Anita Ekberg 1931 – 2015

I didn’t see Anita Ekberg in many films. She passed away today in Rome at the age of 83. The only films she was in that I saw were La Dolce Vita, Boccaccio ’70, and Woman Times Seven. I didn’t need to see that many movies of her to know how great she was. She was a sex symbol of ’50s and ’60s cinema and understandably so. She was impossibly beautiful. Beautiful and not skinny like todays standard that is pushed on us by magazine photo shoots. Each era has its own standards of beauty but I think Anita Ekberg transcends that. I don’t have much to write about her unfortunately. The Swedish actress was a mainstay of Italian cinema and also Hollywood films that were lensed in Europe. The thing I know here most for, and indeed the world knows her most for, is the iconic scene in La Dolce Vita. That scene is where she and Marcello Mastroianni are frolicking about in the Trevi Fountain in Rome. It is one of the most recognizable scenes in all of world cinema. I loved that scene so much I even have a Lego set of that fountain. Federico Fellini is one of the best, most innovative and unique directors that ever put a story to screen. La Dolce Vita is one of his most famous films and is a great introduction to European Art Film of the early ’60s. And one of the reasons it is so great is because of this scene.  Let’s just take a moment to look at some stills of this scene and remember Anita Ekberg and other great women of cinema at the time who owned the screen with their amazing screen presence. RIP Anita Ekberg.

The Sublime Incoherence of Inherent Vice

Paul Thomas Anderson is a auteur who has complete control over his vision and his films. So the fact that I understood just a tiny sliver of what was going on in Inherent Vice was likely his intention. That or I’m secretly stupid, whichever. The movie is incredibly hard to keep track of, if there is anything to even keep track of. There are drug cartels, an evil syndicate of dentists, corrupt cops, shady real estate developments, and the hippie culture to wade through here. There are 40 some characters to keep track of, and many of the characters have nicknames on top of that. Josh Brolin alone has two separate personas on top of his straight laced cop character. The only saving grace for being able to cobble together any semblance of a story is that thankfully almost every scene features Phoenix interacting with the myriad of role players. So if the need for a coherent narrative and a clean story with emotional payoffs is something you require of a movie you can go ahead and skip this one. Luckily I don’t have such stringent demands. I just like to go along for the ride and get what it gives me. P.T. Anderson has never disappointed. Perhaps only Wes Anderson has such an untarnished filmography in modern times. Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, and The Master are all modern masterpieces. Myself I enjoy Magnolia and There Will Be Blood most, but I know others who swear by Boogie Nights. So if you are a little more adventurous in what you like to see, especially this time of year where the last of the awards contenders trickle out, then this movie is something you should seek out.

Joaquin Phoenix sure is a weird dude. Most of it seems to be an act for his public persona, but nonetheless super weird. He channels that weirdness here for yet another epic performance. His dope fiend, ‘Doc’ is even restrained, though silly at times. Phoenix seems to give his best work in performances for Anderson’s films or for the films of James Gray, such as We Own the Night, Two Lovers, and The Immigrant. However, his turn in Her by Spike Jonze is still my favorite. He could earn a nomination for this film for Best Actor but the competition is just too muddled at this point and some other of the more likely candidates will beat him out. My other favorite performance here was urned in by Josh Brolin (who I don’t always like) as he has some great scenes with Phoenix and they play off each other perfectly. Scenes in a Japanese restaurant where he orders pancakes and at Doc’s apartment where he eats a tray of marijuana are downright hilarious. Katherine Waterston was also a revelation. She’s had bit roles in plenty of good films, but this is the first one I’ve noticed her in. I think she should be a big start coming up. She’s angelic in her screen time and also a source of trouble.

This is definitely a film that is style over substance. But this could be one of the rare instances where the style is substance. The directorial choices that Anderson makes are cool as the other side of the pillow. I loved that he didn’t show the title of the movie until roughly 10 minutes in, and when he did he let it linger over the action of the film for about 10 seconds. Of course the movie had terrific late 60s and early 70s era music. The soundtrack never disappoints and is a driving force of the film. I also loved the editing employed here with some double exposures and fades. Editing during the sometimes obtuse dialogue scenes is also great and the shots feature many close ups. I’d have to say this is some of the best use of the close up in recent memory. He also has some great internal framing on the screen either peering through alleys or windows. The screen is often cluttered, just like the plot, but he is able to zero in on points of interest so that you can appreciate the detail of the scenery and sets but also not lose focus of the performances. Simply put P.T. Anderson is one of the best directors of this or any other age. I would never miss a chance to see one of his films right away.

So like I said I cannot recommend this film to just anyone, I imagine there will be plenty of people who walk away from this shaking their heads not getting what the film was trying to get across. The film presents a heightened view of early 70s L.A. and tells us that this city really isn’t a city. I’ve heard it described as a sprawl instead of a city. But here Anderson tells us that L.A. is really a state of mind, a vibe, that is inescapable. The film is probably a mix of Boogie Nights with a bit of The Big Lebowski sprinkled in and a dash of Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke. This is a noir film through and through, but with a sick sense of humor. So just embrace the craziness. Dive right in and enjoy.

Shia LaBeouf has an Elastic Heart

I had only heard of the artist Sia from her first music video of her song ‘Chandelier’ and the innovative interpretive dancing in it. The dancing is done by Maddie Ziegler in that video and she is in the video here for ‘Elastic Heart’ as well in the same costume and wig. She is supposedly a stand in for the singer Sia. The song is pretty catchy and shows how good pop music can be these days. This is my second post about a music video and in my first one I said I wouldn’t post them often, but here I am again. This is really just a great short film. The framing is spot on. The editing is thoughtful; choosing when to go to close-up and when to shoot inside versus outside the cage. The harsh pure white lighting, both from the sun and fluorescents above. But the real reason this shows up here is because Shia LaBeouf makes an appearance. He gets shit on a lot by the mainstream media, but I’m a fan of his acting. Sure he’s had some real stinkers like the Transformers series and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. However, I think he’s been great in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Lawless, Nymphomaniac, and Fury. His performance in the 5 minute music video is on par with the efforts he gave in those films. Since he can’t speak and the only sound is the music his performance is exaggerated and evokes that of silent cinema days. Yet it is also gentle in its severity. I’m all for him making bolder choices in what he wants to do. I know he can seem a bit crazy, but I don’t care about his personal life. Whatever he’s doing is getting results on screen. This year he has a film called Man Down coming out in late October. I’ll be adding that to my filmgoing calendar for sure.

Producer and Writers Guild Nominees for 2014

Some of my favorite awards given are from the various Guilds in Hollywood. The ideas of guilds is an old thing from various occupations in order to teach people a craft. That sort of went to the wayside in the modern age with the advent of mass production and unions. These might be ‘guilds’ in name only, but in this sense the recognition they give members offers a really great look at the awards climate. The Producers Guild offers up the best pictures and the Writers Guild the best original and adapted screenplays. All great choices here and this should be a real bellwether for the Oscars along with some outliers that can only get nominated in the more closed space that these specialized awards can give.

PGA Nominees:

AMERICAN SNIPER

BIRDMAN

BOYHOOD

FOXCATCHER

GONE GIRL

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

THE IMITATION GAME

NIGHTCRAWLER

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

WHIPLASH

Here I can only see one film possibly be left out of the Oscars in favor of another picture, Nightcrawler. The PGA nominated 10 films and the Oscars can do that as well, but it’s not a hard and fast rule. Last year they nominated just nine. If these end up being the final slate of films for the Oscars though I can’t really see any complaints. Perhaps Selma should be nominated in its stead, but I’ve yet to see that film. I hope Nightcrawler sticks around because it’s such a unique, quirky and even sinister film that deserves recognition. The more people that see it the better.

WGA Nominees – –

Original Screenplay:

WES ANDERSON The Grand Budapest Hotel

DAMIEN CHAZELLE Whiplash

E. MAX FRYE and DAN FUTTERMAN Foxcatcher

DAN GILROY Nightcrawler

RICHARD LINKLATER Boyhood

These are the usual suspects this year for the Original Screenplay category. Linklater’s strength of the near perfect Boyhood wasn’t the screenplay though and he’ll get awards elsewhere. I think Wes Anderson wins because he’s been criminally overlooked in prior years or newcomer Damien Chazelle for wicked smart Whiplash.

Adapted Screenplay:

GILLIAN FLYNN Gone Girl

JAMES GUNN & NICOLE PERLMAN Guardians of the Galaxy

JASON HALL American Sniper

NICK HORNBY Wild

GRAHAM MOORE The Imitation Game

The biggest surprise here is the recognition for Guardians of the Galaxy. No doubt the film had a strong script, stronger than any other Marvel film. Still though how much of the success of that film can be attributed to the script I don’t know. The film had Gunn’s voice as the director and maybe the script was that strong to keep Marvel from tinkering too much. I hope that’s the case. It would be really fun to see this movie get Oscar recognition instead of just all the prestige films we expect. Still my choice would be Gone Girl. I really loved that film and the writer of the novel adapted it herself to the screen. It was very well done. American Sniper could be a contender too, but that film isn’t out until January 16th around here. Stay up to date on who wins all these awards as we find out the results in late January and early February, it should be a great awards season.

Star Wars meets The Raid 2

Awesome, awesome news! Some of the best martial artists and actors from The Raid 2 are being added to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. You haven’t seen The Raid 2? Stop what you’re doing right now and go watch the first film in the series. Good, ok, you’re done with that. Now go and watch the second. The Raid 2 is probably the best action film this year and one of the best foreign films of the year as well. It’s a gory, extreme and intense ride made by people who really care about the end product as a whole and not just the fights. That said, the fight choreography is absolutely insane.

It’s a bit late in the game to be getting casting news on this as photography wrapped back in November, but with things as tight lipped as can be I suppose it is not too much of a stretch to only be hearing of this now. The star of both The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2: Berandal, Iko Uwais is one of the actors that is going to be featured, along with Cecep Arif Rahman who battled him in the end fight of The Raid 2, and Yayan Ruhian another great martial artist from the film. Hopefully we’ll be seeing some terrific hand to hand combat in the new Star Wars. Or maybe they’ll translate their skills into epic lightsaber battles. Remember that Ray Park who played Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace was a martial artist by trade.  And whatever your thoughts about the prequels everyone loves Darth Maul.

National Society of Film Critics Best of 2014

First off, just know that my top 2014 picks will be coming about halfway through this month as soon as I see some final contenders like Selma, Inherent Vice, A Most Violent Year and American Sniper. But those lucky film critics have already been able to see everything so most best of 2014 lists are already completed. Here is one of the later best of’s done by the National Society of Film Critics. They sometimes go outside the box and pick some foreign films and lesser known or lauded performances to set themselves apart. I still think Boyhood will be topping most lists, but I like others that highlight films people haven’t seen as much or considered as the ‘best’ to shine a light on them and get others to see them and appreciate them. With that said here is what the NSFC thought was the best of the year.

Best Picture: GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE 3D

Runners-up: BOYHOOD, BIRDMAN, MR. TURNER

Bold choice to pick Godard’s little seen experimental 3D Film. This will actually be playing at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago starting Jan 16 so I may just have to make a trip for it. Godard hasn’t been popular in decades and his films are more experimental or even political rather than narrative at this point. And this film will only be shown in 3D. There aren’t that many art house cinemas that are even equipped for 3D and even if they are they might not want to take a chance on this. It looks like the old master hasn’t lost a step. The runners up are much more conventional and popular choices, but I liked the nod to Godard here. He made some of the best movies of the 60s so he deserve all the respect.

Best Director: RICHARD LINKLATER for Boyhood

Runners-up: JEAN-LUC GODARD for Goodbye to Language, MIKE LEIGH for Mr. Turner

Not sure that I agree Leigh is really up there this year for Best Director but Linklater is the winner here and we should focus on his huge 12 year spanning achievement that was Boyhood. If Godard is an old master then Linklater has become a master of the craft in his own right with this groundbreaking film.

Best Actor: TIMOTHY SPALL for Mr. Turner

Runners-up: TOM HARDY for Locke, RALPH FIENNES for The Grand Budapest Hotel, JOAQUIN PHOENIX for Inherent Vice

These performances are unlikely to be recognized at the Oscars, perhaps Phoenix has a chance and I hope Spall does too. I love when a smaller character actor like Spall is given a starring role. He was terrific as the titular character in Mr. Turner.  Well deserved recognition here.

Best Actress: MARION COTILLARD for The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night

Runners-up: JULIANNE MOORE for Still Alice, SCARLETT JOHANSSON for Lucy and Under the Skin

I like that Cotillard is recognized for two films as is Johansson. I think Moore will walk away with more awards this year though. Her performance is on a hard subject, Alzheimer’s and will just be more popular with Hollywood awards voters. I do love what Cotillard and Johansson did this year, perhaps if the Oscars recognized multiple performances for a winner, but oh well.

Supporting Actor: J.K. SIMMONS for Whiplash

Runners-up: MARK RUFFALO for Foxcatcher, EDWARD NORTON for Birdman

Nothing really to say here. Despite this being a notoriously difficult category to choose and with many great performances this year Simmons really set himself that far apart. Easy win.

Supporting Actress: PATRICIA ARQUETTE for Boyhood

Runners-up: AGATA KULESZA for Ida, RENE RUSSO for Nightcrawler

I think Arquette should win this award, but I really like Russo getting recognition for her role in Nightcrawler. Gyllenhaal dominated that film so its easy to forget that it may have been her best performance ever.

Screenplay: WES ANDERSON for The Grand Budapest Hotel

Runners-up: ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU for Birdman, PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON for Inherent Vice

Notice how all those recognized here are also directors. No coincidence. Just a way to give them all more of a spotlight that they may not have gotten elsewhere. All very deserving, but I’d like to see some dedicates screenwriters get some of that spotlight too.

Nonfiction: CITIZENFOUR 

Runners-up: NATIONAL GALLERY, THE OVERNIGHTERS

I think this is an easy category to pick as well. Citizenfour seems to be running away with the best documentary field. I really enjoyed that movie and it was as heart pounding as any thriller.

Cinematography: DICK POPE for Mr. Turner

Runners-up: DARIUS KHONDJI for The Immigrant, FABRICE ARAGNO for Goodbye to Language

Mr. Turner was a beautiful film and I believe Pope should get a nomination. I liked how The Immigrant looked better however. And there were many other films that I think need recognition. Perhaps too many to list this year. A very strong category.

Neill Blomkamp’s Alien Movie Art

Well this is a huge surprise and huge let down at the same time. Director Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium, and Chappie) was apparently working on a secret Alien movie project. He announced that on his Instagram yesterday. He also announced that the project won’t be moving forward for whatever reason. So he decided to share with his fans some of the production art that was going on behind the scenes.This looks like it would’ve made an amazing movie that brought back Sigourney Weaver and Bill Paxton. I wonder how this would’ve worked into Prometheus (I think I was the only one who enjoyed that film) and it’s proposed sequel tentatively titled Paradise. It seems like this was a dream project for Blomkamp that he never really pitched to Fox or that was just in the early stages before he moved on to something else. While it’s a big disappointment that we won’t have Blomkamp working in the Alien world it’s not such a sad thing because his original work is so good and I want him coming up with new worlds and new stories. Elysium wasn’t the best but District 9 was a game changer and Chappie looks like it will be truly amazing. Can’t wait to see what he decides to make after that.  Anyway … here’s the artwork.