Showing posts with label Charlie Kaufman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charlie Kaufman. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Review: DreamWorks' "ORION AND THE DARK" Takes on Childhood Fears

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 of 2024 (No. 1956) by Leroy Douresseaux

Orion and the Dark (2024)
Running time:  93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPA – not rated
DIRECTOR:  Sean Charmatz
WRITERS:  Charlie Kaufman (based on the book by Emma Yarlett)
PRODUCER:  Peter McCown
EDITOR:  Kevin Sukho Lee
COMPOSERS:  Kevin Lax and Robert Lydecker

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE and COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring:  (voices): Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser, Colin Hanks, Mia Akemi Brown, Ike Barinholtz, Nat Faxon, Golda Rosheuvel, Natasia Demetriou, Aparna Nancherla, Carla Gugino, Matt Dellapina, Nick Kishiyama, Shino Nakamichi, Werner Herzog, and Angela Bassett

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Orion and the Dark is a unique animated film that is about a child learning to accept fear as a part of life without letting it control him.

Orion and the Dark has an eclectic cast full of surprising characters, but Orion and Dark are this film's winning pair.

Orion and the Dark is a good family film, especially for parents and for children who are of middle grade age and younger.  I find it to be too deep in its feelies, but it will tug on the heartstrings of its intended audience.

Orion and the Dark is a 2024 animated fantasy-adventure and comedy-drama film directed by Sean Charmatz and produced by DreamWorks Animation.  The film is animated by French production company, Mikros Animation, and is also a “Netflix Original” that began streaming on Netflix February 2, 2024.

Orion and the Dark is based on the 2015 children's book, Orion and the Dark, from author Emma Yarlett.  Orion and the Dark the movie focuses on a boy whose active imagination causes him to be scared of everything and on the entity that takes him on an incredible journey.

Orion and the Dark introduces 11-year-old Orion Mendelson (Jacob Tremblay).  He is a severely anxious child with a long list of irrational fears.  He is a schoolboy with a fear of speaking in front of class, being bullied, ending up in a toilet, and a fear of speaking to Sally (Shino Nakamichi), the girl of his dreams, of course.  Outside of school, he also has a bunch of fears, including the fear of getting eaten by a shark, but at home its is worse.

Orion is afraid of the night, especially of the dark and of all the dark places in his bedroom.  Orion's father (Matt Dellapina) and mother (Carla Gugino) have a difficult time getting him to bed.  One night a giant, smiling creature slithers into his room.  He introduces himself as “Dark,” the embodiment of Orion's worst fear, the dark.  Tired of hearing Orion's constant complaints about him (the dark), Dark takes the 11-year-old on an adventure to help him overcome his fears and to appreciate the benefits of nighttime and of the dark.  But there are plenty of dangers along the way, including Dark's rival, “Light” (Ike Barinholtz), and Orion's own deep-seated fears.

Orion and the Dark is a beautifully animated film with simple, but evocative character and concept design.  It took me awhile to remember that Orion and the Dark reminds me of the 2014 DreamWorks Animation film, Mr. Peabody & Sherman.  Both films share a visual aesthetic, possibly because artist and designer, Timothy Lamb, served as the production designer on the two films.  Both films also convey their fantastical settings and surreal environments via eye-appealing art and design that have a children's picture book quality.  

I do have one gripe about Orion and the Dark.  The film does have a heart – a center – which is that both Orion and Dark have to learn something about themselves and to overcome self-doubt.  The film, however, also has sentiment, and it is, at times, exceedingly sentimental, which can be both heartwarming and saccharine.  Orion and the Dark is sometimes too much in its emotions and feelies, so much so that by the end, I thought the film was trying to give me an insulin attack.  Orion and the Dark pounds on its parent-child themes and dynamics with schmaltzy consistency.

I want to avoid spoilers.  Still, I will say that Orion and the Dark does have a time-travel subplot courtesy of screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind), who is known for creating elaborate, twisty, meta screenplays.  Orion and the Dark has several interesting supporting characters, especially Dark's fellow “Night Entities,” so many so that I could see it becoming an animated television series.  Orion and the Dark is unique and quite well made, and many may find its heartwarming insistence just what we need in these dark times.

7 of 10
B+
★★★½ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, February 20, 2024


The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Saturday, January 2, 2016

San Diego Film Critics Name "Mad Max: Fury Road" Best Picture of 2015

The members of the San Diego Film Critics Society write and/or broadcast for a San Diego County based outlet. The society’s mission statement is “to provide diverse critical opinion about movies, advance film education and awareness, and recognize excellence in cinema.”

2015 San Diego Film Critics Award winners were announced December 14, 2015.

San Diego Film Critics Society Top Films of 2015 awards:

Best Picture: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Runner Up: EX MACHINA

Best Director: George Miller, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Runner Up: Lenny Abrahamson, ROOM

Best Actor, Male: Leonardo DiCaprio, THE REVENANT
Runner Up: Jason Segel, THE END OF THE TOUR

Best Actor, Female: Brie Larson, ROOM
Runner Up: Charlize Theron, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Best Supporting Actor, Male: Tom Noonan, ANOMALISA
Runner Up: Oscar Isaac, EX MACHINA

Best Supporting Actor, Female: Jennifer Jason Leigh, THE HATEFUL EIGHT
Runner Up: Kristen Stewart, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

Best Original Screenplay: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
Runner Up: Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, MISTRESS AMERICA

Best Adapted Screenplay: Emma Donoghue, ROOM
Runner Up: Donald Margulies, THE END OF THE TOUR

Best Documentary: CARTEL LAND
Runner Up: AMY

Best Animated Film: ANOMALISA
Runner Up: INSIDE OUT

Best Foreign Language Film: TAXI (Iran)
Runner Up: WHITE GOD (Hungary)

Best Editing: Margaret Sixel, Jason Ballantine MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Runner Up: Joe Walker, SICARIO

Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, SICARIO
Runner Up: Emmanuel Lubezki, THE REVENANT

Best Production Design: Francois Seguin, BROOKLYN
Runner Up: Colin Gibson, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Best Sound Design: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Runner Up: LOVE & MERCY

Best Visual Effects: THE WALK
Runner Up: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Best Use Of Music In A Film: THE HATEFUL EIGHT
Runner Up: LOVE & MERCY

Breakthrough Artist: Jacob Tremblay, ROOM
Runner Up: Alicia Vikander, THE DANISH GIRL, EX MACHINA

Best Ensemble: WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
Runner Up: THE HATEFUL EIGHT

Body of Work: Alicia Vikander, THE DANISH GIRL, EX MACHINA, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., BURNT

Kyle Counts: Ralph DeLauro
[Kyle Counts was a San Diego film critic, and the award named for him is given to a person for contributions made to film in San Diego.]

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Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from December 27th to 31st, 2015 - Update #17

Support Leroy on Patreon.

NEWS:

From VillageVoice:  Here is a piece on the late Bill Gunn, whose vampire film, "Ganja and Hess," was the subject of a Spike Lee remake, "Da Sweet Blood of Jesus."

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From YahooNews:  Leo DiCaprio said no to George Lucas when offered the role of Anakin Skywalker.

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From TheWrap:  "Making a Murder" docuseries has spawned a WhiteHouse.org petition.

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From YahooSports:  Kobe wishes he could tell his younger self to "understand compassion."

From YahooSports:  Michael Jordan records tribute to Kobe Bryant.

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From YahooNews:  No charges in the Tamir Rice killing.  Of course not... No justice, no peace.

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From TheWrap:  The "Halloween" franchise is looking for a new home after Dimension lets its rights to the property expire.

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From TheWrap:  Katherine Waterston is the female lead in Ridley Scott's "Alien: Covenant," the follow-up to "Prometheus."  Covenant is apparently the start of a new Alien trilogy and will connect Prometheus to original Alien (1979) film.

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From TheWrap:  Chris Nolan's next film is "Dunkirk," a World War II film.

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From TruthVoice:  Quentin Tarantino says that he utterly rejects that idea that only some cops are bad apples.

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From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the Christmas weekend box office (12/25 to 12/27/2015) is "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" with an estimated take of $153.5 million.  That is the largest second weekend at the box office in history.  Meanwhile the film has crossed the $1 billion mark in worldwide ticket sales in just 12 days.

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From Deadline:  "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has repeated as weekend box office champion, according to early estimates.

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From BleedingCool:  Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson praise 70mm in this interview.

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From CinemaBlend:  Before Andrew Lincoln became Rick Grimes on "The Walking Dead," Thomas Jane was the choice.


COMICS - Films and Books:

From BleedingCool:  Mads Mikkelsen is the main villain in Dr. Strange, apparently.

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Variety:  First look at Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stange.


REVIEWS:

From the VillageVoice:  A review of Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson's "Anomalisa."


OBITS:

From TheWrap:  Lemmy Kilmister, the front man for the rock band, Motorhead, died at the age of 70 on Monday, December 28, 2015.  Once upon a time, I was a Motorhead fan.

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From TheWrap:  Meadowlark Lemon, the legendary member of the Harlem Globetrotters, died Sunday, December 27, 2015 at the age of 83.  Known as "the Clown Prince of Basketball," Lemon joined the team in 1954 and left in 1978 after a contract dispute.  Negromancer sends condolences to Lemon's family.  R.I.P.

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From IndieWire:  Haskell Wexler, the legendary cinematographer, died this morning, Sunday, December 27, 2015.  He was 93.  Wexler won two Oscar for his work ("Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and "Bound for Glory").  Negromancer sends condolences to his family.  R.I.P.



Saturday, December 26, 2015

Paramount Pictures Announces a Charlie Kaufman Retrospective

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND LANDMARK THEATRES PRESENT A CHARLIE KAUFMAN RETROSPECTIVE JANUARY 4 – 7, 2016 IN NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO AND SAN FRANCISCO

THE EXCLUSIVE EVENT WILL FEATURE FIVE OF KAUFMAN’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED FILMS, INCLUDING HIS LATEST WORK “ANOMALISA” WITH Q&As IN NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES

HOLLYWOOD, CA – Paramount Pictures and Landmark Theatres present a Charlie Kaufman Retrospective featuring the work of the Academy Award®-winning filmmaker exclusively at Landmark Theatres in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. The four-day retrospective will run January 4 – 7, 2016 with special screenings of five of Kaufman’s most critically acclaimed films: “BEING JOHN MALKOVICH,” “ADAPTATION,” “ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND,” “SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK,” and his latest film with co-director Duke Johnson, the Golden Globe-nominated stop-motion animated feature “ANOMALISA.”

In New York and Los Angeles, showings of “ANOMALISA” will include Q&As with the movie’s filmmakers and voice talent. On Monday, January 4 in Los Angeles, the 7:30 p.m. showing of “ANOMALISA” at the Landmark Theatre will feature a Q&A with Kaufman, Johnson and producer Rosa Tran. On Thursday, January 7 in New York, the 7:30 p.m. showing of “ANOMALISA” at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s voice actor Tom Noonan.

The Charlie Kaufman Retrospective schedule for all participating Landmark Theatre locations is as follows:

“BEING JOHN MALKOVICH”
Monday, January 4 | 1:00 p.m.

Nominated for three Academy Awards®, including for Best Screenplay for Kaufman, “BEING JOHN MALKOVICH” follows a puppeteer who discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of the movie star John Malkovich. Directed by Spike Jonze, written by Charlie Kaufman, and produced by Steve Golin, Vincent Landay, Sandy Stern and Michael Stipe. Starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz and Catherine Keener.

“ADAPTATION”
Tuesday, January 5 | 1:00 p.m.

“ADAPTATION” is the story of a lovelorn screenwriter who becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean for the screen. The film earned Kaufman his second Academy Award® nomination for Best Screenplay, two acting nominations, and a win for Chris Cooper for Best Supporting Actor. Directed by Spike Jonze, written by Susan Orlean, Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman, and produced by Jonathan Demme, Vincent Landay and Edward Saxon. Starring Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper.

“ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND”
Wednesday, January 6 | 1:00 p.m.

Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay, “ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND” follows a couple that undergoes a procedure to have each other erased from their memories when their relationship turns sour. It is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with. Starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, who earned an Academy Award® nomination for her performance, and Tom Wilkinson. Directed by Michel Gondry, written by Charlie Kaufman, and produced by Anthony Bregman and Steve Golin.

“SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK”
Thursday, January 7 | 1:00 p.m.

Kaufman’s directorial debut, “SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK,” for which he also wrote the screenplay, tells the story of a theatre director struggling with his work and the women in his life as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play. Nominated for the Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival and winner of the Best First Film Award and the Robert Altman Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. Produced by Anthony Bregman, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman and Sidney Kimmel. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton and Michelle Williams.

“ANOMALISA”
Monday, January 4 in Los Angeles | Check regular listings for showtimes
Thursday, January 7 in New York | Check regular listings for showtimes

Paramount Pictures’ “ANOMALISA” is the story of Michael Stone, husband, father and respected author of “How May I Help You Help Them?,” a man crippled by the mundanity of his life. On a business trip to Cincinnati, where he’s scheduled to speak at a convention of customer service professionals, he checks into the Fregoli Hotel. There, he is amazed to discover a possible escape from his desperation in the form of an unassuming Akron baked goods sales rep, Lisa, who may or may not be the love of his life. A beautifully tender and absurdly humorous dreamscape, from the brilliant minds of Charlie Kaufman (“SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK”) and Duke Johnson (“Community” episode, Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas), this stop-motion animation wonder features the vocal cast of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan and David Thewlis and a stirring strings-based score by Carter Burwell.  The darkly comedic and surreal stop-motion journey of a man’s long night of the soul, “ANOMALISA” confirms Charlie Kaufman’s place amongst the most important of American filmmakers, and announces Duke Johnson as a major creative force.

Produced by Rosa Tran, Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman and Dino Stamatopoulos. Written by Charlie Kaufman. Directed by Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson. “ANOMALISA” opens in theatres in New York and Los Angeles on December 30, 2015 and everywhere January 2016.

The Charlie Kaufman Retrospective will take place at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in New York, The Landmark in Los Angeles, the Century Centre Cinema in Chicago, and the Embarcadero Center Cinema in San Francisco.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://tickets.landmarktheatres.com or a participating Landmark Theatres box office.


About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Television, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

About Landmark Theatres
Landmark Theatres, the nation's largest theater chain dedicated to exhibiting and marketing independent film, has 270 screens, 57 theatres in 27 markets across the country and is a recognized leader in the industry consistently providing diverse and entertaining films in a sophisticated adult-oriented atmosphere with unsurpassed customer service.  Landmark Theatres is part of the Wagner/Cuban companies, a vertically-integrated group of media properties co-owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban that also includes Magnolia Pictures, Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2929 Productions, AXS TV and HDNet Movies.

For more information, visit www.landmarktheatres.com

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Monday, December 7, 2015

Boston Film Critics Name "Spotlight" Best Picture of 2015

The Boston Society of Film Critics (BSFC) was formed in 1981.  The group claims that its mission is to make “Boston's unique critical perspective heard on a national and international level by awarding commendations to the best of the year's films and filmmakers and local film theaters and film societies that offer outstanding film programming.”  One of the society’s members, Wesley Morris, won 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

2015 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Winners:

Best Picture  -  Spotlight

Best Actor – (tie)
Paul Dano for Love & Mercy
Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

Best Actress -  Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years

Best Supporting Actor - Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies

Best Supporting Actress - Kristen Stewart for Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Director - Todd Haynes for Carol

Best Screenplay - Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer for Spotlight

Best Cinematography - Edward Lachman for Carol

Best Documentary - Amy

Best Foreign-Language Film  (awarded in memory of Jay Carr)The Look of Silence (Denmark)

Best Animated Film -  (tie) Anomalisa and Inside Out

Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer) -  Margaret Sixel for Mad Max: Fury Road

Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy) -  Marielle Heller for The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Best Ensemble CastSpotlight

Best Use of Music in a FilmLove & Mercy

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Los Angeles Film Critics Name "Spotlight" Best Picture of 2015

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is a professional organization of Los Angeles-based, professional film critics working in the Los Angeles print and electronic media.  Since 1975, LAFCA members vote on the year's Achievement Awards each December, honoring screen excellence on both sides of the camera.

41st Annual (2015) Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards:

Picture: Spotlight
Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road.

Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Todd Haynes, Carol.

Actor: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Runner-up: Géza Röhrig, Son of Saul.

Actress: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn.

Supporting actor: Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Runner-up: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies.

Supporting actress: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Runner-up: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria.

Screenplay: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa.

Animation: Anomalisa
Runner-up: Inside Out.

Foreign-language film: Son of Saul (Hungary)
Runner-up: The Tribe (Ukraine)

Documentary/nonfiction film: Amy
Runner-up: The Look of Silence.

New Generation: Ryan Coogler, Creed.

Film editing: Hank Corwin, The Big Short
Runner-up: Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road.

Cinematography: John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Edward Lachman, Carol.

Production design: Colin Gibson, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Judy Becker, Carol.

Music score: Carter Burwell, Anomalisa and Carol
Runner-up: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight.

Special citation: David Shepard, for his invaluable work in film preservation, particularly of films from the silent era.

Lifetime achievement: Anne V. Coates (British film editor who edited “Lawrence of Arabia” and is a recipient of five Oscar nominations.)

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Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Debut Trailer for "Anomalisa" Arrives


ANOMALISA

Watch and share the trailer: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/embed/anomalisa/trailer/index.html

ANOMALISA will open in limited release December 30, 2015

http://www.anomalisa.com/Anomalisa.html
https://twitter.com/anomalisamovie
https://www.facebook.com/Anomalisa/

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Saturday, October 24, 2015

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 18th to 24th, 2015 - Update #16

Support Leroy on Patreon.

NEWS:

From HitFix:  The movies Spielberg wishes he'd made.

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From ChicagoMagazine: Spike Lee: Rahm Emanuel tried to bully me.

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From Deadline:  George Clooney set to direct a script by Joel and Ethan Coen.

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From Variety:  R.J. Cyler of "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" is the "Blue Ranger" in the Lionsgate reboot.

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From GoldDerby:  An article about best animated feature dark horse, Anomalisa.

From Variety:  Fox is apparently re-imagining "Rocky Horror Picture Show" as a TV special.  Laverne Cox of "Orange in the New Black" has been cast as "Frank-N-Furter."

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From Variety:  Chris Rock may host the 88th Oscar ceremony.

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From CinemaBlend:  Fox may have found a director for its future box office disappointment, Gambit, an X-Men film starring Channing Tatum.  That might be Doug Liman.

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From TheWrap:  Oscar and multiple-Grammy winner Adele teases new music? First album in five years supposed to hit in November

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From BoxOfficeMojo:  "Goosebumps" wins the 10/16 to 10/18/2015 weekend box office with an estimated take of $23.5 million.


COMICS: Titles and Films:

From CinemaBlend:  Marvel's next wide idea.

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From TheWrap:  David Goyer is developing a TV show about Superman's home planet, Krypton, for the Syfy Channel.

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From Empire:  "Ant-Man" director, Peyton Reed, is in negotiations to return for the 2018 film, "Ant-man and the Wasp."

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From CinemaBlend:  "Ant-Man" is a big hit in China.


STAR WARS:

From YahooNews:  112 views in 24 hours.

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From CinemaBlend:  The final trailer is here.


TRAILERS and PREVIEWS:

From YouTube:  See the new trailer for David O. Russell's "Joy" starring Jennifer Lawrence.





Thursday, December 9, 2010

Review: "Being John Malkovich" is Wildly Original (Happy B'day, John Malkovich)


TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Being John Malkovich (1999)
Running time: 112 minutes (1 hour, 52 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and sexuality
DIRECTOR: Spike Jonze
WRITER: Charlie Kaufman
PRODUCERS: Steve Golin, Vincent Landay, Sandy Stern, and Michael Stipe
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lance Acord
EDITOR: Eric Zumbrunnen
COMPOSER: Carter Burwell
Academy Award nominee

FANTASY/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Ned Bellamy, Catherine Keener, Reggie Hayes, Orson Bean, and John Malkovich

We’ve all read the reviews that describe particular movies as inventive, witty, original, unique, or some other hyperbole used to describe cinematic “brilliance.” Whether many of those movies deserved such praise is debatable, but Being John Malkovich is the real deal – original and stunningly, painfully unique. It’s not perfect, but it is so mind-numbingly brilliant: I’m not sure if I even know how to watch it again. I’m afraid to think what this film would be like if it were perfect.

Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is a talented puppeteer with a failed career and an (seemingly) unhappy marriage to a frumpy animal lover (Cameron Diaz). When finances finally get too tight, Craig gets a job sorting files for the peculiar Dr. Lester (Orson Bean). He becomes hopelessly infatuated with Maxine (Catherine Keener), a sharp-tongued woman who works on the same floor. On one particular day of drudgery, Craig accidentally discovers a door to a portal that leads literally into the head of John Malkovich (John Malkovich). After Craig shares the secret with his wife Lottie, she can’t get enough of being John Malkovich, which, of course, leads to a maze of confusion and conflicting desires that both destroys and redefines relationships and creates new pairings.

Directed by award-winning and acclaimed music video director Spike Jonze, Malkovich defies an accurate description. It is alternately a fantasy, a comedy, a romance, and a drama; it is a story that both crosses and breaks genres. The film derives its brilliance from writer Charlie Kaufman; the script is a masterwork and one of the finest original screenplays of the last few decades. That Jonze could make a coherent and entertaining film of a story that it so philosophical, surrealistic, avant garde, and abstract foretells that the creativity seen in his music videos, he will carry over to film – lucky, lucky us.

The performances are all very good; everyone seemed more than up to the task of translating Kaufman’s eccentricity and brilliance to drama. Cusack once again affirms both his coolness and his talent. It’s pointless to praise Malkovich, and Ms. Keener only showed a more attentive audience the skill she’d already showed in films with smaller audiences. If no one will, I will toot Ms. Diaz’s talent. Her beauty merely accentuates her talent. She buried herself in this role as the frumpy lovelorn Lottie; she can do the method thing, so where’s the props?

Brilliant, smashing, exhilarating, ingenious, hilarious, hysterical, and wildly original – all have been said before, but these praises were made whole with Being John Malkovich. The film does seem to run out of energy late in the story, and the sci-fi/fantasy element seems to go overboard. Still, it is a film that has to be seen, if for no other reason than because Being John Malkovich is a fresh look at individuals and their need for and of other people. Run see this thing.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2000 Academy Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Catherine Keener), “Best Director” (Spike Jonze), and “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Charlie Kaufman)

2000 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Screenplay – Original” (Charlie Kaufman); 2 nominations: “Best Editing” (Eric Zumbrunnen) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Cameron Diaz)

2000 Golden Globes: 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical,” “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Cameron Diaz), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Catherine Keener), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Charlie Kaufman)

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Friday, July 30, 2010

Review: "Eternal Sunshine" is a Spotless Delight

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 196 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Running time: 108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, some drug and sexual content
DIRECTOR: Michael Gondry
WRITERS: Charlie Kaufman; based upon a story by Charlie Kaufman, Michael Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth
PRODUCERS: Anthony Bregman and Steve Golin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ellen Kuras
EDITOR: Valdìs Óskarsdóttir
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/ROMANCE/SCI-FI with elements of comedy

Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, and Tom Wilkinson

Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) has just had a really bad break up with his girlfriend, Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), but there is still more bad news. Clementine has undergone a psychiatrist’s (Tom Wilkinson) experimental procedure in which all her memories of Joel were removed. Joel is frustrated by the fact that he still loves Clementine deeply, although she often irritates him greatly, so he undergoes the same procedure to erase his memories of her. The film then moves into Joel’s mind as the setting, and the procedure works backwards in time, removing the most recent memories first. So we see a memory, watch as it fades or is destroyed, and Joel’s mind moves backwards to the next oldest memory before that one is likewise scragged. Midway through the process, Joel decides realizes how much he still loves Clementine and doesn’t want to lose his memories of her. He begins to move parts of his time with her into places of his memory where she doesn’t belong, like his childhood. That only alters his other memories, and as his mind travels farther back in time, he wonders if he’ll retain any memories of Clementine when he awakens in the morning and the procedure has finished.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is another brilliant screenplay from the mind of Charlie Kaufman, author of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. As usual, his scripts are directed by excellent filmmakers; in this instance, the director is Michael Gondry, known for his work directing music videos for Björk and The Chemical Brothers. Gondry expertly directs the inspired madness of Kaufman’s script. The film, for all its surreal moments and shifts both in “real time” and dream time,” makes sense. Gondry also weaves out of this a poignant and genuinely heartfelt romantic drama.

The performances in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind range from great to pretty good. This is Jim Carrey’s best work and one of the few times he completely looses the clown and turns his creative energy and his longing for acceptance into a fierce, dramatic performance worthy of standing with the best “serious” actors. Kate Winslet is good…of course, and she does a better working class or ordinary American woman than most American actresses her age. The supporting roles are great with Kirsten Dunst making the most of a small part, but Tom Wilkinson is either a bit too aloof or too distant, or maybe the script didn’t give him enough.

At times, the film seems like a nightmare from the mind of the late, great sci-fi author and writer of speculative and mind-bending fiction, Philip K. Dick. In fact, Eternal Sunshine has a better PKD flavor than the films allegedly adapted from Dick’s books and short fiction. All things aside, this is excellent cinema. The time shifts and surrealism in Charlie Kaufman’s screenplays are practical and move the narrative similar to the way Quentin Tarantino does with his films. As of the closing days of September 2004, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the best film of the year.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2005 Academy Awards: 1 win “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Charlie Kaufman-screenplay/story, Michel Gondry-story, and Pierre Bismuth-story); 1 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Kate Winslet)

2005 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Editing” (Valdís Óskarsdóttir) and “Best Screenplay – Original” (Charlie Kaufman); 4 nominations: “Best Film” (Steve Golin and Anthony Bregman), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Jim Carrey), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Kate Winslet), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Michel Gondry)

2005 Golden Globes: 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy,” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Jim Carrey), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Kate Winslet), “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Charlie Kaufman)

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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Review: "Adaptation" is a Film That Boggles the Mind

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 107 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Adaptation (2002)
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, sexuality, some drug use and violent images
DIRECTOR: Spike Jonze
WRITERS: Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman (based upon the novel by Susan Orlean)
PRODUCERS: Jonathan Demme, Vincent Landay, and Edward Saxon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lance Acord (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Eric Zumbrunnen
COMPOSER: Carter Burwell

COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Cara Seymour, Tilda Swinton, Ron Livingston, Brian Cox, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jim Beaver, Judy Greer, and Litefoot

Charlie Kaufman, a real, living, breathing person, is a well-known screenwriter. You absolutely must see the film made from his most famous script, Being John Malkovich. A few years ago, he struggled with writing a script adaptation of Susan Orlean’s best-selling novel, The Orchid Thief. He met with Ms. Orlean, and explained his troubles. They apparently came to an agreement that Kaufman would write a screenplay that would be in part about him wrestling with the adaptation of the novel and in part about the story in the book.  That screenplay became the movie, Adaptation.

So here’s the plot of the film Adaptation: Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is struggling in an attempt to write a screenplay based upon Susan Orlean’s (Meryl Streep) best-selling non-fiction book, The Orchid Thief. His twin brother Donald (Cage, again) moves in with Charlie, and Donald decides to write his own original script. With wild and joyful abandon, Donald takes a seminar and leaps into writing a typical Hollywood thriller about a serial killer, while The Orchid Thief slowly drives Charlie to madness.

Meanwhile, in a subplot, the film carries on and we meet Susan who goes to Florida to write an article for the New Yorker about an orchid thief named John Laroche (Chris Cooper), who’s been recently arresting for poaching plants on a federal reserve. Ms. Orlean is simultaneously fascinated with and repulsed by Laroche, a divorced and lonely man who lost his mother and uncle in an auto accident for which he blames himself.

In the other major subplot: as the film goes on, Donald convinces Charlie that Susan is hiding something, so they track her to Florida to learn the dark secret she shares with Laroche. It mostly ends tragically in a typically Hollywood fashion.

The amazing thing about this film is that it is so good, yet it seems to have almost nothing to do with the director, Spike Jonze, who collaborated with Kaufman on Being John Malkovich. But never doubt Jonze’s prodigious talents, especially if you’ve seen even one of his visionary music videos for acts like Beck or Fatboy Slim. Here he’s almost invisible as he navigates the eccentricities, shifting points of view, and multiple story threads that is Kaufman’s sexy script.

Of course, Kaufman turns out another outstanding script. The film credits list the screenwriters as Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman, but Charlie really doesn’t have a twin brother named Donald. Charlie’s attempt was to write a script about script writing, but he also covered such fertile territory as the necessity of change, human isolation and loneliness, writer’s bloc, the treacherous path that is adapting other people’s work, professional jealousy, sibling relationships, guilt, loss, etc. It’s all wonderfully done, but the part of his story that’s supposed to be the typical Hollywood film adaptation is kinda dull and uninteresting. That’s the joke. For the film’s closing segment, Charlie was able to turn Ms. Orlean’s novel into a conventional thriller, and he shows that that can be simultaneously intriguing and dull. The conventional can often seem exciting, but so often it ends in predictability. Thus, Kaufman does get to make his point about cookie cutter film shockers, but the irony is that even his satire of formula writing and filmmaking seems listless. Am I missing the point? I can go on all day, but the best way to tell you about this film would be to share it with you visually, like telepathy, sending sensory images of Adaptation into your mind. That ain’t gonna happen, and I can almost forgive the filmmakers for an ending that was too smart for its own good.

The performances are excellent, and two of them are spectacular. Cage’s Kaufman is his most inspired, witty, and imaginative performance in almost a decade. It the kind of work where he digs deep into himself to find the character the way he did in Leaving Las Vegas, for which he won an Academy Award. His performance as Charlie Kaufman earned his an Academy Award nomination. The second excellent performance was Chris Cooper’s turn as the flower thief Laroche. The lead in two John Sayles films, Matewan and Lone Star, Cooper won an Oscar for his role as Laroche. He earned it with his ability to show that the character was not only stunningly eccentric, but was also mostly just another guy bummed out by life who is doing his best to roll with the punches. It’s enough to inspire even the most blue of us.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Chris Cooper); 3 nominations: “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Nicolas Cage), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Meryl Streep), “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Charlie Kaufman Donald Kaufman)


2003 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Charlie Kaufman, Donald Kaufman); 3 nominations “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Nicolas Cage); “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Chris Cooper), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Meryl Streep)


2003 Golden Globes: 2 wins: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Chris Cooper) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Meryl Streep); 4 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Spike Jonze), “Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Nicolas Cage), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Charlie Kaufman, Donald Kaufman)

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