Review: "Magic in the Moonlight" Does Not Cast Much of a Spell

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 23 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux (support on Patreon)

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)
Running time:  97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA –  PG-13 for a brief suggestive comment, and smoking throughout
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Woody Allen
PRODUCERS:  Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, and Edward Walson
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Darius Khondji
EDITOR:  Alisa Lepselter

COMEDY/ROMANCE

Starring:  Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Simon McBurney, Eileen Atkins, Hamish Linklater, Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Jeremy Shamos, Erica Leerhsen, and Catherine McCormack

Magic in the Moonlight is a 2014 period romance and comedy from writer-director, Woody Allen.  The film focuses on an Englishman who travels to the south of France, where he becomes smitten with the young woman that he plans to reveal as a fraud.

Magic in the Moonlight opens in Berlin, 1928, where we meet the world famous illusionist, Wei Ling Soo (Colin Firth).  Soo is actually the Englishman, Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth), in disguise.  After a performance, Stanley receives a visit from his old friend, Howard Burkan (Simon McBurney), a fellow illusionist.  Burkan wants Stanley to accompany him to Côte d'Azur where Stanley can make use of the other talent that has made him famous.  Stanley can see past and also reveal the tricks of those who claim to have magical or supernatural powers.

In Côte d'Azur, a rich American family, the Catledges, are being taken in by a clairvoyant and mystic named Sophie Baker (Emma Stone).  In fact, the son of the family, Brice Catledge (Hamish Linklater), is so in love with Sophie that he wants to marry her.  Howard wants Stanley to debunk Sophie as a charlatan mystic.  Although he initially thinks that it will be easy to reveal Sophie as a fraud, Stanley soon finds himself smitten with her.

Magic in the Moonlight is not one of the better Woody Allen films.  It falls in the class of mediocre, hapless Allen films that have been prevalent since the turn of the century.  The casting is not particularly special, and the characters are mostly uninspired.  Emma Stone seems out of place as Sophie Baker, but there is not enough of Marcia Gay Harden as Sophie's mother, Mrs. Baker.

Magic in the Moonlight is not well-written, which is disappointing considering that Allen has won three Oscars for his screenwriting.  Allen's directing is mostly... well... uninspired.  However, the film does spring to life in its last half-hour, and it suddenly seems like a different film.  Why?  I think that Magic in the Moonlight lacks a true antagonistic relationship, although the film is ostensibly about one, being that Stanley Crawford is trying to prove that Sophie is a fraud.  Perhaps, Allen makes them fall in love with each other too soon.  Once betrayal is introduced into the narrative, the film has a real conflict and that brings it to life – too late, of course.

I will recommend Magic in the Moonlight to die hard Woody Allen fans who simply have to see each and every one of his films (like me).  Beyond that, there is no amount of magic in the moonlight that will make this movie of interest to people who are not fans of Allen.

5 of 10
C+

Thursday, May 28, 2015


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

"Merchants of Doubt" Doc Launches Nationwide Campaign - Opens Friday, March 6th

Participant Media, Omidyar Network, and The Poynter Institute Launch New Campaign Against Misinformation Inspired by the Film “Merchants of Doubt”

March 2nd Event at Columbia Journalism School Kicks Off Nationwide Campaign Timed to Sony Pictures Classics Theatrical Release of the Critically-Acclaimed New Documentary from the Director of “FOOD, INC.”

NEW YORK & BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. & ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Inspired by the new documentary “Merchants of Doubt”, Participant Media, Omidyar Network, and The Poynter Institute are collaborating on a national program to help journalists, educators and students learn how to identify misinformation aimed at distorting scientific truth and influencing public policy in the United States. Representatives from Poynter will introduce the program, including a curriculum aimed at journalism students, at a screening of “Merchants of Doubt” tonight at New York’s Columbia Journalism School, hosted with Columbia Journalism Review (CJR).

    “Journalists and citizens must both get smarter at vetting scientific information because a small number of powerful corporations have become quite sophisticated in their efforts to distort the truth”

In the new film “Merchants of Doubt”, inspired by the acclaimed book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, filmmaker Robert Kenner (“Food, Inc.”) lifts the curtain on a secretive group of charismatic pundits-for-hire who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities – yet have the contrary aim of spreading confusion about public threats ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change.

Poynter’s curriculum is designed to help journalists report accurately and authoritatively on science and hold companies and individuals responsible for their actions. Poynter has also developed classroom guides to assist teachers and students as they explore the skills of news literacy and develop an appreciation of critical journalism in democratic societies. The training will be offered in a variety of forms, including in-person workshops and on the Institute’s e-learning platform News University. More information is available at www.takepart.com/doubt.

“Merchants of Doubt” director Robert Kenner, Poynter’s Kelly McBride, Huffington Post columnist Wendell Potter, New York Times reporter Justin Gillis, and Emily Southard from Forecast the Facts, will join CJR’s editor-in-chief Liz Spayd at Columbia Journalism School on Monday evening to explore how journalists and other citizens can identify and avoid corporate misinformation aimed at influencing the American public and impacting government policy.

Chad Boettcher, Participant’s Executive Vice President, Social Action & Advocacy added, “For decades, industries like tobacco, chemicals, and fossil fuels have employed spin doctors to cast doubt on inconvenient science that showed how damaging their products were to human health or the environment. Their success delayed public action on some of the most dangerous and pressing issues of our time. At Participant, we see the release of ‘Merchants of Doubt’ as an opportunity to inspire consumers to demand more information and more transparency about these issues in the media. We are proud to work with Poynter to help journalism students avoid the trap of spreading misinformation.”

“Journalists and citizens must both get smarter at vetting scientific information because a small number of powerful corporations have become quite sophisticated in their efforts to distort the truth,” said Kelly McBride, Poynter’s vice president of academic programs. “We at Poynter jumped at the chance to join this project because we believe that well-informed citizens are capable of holding private corporations accountable and encouraging their government to serve the greater good.”

Commenting on the campaign, Director Robert Kenner said, “The media looks at climate change like it's a debate – but there's no debate at all here. The theory of climate change is as solid as the theory of gravity. The only question now is what can we do to solve this, but as long as these merchants of doubt are being treated like experts, we're never going to see things change.”

“Merchants of Doubt” is presented by Sony Pictures Classics, in association with Participant Media and Omidyar Network, a film by Kenner, produced by Kenner and Melissa Robledo, executive produced by Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann of Participant Media, and Pierre Omidyar of Omidyar Network, and co-produced by Brian Pearle, Taki Oldham, Dylan Nelson and Youtchi von Lintel. Directors of Photography on the film include Don Lenzer, Barry Berona and Jay Redmond with music by Mark Adler. The film will release theatrically in the U.S. on Friday, March 6, 2015. Trailer and more information at http://www.takepart.com/merchants-of-doubt.


About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a global leader in journalism education, and a strategy center that stands for uncompromising excellence in journalism, media and 21st century public discourse. Poynter faculty teach seminars and workshops at the Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., and at conferences and organizational sites around the world. Its e-learning division, News University, www.newsu.org, offers the world’s largest online journalism curriculum in 7 languages, with more than 400 interactive courses and 300,000 registered users in more than 200 countries. The Institute’s website, www.poynter.org, produces 24-hour coverage of news about media, ethics, technology, the business of news and the trends that currently define and redefine journalism news reporting. The world’s top journalists and media innovators come to Poynter to learn and teach new generations of reporters, storytellers, media inventors, designers, visual journalists, documentarians and broadcast producers, and to build public awareness about journalism, media, the First Amendment and protected discourse that serves democracy and the public good.

About Columbia Journalism Review (CJR)
Columbia Journalism Review (www.cjr.org) is the only publication/brand whose sole focus is to critically examine the dynamics of American journalism - the work itself, the players and the forces reshaping it.

About Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. Omidyar Network has committed more than $730 million to for-profit companies and non-profit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple initiatives, including Consumer Internet & Mobile, Education, Financial Inclusion, Governance & Citizen Engagement, and Property Rights. To learn more, visit www.omidyar.com and follow on Twitter @omidyarnetwork.com.

About Participant Media
Participant Media (http://www.ParticipantMedia.com) is a global entertainment company founded in 2004 by Jeff Skoll to focus on feature film, television, publishing and digital content that inspires social change. Participant's more than 60 films include Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth, Food, Inc., Waiting for ‘Superman’, The Help, Contagion and Lincoln. Participant launches campaigns that bring together government entities, foundations, schools, and others to raise awareness and drive people to take action on issues from each film or television show. Pivot (http://www.pivot.tv/), the company’s television network, is available nationally in 50 million homes, with a diverse slate of talent and a mix of original series, acquired programming, films and documentaries. TakePart (http://www.TakePart.com) is Participant’s digital news and lifestyle magazine and social action platform for the conscious consumer. Through its films, social action campaigns, digital network, and its television network, Participant seeks to entertain, encourage and empower every individual to take action.

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Gotham Awards Choose "Birdman" as Best Picture of 2014; Michael Keaton Named "Best Actor"

Honoring independent films, the Gotham Awards are the first major awards of the film awards season.  This year, the 2014 edition kicks off the 2014-15 season.  The Gotham Awards ceremony was held on Monday, December 1, 2014 at Cipriani Wall Street.

The 2014/24th Annual Gotham Independent Film Award winners are:

Best Feature
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Best Documentary
CITIZENFOUR
Laura Poitras, director; Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky, producers (RADiUS, Participant Media, and HBO Documentary Films)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Ana Lily Amirpour for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Kino Lorber)

Best Actor*
Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

* The 2014 Best Actor nominating panel also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award jointly to Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, and Channing Tatum for their ensemble performance in Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics).

Best Actress
Julianne Moore in Still Alice (Sony Pictures Classics)

Breakthrough Actor
Tessa Thompson in Dear White People (Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)


Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ Grant:
For the fourth consecutive year, IFP is proud present the euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film.

WINNER: Chloé Zhao, director, Songs My Brothers Taught Me

The nominees are:
Garrett Bradley, director, Below Dreams
Claire Carré, director, Embers


Gotham Independent Film Audience Award: Boyhood
New this year, IFP members had a voice in determining the 5th Annual Gotham Independent Film Audience Award with nominees comprised of the 15 nominated films in the Best Feature, Best Documentary, and Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award categories. All IFP current, active members at the Individual Level and above will be eligible to vote.  Voting took place online from November 19th at 12:01 AM EST and concluded on November 26th at 5:00 PM EST.  The winner of the Audience Award was announced at the Gotham Awards Ceremony on December 1, 2014.


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Sony Pictures Classics Acquires "Still Alice" with Julianne Moore and Kristen Stewart

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS ACQUIRES STILL ALICE FOR NORTH AMERICA

Sony Pictures Classics announced that they acquired North American rights to STILL ALICE, starring Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish. The film reunites Co-Directors and Co-Writers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland (THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD) with Sony Pictures Classics, who worked together on QUINCEANERA. STILL ALICE, a BSM Studio Presentation, is produced by Lex Lutzus, James Brown and Pamela Koffler and executive produced by Marie Savare, Christine Vachon of Killer Films, Maria Shriver, Emilie Georges, Nicholas Shumaker, Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler. This also marks a homecoming for Julianne Moore, who worked with the company on VANYA ON 42ND STREET, SAFE and THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS.

The film has received much acclaim while debuting at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. It had its world premiere on Thursday.

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested in STILL ALICE.

"Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland have made a seamless powerfully moving film. The cast is simply phenomenal. Julianne Moore, one of the world's truly great film actresses, gives here her finest performance to date. It is a privilege to welcome Wash and Richard, Julianne, Alec and the producers back into the Sony Pictures Classics family with a film about family that promises to pack an emotional punch on audiences throughout the country," said Sony Pictures Classics.

"To have unveiled the movie on Monday and have Sony Pictures Classics picking up it up by Friday is a filmmaker's dream. We know STILL ALICE is in the best possible hands with Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and the entire team at SPC and look forward to a great release," added Filmmakers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland.

The deal was negotiated with CAA.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992, which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world.

Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 32 Academy Awards® (28 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 140 Academy Award® nominations (114 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for AMOUR, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, AND CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com.

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Review: "Blue Jasmine" Filled with Superb Performances

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 35 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blue Jasmine (2013)
Running time:  98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic material, language and sexual content
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Woody Allen
PRODUCERS:  Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, and Edward Walson
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Javier Aguirresarobe
EDITOR:  Alisa Lepselter
Academy Award winner

DRAMA

Starring:  Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Andrew Dice Clay, Bobby Cannavale, Louis C.K., Peter Sarsgaard, Daniel Jenks, Max Rutherford, Max Casella, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Alden Ehren

Blue Jasmine is a 2013 drama written and directed by Woody Allen.  The film follows a rich Manhattan socialite, fallen on hard times, who moves to San Francisco to live with her sister, with her troubles in tow.

Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) was a New York socialite, married to hugely successful real estate developer, Hal Francis (Alec Baldwin).  Jasmine, whose real name is Jeanette, leads a life of luxury and leisure, but Hal’s business is based on fraud.  After Hal is sent to prison, she loses everything (home, money, status, etc.).  Jasmine travels to San Francisco where she will move in with her sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins), a single mother of two boys, Matthew (Daniel) and Johnny (Max).

Jasmine’s arrival is an imposition, as Ginger had planned to allow her fiancé, Chili (Bobby Cannavale), to move in with her.  Hal’s fraudulent dealings also cost Ginger and her ex-husband, Augie (Andrew Dice Clay), a lot of money and financially ruined them.  Deeply troubled and in denial about the past, Jasmine looks fabulous, but her looks hide the fact that she isn’t bringing anything good to her new home.

Blue Jasmine is not only one of Woody Allen’s best screenplays of the last decade, but it also features some of his best characters ever.  In a way, their motivations and emotions are so obvious that they could be described as wearing their hearts on their sleeves.  On the other side of that, each character is also inscrutable, because what goes on inside their heads (thinking and thought processes) is largely a mystery.

Jeanette “Jasmine” Francis is the most inscrutable of all, and as Jasmine, Cate Blanchett gives what may be the best performance of her career.  That says a lot in a career full of incredible performances.  Jasmine is that rare instance when an actor brings to life a fully realized character that seems to devour everything that the actor is.  Blanchett also makes sure that there are no easy answers to Jasmine, who denies the past, but is inexorably trapped in it.

Sally Hawkins as Ginger manages to keep up with Blanchett, and in every scene that Ginger shares with Jasmine, Hawkins makes her character just as compelling.  Prepare to be surprised by the multi-dimensional performance by Andrew Dice Clay as Ginger’s ex-husband, Augie.  I was a huge fan of Clay when he was a blazing, red-hot, stand-up comic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but his heartbreaking turn as the deeply wounded Augie is still a surprise to me.

I have read that some critics see Blue Jasmine as Woody Allen’s take on Tennessee William’s legendary play, A Streetcar Named Desire, as they share similar elements.  If this is true, Allen made Blue Jasmine worthy of being compared to the masterwork that is William’s play.  Even movie audiences who are not usually fans of Allen’s films should see the exceptional Blue Jasmine.

8 of 10
A

Friday, July 18, 2014

NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Cate Blanchett); 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Sally Hawkins) and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Woody Allen)

2014 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Cate Blanchett); 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Sally Hawkins)

2014 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Leading Actress” (Cate Blanchett); 2 nominations: “Best Original Screenplay” (Woody Allen) and “Best Supporting Actress” (Sally Hawkins)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: European Actors Shine in Woody Allen's "To Rome with Love"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 34 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

To Rome with Love (2012)
Running time:  112 minutes (1 hour, 52 minutes)
MPAA – R for some sexual references
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Woody Allen
PRODUCERS:  Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, Faruk Alatan, and Giampaolo Letta
CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Darius Khondji
EDITOR:  Alisa Lepselter

ROMANCE/COMEDY with elements of fantasy

Starring:  Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Flavio Parenti, Alison Pill, Fabio Armiliato, Alessandro Tiberi, Alessandra Mastronardi, Penelope Cruz, Antonio Albanese, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin, and Roberto Benigni

To Rome with Love is a 2012 romantic comedy written and directed by Woody Allen.  Like other Allen films, To Rome with Love has magical realist elements.  To Rome with Love follows a small group of visitors and residents of Rome and focuses on their romances and adventures and the predicaments into which they get themselves.

To Rome with Love tells four unrelated stories.  Hayley (Alison Pill), an American tourist, falls in love with Italian pro bono lawyer and Rome resident, Michelangelo (Flavio Parenti), and they become engaged.  Hayley’s parents, Jerry and Phyllis (Woody Allen and Judy Davis), arrive in Rome to meet Michelangelo and his parents.  Jerry, a retired opera director, discovers that Michelangelo’s father, Giancarlo (Fabio Armiliato), has a wonderful operatic voice, so Jerry decides to make Giancarlo an opera star in spite of everyone’s protests against that.

Newlyweds Antonio (Alessandro Tiberi) and Milly (Alessandra Mastronardi) arrive in Rome from their rustic hometown.  They are supposed to meet Antonio’s well-connected and posh uncles who have lined up a fantastic job interview for him.  However, Antonio and Milly get separated.  Antonio is accidentally forced into an encounter with a gorgeous prostitute named Anna (Penelope Cruz).  Milly meets her favorite actor, Luchino “Luca” Salta (Antonio Albanese), who immediately begins to plot to have sex with the young wife.

John Foy (Alec Baldwin) is visiting Rome and meets Jack (Jesse Eisenberg), a young architecture student.  Jack lives with his girlfriend, Sally (Greta Gerwig).  Sally’s friend, Monica (Ellen Page), a pretentious young actress, arrives in Rome to visit them.  John warns Jack about falling in love with Monica…  Finally, ordinary business man, Leopold Pisanello (Roberto Benigni), suddenly gains an extraordinary life.

To Rome with Love is a romantic, comic, and romantic comedy romp through Rome.  It is not by any means a great film, but this movie does have a kind a charm that I cannot explain.  The American actors are mostly stiff, but Allen does not give them particularly flexible characters.  There is, however, this one great moment when Alec Baldwin’s John gives Ellen Page’s Monica a fantastic death stare.  There is something potent, electric, and maybe even dangerous in this one stare that I wish the rest of the John-Jack-Sally-Monica storyline had.

On the opposite side, the European actors sparkle.  Allen gives them the best characters and also better subplots than he gives the Americans.  The Europeans get inside the shallow characters Allen gives them and make them less shallow and more attractive. One example of this is Antonio Albanese.  Bald at the top of his head and somewhat pudgy, Albanese makes Luca Salta an alluring, sexy man, which in turn makes the idea of Salta as a movie star convincing.

Penelope Cruz, who won a supporting actress Oscar for her performance in an earlier Woody Allen film (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), gives To Rome with Love’s best performance.  She deserved another supporting actor Oscar nomination (at least) for her work here.  When her Anna is onscreen, this film seems to sparkle with new energy because that is what Cruz does – enliven things.  She is an excellent actress and is also quite the spitfire.

I will recommend To Rome with Love to fans of both Woody Allen and Penelope Cruz.  It is not great, but it is worth seeing.

6 of 10
B

Tuesday, July 08, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Sony Pictures Classics Sets "Foxcatcher" For November 14 2014

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS TO RELEASE FOXCATCHER ON NOVEMBER 14

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they will release Bennett Miller's FOXCATCHER in the United States on November 14. The film will premiere in the In Competition Section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Directed by Bennett Miller (MONEYBALL, CAPOTE), FOXCATCHER tells the gripping, true story of Olympic Wrestling Champion brothers Mark Schultz (Tatum) and Dave Schultz (Ruffalo) and their relationship with the eccentric John du Pont (Carell), heir to the du Pont Chemical fortune that led to murder.

The film is produced by Megan Ellison under her company Annapurna Pictures, as well as, Miller, Jon Kilik, and Anthony Bregman. Miller’s prestigious cast includes Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Vanessa Redgrave, Sienna Miller, and Anthony Michael Hall. The film was written by E. Max Frye (SOMETHING WILD, AMOS & ANDREW) and Dan Futterman (CAPOTE), the Cinematographer is Greig Fraser (ZERO DARK THIRTY), and the Production Designer is Jess Gonchor (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, MONEYBALL, TRUE GRIT, CAPOTE).

ABOUT SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992, which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world.

Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 32 Academy Awards® (28 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 140 Academy Award® nominations (114 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for AMOUR, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.

Review: Visually Splendid "The Merchant of Venice" is Soft on Story (Happy B'day, Shakespeare)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 93 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Merchant of Venice (2004)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.K., Italy, Luxembourg
Running time:  131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)
MPAA – R for some nudity
DIRECTOR:  Michael Radford
WRITER:  Michael Radford (based upon the play by William Shakespeare)
PRODUCERS:  Cary Brokaw, Michael Lionello Cowan, Barry Navidi, Jason Piette,
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Benoît Delhomme
EDITOR:  Lucia Zucchetti
COMPOSER:  Jocelyn Pook
BAFTA Awards nominee

DRAMA with elements of romance

Starring:  Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Zuleikha Robinson, Kris Marshall, Charlie Cox, Heather Goldenhersh, and David Harewood

The subject of this movie review is The Merchant of Venice, a 2004 romantic drama from writer-director Michael Radford.  The film is based upon the comedy play, The Merchant of Venice, written by William Shakespeare around 1596.  Radford’s film adaptation is apparently the first full-length, theatrical, sound film version of The Merchant of Venice.  The Merchant of Venice the film is set in 16th century Venice and finds a merchant having to pay a gruesome price after he must default on a large loan he borrowed from a Jewish moneylender for a friend.

William Shakespeare is once again brought to the screen, this time in The Merchant of Venice, another film adaptation of his play about passion, justice, and anti-Semitism.  Set in late 16th century Venice, the story finds Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes) lacking money to woo an heiress, Portia of Belmont (Lynn Collins), because his lavish lifestyle has left him deeply in debt.  So he turns to his merchant friend, Antonio (Jeremy Irons), for the money.  Antonio, however, has his cash tied up in ships and overseas trade, so he secures a loan of 3,000 ducats from Shylock (Al Pacino), a Jew.

In Venice, Jews cannot own property, and they are forced to live in a “geto” (a walled-off section of the city), having only limited access to the city.  Antonio has publicly abused Shylock and other Jews for the practice of usury – money lending.  Spiteful and bitter, Shylock is glad to have Antonio in his debt.  In order to secure the money he wants to give Bassanio, Antonio promises that if he defaults on the loan, he’ll pay Shylock with a pound of flesh – literally.

Bassanio leaves with his friend Gratanio (Kris Marshall) to woo his love, but finds that Portia and her lady-in-waiting, Nerissa (Heather Goldenhersh), have been entertaining other suitors.  Like them, Bassanio must engage in a game of chance (blindly choosing which of three caskets holds the prize that earns Portia’s hand).  However, Jessica (Zuleikha Robinson), Shylock’s daughter, elopes with Bassanio’s friend, Lorenzo (Charlie Cox), and takes a large amount of her father’s personal wealth with her.  Wounded to his very soul, Shylock focuses on Antonio’s debt to him, and when Antonio does default on the loan, Shylock demands his pound of flesh.

I’ve never seen a previous film version of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (such as the 1973 version starring Laurence Olivier), and I’m only familiar with the text in passing, having never read the entire work.  Thus, I can only judge this film on its contents or merits.  Michael Radford’s version is a somber narrative with occasional explosions of passionate arguments about prejudice, bigotry, and discriminations, and only a few moments of genuinely harmonious scenes of romantic love.  Despite a diverse range of elegant and sumptuous costumes (for which costume designer Sammy Sheldon earned a 2005 BAFTA Award nomination), evocative sets, and stunning locales set on sunny isles (Venice, Italy), Radford’s film is marred by mumbled dialogue, dour characters, and an air of mean-spiritedness that permeates even the most pleasant moments.

The performances are adequate for transforming Shakespeare to the screen, but only Pacino gives a memorable performance as the righteous and wronged Shylock.  If you, dear reader, need to cheat for an English lit class, Cliff Notes would be better than this.  The film merits as a visual treat, but limps as a narrative.

5 of 10
C+

Saturday, May 06, 2006

NOTES:
2005 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Costume Design” (Sammy Sheldon)

Updated:  Wednesday, April 23, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "The White Countess" Does Not Quite Capture Old Merchant Ivory Magic (Remembering Natasha Richardson)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 131 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The White Countess (2005)
Running time:  136 minutes (2 hours, 16 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some violent images and thematic elements
DIRECTOR:  James Ivory
WRITER:  Kazuo Ishiguro
PRODUCER:  Ismail Merchant
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Christopher Doyle (director of photography)
EDITOR:  John David Allen
COMPOSER:  Richard Robbins

DRAMA/HISTORICAL with elements of romance

Starring:  Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Hiroyuki Sanada, Lynn Redgrave, Allan Corduner, Da Ying, and Madeleine Daly

The subject of this movie review is The White Countess, a 2005 period drama from director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant for their Merchant Ivory Productions.  This is the last film produced by Merchant, who died during production of the film.  Written by Kazuo Ishiguro, The White Countess is set in 1930s Shanghai and focuses on a blind American diplomat and a young Russian trying to support members of her dead husband’s aristocratic family.

A traumatic political event took the lives of both his wife and son, and a second one killed his daughter and blinded him.  Now, 40-something, disenchanted, ex-U.S. diplomat Todd Jackson (Ralph Fiennes) lives a lonely life amid the political turmoil of 1930’s Shanghai, and dreams of owning a gentleman’s club – the kind that he can still see in his mind and quite unlike the hotels and clubs in which he currently languishes.

However, his life changes when he crosses paths with Countess Sofia Belinskya (Natasha Richardson), a widowed Russian countess living in impoverished exile with her in-laws and her daughter.  Where once she lived the life of nobility, now, she accepts sordid jobs to support her family.  When fortune strikes and gives Jackson the means to open his bar, he names it The White Countess, and convinces Sofia to accept a job as the club’s hostess.  But will he have the strength to admit his love before a coming Japanese invasion of Shanghai separates them forever?

The team of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant are known to the film world as Merchant Ivory Productions and have produced such Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated films as A Room with a View, Howard’s End, and Remains of the Day.  The Indian born Merchant (who also directed films) died in May of 2005, and The White Countess was his final collaboration with James Ivory.  The film is quiet and lacks the grandeur of the better-known Merchant Ivory Production like Howard’s End.  It’s very low key, and dialogue moves the narrative.  It’s almost as if The White Countess is more a historical epic made for television than it is a work for the cinema.

Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson give strange, quiet performances.  Fiennes is as usual quite good, and Richardson is mysterious and detached.  One would think that the two couldn’t have any chemistry, but their facial expressions and subtle physical movements give their characters and their relationship a deeply evocative tone.  They essentially define this slow moving, but classy period piece, as all the other actors seem to follow their tranquil acting.

In fact, there are a number of fine supporting performances including a rare appearance in the same film by famous acting sisters, Vanessa Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave (real life mother and aunt respectively of Natasha Richardson), in small but well-done roles.  Hiroyuki Sanada gives an excellent turn as the mysterious Mr. Matsuda, who establishes the film’s exotic, but politically volatile setting, 1930’s Shanghai.  The White Countess may seem overly serene at times, but the impeccable cast makes it a good choice for fans of fine acting and Merchant Ivory films.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Updated:  Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "House of Flying Daggers" is a Martial Arts Spectacle (Happy B'day, Ziyi Zhang)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 71 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Shi mian mai fu (2004)
International English title: House of Flying Daggers
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  China/Hong Kong; Language: Mandarin
Running time:  119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sequences of stylized martial arts violence and some sexuality
DIRECTOR:  Zhang Yimou
WRITERS:  Feng Li, Bin Wang, and Zhang Yimou
PRODUCERS:  William Kong and Zhang Yimou
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Xiaoding Zhao
EDITOR:  Long Cheng
COMPOSER:  Shigeru Umebayashi
Academy Award nominee

MARTIAL ARTS/DRAMA/ROMANCE/FANTASY

Starring:  Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Ziyi Zhang, and Dandan Song

The subject of this movie review is Shi mian mai fu, a 2004 Chinese and Hong Kong wuxia film that is known in English as House of Flying Daggers.  A romantic drama and martial arts-fantasy, the film is directed by Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern).  House of Flying Daggers follows a police captain and the beautiful member of a rebel group he breaks out of prison.

China, 859 A.D. – it is near the end of the Tang Dynasty, and corrupt leaders rule over the country.  However, a revolutionary faction known as the Flying Daggers challenges authority, robbing from the rich to give to the poor.  Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Leo (Andy Lau), two police detectives, believe Mei (Ziyi Zhang), a blind dancer, is a member of the group.  They hatch a plan for Jin to pretend to be a rebel-of-sorts who rescues Mei from jail.  He then accompanies her to the north country in the hopes that she will take him to the House of Flying Daggers.  However, Mei’s beauty bowls over Jin, and he finds himself determined to protect her on their perilous journey; on the other hand, it seems as if no one is who he or she says he or she is.

As a follow up to his internationally acclaimed film known as Hero (2002, but released wide theatrically to U.S. audiences in 2004), director Zhang Yimou once again delves into China’s legendary martial past in Shi mian mai fu or House of Flying Daggers.  House of Flying Daggers is similar to the 2002 film except that House is more like a musical poem with romantic trappings, with romance having both the modern connotations and its 19-century literary and artistic meanings.  Hero was an epic tale of espionage, romance and revenge that looked at China’s mythical past as a celebration of Chinese nationalism.  Flying Daggers is more emotional; the stunning cinematography (by far the best of 2004), the luxuriant costumes, the abundantly colorful back drops are meant to evoke feelings more than to get the viewer to think about the film’s surprising plot twists and turns.

Action choreographer Tony Ching Siu-Tung, who worked with Yimou on Hero, once again turns in some delicious fight scenes that are different from his work in Hero and meant to fit the mood and impressionistic flavor of Flying Daggers.  The cast is also quite good, and it’s a shame that Ziyi Zhang was once again ignored by Oscar, as she was for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  She has a wonderful talent for playing dualities:  coy to aggressive, innocent to beguiling, weak to strong, and helpless to fully capable.  Her face is a small mask, capable of a seemingly endless array of subtle shifts that embellish both the character and the story.  Takeshi Kaneshiro, who almost gets lost next to Ziyi Zhang, plays Jin with his heart on his sleeve and his soul open for the audience to see the conflicting emotions within him, a performance that really drives this film’s tricky plot.

House of Flying Daggers is a visually arresting film (frame after frame of breathtaking, mind-bending beauty), maybe more so than Hero.  However, the film does seem to dry up on several occasions, and the script is careless with some of the character motivation.  Still, the film’s intense and overwhelming visual beauty makes it a must see for lovers of cinema, and fans of Asian cinema and hot martial arts will also certainly like this.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Updated: Sunday, February 09, 2014


NOTES:
2005 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Xiaoding Zhao)

2005 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film (Hong Kong)

2005 BAFTA Awards:  9 nominations: “Best Film not in the English Language” (William Kong and Yimou Zhang), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Ziyi Zhang), “Best Cinematography” (Xiaoding Zhao), “Best Editing” (Long Cheng), “Best Production Design” (Tingxiao Huo), “Best Costume Design” (Emi Wada), “Best Sound” (Jing Tao and Roger Savage), “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Angie Lam, Andy Brown, Kirsty Millar, and Luke Hetherington), and “Best Make Up/Hair” (Lee-na Kwan, Xiaohai Yang, and Siu-Mui Chau)

2005 Image Awards: “Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film”

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Sony Pictures Classics to Distribute Woody Allen's "Magic in the Moonlight"

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS ACQUIRES WOODY ALLEN’S NEXT FILM "MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT"

Film marks seventh collaboration with the filmmaker and Sony Classics

Sony Pictures Classics announced that they have acquired all North American rights to Woody Allen’s upcoming film, MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT from Gravier Productions. Like BLUE JASMINE, the film is produced by Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum and Edward Walson. The film was shot by Darius Khondji (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS) with Production Design by Anne Seibel (MIDNIGHT IN PARIS).

Once again, Woody Allen has put together a stellar cast including Eileen Atkins, Colin Firth, Marcia Gay Harden, Hamish Linklater, Simon McBurney, Emma Stone, and Jacki Weaver. MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT is a romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue. The film is set in the south of France in the 1920s against a backdrop of wealthy mansions, the Côte d’Azur, jazz joints and fashionable spots for the wealthy of the Jazz Age.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992, which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world.

Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 31 Academy Awards® (27 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 135 Academy Award® nominations (109 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for AMOUR, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.

Review: "Celeste and Jesse Forever" for Reals

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 19 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux


Celeste & Jesse Forever (2012)
Running time: 92 minutes (1 hour, 32 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, sexual content and drug use
DIRECTOR: Lee Toland Krieger
WRITERS: Rashida Jones and Will McCormack
PRODUCERS: Lee Nelson, Jennifer Todd, and Suzanne Todd
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Lanzenberg
EDITOR: Yana Gorskaya
COMPOSERS: Zach Cowie and Sunny Levine (for Biggest Crush)
Black Reel Award nominee

ROMANCE/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Ari Graynor, Eric Christian Olsen, Emma Roberts, Chris Messina, Rich Sommer, Rebecca Dayan, Will McCormack, Rafi Gavron, Chris Pine, and Elijah Wood

Celeste & Jesse Forever is a 2012 comedy-drama and romance film, starring Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg. Jones co-wrote the screenplay with Will McCormack, who also has a small acting role in the film. Jones and Samberg play a divorcing couple trying to maintain friendship while both pursuing relationships with other people.

Celeste Martin (Rashida Jones) and Jesse Abrams (Andy Samberg) were best friends and high school sweethearts. Now, they are a married couple, separated and headed for divorce. They remain best friends, but their new status irritates their friends, especially Tucker (Eric Christian Olsen) and Beth (Ari Graynor), who think that Celeste and Jesse are being weird. When Jesse gets some shocking news from a former acquaintance, Celeste starts having serious doubts about what her relationship with Jesse should be.

Celeste & Jesse Forever is more a romantic drama than it is a romantic comedy. It is also a straight character drama, as introspective as it is surprisingly funny. Celeste & Jesse Forever is one of the best (if not the best) romance films of 2012, and it has a number of high qualities. The performances are good, and the directing is lively and captures the film’s off-beat sensibilities. The cinematography seems vaguely futuristic, and the soundtrack is filled with songs that are either perfect for the moment or are delightful in the way that they are inappropriate for a scene.

The film’s strength is its screenplay. Rashida Jones and Will McCormack earned a 2013 Independent Spirit Award nomination for “Best First Screenplay” and a best screenplay nomination from the 2013 Black Reel Awards. Jones and McCormack tread on familiar ground with this story, but twist and contort it in interesting ways. Every time I thought that this movie was looking too much like a cookie-cutter romance, the story struck an odd note or peculiar pose.

And Rashida Jones flows through this film with her lovely performance. If you write an interesting part for yourself, the smart thing to do is turn in a performance that captures what is different and exciting about your screenplay, and Jones does just that. Andy Samberg is good, but this story does not require him to be adventurous as an actor. There are also a number of good supporting performances. Will McCormack is funny as the odd weed dealer, Skillz, and Emma Roberts is a delightful scene-stealer as pop music princess, Riley Banks.

Celeste & Jesse Forever is always turning on the charm, but this movie works because it manages both to feel real and to be uncommon and distinctive. It’s sweet and melancholy and pungent and joyous.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2013 Black Reel Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Actress” (Rashida Jones) and “Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted” (Rashida Jones and Will McCormack)

Friday, March 08, 2013

Review: "The Raid: Redemption" Simply Terrific

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Raid: Redemption (2011)
Serbuan maut – original title
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Indonesia; Language: Indonesian
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
Not rated by the MPAA
EDITOR/WRITER/DIRECTOR: Gareth Huw Evans
PRODUCER: Ario Sagantoro
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Matt Flannery (D.o.P.) and Dimas Imam Subhono (D.o.P.)
COMPOSERS: Aria Prayogi and Fajar Yuskemal (Indonesian version); Mike Shinoda and Joseph Trapanese (U.S. release)

ACTION/CRIME/MARTIAL ARTS

Starring: Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Doni Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, Ray Sahetapy, Tegar Satrya, Iang Darmawan, Eka “Piranha” Rahmadia, and Verdi Solaiman

The Raid: Redemption is a 2011 Indonesian martial arts and crime film from director Gareth Evans. The film, which was released in the United States in 2012, showcases “pencak silat,” the traditional Indonesian martial arts. The Raid: Redemption stars Iko Uwais as a member of a SWAT team trapped in a notorious tenement building and forced to fight off ruthless criminals.

Rama (Iko Uwais) is a rookie cop and expectant father. The morning that the film begins, he joins a unit of Detachment 88 (kind of the Indonesian equivalent of an American SWAT team) as it prepares to raid one of Jakarta, Indonesia’s most notorious apartment blocks. Led by Sergeant Jaka (Joe Taslim) and Lieutenant Wahyu (Pierre Gruno), Rama and the other officers infiltrate the building in order to capture Tama Riyadi (Ray Sahetapy), a legendary mobster. But the team soon finds itself trapped in the building and forced to fight its way out. Tama’s right-hand men, Andi (Doni Alamsyah) and Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian), lead an army of killers and thugs ready and willing to claim the bounty Tama has placed on the cops.

On the surface, The Raid: Redemption seems like a “no frills” film, but the breathtaking pencak silat brawls, duels, fights, etc are a celebration of the cinematic ballet that martial arts can be in film. This is bone-crunching frills, a kind of body-smashing version of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s exquisite martial arts duels and clashes.

The Raid: Redemption is also the kind of movie that is especially the work of the director, film editor, and fight choreographer(s). Gareth Evans is editor and director, and actors, Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, designed the fight choreography. For all the fights there are, one doesn’t resemble the other. Each fight is its own thrilling thing. It helps that Mike Shinoda and Joseph Trapanese’s musical score for the U.S. release heightens the sense of impending doom and nerve-wracking action; this is a score worth owning.

Evans manages to make a tense cop thriller full of action, without the movie turning into the ridiculous thrill machine that many Hollywood action films are. Evan also gets a number of good performances from his cast. Few gun-toting movie thugs and street-level cops are as interesting as the ones in The Raid: Redemption. Because the performances successfully construct the characters, you hate to see many of them blown away.

Sometimes, I am reluctant to recommend even movies that I really like, but I heartily recommend The Raid: Redemption. If you don’t want to read subtitles, the DVD has an English dub, so don’t use a foreign language as a reason not to see one of the best action movies in a long, long time.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2013 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding International Motion Picture”

Friday, February 22, 2013

"Argo," "Zero Dark Thirty" Top 2013 Writers Guild Awards

by Leroy Douresseaux

Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, and Searching for Suger Man won the Writers Guild Awards in their respective screenplay categories last night.  In the cae of Zero Dark Thirty and Argo, I think they are at least the top two favorites in their corresponding categories at the Academy Awards.  Zero Dark Thirty has to deal with the spectre of Django Unchained, which did not receive a WGA nomination.  Argo has to deal with the screenplay for Silver Linings Playbook, which did receive a WGA nomination.

The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) announced the winners of the 2013 Writers Guild Awards last night, Sunday, February 17, 2013. The awards were given for outstanding achievement in writing for screen, television, radio, news, promotional, videogame, and new media writing. The 2013 Writers Guild Awards held simultaneous ceremonies at the JW Marriott L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles and the B.B. King Blues Club in New York City.

The Writers Guild Awards are given in numerous categories, but I tend to focus on the film categories and only a few of the television categories. A complete list of winners can be found here: http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=5184.

2013 Writers Guild Awards Winners (in select categories):

SCREEN WINNERS

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Zero Dark Thirty, Written by Mark Boal; Columbia Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo, Screenplay by Chris Terrio; Based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman; Warner Bros. Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Searching for Sugar Man, Written by Malik Bendjelloul; Sony Pictures Classics

TELEVISION WINNERS

DRAMA SERIES
Breaking Bad, Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett; AMC

COMEDY SERIES
Louie, Written by Pamela Adlon, Vernon Chatman, Louis C.K.; FX

NEW SERIES
Girls, Written by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, Lena Dunham, Sarah Heyward, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Jenni Konner, Deborah Schoeneman, Dan Sterling; HBO

EPISODIC DRAMA
“The Other Woman” (Mad Men), Written by Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner; AMC

EPISODIC COMEDY
“Virgin Territory” (Modern Family), Written by Elaine Ko; ABC

LONG FORM – ORIGINAL
Hatfields & McCoys, Nights Two and Three, Teleplay by Ted Mann and Ronald Parker, Story by Bill Kerby and Ted Mann; History Channel

LONG FORM – ADAPTED
Game Change, Written by Danny Strong, Based on the book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann; HBO

ANIMATION
“Ned ’N’ Edna’s Blend Agenda” (The Simpsons), Written by Jeff Westbrook; Fox

Social Action Campaign Accompanies Release of "No"

Participant Media's Social Action Campaign for Oscar®-Nominated Chilean Film No, Focuses on the Importance of Freedom of Expression

No Mas—takepart.com/nomas-- Provides a Platform for Individuals to Speak up for Those Who Can't

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Inspired by Participant Media's and Sony Pictures Classics' No, the Chilean Academy Award® nominee for Best Foreign Language Film opening in the U.S. on February 15th, Participant in collaboration with Freedom House, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders has designed a Social Action campaign focused on the importance of freedom of political expression. "No Mas"--takepart.com/nomas – provides a platform for individuals to speak up for others who are living in nations that silence any opposition to the establishment.

Chad Boettcher, Participant's Executive Vice President of Social Action & Advocacy, said, "As the film shows how, through an ingenious advertising campaign in 1988 the Chilean public were persuaded to just say No to Pinochet's despotic reign, our Social Action campaign for No gives those of us who enjoy freedom of expression the creative digital tools to protest the injustices happening in the world today on behalf of those without that freedom. By joining forces with three of the leading organizations working in this space, we have been able to identify some key opportunities to make a difference."

Visitors are encouraged to exercise their right to free speech--a right too often taken for granted and not enjoyed by everyone—by creating a personalized “No Mas” badge. Then they are urged to sign pledges of support for those in oppressive countries who have been silenced, including a Bahraini human rights activist who was imprisoned for Tweeting, and a young Cuban who’s been incarcerated for listening to hip hop music with political lyrics.

In addition, visitors will be able to view a short video that illustrates how historically those who have been oppressed have said "No Mas. " This will serve as a topic of discussion on "No Mas Mondays" when every week in February, Takepart is hosting live Twitter chats where @TakePart will be talking with talent and experts about the film, the historic 1988 No campaign and the importance of freedom of political expression today. Join on February 4th for a live chat with Ivan Sigal, the executive director of Global Voices, a non-profit online global citizens’ media initiative.

Daniel Calingaert, Executive Vice President of Freedom House, said, “The movie “NO” is a wonderful illustration of the collective power of citizens’ voices and should inspire us all to raise ours for the many people in this world who face harassment, imprisonment, torture and even death when they stand up for their rights. Freedom House is pleased to join with Participant Media and our sister human rights organizations to lend our collective voice to ensure that others are not silenced.”

Sunjeev Bery, Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Amnesty International USA added, “Through this campaign, Americans can stand up for freedom in Bahrain, where the government is imprisoning nonviolent protestors like Nabeel Rajab. Citizens are being imprisoned by the Bahraini government simply for expressing themselves or criticizing the monarchy.”

Said Christophe Deloire, Executive Director, Reporters Sans Frontieres-Reporters Without Borders International, "At Reporters Without Borders, we are particularly proud to work with Participant Media on the No Mas campaign and bring attention to the journalists, bloggers and all the other news providers who are fighting for the freedom to inform and to be informed.


About No
No, Academy Award® nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, was directed by Pablo Larrain, written by Pedro Peirano and stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Alfredo Castro, Antónia Zegers, Luis Dnecco, Marcial Tafle, Nastor Cantillana, Jaime Vadell and Pascal Montero.

In 1988, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, is forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency. The country will vote YES or NO to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. Opposition leaders for the NO persuade a brash young advertising executive, Rene Saavedra (Garcia Bernal), to spearhead their campaign. Against all odds, with scant resources and under scrutiny by the despot’s minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free.

About Participant Media
Participant Media (www.participantmedia.com) is an entertainment company that focuses on documentary and non-documentary feature films, television, publishing and digital content about the real issues that shape our lives. For each of its projects, Participant creates social action and advocacy programs to transform the impact of the media experience into individual and community action. Participant’s online Social Action Network is TakePart (takepart.com). Founded by Jeff Skoll in 2004, Jim Berk serves as CEO. Participant's films include The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, An Inconvenient Truth, Good Night, and Good Luck, The Visitor, Food, Inc., The Cove, The Crazies, Countdown to Zero, Waiting for "Superman,” Fair Game, PAGE ONE: Inside The New York Times, The Help, Contagion, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Lincoln, Promised Land and No.

About Sony Pictures Classics
Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992, which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world.

Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 29 Academy Awards® (25 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 135 Academy Award® nominations (109 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for Amour, Midnight In Paris, An Education, Capote, Howards End and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Review: "Art School Confidential" Has an Artful Cast (Happy B'day, John Malkovich)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 216 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Art School Confidential (2006)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R for language including sexual references, nudity, and a scene of violence
DIRECTOR: Terry Zwigoff
WRITER: Daniel Clowes (based on the comic by Daniel Clowes)
PRODUCERS: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, and Russell Smith
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jamie Anderson, A.S.C. (director of photography)
EDITOR: Robert Hoffman
COMPOSER: David Kitay

COMEDY/DRAMA with elements of romance

Starring: Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Matt Keeslar, Ethan Suplee, Joel David Moore, Nick Swardson, Anjelica Huston, Adam Scott, Jack Ong, Michael Lerner, and Ezra Buzzington

The subject of this movie review is Art School Confidential, a 2006 comedy-drama from director Terry Zwigoff. The film is based on a four-page comic book short story written and drawn by Daniel Clowes and published in Clowes’ comic book series, Eightball #7 (Fantagraphics Books). Clowes wrote the screenplay for Art School Confidential, the second film collaboration between him and Zwigoff. Zwigoff directed and Clowes wrote the screenplay for Ghost World, a film based on a Clowes graphic novel.

In Art School Confidential, an ambitious art school student tries desperately to get the girl of his dreams, but she’s attracted to a dumb jock type whose simplistic pop art paintings have taken the art class by storm. This the second film from the team of Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes that gave us the Oscar-nominated, Ghost World. Clowes is a comic book artist, and Art School Confidential, like Ghost World, is adapted from his comics.

Jerome Platz (Max Minghella) wants to be the greatest artist of the 21st Century, and to that end he escapes his suburban home and terrible high school to a tiny East Coast art school, the Strathmore Institute. However, the beauty and craft of his portraiture does not win him any friends among his fellow students in the anything-goes art class. He finds this new world filled with a collection of offbeat characters: his worldly, but obnoxious classmate, Bardo (Joel David Moore); a roommate exploding with the desire to make a cinematic masterpiece of blood and violence, Vince (Ethan Suplee); his self-involved art teacher, Professor Sandiford (John Malkovich); and a failed artist and Strathmore grad who is drowning in alcohol and self-pity, Jimmy (Jim Broadbent).

Jerome does find his eye drawn to the girl of his dreams, Audrey Baumgarten (Sophia Myles), an artist’s model (who models nude for Jerome’s class) and daughter of an acclaimed artist. Audrey is initially attracted to Jerome, whose attitude is refreshing and not like the affectations of the local art crowd. However, a fellow art student and jock-type named Jonah (Matt Keeslar) becomes the toast of the art school with his pop art paintings. When Audrey turns her attentions to Jonah, Jerome concocts various plans to win back her affections, which all fail, but his next one will put Jerome’s future at stake, as well as the lives of those in and around Strathmore.

While Art School Confidential comes across as a satire of art schools, the faculty, and students, it is also a love story and youth relationship drama. It works well as all three. As a work of satire, Clowes’ script is matter-of-fact about art school politics. All his characters exist more in their own worlds than they do in the larger world in which they also co-exist, whether or not they believe they do. It seems as if they tolerate people and desire others attentions mostly so others should validate their art, agendas, and careers.

As for the romance and drama: Max Minghella certainly makes Jerome Platz a likeable underdog for whom we root. He may a bit aloof and may be naïve in terms of his expectations, but he’s honest and his ignorance and rudeness are endearing. We want him to get the girl, and we love the girl, too. Sophia Myles plays Audrey, the object of desire, quite well – mainly because she’s an “It” girl with that kind of classic look that works so well in film.

Still, the question that’s on everyone’s mind, “Is Art School Confidential funny?” I thought it uproariously funny, although it goes dry at the beginning of the last act. Clowes views humanity with a sanguine eye, even when his work seems cynical. His comics are matter-of-fact about humanity – warts and all. He may privately pass judgment, but in his comics, he lets the reader make up his own mind. His movie writing is like that, and Zwigoff is adept at picking up both the subtle nuances and broad strokes of his screenwriting collaborators. That allows Zwigoff to spend his time letting his talented cast have fun with the script and story. The result is fun, even exceptionally good flicks like Art School Confidential.

8 of 10
A

Friday, October 20, 2006

Brendan Gleeson Shines in "The Guard"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Guard (2011)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Ireland
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive language, some violence, drug material and sexual content
WRITER/DIRECTOR: John Michael McDonagh
PRODUCERS: Chris Clark, Flora Fernandez-Marengo, Ed Guiney, and Andrew Lowe
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Larry Smith
EDITOR: Chris Gill
COMPOSER: Calexico
BAFTA nominee

CRIME/COMEDY

Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Liam Cunningham, David Wilmot, Rory Keenan, Mark Strong, Fionnula Flanagan, Katarina Cas, Laurence Kinlan, Pat Shortt, Darren Healy, Gary Lydon, Wale Ojo, and Michael Og Lane

The Guard is a 2011 Irish crime comedy starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle (who is also one of the film’s executive producers). Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh (Ned Kelly), the film focuses on an unorthodox Garda (Irish policeman) and a tightly wound FBI agent in pursuit of international drug dealers.

Straight-laced FBI Special Agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) arrives in Ireland on the trail of international drug dealers, specifically four suspects. Everett meets Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson), a wisecracking and confrontational local Garda from the village of Galway. Boyle may already have a lead on the drug smugglers, but he chooses to annoy the American instead of helping him. When the drug-related violence and murder get close to him, however, Boyle suddenly finds himself doing police work way beyond anything he has ever done before.

The Guard is a weird film. Perhaps, I did not expect an Irish film to be so quirky as to seem like a movie from Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums). This film is both a crime comedy and a black comedy, so it is violent and twisted. Also, every moment in the film that attempts to be poignant are sabotaged by the profane and scabrous.

Writer/director John Michael McDonagh gives the film satirical flourishes by poking fun at the Irish city of Dublin and also at the miscues of the highest law enforcement agencies in both the U.S. and the U.K. He defiantly fills his film with so many odd characters, like Eugene Moloney (Michael Og Lane), the weird kid obsessed with the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and a young odd duck who photographs crime scenes in loving, gruesome detail. That many eccentrics could ruin a movie, but McDonagh deftly keeps these characters and their strangeness in check.

He has to keep these characters under control so that they don’t stand in the way of Brendan Gleeson’s fragrantly pungent turn as Gerry Boyle. The verbally adroit Gleeson spits out the dialogue McDonagh wrote for him as if he were battling Eminem. It is a showy performance on the part of Gleeson, but he does it with such veteran ease that his seems natural. Boyle may be a loser living a crude life of lust and drink, but he isn’t doing it half-assed.

What keeps the film from being great is that it does not give us what its premise promises – a warped version of the buddy-cop movie. Gleeson and Don Cheadle are not together enough – for me, at least. When Cheadle’s Wendell Everett is with Gleeson’s Boyle, they seem perfectly matched for some mismatched comedy duo gold. The Guard only gives us Boyle/Everett in chopped up bits that never last that long, until the last act, which is a shame.

I must also note that I wish Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham, and David Wilmot’s villainous characters were more developed, as they could be the stars of their own movie. There is nothing wrong with The Guard focusing on Gleeson’s Boyle, but as the film’s final moments focus on Cheadle’s Everett, it becomes obvious that The Guard misses out on being a buddy-cop classic.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2012 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Original Screenplay” (John Michael McDonagh)

2012 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Brendan Gleeson)

2012 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Supporting Actor” (Don Cheadle)

2012 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Don Cheadle)

Review: Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" is Magical and One of the Year's Best Films

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 106 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Midnight in Paris (2011)
Running time: 94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes)
MPAA – R for some sexual references and smoking
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Woody Allen
PRODUCERS: Letty Aronson, Jaume Roures, and Stephen Tenenbaum
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Darius Khondji with Johanne Debas
EDITOR: Alisa Lepselter

ROMANCE/COMEDY/DRAMA/FANTASY

Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Michael Sheen, Nina Arianda, Carla Bruni, Corey Stoll, Alison Pill, Tom Hiddleston, Yves Heck, Kathy Bates, Marcial Di Fonzo Bo, Adrien Brody, Sonia Rolland, Adrien de Van, and Léa Seydoux

Midnight in Paris is a 2011 romantic comedy/drama and fantasy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film focuses on a struggling novelist who has magical experiences in Paris which begin each night at midnight. Midnight in Paris is the first high-quality Woody Allen film since Match Point (2005), and it is his best film since the early to mid 1990s, certainly the best since Bullets Over Broadway (2004).

Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is a successful Hollywood screenwriter, but he hates the kind of movies with which he is usually involved. He travels to Paris with his fiancée, Inez (Rachel McAdams), and her wealthy, conservative parents, John (Kurt Fuller) and Helen (Mimi Kennedy), for a vacation. Gil is struggling to finish his first novel, and he believes a permanent move to Paris would be a good thing. Inez, who wants to live in Malibu, sees this desire as a foolish romantic notion, and this disagreement is but one of many of the couple’s divergent goals.

One night, a drunken Gil wanders the streets of Paris. At the stroke of midnight, an antique car pulls up and the passengers, who are dressed in 1920s clothing, beckon Gil to join them. Gil soon finds himself in a bar enjoying a performance by Josephine Baker (Sonia Rolland), watching Cole Porter (Yves Heck) sing and play the piano, having a meeting of the minds with Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), and chatting up Zelda (Allison Pill) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston). Gil realizes that he has been transported back to Paris of the 1920s, an era he idolizes. He visits the home of Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates), where he meets Pablo Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo) and Picasso’s mistress, a young woman named Adriana (Marion Cotillard). Gil and Adriana are quickly attracted to each other, but their strange romance also reveals their unhappiness with their current personal situations.

In a broad sense, Midnight in Paris specifically deals with nostalgia as a theme, especially people’s nostalgia for a time that existed before they were born – a golden age. For instance, Gil yearns for the 1920s, which occurred decades before he was born. Allen’s script allows Gil to revel in his ability to go back into the past, which is perhaps the only way for Gil to come to grips both with reality and with his idealization of a time in which he didn’t live. Allen resolves this in a way both sensible and satisfying.

On a personal and character drama level, Midnight in Paris plays with themes of denial and cognitive dissonance. The characters have desires and find ways to sabotage or sully their desires when they find them difficult to obtain or perhaps too costly. Both in his script writing and directing, Allen subtly tells us that only those who are honest with themselves about what they want can be happy.

Beyond that, I have to say that Midnight in Paris is just an utterly magical film. There are fantasy films that only feel like Hollywood action movie product and lack a sense of enchantment. Then, there are others that, when you watch them, you can feel the magic emanating and oozing from the screen. That’s how Midnight in Paris is, and Darius Khondji’s shimmering, golden-hued, ember-infused cinematography is a big reason why Midnight in Paris looks like one big enchanted holiday. This movie moves, sounds, looks, and feels like a romantic film.

I am a big fan of Woody Allen and have been for nearly 30 years. I love his films that take place in the past, like Radio Days (1987), which is set in a period when my parents would have been small children or toddlers. I also like his films that are infused with magic, like Alice (1990). For me, Midnight in Paris is the best of both those worlds. A lot of people may dismiss Allen, but they would have to be honest after seeing this film. Few feel-good movies feel better than Midnight in Paris.

9 of 10
A+

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Review: "Junebug" is a Jewel on an Indie Film (Happy B'day, Amy Adams)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Junebug (2005)
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – R for sexual content and language
DIRECTOR: Phil Morrison
WRITER: Angus MacLachlan
PRODUCERS: Mindy Goldberg and Mike S. Ryan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Donahue
EDITOR: Joe Klotz
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring: Embeth Davidtz, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Adams, Celia Weston, Scott Wilson, Ben McKenzie, Frank Hoyt Taylor, and Joanne Pankow

Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), a Chicago art dealer who specializes in “outsider art,” takes a trip to rural North Carolina with her husband, George (Alessandro Nivola), to convince David Wark (Frank Hoyt Taylor, whose small part is the film’s most memorable), a highly-eccentric folk artist to allow her gallery to show his art. George is not only from North Carolina, but his family lives not too far from Wark’s home.

Madeleine convinces George to finally allow her to meet his small-town family: his bristly mother, Peg (Celia Weston); his reserved father, Eugene (Scott Wilson); his crabby brother, Johnny (Ben McKenzie); and Johnny’s pregnant wife, the sweet and naïve Ashley (Amy Adams). Madeleine has a hard time fitting in, and Peg doesn’t try very hard to hide her dislike or suspicion of Madeleine. Johnny holds grudges against George and is taciturn with Madeleine. To make matters worse, George spends much of the day away from Madeleine, visiting his old haunts and friends, and he begins to revert to his hymn-singing, church-going ways – somewhat to the detriment of his marriage.

Junebug isn’t a great film (it misses that by a lot), but it’s quite good, mostly because of the efforts of director, Phil Morrison. Writer Angus MacLachlan gives us four familiar characters as George’s family, the bitter brother Johnny and the prickly mother Peg being the worse. It’s not so much that they’re stereotypes; it’s what MacLachlan does with them that makes them come across as old hat. Other than in Madeleine, there is no variety in the behavior of the characters. For the most part, they’re stuck in the mud and boring. Every time that there is some glimmer of hope that some breakthrough of depth is about to occur, it turns out to be nothing – stuck in “park.” Poor Celia Weston is like a record that skips, but the script doesn’t give her room to actually perform.

Junebug has three people that make it standout: the aforementioned director and also actresses Embeth Davidtz and Amy Adams. Adams gives one of those splashy performances as a peculiar or unconventional character in Ashley that gets the notice of the critics, and several critics associations and festival awards did indeed honor her for her performance. Ashley is likeable in her frantic need to be liked and in her poor desperation to get husband Johnny’s attention. When Ashley tries to create a bond with Madeleine, Adams makes it feel so real, not phony and desperate, although it initially comes across that way.

However, Junebug is really Madeleine’s story, and if awards must be given for acting in this film, they should have gone to Embeth Davidtz, or at least she should have shared in the glory. As Madeleine, Davidtz (who played a suffering Jewish servant in Schlindler’s List), embodies the film’s themes of family ties and outsiders. Davidtz’s character has to perform the balancing act of dealing with becoming a part of George’s family and dealing with the fact that George is a part of a family outside of her. It’s a culture and a lifestyle that is alien to her. In doing that Embeth gives a warm and poignant performance that guides the viewer through Junebug.

Director Phil Morrison makes Junebug such a compelling film. It’s as if he insisted that the camera drink and drink deeply of the narrative’s setting, as much as it does of the central players. He creates a film the resonates of family, but set in a world that is authentic. It’s not like every small town, but it sure seems like a genuine one. I didn’t like how Morrison has the night scenes that occur inside the house filmed with so little light, but I guess there was a reason for that. We’ll never really know George’s family, but Morrison certainly makes them compelling. Morrison realizes that for the most part, we’re like Madeleine, or at least we’re going to see this world through her eyes. As curious as we are about them, Morrison understands that like Madeleine, as much as we like meeting the kinfolk – those by blood or by marriage, we’re always ready to go home. With Embeth and Amy’s performances, Morrison’s understanding of outsiders and strangers makes Junebug a jewel of an independent film.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Amy Adams)

Sunday, March 05, 2006

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