named Yuri who being forced into paying off a debt to the Yakuza (played by Sakurako Konishi). They meet under the strangest circumstances, as the two go on the run, her trying to escape from being used by a rival faction as a scapegoat in a planned drug heist.

Despite the title, this isn’t a romance film although it definitely has romantic elements between the two characters. The film sets up an intricate cast of characters around them with various factions and double-dealings that unfold over the course of the movie. That’s partially what makes True Love such a breakthrough for Miike, who has been doing so much Manga-derived work in recent years. He manages to take the incredible ensemble of actors and give all of them some good screen time as we follow Leo and Yuri trying to evadde those various factions, most of whom want them dead. It culminates in one of the most amazing action-packed last acts that’s up there with anything in 13 Assassins and Blade of the Immortal, two of Miike’s fairly recent Edo-period films.

As someone who has seen a LOT, if not most of Miike’s films over the last 20 years – we’re talking almost fifty films, here – First Love is his best movie since Audition, and having seen that again recently, I think it’s even better than that. It’s just a brilliant action-thriller from the filmmaking vet that I hope people will look for, even if they’re not a fan of Miike’s work before this.

RATING: 8.5/10

The other movie worthy of note is the biopic JUDY (LD Entertainment/Roadside Attractions) starring Renée Zellwegger as Judy Garland, directed by British theater director Rupert Goold (True Story). I have to be honest that I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie, because I was never a really big Judy Garland fan—I’m not even sure I’ve seen many of her movies besides The Wizard of Oz– and I can’t say I’m really a fan of Zellwegger either.

Although Judy has a few traditional biopic elements as it flashes back to Judy’s dealings with Louis B. Mayer (one of the M’s in MGM) lording over Judy as a teenager around the time of “Wizard,” it mostly takes place in the mid-to-late 60s as she’s fighting for custody of her two kids with her ex Sid, falling for a young piano-playing entrepreneur played by Finn Wittrock and trying to maintain a comeback at a London residency that’s plagued by her bouts with drugs and alcohol.

In some ways, the movie reminded me a little of last year’s Stan and Ollie, another great film about screen stars of yesteryear in their later years based around a solid script. In this case, the script is by someone named Tom Edge (The Crown) who clearly did enough research that as you’re watching the movie, you’re likely to wonder “Did that really happen?”

One of those moment is when Judy meets two elderly gay fans and ends up spending the night hanging with them at their home, a moment that will play a pivotal part later. I also liked some of the rest of the cast around her including Jessie Buckley (who was amazing in Wild Rose) and Finn Witrock, as Judy’s closest confidante.

More than anything, it’s about how Zellwegger embodies Judy Garland, and it’s more than just an impression, as she pulls out some amazing emotions as she struggles with life without her kids, but as soon as she steps on stage in front of an audience, she goes through an amazing transformation.

Again, Judy really surprised me in how much I enjoyed it, but I won’t be even remotely surprised if Zellwegger wins her second Oscar

RATING: 8/10

LOCAL FESTIVALS

Before we get to the rest of this week’s limited releases, I need to talk about two great film festivals, one on each coast. Of course, I have to talk about Film at Lincoln Center’s New York Film Festival first, since I’ve been attending it now for almost sixteen years, and it’s another banner year beginning this Friday with the WORLD PREMIERE of Martin Scorsese’s long-anticipated return to crime and reunion with Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel with The Irishman, which also brings Al Pacino into the fold as Jimmy Hoffa. (I’ll be seeing this Friday morning and reviewing for The Beatsometime over the weekend.) The closing night film is Edward Norton’s Motherless Brooklyn, a crime novel that he’s been trying to get made for nearly a decade or more, but this one also has a significantly incredible cast around him, including Alec Baldwin, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Willem Dafoe and many more. I’ll also review it for The Beat.

Beyond that, NYFF includes a lot of upcoming releases that I’ve missed by not going to many other festivals this year, including Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story (the Centerpiece) and a bunch of other movies that have played Cannes, TIFF and other festivals. There’s also a few docs in there that I’m looking forward to, including Michael Apted’s 63-Up, the latest in his ongoing series that began way back in the 60s with a television special about a group of schoolkids who the filmmaker followed over the course of their lives, revisiting every seven years without fail. It’s a pretty amazing achievement, and I’m definitely in until the filmmaker decides to stop (or more likely and sadly, dies). I hope to write more about the New York Film Festival both here and over at The Beatover the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

Over in Los Angeles, the 2019 Beyond Fest will be taking over the Hulu Theater at the American Cinemateque’s Egyptian starting Weds. and for the next few weeks, kicking off with the West Coast Premieres of Richard Stanley’s Color Out of Space in a double feature with Daniel isn’t Real, two movies from Elijah Wood’s excellent horror production company SpectreVision. The festival will also screen Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit and Bong Joon-wo’s Parasite, two movies I still haven’t had a chance to see, probably making me the last person on earth to see both of them. (They both open in October, so I expect that to change soon.) Other movies playing Beyond Fest include The Lodge, Little Monsters (which is a lot of fun) and a few repertory screenings that I’ll mention in the appropriate section below.

LIMITED RELEASES

A few weeks back, I was a little remiss by forgetting to include the Bulgarian drama ÁGA (Big World Pictures) in my column when it played at New York’s Film Forum. I want to make up for it this weekend, as it opens at the Laemmle Royal in L.A. Milko Lazarov’s film is set in a yurt in the furthest regions of Siberia, and honestly, I thought I was watching a documentary at first, since it’s filmed in such a cinema verité way where you think you’re watching real people, but nope, it’s a scripted film with local actors. It revolves around a couple, Sedna and Nannok, living in that yurt, whose only connection to the outside world is their son Chena, who tells him that he’s found their daughter Ága after a family argument that made her leave home.  I won’t say much more but the way that the story is told and shot really takes advantage of the locale, and I was glad to hear that Bulgaria selected it for the Oscars’ newly-titled “International Film” category.

Another fun movie worth seeking out is Daniel Schneiber’s dark comedy THE DEATH OF DICK LONG (A24), the first solo feature from one half ofSwiss Army Mandirectors, “The Daniels.” Schneiber also plays the title character, essentially a corpse – I’m seeing a trend here –as the film involves two friends who are involved with the accidental death of another man, actually the drummer in their band. We won’t find out for quite some time how “Dick Long” died, and I’m not going to spoil it, because it’s the film’s oddest turn – maybe one where it will lose a few people—but I think it’s another creative film with a great cast, mostly of lesser known actors but ones that really deliver a fun experience. I’m not sure where this is all playing, but I do know that one of the places is the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn on Friday night.

Similarly opening at the Metrograph this weekend for one screening only on Saturday -- but one where star Timothy Blake Nelson will be present for a QnA – is Chris Poché’s The True Don Quixote, which also stars Jacob Batalon from Spider-Man: Far from Home. It’s a new take on Cervantes’ classic tale that shifts it into Louisiana with Nelson’s Danny Kehoe accompanied by Batalon’s Sancho. It’s odd this is coming out the same year as Terry Gilliam’s long-in-development-hell The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, but I’m checking it out on Saturday for sure.

I won’t be seeing Stephen Soderbergh’s THE LAUNDROMAT (Netflix) until after this column posts, but I know a little bit about it. Like I know that it stars Meryl Streep, who plays a widow who is investigating insurance fraud and finding two law partners in Panama City (Antonio Banderas, Gary Oldman) who are exploiting the world’s financial system. Soderbergh’s cast also includes Will Forte, Jeffrey Wright, David Schwimmer and Sharon Stone, and it’s probably his The Big Short. It won’t be on Netflix until October 18, so if you want to see it, you’ll have to find one of the select cities where it’s playing, including New York’s IFC Center where it opens Friday.

Mini-Review: Let’s just get this out of the way, because I wrote the above before actually seeing the movie, but yes, The Laundromat is indeed Soderbergh’s attempt at making a Big Short-like examination of the world of finance and shell corporations and how the rich exploit the poor or “the meek”… and he has a cast full of well-known actors, many in a higher tax bracket, to tell what ends up being something that is probably more apropos for a documentary than an attempted comedy.

There is little question that The Laundromat is intended to be a comedy, beginning with the “wacky accents” sported by Oldman and Banderas as lawyers Jürgen Mosseck and Ramón Fonseca who begin to explain how the world of finance works. Before that, we meet Meryl Streep’s Ellen Martin and her husband Joe (James Cromwell) on a romantic anniversary get-away where their tour boat topsizes, drowning 21 people, including Joe. She then learns that she can’t collect from the boat company’s insurance due to a series of shell companies that she traces back to Mosseck and Fonseca in Panama. Before that, we see Jeffrey Wright appear as someone else involved in a way that is never quite understandable…. And that’s while the entire time, Mosseck and Fonseca break the fourth wall to try to make what’s happening EASIER to understand.

Frequent Soderbergh collaborator Scott Z. Burns is a fantastic writer – his screenplay for The Report, which he also directed, is proof-positive – but something about this one gets lost in translation. There’s clearly a desire to

The oddest decision is to cast two GENUINELY funny actors like Will Forte and Chris Parnell, and literally have them in one scene before killing them off. That’s just one of the many tangents that seem to come from out of nowhere and have very little to do with the overall “story” – and I use that term loosely. If I were watching this on Netflix, the first major tangent into the dalliances of a wealthy African businessman (Nonso Anozie) trying to buy his daughter’s silence about his affair was me sitting on the remote and actually switching to another movie. The second tangent to China – a complete waste of Rosalin Chao -- is even worse.

And yet, that’s still better than all of the shenanigans and silliness we’re forced to watch great actors like Oldman and Banderas (who is AMAZING in Almodovar’s new film Pain and Glory) get up to – it’s actually painful. Most people already know how little I care for Streep but to play what seems like a kindly widow trying to get through her grief only to have that not being entirely the case. (I won’t spoil it, but if you can’t figure out that it’s Streep under the make-up playing ANOTHER character, then you’re probably not going to get the attempted intricacies of the world of finance being explored.)

Despite being only ninety minutes long, this was a chore to sit through, partially due to the confusing tangents, but also due to some of the questionable filmmaking decisions which would seem below a filmmaker of Soderbergh’s caliber.

It feels like everyone involved with Soderbergh’s latest has grown tired of the Oscars on their mantle and decided to make a concentrated effort to go for a few Razzies. They might get their wish.

Rating: 4.5/10

One of the ACTUAL docs I’ve seen this weekend is Bill Haney’s new doc Jim Allison: Breakthrough (DADA Films), which follows the career of Jim Allison, an amazing geneticist who specializes in immunology, making huge breakthroughs into curing cancer by discovering that antibodies have a special nodes that help them fight against illness and disease and how cancer tumors shut them off. Allison won the Nobel Prize in Medicine last December. It’s a fairly brainy and scientific doc that at times seems more like an advertising for the pharmaceutical company who mass-produced the drug that came out of Allison’s research, but there’s a great case study of a woman who is diagnosed with myeloma and given only a few years to live. The doc is opening at a couple theaters in New York, including the Quad Cinema, and a couple in L.A., and then it expands to other cities next Friday. Oh, and it’s narrated by Woody Harrelson!

I’m a little more mixed on the doc Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (Kino Lorber), a combined effort by Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier  and Edward Burtynsky, which also opens at the IFC Center. I’m not even sure I can properly describe this world-spanning environmental doc… so I won’t try. It’s beautifully shot but not quite so obvious what the filmmakers were going for.

I haven’t had a chance to watch Chris Morris’ The Day Shall Come (IFC Films), which stars Anna Kendrick as an FBI agent who must go to great lengths to catch Moses Al Shabaz (Marchánt Davis), a Miami street preacher who wants to overthrow the US government who gets the backing of a Middle Eastern terrorist organization. And apparently, it’s a comedy? Okay, then.s

The last vestiges of MoviePass is their sole movie production, Bryan A. Miller’s 10 Minutes Gone (Lionsgate), an action-thriller starring Bruce Willis as crime-boss Rex, who hires Michael Chiklis’s Frank to lead a crew on as jewel heist, but when things go wrong and Frank wakes up with no memory of what happened (and no jewels), he must solve that before Rex has him killed. It will open in select cities but probably will be seen by most on Video On Demand.

I was kind of hoping I’d have a chance to see Fatih Akin’s new film The Golden Glove (Strand Releasing) as I’ve been a fan of the filmmaker for some time, but no such luck. This tells the story of notorious German serial killer Fritz Honka who terrorized Hamburg’s red light district – I’ve actually been there!!! – in the ‘70s, frequenting the “Golden Glove” bar and chasing after lonely women… and presumably killing them… cause he’s a serial killer. It’s opening at the IFC Center and presumably somewhere in L.A. as well?

Gilles Lelouch’s French comedy Sink or Swim (Level Film) stars Mathieu Amalric as one of a group of 40-something men who decide to form their pool’s first-ever all-male synchronized swimming team.

Samantha Buck & Marie Schlingmann’s Sister Aimee (1091/Obscured Pictures) stars Anna Margaret Hollyman as the title character, America’s most famous evangelist who is fed up with her success, so she goes on a wild trip to the Mexican border with her lover.  It opens in select theaters Friday and will On Demand next Tuesday.

Other films out this week in select cities (and On Demand) include Matthew Currie Ross’ The Curse of Buckout Road (Vertical/TriMuse Entertaiinment), starring Evan Ross, Henry Czerny and more. It takes place on New York State’s “most haunted road.” It should not be confuse with the Venezuelan thriller The Vampire of the Lake (Uncork’d Pictures/Dark Star Pictures), which only opens at L.A.’s Laemmle Glendale on Friday.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

This weekend, the Metrograph will begin screening a restored 35mm print of Alain Corneau’s 1979 film Série Noir, which adapts a Jim Thompson novel for the screen. Welcome To Metrograph: Redux will screen Antonioni’s Le Amiche (1955) a few times over the weekend and Pierre Schoendoerff’s documentary The Anderson Platoon (1967), neither which I’ve seen or know much about. The series will also screen the 1955 film Artists and Models, starring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, s and Fassbinder’s 1974 film Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, two movies which I ALSO have never seen. (I’m more likely to see the former.) Late Nites at Metrograph  will show David Lynch’s 2001 film Mulholland Drive, which is actually a rather boring choice for the usually innovative series. (Heck, I can go see that at the New Beverly one the one day they’re not showing Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood if I lived in L.A..) On the other hand, my favorite ongoing Metrograph series Playtime: Family Matinees will screen the 1979 film The Black Stallion this weekend, and that’s another movie I have never seen.

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Since I’m sort of back on schedule, although tonight’s “Weird Wednesday” Tank Girlis already sold out. You can still get tickets for the weekend screenings of Joel Schumacher’s 1987 film The Lost Boys on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Claude Chabrol’s The Cérémonie from 1995 will screen on Saturday as part of “Cutting Class: Films Inspired by Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite” – wait, shouldn’t that be the other way around? Oh, I guess maybe the programming was inspired by seeing Parasite, which I haven’t seen yet. Buster Keaton’s 1923 film Our Hospitality will screen on Sunday with “live theater organ accompaniment” – what is this? The Film Forum?  Kidding… Monday night screenings include Mark Wahlberg’s 1996 film Fear and (separately Millennium Actress (2002), the latter part of the “Anime-Zing” series. Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is Tony Scott’s The Hunger from 1983, but earlier is a 4k restoration of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Joseph Losey’s The Servant from 1963 will also play that night, as a movie that inspired Bong Joon-ho vs. the other way around. Next week’s Weird Wednesday is Hulk Hogan’s 1989 movie No Holds Barred, which is not sold out… yet.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Although Robert Altman’s Nashville will end on Thursday, the Film Forum will begin a week-long run of a 4k restoration of Fritz Lang’s Indian epic with the two parts, The Tiger of Eschnapor and The Indian Tomb, both from 1959 shown with separate admission fees rather than as a double feature. (Sad trombone.) The movie was originally shown in the U.S. in an edited (almost cut in half) version, so this is a rare chance to see the full movie on the big screen starting Friday. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is appropriately Jim Henson and Frank Oz’s beloved 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Although the Hulu(ween) Theater is being taken over by Beyond Fest (see above) much of this week and next, there’s a few repertory screenings including a 30th Anniversary screenings of Killer Crocodile and Luigi Cozzi’s 1989 film Paganini Horror on Friday and a 10th anniversary screening of Karyn Kusama’s Jennifer’s Body (with Kusama AND Megan Fox in person!) on Sunday. They’re also showing a screening of Al Adamson’s 1971 film Dracula Vs Frankenstein on Sunday.

AERO  (LA):

A bunch of non-rep stuff going on this week but on Saturday, they’ll screen a new 35mm print of Joan Tewkesbury’s 1979 directorial debutOld Boyfriends with Tewkesbury, stars Talia Shire and Keith Carradine in person! Sunday is the monthly “The Style of Sin: Pre-Code Film” series with a Marlene Dietrich double feature of 1930’s Morocco and the 1932 film Shanghai Express, both directed by her frequent collaborator Josef Von Sternberg. On Sunday night is a screening of Easy Rider (1969) in tribute to the late Peter Fonda. On Tuesday is a matinee screening of Fritz Lang’s 1931 film M, starring Peter Lorre, as part of “Tuesdays with Lorre,” free to Cinematheque members.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

FilmLinc is probably going to be pretty busy this week with the New York Film Festival starting Friday (see above), but it includes a few repertory screenings that I’ll try to mention. This weekend, they’re premiering a new restoration of Luis Buñuel’s 1930 film L’age d’or on Sunday as well as a new restoration of his 1950 film Los Olvidados. Béla Tarr’s 1994 film Sátántángo will also premiere in a new restoration on Sunday. On Tuesday, there’s a new restoration of Valerio Zurlini’s Le Professeur, while on Monday will screen new restorations of Three Short Films by Sergei Parajanov.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Weekend Classics: Staff Picks Summer 2019 is Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book (2006), starring Carice van Houten from Game of Thrones, picked by “Carlos” in a rare 35mm print! Waverly Midnights: Staff Picks Summer 2019 is George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), a great choice by “Tashika.” Late Night Favorites: Summer 2019 ends with something new that hasn’t been shown all summer… the 1986 film Critters, chosen by “Shane”!

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

“See It Big! Ghost Stories” continues this weekend with The Innocents (1961), which inspired Alejandro Amenabar’s 2001 film The Others, and the Japanese thriller Empire of Passion (1978).Also starting Friday is “Five by Forsyth,” as in Bill Forsyth, showing five movies including his 1979 debut That Sinking Feeling, as well as Comfort and Joy (’84), Breaking In (’89), Local Hero(’83) and Housekeeping (’87). On Saturday night, MOMI is also screening William Peter Blatty’s 1980 debut The Ninth Configurationas part of its ongong “Disreputable Cinema” series.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Sadly, “Laws of Desire: The Films of Antonio Banderas” ends on Thursday, but it will end with a screening of Steven Soderbergh’s new movie, The Laundromat as it opens theatrically… at the IFC Center further downtown. (Waugh Waugh….)

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

Friday night’s midnight offering is the ever-popular Anime Vampire Hunter Dfrom 1985.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

On Wednesday night, there’s a special screening of the doc The Blank Generation (1976) about the New York new wave/pun scene with director Amos Poe doing a QnA afterwards. (The movie is also screening on Saturday sans QnA.) On Friday, they’re screening Susan Seidelman’s 1983 punk movie Smithereens. Otherwise, it’s all Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. What the holy fuck?

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Still showing Once Upon a Time …  in Hollywood most of the time so still relegated to the bottom of the repertory section ‘cause IT ISN’T REPERTORY! But at least October is looking more promising for the New Bev to get back on track. We’ll see. The New Bev is showing the 1949 Burt Lancast film Criss Crossas a Wednesday matinee and one of my most beloved Disney movies ever That Darn Cat! (1965) over the weekend as its “Kiddee Matinee” but otherwise, it’s all Tarantino all the time. (Kill Bill: Volume 1 is the Saturday midnight offering.)

STREAMING AND CABLE

Pretty excited to hear that Jim Mickle, who directed Stakeland and Cold in July has a new movie on Netflix called IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON – part of Netflix’s “Netflix and Chills” series (har har). This one stars Boyd Holbrook from Logan as Philadelphia police officer Thomas Lockhart, who begins tracking a serial killer who keeps reappearing every nine years, his murders defying any scientific explanation. I haven’t seen it yet, but it also stars Michael C. Hall from Dexter and Cleopatra Coleman.

Apparently, Gwyneth Paltrow is in a new series called The Politician, but I know nothing about it, except that it’s Ryan Murphy’s first series for Netflix. Sorry!

I don’t have Shudder, so I can’t really say much about its programming, although this week, it will debut its new anthology series based on the George Romero anthology movie Creepshow, which might be a reason for me to subscribe. We’ll see.

Next week, it’s Joaquin Phoenix as Joker, a movie I’ve yet to be invited to see, as of this writing. Sad clown face…

[whittlebaggett8]

Is Avengers: Endgame a Masala Movie?

A formulation created up of blended genres that is sometimes seen by outsiders as uncomfortable in Indian videos operates fantastic for Marvel.

No, this is not a critique of Avengers: Endgame. And no, there won’t be any spoilers – except I spoil somebody’s day by challenging their sights. I will not truly emphasis on Endgame alone, in any case.

What does Marvel’s latest strike have to do with India? A stereotypical Indian film — and I pressure “stereotypical” — is 3 hours very long, with its plot interspersed with music and dance sequences. The genres of romance, household, motion, comedy, and drama mingle on the monitor with each individual other. Perhaps just one of the best symbols of this sort of a fantastic blend was Main Hoo Na (2004). There, the hero finds his dropped brother, his antagonist, and the love of his everyday living all all through the identical mission, although living a double everyday living as a army officer and a college student – and by undertaking heroic, comic, and romantic deeds just one following one more. Some in the West (and really in India as very well) uncover the formula absurd.

This form of function is normally named a masala motion picture. In Hindi, masala stands for any type of combination, frequently in the perception of a mix of spices. A masala motion picture, thus, is not just 1 coherent style it is a mix of genres and moods, rather very similar to how some classical Indian arts contain several aesthetic preferences. There will have to be comedy but also drama there essentially should be enjoy but there also should be some motion.

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What system has Marvel utilized? It has relieved its films of stiffness and presented them as deals of various emotions. The epic mood is interwoven with threads of anti-climatic comedy the material of motion has the embroidery of enjoy on its edges. Avengers: Endgame is the fruits of this course of action. The heroes from time to time turn into their individual caricatures, as the movie consistently shifts from currently being serious to joking. As in an Indian film theater, we are meant to giggle, tear up, gasp, and be surprised, all for the duration of one display.

I am not saying that Marvel has begun to make Indian-design masala movies. Clearly the tale, model, and know-how are incredibly different. The moods may perhaps be mingled in both of those instances, but their proportions are not very similar. As opposed to what we would uncover in a stereotypical Bollywood film, motion is prominent in Marvel’s cinematic universe, while really like and family members are only additions (even though family members matters drastically in the particular circumstance of Endgame). The Black Panther did not amuse us with a dance sequence. Spiderman did not change out to be Iron Man’s extensive-shed son. Black Widow and Hulk did not thrust for a really like relationship via their families regardless of coming from different communities.

And still the similarity I assert is in the combination of moods. If the antics of caricature-like personae can healthy in the epic canvass of a war for the long run of the universe, then I do not see the stage of laughing at Indian flicks for churning their very own blend. If the overdrawn Thor of Endgame does not cross the limits of awkwardness, then together with a scene in which the hero chases soon after a SUV in a bicycle rickshaw (as in Key Hoon Na) does not either.

The resemblance may perhaps be accidental. Marvel films have pretty unique origins: They are, after all, the silver screen versions of well-known comics (which have been a significant section of an American pop lifestyle, as opposed to in India). But the apparent similarity is the concentrating on of a wider viewers. Marvel begun with a comedian guide fanbase, but desires to attain a a great deal wider audience, as well as sate the tastes of each the younger and more mature audiences (as a result the lack of intercourse scenes and somewhat toned-down violence). In India, the cinema halls are generally frequented by total people, so the country’s filmmakers should comply with similar factors. Moreover, Indian film producers hedge their bets by often supplying works that would attract people of various backgrounds. In a nutshell – the two Marvel movies and masala movies are attempts at a capture-all film. And, by the way, Avengers: Endgame is a few several hours very long (like a stereotypical Bollywood perform, sans the dances) and currently scored the major opening in Indian theaters of all Western motion pictures so far.  

This, of program, does not imply that a single need to like masala films or can’t criticize them for a variety of facets – or that 1 simply cannot dislike Marvel and masala flicks for the exact same good reasons. My position, having said that, is that anyone who finds Marvel’s system a great system need to not one out Indian films for utilizing their have unique combination of moods, as they have accomplished for decades prior to Marvel.

The post Is Avengers: Endgame a Masala Movie? appeared first on Defence Online.

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[lazyupdates]

In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film that becomes effective, steadily, often with little promotion. Some sleeper hits are tactically marketed for audiences subtly, such as with previews a couple of weeks prior to release, without compelling them to see a heavily promoted film. While some are genuine surprises that tip toe into the theatres and go on to roar at the box-office, raking in crores and reaching cult status. These films may not boast of superstars or great production values. They create history on the strength of the story, the novelty of the theme, the pride of performances and presentation. What they boast of is a self-assuredness that comes with confidence in the product. At times, the makers themselves don’t come in with great expectations and are left pleasantly surprised by a discerning audience. Here are six films, which came in quietly and went on to make noise and news… because of their novelty. Here are, the small movies that made a big bang…

Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety (2018)

Director: Luv Ranjan

Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha, Sunny Singh Nijjar and Alok Nath.

Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety (SKTKS) is the latest addition to the list of sleeper hits in Bollywood. Viewers did have good expectations from the film, judging from the previous track record of Kartik Aaryan and director Luv Ranjan (the duo have done Pyaar Ka Punchnama, Akaash Vani, Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2). But they didn’t expect this film to perform this well. SKTKS is different from their previous collaborations, which was about friendship and romance. Or as the makers put it Bromance vs Romance. We saw Sonu (Kartik) try everything to stop his best friend Titu (Sunny Singh) from marrying Sweety (Nushrat Barucha), who is a con artiste and plans to run away with Titu’s money after marriage. In Hindi films, love is shown triumphing over everything. But here we saw love being put to test along with friendship. Although the film went on to receive mixed reviews, this didn’t stop it from having an excellent run at the box-office. The performances of the lead cast, especially Kartik received a lot of praise. Another thing that helped the movie was its excellent music. Songs like Boom diggy and Tera yaar soon main became wildly popular. SKTKS was made on a budget of 24 crores. But from the first weekend itself the collections of the film went pass its overall budget and raked in 26.57 crores. The lifetime collection of this tongue-twister of a film ended at a whopping 140 crores. FilmfareFilmfareFilmfareFilmfareFilmfareFilmfareFilmfareFilmfareFilmfare

Aashiqui 2 (2013)

Director: Mohit Suri

Cast: Aditya Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor and Shaad Randhawa

One of the biggest romantic musicals, Aashiqui 2 was a sequel to the 1990 musical blockbuster Aashiqui, which was directed by Mahesh Bhatt and catapulted Rahul Roy and Anu Aggarwal to fame. The film’s chartbusting music was composed by Nadeem-Shravan. It can well be said that the duo went on to become stars and ruled the ’90s with their melodies.

Despite being the successor to Aashiqui, the sequel, directed by Mohit Suri, didn’t manage to open on a great note. The love story centered on the stormy relationship between musicians Rahul and Arohi, a bond, which is affected by Rahul’s alcohol abuse and personality. The film opened to mixed reviews and collected only 5.25 crores on the first day. But, the good word-of-mouth and the music of the film and the crackling chemistry of the lead pair, Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor, got around there was no stopping the film. The music by Mithoon, Ankit Tiwari and Jeet Gannguli was a hit. The song Tum hi ho became extremely popular and made singer Arijit Singh, an overnight sensation. The song also saw him win his first Black Lady for Best Playback Singer (Male).  Sun raha hai na tu was another hit track. The film ended with a whopping 34.65 crores at the end of its first week. After earning over 109 crores in three weeks, the movie was declared a blockbuster in India and is the highest-grossing film ever produced by Vishesh Films.

Queen (2013)

Director: Vikas Bahl

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao and Lisa Haydon

Queen, was a film which revolved around a character named Rani (Kangana Ranaut) and how she learns to celebrate herself rather than invest her happiness in someone else. Just a day before the marriage, Rani’s fiancé, Vijay (Rajkummar Rao) tells her that he no longer wishes to marry her. He says that after living abroad, his personality has changed. He believes they can’t make a good match anymore. Naturally, Rani is devastated by this ‘betrayal’. She feels she needs to spend some time alone so that she can find herself once again. She decides to go on the pre-booked honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam. During her trip, she interacts with many people, makes friends and learns about their lives. This helps Rani grow as a person and makes her realise that she should be the one taking charge of her life and not depend on a man for it. Kangana Ranaut surprised both the critics and the masses. The natural performance had her let her hair down and rise as an actor. Queen can said to be the turning point in Kangana’s career, which pushed her into the big league.

Queen could be termed a small film by all measures. It was directed by Vikas Bahl, who previously had made just one film – Chillar Party. But the unique content proved that even if a film lacks all the bells and whistles of commercial films, it could impress on the sincerity of story, performances and direction. Before the release, people had barely heard of the film. In fact, Kangana in a de-glam avatar with oily plaits and middle-class attire, didn’t even attract eyeballs.

But, a few days later, it started gaining more and more traction on social media as people, who watched it wrote how path-breaking and feminist it was. Kangana became an icon of the bold, beautiful and brave. The numbers of the film began to pick up as well. Produced on the budget of 12.5 crores, the lifetime collections of 97 crores, set the ball rolling for Hindi cinema. Life has not been the same for Kangana either! Maine hothon se lagayee toh… with Kangana throwing all caution and convention to the winds, became the new age of anthem of women, who dared to love, live and celebrate themselves!

Vicky Donor (2012)

Director: Shoojit Sircar

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Yami Gautam and Annu Kapoor

Vicky Donor brought something to Bollywood, which was never seen before. Forget films, even talking about a topic like sperm donation was considered a profanity in society. So, when Shoojit Sircar came up with a movie in which the main character is playing a sperm donor it invited both – shock and awe!

 Produced by John Abraham, Vicky Donor also marked the debut of Ayushmann Khurrana and Yami Gautam. Though Yami Gautam had done a few movies down South before Vicky Donor, this was her official Bollywood debut. Like the name suggests, Vicky Donor revolved around a boy in Delhi called Vicky Malhotra. Fed up with the pressure of his family to find a job and get settled he goes on the lookout for a job. Dr Baldev Chaddha (Annu Kapoor) asks him to consider being a sperm donor. Initially, he hesitates. But upon seeing the money being offered, agrees to do it. He starts spending money wildly on all that he wants.

Soon, Vicky falls in love with Ashima Roy (Yami Gautam), a Bengali bank employee, whom he meets when he goes to open an account. Eventually, the two grow close and get married. Vicky stops donating sperm out of his faithfulness to Ashima. In a sudden turn of events, they discover that Ashima is infertile. She undergoes a few tests. She notices that Vicky hasn’t taken any tests to check his fertility. Vicky reveals that he doesn’t need to take tests because he’s been a sperm donor. Ashima is distraught that her husband had hidden this fact. It hurts her to know that while her husband has had multiple children (via sperm donation), she’s unable to bear one herself.

Dr Chaddha, through a series of situations, makes Ashima see all the children that were born due to Vicky’s sperm. She understands how Vicky has brought happiness into the families’ lives. But there’s one child, who was born due to Vicky’s sperm, but has lost her parents. He urges Vicky and Ashima to adopt her. They agree and begin life anew.

Ayushmann, too broke convention, when he accepted such an unconventional debut film. He was then quoted saying, “When Shoojit Sircar offered me Vicky Donor, my first reaction was, ‘Do I look like a sperm donor to you? Why me?’ But to be successful in Bollywood, you either need to be a superstar or have a super script. When I read the script of Vicky Donor, I realised it was a perfect debut. Moreover, the lines between parallel cinema are now blurring. You can do Paan Singh Tomar and Kahaani and still be successful commercially. It’s a golden period for cinema.” Initially, Vicky Donor managed to rake in 13.5 crores despite facing strong competition from the multi- starrer Housefull 2. The lifetime earnings of the film clocked in over 65 crores. Considering the film was a made on a budget of a mere five crores, it deserves the tag of a superhit!

English Vinglish (2012)

Director: Gauri Shinde

 Cast: Sridevi, Adil Hussain and Mehdi Nebbou

Rarely any heroine in Bollywood has made a comeback, which turned out to be as successful as Sridevi’s English Vinglish. The talented Sridevi returned to the big screen after a gap of almost 15 years. She was last seen in Judaai, which released way back in 1997. During the release of English Vinglish she was close to 50. The comedy-drama was written and directed by Gauri Shinde. She was inspired to make this movie by her Marathi mother, who was weak in English and ran a pickle business. In English Vinglish, Sridevi played the role of a homemaker named Shashi. She fails to get the respect she deserves from her husband and daughter as they are embarrassed about the fact that she doesn’t know English. So, during a trip to New York, she signs up for an English coaching class, where along with learning the language, she realises that there is much more to life. Despite this being the comeback film of the legendary Sridevi and receiving amazing reviews from critics, the film, initially failed to have good opening. The plot of the film was not massy. It took it a few days of encouraging word-of-mouth for the collections to witness massive growth. On the opening day, the film collected just over two crores. However, the collections skyrocketed during the weekend. English Vinglish ended its first weekend with a total of 12.72 crores. The film faced competition from movies like Rani Mukerji’s Aiyya and the Karan Johar directorial, Student Of The Year. But it still managed to hold its own at the box-office. The film ran for more than a month in cinemas and ended its journey by earning more than 78.56 crores at the domestic box-office.

Tanu Weds Manu (2011)

Director: Aanand L Rai

Cast: R. Madhavan, Kangana Ranaut and Jimmy Shergill

Tanu Weds Manu was a story about Dr Manoj Sharma aka Manu (R Madhavan), who stays in London. He travels back to India along with his family to meet his prospective bride, Tanuja Trivedi aka Tanu (Kangana Ranaut). Initially, he’s a little hesitant. But, upon meeting her, he informs his parents that he is interested and the preparations for their marriage begin. But Tanu informs him that she already loves someone else and is willing to go against her parents’ wish to get married to that boy. When Manu’s parents learn about this, they start looking for another girl for their son, albeit in vain as Manu already has his heart set on her. But, fate had other plans for Tanu and Manu, as they unexpectedly end up meeting again at a common friend’s wedding in Punjab. They strike up a friendship. But, Tanu is still adamant about her desire to marry her love and tells him that she soon plans to elope. Manu finds out that the man, who Tanu loves is Raja (Jimmy Shergill), a local goon. Raja and Tanu tell Manu that her family won’t accept this relationship. Hence, they are planning to run away. After hearing this, Manu convinces Tanu’s parents about her choice and the wedding preparations begin again. During the wedding, Tanu grows more and more close to Manu, which creates mixed feelings in her hearts. Eventually, she decides that she wants to marry Manu instead of Raja. Raja doesn’t take this too well and threatens to kill the two if they get married. Manu tries to reason with him. And after seeing Tanu’s love, Manu’s courage and goodness, Raja realises that Manu is the right match for Tanu. He congratulates the couple, choked with emotion, and asks the band to play out the drums and proceed with the wedding. The film managed to hook you with its sheer atmospherics and raw and rustic emotions. The director created an extremely busy and colourful canvas brimming with characters, who are anything but cardboard cut-outs.

In its first week, the movie minted 18.5 crores. It added another 8 crores in the second week, taking its total of two weeks to 27.25 crores. Although these numbers might not seem huge in comparison to other Bollywood films, the collections were decent, considering it was a small-budget of the film, produced in 15 crores.

The lifetime earnings of the film went over 90 crores. Aanand L Rai went on to make the sequel titled Tanu Weds Manu Returns. Just like the first part, the sequel went on to have an amazing run at the box- office as well. The two films will be remembered as milestones in Kangana’s, Madhavan’s and Jimmy’s careers.

The post 6 sleeper hits of Bollywood from recent years appeared first on Lazy Updates.

[kickstarter-promotion]

Another Amazing Kickstarter (INNER GHOSTS by Paulo Leite —Kickstarter) has been published on http://crowdmonsters.com/new-kickstarters/inner-ghosts-by-paulo-leite-kickstarter/

A NEW KICKSTARTER IS LAUNCHED:

INNER GHOSTS is a scary ride into the heart of a woman who’s about to face a longtime enemy – a demon in the making – for the last time. What brings these two characters together and what they will do to each other is just one side of our story. 

What will happen after that, will blow your mind!

The goal of this Kickstarter campaign is to give us some FINISHING FUNDS that will allow us to finish the film with the best sound possible. Yes, the film is completely shot and edited. All digital effects are finished. We’re close to the end of this amazing journey.

INNER GHOSTS is a horror feature film entirely produced in Lisbon, Portugal.

“If ghosts can function and remember who they were, even though they lack a physical brain, then the brain is not the only place where we store key information about ourselves. The soul is the key.”

HELEN is a neuroscience researcher trying to develop a revolutionary therapy to treat degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. To prove her theories, she needs to run cognitive tests on ghosts: beings who apparently can act and remember without the need of a physical brain – suggesting that unresponsive patients whose brains are too damaged to function can be accessed, somehow, through their living souls.

After the death of her mentor, Helen finds an apartment inhabited by benign ghosts who agree to be tested. The problem is Helen renounced her gift 15 years ago after the loss of her daughter when she made a vow never to contact the other side again. Things start to change when an artist called ELSA begs Helen for some spiritual training hoping to get rid of a demon who has been haunting her for many years.

Helen reluctantly accepts it unaware of the demon’s true goal. Meanwhile, Helen’s tests with the ghosts are a success. The entities offer her the design of a device that can communicate with the dead (and possibly living patients), triggering a set of events that will bring Helen face to face with the demon she has known all along. After so many years, two enemies are about to meet for the last time, showing us that revenge is a dish best served cold. Oh, but there’s so much more happening!

Over the years, we read many books about ghosts and grew frustrated with the lack of concrete answers some of the most reputed psychics seem to offer. That was when we turned to actual reports on scientific experiments made over the past decades that we began to find some answers.

Some of the ideas and results that were reported were so sophisticated that we were stunned no one ever used them in horror films before. There were so many fascinating ideas that we could not fit them all in just one script. But writing a horror story is a labor of love and, through some several drafts, INNER GHOSTS nearly wrote itself over the period of one year.

We’ve always thought horror fiction (in literature or films) to be the sign of superior minds and a healthy society. You don’t believe in us? Take a look at Soviet and Nazi cinema. They did not produce horror films. Why? Because horror stories are subversive by nature.

They show us things about the universe around us and ourselves that the powers that be do not want you to see. They tell us the truth other genres try to hide. Great horror stories leave no one indifferent. INNER GHOSTS is one of those stories. It will show you something about the Universe that is truly original, disturbing and scary.

Because the best projects and the best people are on Kickstarter.

We invested three years of work in this film. For outsiders, it’s just a horror film. But for us, it is a true passion. We love the genre, we love this project and we love our audience. The good news is that the film turned out better than we could ever imagine. After developing, pre-production, production, editing, digital effects, we’ve got something we’re really proud of.

But we also took the film as far as we could with the very limited resources we had. Now it’s time to bring in the BEST crowd in the world to help us: horror fans. There are no people like horror films people!

Every serious horror fan knows how crucial sound is to horror films. From older classics like ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968) and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) to recent films like THE CONJURING (2013), IT FOLLOWS (2014) or THE WITCH (2015) sound is key to a great horror experience.

Unfortunately, a sound mix in a professional studio costs a lot of money. And the same goes to foley services, ADR, music recording and additional sound-related deliverables we must have if we want you to experience INNER GHOSTS as well as you deserve. We worked hard to give you a horror story that will make your jaw drop (really!). We are fully committed to the project’s quality and we humbly ask for your help. INNER GHOSTS is an incredibly ambitious film that needs a sound that will do it justice.

CELIA WILLIAMS is a British actress. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her work has taken her to London and to Edinburgh, to Lisbon and even India. She has performed in a variety of genres including tragedy, drama, mystery, comedy, musicals, opera, radio, television series and feature films. Among many major roles on stage are Jean Cocteau’s THE HUMAN VOICE in London’s West End, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, DON’T WALK ABOUT WITH NOTHING ON, and BE MY BABY, also in London; Paulina in DEATH & THE MAIDEN, Elizabeth I in MARY STUART, Nora in A DOLL’S HOUSE, Stephanie in DUET FOR ONE, Gertrude in HAMLET and Judith Bliss in HAY FEVER.

ELIZABETH BOCHMANN has a degree in Drama and Theatre Arts from Goldsmiths College, University of London, as well as short courses on Technical Voice Production and the Method. She has played major roles in PYGMALION, HAY FEVER, THE MOUSETRAP, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, THE PROVOKED WIFE, THE THREE SISTERS and ROMEO AND JULIET. She has appeared on TV in soap operas and in short films, including THE HUNCHBACK, written and directed by award-winning director Gabriel Abrantes and Ben Rivers. INNER GHOSTS is her first experience working on a feature film. Her passion is, and always has been, acting. “The feeling of being able to bring another character to life is an extraordinary sensation, and the challenge is to embody that person with as much truth and honesty as possible”.

IRIS CAYATTE spent her childhood and teenage years moving from place to place (from the vast Finnish forest to the desert of Alentejo, to Luxembourg and back to Lisbon where she completed the International Baccalaureat at an international school. She is fluent in Portuguese, English and French. At the age of 17, she moved to London where she graduated from The Central School of Speech and Drama in 2008. Since then she has been busy working in major theater productions. On Film she has worked with directors such as Roberto Faenza in SOSTIENE PEREIRA, Fanny Ardant in CADENCES OBSTINÉE and Rob Marshall in NINE.

NORMAN MACCALLUM was born in Scotland but has worked in many countries. In Portugal, before INNER GHOSTS, he was cast as a comedic journalist in one of the country’s biggest advertising campaign ever. Norman has also experience in television, theater and film. His commanding presence and perfect reading of the character gave him a challenging role on INNER GHOSTS.

ANA SOFIA LEITE studied at the Escola Superior de Dança where she won a scholarship that made her move to the Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in The Netherlands, where she graduated in Theater Dance Performing – Modern Dance. She continued her training through several workshops: Forsythe Improvisation, Feldenkrais technique, Release, Contact improvisation, Fly low, and more. Between 2007 and 2008 she worked with Helma Melis, Sjoerd Vreugdenhil, Eddy Becquart and Paul Estabrook (The Netherlands). Back to Portugal, she was part of the Kamusuna Ballet Company. Beyond being a ballerina, Ana also teaches both classical and contemporary dance. She was chosen for INNER GHOSTS because if her ability to express character simply through movement alone.

AMANDA BOOTH was born in Yorkshire, England. She began traveling early in life and her acting career started when she was thirty-seven when she played the role of Lucky in WAITING FOR GODOT. As a stage actor, she has toured Europe as well as performing several times at the Edinburgh Festival. She has worked for radio and television and been a successful voice-over artist for many years. “Acting is the pleasure of absorbing myself in the task of creating a credible character. It’s like being a detective where you work out the profile of your “suspect” and then assimilate it into yourself” She’s always been a fan of horror movies.

PATRÍCIA GODINHO is one of the most promising young actresses in Portugal. She studied at the prestigious Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema and quickly began getting roles outside the school. Currently, she can be seen at OS JOGADORES, a TV series on RTP Radiotelevisão Portuguesa.

JOÃO ALVES (director) is the director of the award-winning short BATS IN THE BELFRY. He is also a highly skilled storyboarder, animator and digital artist. INNER GHOSTS will be his first feature. João is dedicated to his craft and has a unique eye for detail.

PAULO LEITE (writer/producer) has almost 20 years of experience working with TV and Films. INNER GHOSTS will be his first producer credit. Paulo is also a film professor at Lisbon’s Film School and is passionate about the horror genre.

MIGUEL SALES LOPES, A.I.P., is Portugal’s top cinematographer, having over 40 films under his belt. He was the filmmakers’ first choice and was easily won by the story and the project’s ambitions.

JOÃO RAPAZ is the makeup artist heading a team of the best makeup artists Portugal has to offer. Over months of preparation and weeks of shooting, the producers successfully destroyed their personal lives and relationships. But the work they made in INNER GHOSTS made us proud.

ANIBRAIN was the company selected to produce the digital effects we needed. It was selected after months of research in North America, Europe and Asia for the right company. Based in Pune, India, an army of artists led by Jesh Murthy and Mark de Sousa brought the expertise that made all the difference.

We chose our team carefully because we fully understand the risks of not having the best people. Plus, they all love the project and are fully committed to seeing it come to life on your screen.

“We wanted a Kickstarter campaign that was different from all others. We wanted a campaign that would celebrate the awesome film we are making and be relevant to horror fans and filmmakers who are as passionate as we are about the genre.

We tried to pack as much value as possible as early as possible, so our backers don’t have to spend a lot of money to get nice stuff. On the other hand, we have some STUNNING rewards for those SUPER DUPER backers who feel like giving a little more. Got questions? Let us know and we’ll get back to you right away.

Here is our first reward. The A-Class goes for a pledge as low as just $1.

Our B-class reward has something really useful.

The C-Class reward gives you another great tool to help you make your horror film. And how about a thank you tweet for 25K people? Sweet!

The D-Class reward gives you the film INNER GHOSTS in the format of your choice. It also gives you a pretty revolutionary reward: “Marketing and Developing Your Horror Film”. Yes, there are books about film marketing and development. But their approach is usually “one book fits all genres”. Well, this one is specifically about HORROR!

Get a real film credit with our E-Class reward. For just $49 you can become an Associate Producer. That’s pretty awesome. Also, you get a t-shirt that shows your love for the genre… and more!

The H-Class allows you to add amazing stuff to the previous rewards. It comes with four options of add-ons.

      Now we enter the Premium Rewards. The I-Class reward gives you a personal Skype session with director João Alves. Or you can go a bit higher and get the J-Class reward: one of the demonic paintings straight from the film set (only 10 are available though)!

The K-Class is really special: come to Lisbon for a private screening AND be part of our group in every festival and market we attend. We’ve been going to most festivals and markets for years and we know them very well. Learn HOW they work and WHAT they can do for your project. We’ll give you the best tour you could ever imagine! Travel, accommodations and accreditation costs are not included, but we’ll advise you on the best solutions (we’ve been doing it for years). Take a look:

The M-Class reward is pretty special: some gorgeous 16-inches demons you will love! Only 10 are available for now.

And now for something completely different: the N-Class reward! Give us one tweet and we’ll put it in the film. Here’s a suggestion: say “I love you” to someone special right in a horror film! The rule is simple: 140 characters + one image.

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    After the bang, we’ll end our rewards in style! V-Class reward: become an executive producer. Put your company name right after our own. W-Class and X-Class will give you remake or sequel rights – or both if you pledge for the Y-Class reward. Get access to our Intellectual Property and use it in your own film (scroll down for the conditions that apply):

(***) Those REMAKE and SEQUEL rights come with a few conditions:

1 – The REMAKE rights include SCRIPT, TITLE, STORY and CHARACTERS. Starting from the first day AFTER the end of this campaign (providing payment succeeded), you’ll have a period of 10 months to start PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY (SHOOTING). After that, you have 6 months to finish the film.

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Their Finest

Their Finest is British comedy at its finest, even if its mostly British cast is directed by Danish director Lone Scherfig. Set in 1940, Their Finest focuses on the efforts of the British Ministry of Information to make a film about the war that is both authentic and optimistic. They did not want to beat around the bush of how horrible things could be, but wanted to show that their boys could overcome these challenges, thereby creating confidence and support for the war. In the midst of this production process, Scherfig's film often mirrors the effort to be "authentic and optimistic", but not just for the war. Rather, about women's roles in society and their ability to be everything a man can be and possibly even do it better than their male counterparts. Featuring an excellent cast, Their Finest is an terribly funny film that is not afraid to show the carnage of 1940s London during the air raids and the problems faced by women in workforce.

Focused on Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton), Their Finest shows her various problems. Her boyfriend/husband Ellis (Jack Huston) does not respect her and takes it as a personal affront when she gets a job as the writer of female lines for that aforementioned war film. The government pays her less than men because there is no way they could pay her as much as a man. Main writer Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin) admits they need a female writer to write the "slop" aka female dialogue. As with many men of the time period, he clearly does not value what a woman could bring, also denigrating Phyl Moore (Rachael Stirling) for being, what he thinks, a "Ministry spy" who reports on the ongoing writing process. Actor Ambrose Hilliard (Bill Nighy) thinks she is an adoring fan when she first tries to give him notes on a scene. Yet, by the end of the film, everybody recognizes something: she has a unique voice and must be heard. She is a woman, yes, but she is capable of writing a great film just like any man could. Her tireless efforts are what turned their film, "The Nancy Starling" into not just great propaganda, but a film that captured what the war meant. From showing older people lose their grandsons after losing sons in the first war to men trying to be heroes and to women trying to help any way they reasonably can despite the obstacles put in their way, her film is an embodiment of the British spirit at the time and showcases her skills as a screenwriter.

While its feminist themes may be a little on-the-nose, Scherfig nimbly weaves them into this wartime tale with a plot that often follows the same beats as the one that Catlin is writing for the government. As a result, however, her film touches on the same themes. In depicting the struggles of women throughout history and of a wartorn Britain, Their Finest spares no punches. We see men get blown up. People lose loved ones constantly in this film. Yet, together, it is possible to rise above. It is tragic and you can of course grieve their loss, but it does not define you and it can be something to grow and overcome down the line. No matter the obstacles before you, through unity and individual strength, everything can be overcome. In essence, the film is "authentic and optimistic."

To accent these moments of heavy-hitting drama, Scherfig capably inserts plenty of comedy that hits all the right notes. Never forced and always naturally introduced, the film relies upon the charisma of its actors to make its quick jokes really come off, especially Bill Nighy. Turning in a masterful performance as a self-absorbed veteran actor who sees it as his duty to act in the place of the young men who are at war, Nighy is not just a master of the dramatic moments, but makes the comedy really click due to great delivery. While the film does not always meet its aspirations of being a modern screwball comedy, Nighy is one character who really demonstrates a capability in screwball comedy with zippy dialogue that finds comedy in otherwise mundane comments.

Perhaps one of the film's more divisive moments could be its insistence on including elements of production and writing the movie the film is about, which could be seen as too manipulative at trying to get movie lovers interested in the film. Yet, while a bit manipulative, it works entirely. Their Finest is practically porn for movie lovers. Showing the writing process between Catlin and Tom, the on-location sequences at Dunkirk with some great jokes and dramatic moments for Nighy during the shooting, and the studio sequences, Their Finest walks you from conception to release and it is always captivating. The changes the film takes, how it willfully plays with reality to tell a better story, and how it all comes together in the end after heavy editing to pander to various audiences, Their Finest is a modern day take on Hollywood and the production process that really hits all the right notes. I love films about Hollywood and making movies with Their Finest being no exception. In its depiction of the production process, the film often feels like a modern take on The Bad and the Beautiful without the mean producer and melodrama as it shows making a movie from every angle of the filming process.

However, Their Finest is certainly not flawless. No matter how funny it is and how neatly it treads the line between light comedy and serious war drama, the film is hampered by a bad romance and a general lack of character depth. Aside from Arterton's Catrin and Nighy's Ambrose, the rest of the cast is largely quite one-dimensional. Only focusing on these two and their role in the war is certainly part of Scherfig's central thesis in Their Finest as it examines the role of women and the elderly during World War II. Yet, the film misses the boat on somebody like Tom Buckley. Allowed to not go to war because he can contribute more by writing films, the film never really goes in-depth on how he feels about the war and his role as a writer for the government. He largely just floats around, occasionally being a jerk and always being a "nice guy", before he finally is thrust together with Catrin in a romance that does not really work. Compared to the comedy and the drama beforehand, this romantic angle really lacks juice and feels entirely tacked on, in spite of decent banter and chemistry between Arterton and Claflin that is reminiscent of Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday. Though not nearly as good as that film, their banter and bickering before finally falling for one another is very similar, even if it similarly suffers from a lack of believably and the fact that the film did not really need a romantic angle, especially one so undeveloped as this one.

A funny film that features excellent performances from Bill Nighy and Jake Lacy, as well as strong ones from Gemma Arterton, Helen McCrory, and Rachel Stirling, Their Finest is another good film from director Lone Scherfig. Turning a film about a war propaganda film into an examination of women's role in modern society and the world at the time, as well as the role of the elderly during WWII, Their Finest winds up not just being a celebration of cinema's impact on society, but also on those left behind in the war. Left alone at home to face air raids, lose of loved ones, and to find a place in the world after their husbands, sons, and fathers, left to go fight the Nazis, this film tells a story of people often overlooked in cinema. While no masterpiece, Their Finest is an uproariously funny film with well done drama that is another solid entry into Lone Scherfig's filmography.