Wanderers – A Short Film

The director of this short film (just 3:50 long) is named Erik Wernquist and someone needs to give him a lot of money to make a feature length film. This sort of vision reminds me of Neill Blomkamp’s early short films before he made District 9 and Elysium. I’m also all sorts of pumped up about space with Interstellar and recent real life missions. This short film takes advantage of the renewed popularity of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos documentary series and it’s sequel series this year by employing the late astronomer’s voice over his stunning visuals of imagining’s of human activity in far flung reaches of the solar system. This Swedish filmmaker and animator should have big things in his future so long as enough people see this. I’d love to see a full fledged solar system exploration movie or tv series. Sci-fi is an amazing medium to tell great stories and I hope he has some to tell.

The below screen grab is from a scene where astronauts are base jumping on Miranda, a moon of Uranus, off the largest cliff in our solar system called Verona Rupes. It looks like an insane amount of fun with so little gravity.

Then there are explorers on the ice fields of Europa, one of the more interesting moons in our solar system, with Jupiter looming so large it dominates the entire sky.

Sight & Sound’s Top Films of The Year

So somehow it’s already December 1st tomorrow. I’m not sure how that happened so quickly. The Earth should slow down revolving around the Sun, because I wouldn’t mind a longer year. This one seems the quickest yet. Existential crises aside the end of year brings us Best Of Film lists. Sight & Sound is  a British Monthly Film magazine from BFI that I wish I received. It’s also one of the earliest publications to name its top films for the year. Now this list might seem strange because they’re talking release dates in Britain, so some films that were released in 2013 here show up and some films that did not screen here or might not until 2015 show up as well.  The list and my thoughts on it are below.

Sight & Sound Top 20 Films Of 2014
1. Boyhood

This is the obvious number one pick. Nothing really comes close to this in terms of innovation, dedication and all the others ‘-tions’ in existence. Linklater cements himself as a film legend and this one will go down as one of the great of this decade.

2. Goodbye To Language 3D

If you don’t know who Jean-Luc Godard is go out right this second and find a copy of Breathless to watch. He more or less invented the French New Wave of Cinema and launched art film as a popular mode of consumption here in the states as well as movie geeks devoured his and his friend’s films. The legendary director is 83 now and he hasn’t made what you would call a mainstream narrative film since 1972, but really if you want to watch him find everything he made from 1960 to 1968, after then with the revolutionary fervor in Europe he turned completely political. Some of those are good as well but a tad inaccessible. This one got a screening in Madison, but it was not screened many places because it had to be presented in 3D and not many art movie theaters took a chance on this. I hope to find a way to see it soon and in 3D if possible.

3. Leviathan (tie)

A Russian film that I haven’t been able to see, though I’ve heard good things from the Cannes showing this past May. As far as I know this isn’t available to see anywhere just yet.

3. Horse Money (tie)

A Portuguese film that’s more experimental, no where to find this right now either. I’m jealous of these London critics that get access to see such cool films.

5. Under The Skin

Now here we are back to something I’ve seen. Under the Skin flew under the radar of many as it got a limited release back in April. I watched it On Demand in late August I believe and was floored by it’s unique take on the alien invasion horror genre. Scarlett Johansson is amazing in this. The film is a slow burn and really worth checking out. I’m surprised it’s so far up this list, but pleasantly so.

6. The Grand Budapest Hotel

Yes! I was worried that this films early release back in March could lead people to forget how great this was. It is the most Wes Anderson-y of all his films. Twee and with impeccable design this film is an absolute gem. The front facing camerawork, amazing color choices, and Anderson’s stable of actors make this so unique and so fun at the same time. Hope this gets some Academy consideration as well.

7. Winter Sleep

A Turkish film that’s set in the beautiful Anatolia region that examines the gap between the rich and poor in their society. A very popular topic these days. I hope it’s as applicable across the cultural divide as it is within its local context. This is a real opportunity to make a statement. Hope I get a chance to see this one as film from the Middle East region is getting very interesting lately.

8. The Tribe

Another Cannes favorite and from Ukraine I hope this film has something to say about the current state of things there. This film is about a boarding school for the deaf. It could be a little hard to watch considering it’s entirely in sign language (presumably Ukrainian) and with no subtitles. Perhaps they can add them for international distribution, but it hasn’t hurt the film from winning awards in France. The Ukraine is an area rich with history and this sound very interesting if nothing else.

9. Ida (tie)

This is a 2013 Polish film that’s now on Netflix so I’ll be streaming this very very soon. It’s an awards favorite in the foreign language category. This deals with 1960s Poland and the Stalinist regime and the church. Sounds very Polish to me. I’ll report back on what I think about this, very excited to finally watch it.

9. Jauja (tie)
11. Mr. Turner (tie)

This one won’t be out around here until January, but it’s Mike Leigh’s look at prolific British painter JMW Turner. Character actor Timothy Spall gets a starring role here and I’m very excited to see it. Just have to wait a little longer than our British friends to see it.

11. National Gallery (tie)
11. The Wolf Of Wall Street (tie)

If you haven’t seen this one yet I don’t know what to tel you that you probably haven’t already heard. Masterwork from Scorsese and DiCaprio. This one was at last year’s Oscars so it’s awards run is over. It was very worthy but last year was just too strong for it to win much of anything. Still a really great film and on Netflix I believe, so re-watch it soon to remind yourself how cool and funny it was.

11. Whiplash (tie)

I reviewed this one recently and here’s the link to that if you missed it: https://midwestmovieman.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/double-feature-friday-part-two-whiplash/

This is a real contender this year and I expect it to make the Oscars nominated as Best Film.

15. The Duke Of Burgundy
16. Birdman (tie)

Another one I just reviewed earlier this month. This one is in my opinion the only real challenge to Boyhood. Birdman is unique and the one take for nearly the entire film is at the same time exhausting and inspiring. I loved this movie. See it!

Here’s the link to my review: https://midwestmovieman.wordpress.com/2014/11/02/birdman-or-the-unexpected-virtue-of-ignorance/

16. Two Days, One Night (tie)

This one doesn’t get released until Christmas here and even then won’t get into theaters around here until 2015 most likely.  This is a Belgian film directed by the Dardenne brothers starring Marion Cotillard. I love how she straddles more mainstream American movies while still doing European prestige films like this. Buzz is she could capture Best Actress consideration for this. I hope so because she’s one of the most consistent actresses out there, and lovely to boot. I’m really rooting for her to continue making great choices like this.

18. Citizenfour (tie)

This is a terrific and timely documentary that I looked at earlier this month as well.  Here is my review: https://midwestmovieman.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/edward-snowden-is-citizenfour/

This could scoop up serious attention for Best Documentary though 20,000 Days on Earth was my personal favorite, because this is so topical I could see the Academy giving this the award. I’m sure this will be On Demand or Netflix shortly, but it’s out of theaters now mostly so you’ll have to wait if you didn’t catch it yet.

18. The Look Of Silence (tie)

This is the companion piece to the best documentary in recent memory 2012’s The Act of Killing. This takes an alternative look at the Indonesian genocide in the mid 1960’s. Just go watch The Act of Killing as soon as you can. It’s on Netflix. Just go watch it now to be safe. This new film does not have a release date yet but does have a U.S. distributor so expect it next year sometime.

18. The Wind Rises (tie)

My thoughts the day I saw this amazing Japanese animated film from before I started this blog, this one came out back in March here: “One of the prettiest films I’ve ever laid eyes on. From the Japanese master of animation, Miyazaki’s last film was a fitting send off. It was very interesting to see from a Japanese perspective the (slightly fictional) creation of the Japanese Zero fighter. It was equally interesting to see the main characters be present at historical events like the 1923 earthquake that destroyed Tokyo and night raids by secret police in Germany. Easily my pick for best animated film at the Oscars. See it if you can. (I saw the English dubbed version and our actors did Japan proud)”

Frozen beat this out last year as best animated film. Wrong choice Academy.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Teaser

It’s arrived. Just bask in it’s glory. Before you watch this the new Star Wars can be anything. After it’s all becoming more definite. Let your imagination run wild, then watch this 2 or 200 times. We have John Boyega as the first face we see. None of the original characters are glimpsed. And that new lightsaber is just wow. I’ve re-watched the Millennium Falcon do its loop through the sky about 10 times now. It’s as amazing as the first time we saw it as kids. Could not be more excited for this if I tried.

2015 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations!!

The nominees and my thoughts on the category and pick to win are below. All of these are quality movies. Seek them out if you can.

BEST FEATURE

• Birdman
• Boyhood
• Love is Strange
• Selma
• Whiplash

Boyhood is an achievement 12 years in the making. It’s the best movie this year. All of these are deserving (though I haven’t seen Selma, that won’t be out wide until January). Linklater deserves the Best Picture award here, though perhaps not Best Director …

BEST FIRST FEATURE

• A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
• Dear White People
• Nightcrawler
• Obvious Child
• She’s Lost Control

Nighcrawler is a terrific first feature, though perhaps too mainstream to get this sort of award. Instead maybe look to Dear White People or Obvious Child but I’m going for Nightcrawler. I’ve already posted about A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night and it looks good. If enough people see that this could come home with a win too.

BEST DIRECTOR

• Damien Chazelle
  Whiplash
• Ava DuVernay
  Selma
• Alejandro G. Iñárritu
  Birdman
• Richard Linklater
  Boyhood
• David Zellner
  Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

I have to give this to Inaritu because of the unique faux one take style of the film. That had to take so much planning. The story was great too. Everything came together for Birdman. It’s going to be a split in Best Movie and Best Director this year.

BEST FEMALE LEAD

• Marion Cotillard
  The Immigrant
• Rinko Kikuchi
  Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
• Julianne Moore
  Still Alice
• Jenny Slate
  Obvious Child
• Tilda Swinton
  Only Lovers Left Alive

Rumor is that Julianne Moore will be unbeatable, but Marion Cotillard was amazing in The Immigrant.

BEST MALE LEAD

• André Benjamin
  Jimi: All Is By My Side
• Jake Gyllenhaal
  Nightcrawler
• Michael Keaton
  Birdman
• John Lithgow
  Love is Strange
• David Oyelowo
  Selma

Keaton as Batman! err Birdman. HE should win. Though Jake could contend as could Lithgow.

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski for Big Eyes
• J.C. Chandor for A Most Violent Year
• Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler
• Jim Jarmusch for Only Lovers Left Alive
• Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias for Love Is Strange

Nightcrawler’s screenplay is a strength but I feel that the structure of Love Is Strange was such a heartbreaking way to tell a story. That’s my pick.

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

• Desiree Akhavan for Appropriate Behavior
• Sara Colangelo for Little Accidents
• Justin Lader for The One I Love
• Anja Marquardt for She’s Lost Control
• Justin Simien for Dear White People

Haven’t seen any of these though the buzz for Dear White People is strong.

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (BEST FEATURE MADE FOR UNDER $500,000)

• Blue Ruin
• It Felt Like Love
• Land Ho!
• Man from Reno
• Test

For me Land Ho! was just so life affirming so I’ll go with that. But I’d say the makers of Blue Ruin have more promise. I’ll be pulling for either of those.

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

• Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
• Jessica Chastain for A Most Violent Year
• Carmen Ejogo for Selma
• Andrea Suarez Paz for Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
• Emma Stone for Birdman

Patricia Arquette was the glue for Boyhood. She might be the only one from that movie to receive major acting category consideration. Hope she wins.

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• Riz Ahmed for Nightcrawler
• Ethan Hawke for Boyhood
• Alfred Molina for Love Is Strange
• Edward Norton for Birdman
• J.K. Simmons for Whiplash

J.K. Simmons. That is all. This might be the strongest category of the bunch. Simmons all the way.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• The Immigrant
• Birdman
• It Felt Like Love
• A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
• Selma

Chivo’s work in Birdman is just too good. Though the B&W photography of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night could be excellent and The Immigrant was so moody and was helped with excellent lensing, this is Birdman’s to lose.

BEST EDITING

• Boyhood
• Whiplash
• Nightcrawler
• A Most Violent Year
• The Guest

Have to go with the frenetic editing of Whiplash to take home the prize.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• 20,000 Days on Earth
• Citizenfour
• Stray Dog
• The Salt of the Earth
• Virunga

20,000 Days on Earth was such a unique documentary. My vote goes here, though Citizenfour was very enjoyable.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

• Force Majeure (Sweden)
• Ida (Poland)
• Leviathan (Russia)
• Mommy (Canada)
• Norte, the End of History (Philippines)
• Under the Skin (United Kingdom)

My bet here is between Under the Skin and Force Majeure. Force Majeure comes to the Oriental in Milwaukee soon, so I’ll be seeing that shortly.

Far from the Madding Crowd gets closer to screens

Another new trailer. This one for a period piece, Far from the Madding Crowd. This is baed on an 1874 British novel that has been made into a movie already a few times. But these sort of things are always ripe for remakes and reinterpretations, and are more like plays that give actors the chance to dabble in the characters. The recent Brideshead Revisited comes to mind for a similar tone. This one is from Thomas Vinterberg, a co-founder of the minimalist and austere Danish filmmaking movement Dogme-95. Think Lars von Trier for the most famous adherent to this movement. Vinterberg recently directed the terrific Mads Mikkelsen in The Hunt.

This remake features the gorgeous and talented Carey Mulligan. She is great in Never Let Me Go, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Drive, Shame, The Great Gatsby, and Inside Llewyn Davis. She’s been on quite a roll from 2008 to the present with the characters she’s been creating. Her potential romantic suitors in the film are played by Matthias Schoenaerts, a Belgian actor, who recently has been featured in Rust and Bone and The Drop, the wildly entertaining Michael Sheen who impresses me in everything he’s done and excels in stealing scenes with smaller roles in dozens of great films the last decade, and finally Tom Sturridge who is mostly on the London stages. I’m a sucker for these historical British romances, so sign me up. It’s slated for release on May 1, 2015.

And here are posters from previous versions in 1915 and 1967 respectively.

                                        

The Captive Trailer

Let’s just call this Trailer Tuesday. Third trailer posted today. This one for The Captive just stumbled across on Apple Trailers. I knew this movie was being made but somehow it slipped below my radar. This child kidnap thriller, seemingly a subgenre of its own by now, is directed by Armenian-Canadian Atom Egoyan. Egoyan is highly acclaimed in Canada and has received Academy Award nominations for The Sweet Hereafter back in 1997. He’s a critical darling on the festival circuit in Cannes and Toronto. This movie stars Ryan Reynolds, who is a bit of a dud in larger films, but has been in some acclaimed smaller films and gave a particularly solid performance in Buried. It also features Rosario Dawson and Mireille Enos (who’s role gives a similar vibe to her character in AMC and Netflix’s The Killing). Lastly, it has Kevin Durand, who is one of my favorite character actors these days after his strong supporting role as a baddie in Lost. He’s currently featured on FX’s The Strain and has given great performances in 3:10 to Yuma, Cosmopolis, and Fruitvale Station.

This movie gives reminds me of fellow Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve, 2013 film Prisoners. It also does seem similar  to the aforementioned The Killing tv series. This movie didn’t get the best of reviews early on the festival circuit, but those reviewers can have very different motivations than what we think of as normal critics. Both Egoyan and Villeneuve have films coming out next year too. The movie was released to our friends in the Great White North this September after opening at Cannes in May, but is supposed to be released on December 12th, but I’d bet that’s in NY/LA and this could get a roll out to a wider audience later if successful, otherwise wait for this to pop up on Netflix or On Demand.

Joe Wright’s take on Peter Pan

I’m of the opinion that Joe Wright is one of the better director’s working today. He’s had success in period pictures before with adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina, as well as his biggest hit with Atonement. One of my favorite works of his was the vastly underrated Hanna. Here he gives us Pan. This looks like a radically different take on the Peter Pan tale.  Hugh Jackman stars as Blackbeard (don’t remember him from previous versions), Garrett Hedlund plays a young Hook, and Rooney Mara (swoon) plays Tiger Lily. There’s a newcomer to play Peter, Levi Miller. I particularly enjoyed the music selected for the first part of the trailer the featured ticking clocks. It was very reminiscent of the score in Atonement that featured a typewriter in the music. This one is scheduled to come out on July 17, 2015.  This is the same date as Marvel’s Ant-Man. So expect Pan to budge to a different July date. The summer of 2015 is going to be absolutely packed.

Welcome to Jurassic World!

Well here it is. Our first big trailer of the holiday season for next summer’s blockbusters. We already had Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer premiere a few weeks back and it had a terrific reception. Now we have Jurassic World. Later this week we can get Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. This is a top notch trailer. It shows the scale has increased, if you can believe that, from the original three films. This is now a full fledged theme park with a Disney World level of people attending. Chris Pratt looks amazing again. No one could have predicted his rise to super star status from a supporting role as the chubby funny guy on Parks and Recreation. This coupled with Guardians of the Galaxy make him maybe the biggest blockbuster star right now. This is so awesome. Bryce Dallas Howard is a welcome addition to a tentpole movie like this as well.

But the thing that got me the most in this trailer is the play on John William’s original theme.  Jurassic Park introduced me to what Williams could do. I saw that movie as the second part of a double feature at an outdoor theater. After that I was obsessed with the theme. I remember recording it on a tape deck after playing it off my VHS copy. And replaying and replaying it. William’s has countless of iconic themes to large sweeping movies. Jurassic World has frequent J.J. Abrams and Pixar collaborator Michael Giacchino scoring the picture and I’m excited to see what he does with the music. The movie is directed by Colin Trevorrow who also made 2012’s Safety Not Guaranteed. This is a big jump for him but seeing a young director tackle this property is exciting for the hopefully fresh take. June 12, 2015 can’t come soon enough!

Mike Nichols (1931-2014)

Even when the greats get older it never gets easier to lose them. Today we lost one of the absolute best. Mike Nicholas was one of the most prolific entertainers of the last 60 years. He was one of the few EGOT winners. Only 12 people have won competitive awards at each of the four ceremonies. Being a movie and TV blog I’ll focus most on the Emmy and Oscar but his comedy work and his efforts on the stage are amazing if no because they occurred concurrently with his film career. He was simply one of the best directors to ever live. Perhaps no one began their directing career with such a bang as Nichols. The German born director’s (who fled the Nazis at age 7 to the US) first film was Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and it was nominated in every single eligible Oscar category there was. Every single one. 13 nominations and 7 wins. Nichols didn’t win. Such success and coming so close to recognition could be hard to deal with for anyone. Nichols wasn’t just anyone. He followed it up with on of the best films of the 1960s and probably of all time, The Graduate.

It was a career defining performance for a young Dustin Hoffman. The shot above, one of the most recreated and honored and parodied made him an icon. Nichols was a genius for this movie. The film was nominated for seven awards and only won one: Best Director. This was his only Oscar. Not only is this movie a critical darling and a classic now, but adjusted for inflation is the 21st highest grossing movie ever in America. It resonated in 1967 and still resonates today. It is timeless. If he only made these two films he would probably still be a legend, but of course he kept going. He has 22 films he directed. Which might not seem that prolific over a such a long career, but remember he was busy winning awards in other mediums as well. Films of note that I loved were Carnal Knowledge, Working Girl and Regarding Henry in 1991 (this was actually J.J. Abrams second screenplay and look where he is now). Then came one of my personal favorites in 1996 The Birdcage with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. I recently watched this film on account of William’s untimely death and will probably watch it again now because of Nichols. The comedy here is perfection. Perhaps one of the most overlooked films of the 90’s. Watch it along with The Graduate immediately.

He followed that up by coaxing a terrific performance out of Travolta as Bill Clinton in Primary Colors.  He then turned to HBO to direct Angels in America which seemingly began the tradition of great two-night TV movies on the premium channel. This is where he won his final Emmy. Where I was first introduced to him was in 2004 with Closer. Natalie Portman and Clive Owen knock it out of the park here and this is largely due to Nichols just understanding actors and how to get the best out of them. The film is great on its own but after having been exposed to Nichols late in his career made me devour all his previous great films as well. Because of this seeing Closer my freshman year of college at the now demolished University Square theater is one of the best film memories of that year. What would be his final film, Charlie Wilson’s War, came out in 2007. A sharp Aaron Sorkin script coupled with spot on performances by Tom Hanks and previous collaborator Julia Roberts. At the time I don’t know if he knew it would be his final film, but if so, what a way to go out. From 1967 to 2007, greatness for decades and decades. After this he would stage three more Broadway plays.

Nichols will be sorely missed, but we have his films to look back on. He left a large part of himself with us forever. He also left some talented family members, of note are his wife newscaster Diane Swayer and daughter, Rachel Nichols of ESPN and CNN Sports. Watching a movie of his tonight would be a great tribute to him and his family and I encourage everyone to do so. You have lots to choose from. Thanks for all that you did Mr. Nichols!

Dried Up Dystopian Western – Young Ones Review

Young Ones is almost completely devoid of a story despite it’s 100 minute running time. What seemed like a promising entry into the Sci-Fi Western genre, despite some flashes of quality, ultimately disappoints. It’s supposed to be some somber rumination on innocence lost, but no, this isn’t a good film. I was drawn in by a very visually arresting trailer and involvement by some quality actors. Michael Shannon’s involvement is usually a stamp of approval for any film or TV show. At times he was the best part of Boardwalk Empire. He also has great indie films to his credit, like Shotgun Stories, Revolutionary Road, Take Shelter and The Iceman. Even his General Zod in Man of Steel was a bright spot in an otherwise complete misfire. His character here might have been the most interesting out of the bunch, but as he’s only in less than half of the film it’s not enough of a saving grace.  You can tell that Shannon gives it his all, he goes full bore into every role. Nicholas Hoult’s villain’s motivations are as sparse as the landscape and there’s not much of a place for him to pull his performance from. He is best known for his role as Hank McCoy/Beast in X-Men: First Class and  X-Men: Days of Future Past. He did good work in those blockbuster appearances and I don’t think he’s necessarily to blame for the failings of this picture, but he just did not show up.

Elle Fanning (Somewhere, Twixt, Maleficent) plays Shannon’s daugther and Kodi Smit-McPhee his son. Their relationships are all strained, but very little explanation is given at the outset and no reveal occurs at the end. The world has suffered some sort of climate catastrophe and a mountain state in the USA is suffering severe draught. Shannon’s character has decided to tough it out. The landscape shots are dealt with nicely, but that’s not the challenge in a movie like this. It’s odd what parts of society are left standing and what has crumbled. The technology used is interesting at times but more could’ve been dealt with how they obtain water and the desperation for it. The film echoes superior films in the genre, namely Mad Max and the recent The Rover. It also calls to the Tatooine scenes in Star Wars and even now the earthbound scenes in Interstellar. It all reminds you of better movies and that you spent your time re-watching those instead. I assume this is where director Jake Paltrow, (yes, brother of Gwyneth Paltrow), pulled his inspiration, along with countless more tradition revenge based westerns. But he did not pull enough because the story is just too sparse. I am a fan of slower movies with less exposition, but this is just too much. Some of the edits used, a lot of slow fades, seemed jarring in the context. It reminds you how much editing now is just cuts from one thing to another. I could appreciate the use of fades more, but here it is just overused.

I think Paltrow’s aesthetics are on point and could serve him well in future movies. But sometimes a movie is released to iTunes alone for a reason. I had a credit so I thought I’d take a chance on this. It was interesting in places, but those places just weren’t explored enough. Paltrow has proven himself with directing episodes of Boardwalk Empire (presumably where he got Michael Shannon to sign onto this) so his talent is not to just be discarded. I’d like to see him work off another’s written material as it seems the screenplay was the biggest issue by far. Not a complete disaster, but not good. I usually pride myself on picking good movies to watch, but I missed the mark here.