Showing posts with label Rian Johnson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rian Johnson. Show all posts
Monday, January 23, 2017
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from December 25th to 31st, 2016 - Update #40
Support Leroy on Patreon.
TELEVISION - From Reason: Anthony Bourdain: The rise of Authoritarianism across the world should concern everyone.
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TELEVISION - From BleedingCool: HBO is going to debut the documentary about Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds on January 7th, 2016 at 8 PM ET/PT. It is entitled "Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds."
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TELEVISION - From TVLine: Leslie Jordan says that NBC is ordering 10 episodes of the Emmy-winning television series, "Will & Grace." Jordan won an Emmy for playing recurring character, "Beverly Leslie."
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SPORTS - From YahooSports: Corporate media talking heads swore that NFL QB Colin Kaepernick was hated by his San Francisco 49er teammates because of his "Pledge of Allegiance" protests. Those same teammates just gave him the team's highest honor.
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POLITICS - From AlterNet: Carrie Fisher hated President "elect" Donald Trump and was not shy about it.
----------
POLITICS - From AlterNet: Conservative gun-nut columnist, M.D. Harmon, let a child play with his gun and the gun went off while junior was fondling it, killing Harmon.
----------
OSCARS - From TheGuardianUK: There is some truth to what Lee Daniels says about #OscarsSoWhite.
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MUSIC - From Esquire: Music legend David Crosby talks about Trump and Kanye.
----------
MOVIES - From BleedingCool: "Kong: Skull Island" is connected to the Vietnam War. The film's director thought that idea wouldn't go over well...
----------
MUSIC - From YahooMusic: Run-DMC sues Wal-Mart and Amazon for 50 million.
----------
CELEBRITY - From YahooSports: Tennis superstar Serena Williams is engaged to marry Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian.
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COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap: Ryan Reynolds apparently shot as scene as his character Deadpool for next year's X-Men/Wolverine movie, "Logan."
From THR: Ryan Reynolds would like for there to be a Deadpool/Wolverine movie.
----------
CARRIE FISHER:
OBIT - From People: Carrie Fisher has died at the age of 60, Tuesday, December 27, 2016. She was best known as "Princess Leia" in the "Star Wars" films. I'm numb.
From THR: The actress Debbie Reynolds has died at the age of 84, Wednesday, December 28, 2016. Reynolds was the mother of actress Carrie Fisher who died at the age of 60, Tuesday, Dec. 27th, 2016. A Hollywood legend, Reynolds appeared in such classic Hollywood musicals as "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."
From YahooNews: Todd Fisher talks about his mother, Debbie Reynolds, final moments.
From YahooNews: Carrie Fisher could make us laugh through the pain.
From BleedingCool: The comic book community reacts to the death of Carrie Fisher.
----------
OBIT - From People: The author Richard Adams has died at the age of 96, Saturday, December 24, 2016. Adams is best known as the author of the beloved classic children's novel, "Watership Down," first published in 1972.
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OBIT - From YahooStyle: The actor and comedian, Ricky Harris, has died at the age of 54, Monday, December 26, 2016. He was best known for his recurring roles on "Moesha" and "Everybody Hates Chris."
----------
TELEVISION - From TheGuardianUK: A&E has cancelled "Generation KKK," its eight-part doc about the hate group, after learning that producers paid nominal fees to members of the Ku Klux Klan to get them to participate.
----------
STAR WARS - From BleedingCool: Rian Johnson, who is directing Star Wars Episode 8, defends the much-maligned Star Wars prequel films.
----------
ECO - From BBCNews: Save the cheetah!
---------
BOX OFFICE - From Variety: "Rogue One" is expected to win the four-day Christmas weekend, 12/23 to 12/26/2016, with an estimated take of $96.1 million.
----------
GEORGE MICHAEL:
OBIT - From YahooMusic: British singer, songwriter, producer, and pop superstar, George Michael, has died at the age of 53, Sunday, December 25, 2016.
From YahooCelebrity: George Michael had a difficult life of depression, drugs, and arrests.
From YahooMusic: George Michael's best musical moments.
From YahooCelebrity: Celebs react to Michael's death.
From YahooMusic: George Michael - a life in photos.
From YahooMusic: The evolution of the genius of George Michael.
From YahooMusic: What George Michael had to say about Prince one time.
From RSN: The frank and uncompromising LGBT icon, George Michael.
From YahooMusic: George Michael reportedly left behind an estate worth $130 million U.S.
-------------------------------------
BOX OFFICE - From TheWrap: Estimates have "Rogue One" on top of the Christmas weekend box office.
From Patreon: My "Rogue One" review.
----------
CHRISTMAS: From YouTube: Merry Christmas!!! and Happy Holidays!!! -- A*O*A. offers "Afraid of Americans," an electro/industrial remake of David Bowie's "I'm Afraid of Americans," a single from his 1997 album, "Earthlings." [via Warren Ellis' "Orbital Operations"] Visit them here.
----------
BLACK LIVES MATTER - From ABC: There is growing backlash over the arrest of a African-American mother in Fort Worth, Texas who called the police after her son was physically abused by a white neighbor.
----------
COMICS - From BleedingCool: DC Comics is apparently planning a summer comic book event that is centered on Batman.
TRAILERS:
From YouTube: An extended look at "Riverdale," the CW's re-imagining of the world of Archie Comics. It debuts January 26th, 2017.
From YouTube: First official trailer for Ridley Scott's "Alien: Covenant," which is due May 19, 2017.
From YouTube: First trailer for "Despicable Me 3," due in theaters Summer 2017.
From YouTube: First official teaser trailer for the long-awaited "The Lost City of Z."
From YouTube: Official trailer for "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter," due at the end of January 2017. [I think they will reboot or restart the series after this film, just going on what I read about two years ago.]
TELEVISION - From Reason: Anthony Bourdain: The rise of Authoritarianism across the world should concern everyone.
----------
TELEVISION - From BleedingCool: HBO is going to debut the documentary about Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds on January 7th, 2016 at 8 PM ET/PT. It is entitled "Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds."
----------
TELEVISION - From TVLine: Leslie Jordan says that NBC is ordering 10 episodes of the Emmy-winning television series, "Will & Grace." Jordan won an Emmy for playing recurring character, "Beverly Leslie."
----------
SPORTS - From YahooSports: Corporate media talking heads swore that NFL QB Colin Kaepernick was hated by his San Francisco 49er teammates because of his "Pledge of Allegiance" protests. Those same teammates just gave him the team's highest honor.
----------
POLITICS - From AlterNet: Carrie Fisher hated President "elect" Donald Trump and was not shy about it.
----------
POLITICS - From AlterNet: Conservative gun-nut columnist, M.D. Harmon, let a child play with his gun and the gun went off while junior was fondling it, killing Harmon.
----------
OSCARS - From TheGuardianUK: There is some truth to what Lee Daniels says about #OscarsSoWhite.
----------
MUSIC - From Esquire: Music legend David Crosby talks about Trump and Kanye.
----------
MOVIES - From BleedingCool: "Kong: Skull Island" is connected to the Vietnam War. The film's director thought that idea wouldn't go over well...
----------
MUSIC - From YahooMusic: Run-DMC sues Wal-Mart and Amazon for 50 million.
----------
CELEBRITY - From YahooSports: Tennis superstar Serena Williams is engaged to marry Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian.
----------
COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap: Ryan Reynolds apparently shot as scene as his character Deadpool for next year's X-Men/Wolverine movie, "Logan."
From THR: Ryan Reynolds would like for there to be a Deadpool/Wolverine movie.
----------
CARRIE FISHER:
OBIT - From People: Carrie Fisher has died at the age of 60, Tuesday, December 27, 2016. She was best known as "Princess Leia" in the "Star Wars" films. I'm numb.
From THR: The actress Debbie Reynolds has died at the age of 84, Wednesday, December 28, 2016. Reynolds was the mother of actress Carrie Fisher who died at the age of 60, Tuesday, Dec. 27th, 2016. A Hollywood legend, Reynolds appeared in such classic Hollywood musicals as "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."
From YahooNews: Todd Fisher talks about his mother, Debbie Reynolds, final moments.
From YahooNews: Carrie Fisher could make us laugh through the pain.
From BleedingCool: The comic book community reacts to the death of Carrie Fisher.
----------
OBIT - From People: The author Richard Adams has died at the age of 96, Saturday, December 24, 2016. Adams is best known as the author of the beloved classic children's novel, "Watership Down," first published in 1972.
----------
OBIT - From YahooStyle: The actor and comedian, Ricky Harris, has died at the age of 54, Monday, December 26, 2016. He was best known for his recurring roles on "Moesha" and "Everybody Hates Chris."
----------
TELEVISION - From TheGuardianUK: A&E has cancelled "Generation KKK," its eight-part doc about the hate group, after learning that producers paid nominal fees to members of the Ku Klux Klan to get them to participate.
----------
STAR WARS - From BleedingCool: Rian Johnson, who is directing Star Wars Episode 8, defends the much-maligned Star Wars prequel films.
----------
ECO - From BBCNews: Save the cheetah!
---------
BOX OFFICE - From Variety: "Rogue One" is expected to win the four-day Christmas weekend, 12/23 to 12/26/2016, with an estimated take of $96.1 million.
----------
GEORGE MICHAEL:
OBIT - From YahooMusic: British singer, songwriter, producer, and pop superstar, George Michael, has died at the age of 53, Sunday, December 25, 2016.
From YahooCelebrity: George Michael had a difficult life of depression, drugs, and arrests.
From YahooMusic: George Michael's best musical moments.
From YahooCelebrity: Celebs react to Michael's death.
From YahooMusic: George Michael - a life in photos.
From YahooMusic: The evolution of the genius of George Michael.
From YahooMusic: What George Michael had to say about Prince one time.
From RSN: The frank and uncompromising LGBT icon, George Michael.
From YahooMusic: George Michael reportedly left behind an estate worth $130 million U.S.
-------------------------------------
BOX OFFICE - From TheWrap: Estimates have "Rogue One" on top of the Christmas weekend box office.
From Patreon: My "Rogue One" review.
----------
CHRISTMAS: From YouTube: Merry Christmas!!! and Happy Holidays!!! -- A*O*A. offers "Afraid of Americans," an electro/industrial remake of David Bowie's "I'm Afraid of Americans," a single from his 1997 album, "Earthlings." [via Warren Ellis' "Orbital Operations"] Visit them here.
----------
BLACK LIVES MATTER - From ABC: There is growing backlash over the arrest of a African-American mother in Fort Worth, Texas who called the police after her son was physically abused by a white neighbor.
----------
COMICS - From BleedingCool: DC Comics is apparently planning a summer comic book event that is centered on Batman.
TRAILERS:
From YouTube: An extended look at "Riverdale," the CW's re-imagining of the world of Archie Comics. It debuts January 26th, 2017.
From YouTube: First official trailer for Ridley Scott's "Alien: Covenant," which is due May 19, 2017.
From YouTube: First trailer for "Despicable Me 3," due in theaters Summer 2017.
From YouTube: First official teaser trailer for the long-awaited "The Lost City of Z."
From YouTube: Official trailer for "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter," due at the end of January 2017. [I think they will reboot or restart the series after this film, just going on what I read about two years ago.]
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Review: "Looper" the Coop-o-Loop of Time Travel Films
Looper (2012)
Running time: 119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence, language, some sexuality/nudity and drug content
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Rian Johnson
PRODUCERS: Ram Bergman and James D. Stern
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Steve Yedlin (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Bob Ducsay
COMPOSER: Nathan Johnson
SCI-FI/DRAMA/THRILLER
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan, Piper Perabo, Jeff Daniels, Pierce Gagnon, Summer Qing, Tracie Thoms, Garret Dillahunt, Frank Brennan, and Nick Gomez
Looper is a 2012 science fiction-thriller from writer-director, Rian Johnson. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was also the lead in Johnson’s debut feature film, Brick (2005).
Looper opens in the year 2044, in a Kansas cornfield. We watch 25-year-old Joseph “Joe” Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) shoot a man who suddenly appears in front of him. In the year 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, it sends the target 30 years into the past, where a hired gun, called a “looper,” awaits to do the killing. When the crime bosses want to end a looper’s contract, they send him back so that his younger self can do the killing. It’s called “closing the loop.”
One day, “Young Joe” (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) learns that it is time to close his loop when “Old Joe” (Bruce Willis) suddenly appears in front of him. After Old Joe escapes, Young Joe becomes the target of his boss, Abe (Jeff Daniels), leader of a Kansas City mafia company.
When I first saw Rian Johnson’s Brick several years ago, I was impressed. The film was basically a classic detective movie set in a modern, suburban high school with dysfunctional kids and juvenile delinquents playing the roles of the detective, the femme fatale, and the criminals. Looper is more than just a clever time travel story. For one thing, it is probably the most imaginative time travel film since 12 Monkeys (in which Bruce Willis played the lead).
I don’t want to give away any more of Looper’s delightful surprises, shocking twists, and stunning turns. I will say that Looper is not just about the affect of time travel on the characters. It is also about what time, chance, and opportunity mean to the lives of the characters. Thus, Looper is a character drama as much as it is a science fiction film. Of course, there is action; after all, this is a movie in which Bruce Willis plays a major part. His character, “Old Joe,” is so desperate, however, that he is despicable, and that allows Willis to show a range of emotions and to suggest the complicated thought processes going on behind his eyes in ways that Willis rarely gets to do.
Besides Willis, there are good performances all around. Joseph Gordon-Levitt proves himself (once again) as a leading man, and Noah Segan shines (and steals a few scenes) as the anxious-to-prove-himself, Kid Blue. My only complaints about Looper are that it is a bit too long, and it stumbles in places because of that. Still, Looper is thought-provoking and thrilling, and it is something rare, a truly imaginative time travel movie.
8 of 10
A
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Review: "Brick" is an Unconventional Conventional Mystery Film (Happy B'day, Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 188 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux
Brick (2005)
Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R for violent and drug content
EDITOR/WRITER/DIRECTOR: Rian Johnson
PRODUCERS: Ram Bergman and Mark G. Mathis
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Steve Yedlin
DRAMA/MYSTERY/THRILLER
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Lukas Haas, Noah Fleiss, Matt O’Leary, Emilie de Ravin, Noah Segan, Richard Roundtree, Meagan Good, and Brian White
When teenager loner Brendan Fry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds his former girlfriend, Emily Kostich (Emilie de Ravin), dead in a local canal, he’s determined to find the murderer and all those involved. Brendan enlists the aid of a local stoolie, The Brain (Matt O’Leary), who seems to know everyone, their hangouts, and all their business. Through a series of intense encounters with the various cliques at his high school, Brendan finds a drug connection and enters the world of a local drug kingpin, The Pin (Lukas Haas), and his enforcer, Tug (Noah Fleiss). But with Assistant Vice-Principal Trueman (Richard Roundtree) breathing down his neck, will Brendan be ensnared in the very trap he set to catch those responsible for Emily’s death?
A hit at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, writer/director Rian Johnson’s Brick is an unconventional Film-Noir (or neo noir) set in the halls of a modern day high school situated in a semi-affluent suburbia setting. Johnson mixes the film noir detective with the gangster flick and the undercover sting. It’s a latte of The Maltese Falcon, A Fist Full of Dollars, and your pick of Martin Scorsese crime flicks. Brick is never too smart for its own good, but sometimes Rian’s concoction seems mismatched with his setting. He has all the elements of noir right (even a femme fatale or two), but those elements often ring hollow against the backdrop of a high school.
Still, it’s always good when a filmmaker can make his movie engaging and make you give a damn, and Johnson does. The film starts off very slow, but Brick is hard to ignore. I just couldn’t stop watching, and in Brendan Fry, Rian has the kind of hero the audience will follow… even into danger and other places Brendan just shouldn’t be and just shouldn’t go. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, formerly of the NBC comedy, "3rd Rock from the Sun," plays Fry with chutzpah, nerves of steel, and the wily charm of a rogue twice his age. Rian came up with a good idea for a crime story, but Gordon-Levitt gives the performance that makes it a good movie.
7 of 10
B+
Monday, August 28, 2006
Brick (2005)
Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R for violent and drug content
EDITOR/WRITER/DIRECTOR: Rian Johnson
PRODUCERS: Ram Bergman and Mark G. Mathis
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Steve Yedlin
DRAMA/MYSTERY/THRILLER
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Lukas Haas, Noah Fleiss, Matt O’Leary, Emilie de Ravin, Noah Segan, Richard Roundtree, Meagan Good, and Brian White
When teenager loner Brendan Fry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds his former girlfriend, Emily Kostich (Emilie de Ravin), dead in a local canal, he’s determined to find the murderer and all those involved. Brendan enlists the aid of a local stoolie, The Brain (Matt O’Leary), who seems to know everyone, their hangouts, and all their business. Through a series of intense encounters with the various cliques at his high school, Brendan finds a drug connection and enters the world of a local drug kingpin, The Pin (Lukas Haas), and his enforcer, Tug (Noah Fleiss). But with Assistant Vice-Principal Trueman (Richard Roundtree) breathing down his neck, will Brendan be ensnared in the very trap he set to catch those responsible for Emily’s death?
A hit at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, writer/director Rian Johnson’s Brick is an unconventional Film-Noir (or neo noir) set in the halls of a modern day high school situated in a semi-affluent suburbia setting. Johnson mixes the film noir detective with the gangster flick and the undercover sting. It’s a latte of The Maltese Falcon, A Fist Full of Dollars, and your pick of Martin Scorsese crime flicks. Brick is never too smart for its own good, but sometimes Rian’s concoction seems mismatched with his setting. He has all the elements of noir right (even a femme fatale or two), but those elements often ring hollow against the backdrop of a high school.
Still, it’s always good when a filmmaker can make his movie engaging and make you give a damn, and Johnson does. The film starts off very slow, but Brick is hard to ignore. I just couldn’t stop watching, and in Brendan Fry, Rian has the kind of hero the audience will follow… even into danger and other places Brendan just shouldn’t be and just shouldn’t go. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, formerly of the NBC comedy, "3rd Rock from the Sun," plays Fry with chutzpah, nerves of steel, and the wily charm of a rogue twice his age. Rian came up with a good idea for a crime story, but Gordon-Levitt gives the performance that makes it a good movie.
7 of 10
B+
Monday, August 28, 2006
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