#Ethan Hawke absolutely rules in this role | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

myhauntedsalem · 3 years

Photo

Ghosts of Hollywood

Marilyn Monroe The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard is said to be the current residence of several ghosts of popular film stars. Marilyn Monroe, the glamorous and funny star of such pictures as Some Like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, was a frequent guest of the Roosevelt at the height of her popularity. And although she died in her Brentwood home, her image has been seen on several occasions in a full-length mirror that once hung in her poolside suite. The mirror has been relocated to the hotel's lower level by the elevators.

Montgomery Clift Another respected star who died before his time, Montgomery Clift, was a four-time Oscar nominated actor who is best known for his roles in A Place in the Sun, From Here to Eternity and Judgment at Nuremberg. His ghost has also been seen at the Roosevelt. According to some of the hotel's staff, Clift's spirit haunts room number 928. Clift stayed in that suite in 1953, pacing back and forth, memorizing his lines for From Here to Eternity. Loud, unexplained noises have been heard coming from the empty suite, and its phone is occasionally found mysteriously off the hook.

Perhaps it's fitting that the Hollywood Roosevelt should be the stirring place of celebrity ghosts since it was the site of the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. In fact, the Blossom Ballroom, where the ceremony was held, has an unexplained cold spot - a circular area measuring 30 inches in diameter that remains about 10 degrees colder than the rest of the room.

Harry Houdini Houdini is best known as a magician and escape artist, of course, but at the height of his fame he was also drawn to Hollywood, where he made a handful of silent films from 1919 to 1923. With such titles as The Man from Beyond and Haldane of the Secret Service (which he also directed), the films were not regarded well enough to give him much of a Hollywood career. Houdini's interest in the occult was well known, and although he earned a reputation as a masterful debunker of séances, he earnestly sought contact with those who have passed on to the other side. Shortly before his death, Houdini made a pact with his wife Bess that if he could, he would return and make contact with her from the other side. Perhaps he truly has attempted to return. Some claim to have seen the ghost of the great Houdini walking around in the home he owned on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in the Hollywood Hills. Film historians Laurie Jacobson and Marc Wanamaker, in their book Hollywood Haunted, dispute this story, saying that "Houdini most likely never even set foot in the Laurel Canyon mansion he is said to haunt."

Clifton Webb Clifton Webb was a very popular star of the 1940s and '50s, earning two Oscar nominations for his roles in Laura and The Razor's Edge. He may be best known for his portrayal of Mr. Belvedere in a series of films. It's not too often that a ghost haunts the place in which the person is buried, but this seems to be the case for Webb. His ghost has been seen at the Abbey of the Psalms, Hollywood Memorial Cemetery, where his body is interred. But it seems to be a restless spirit, as his ghost has also been encountered at his old home on Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills.

Thelma Todd Thelma Todd was a hot young star in the 1930s. She was featured in a number of hit comedies with the likes of The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, and Buster Keaton. But that all ended in 1935 when Todd was found dead in her car, which was parked above the café she owned on the Pacific Coast Highway. Strangely, her death was ruled an accidental suicide, but many suspected murder and a coverup by powerful Hollywood figures. The building that once housed the café is now owed by Paulist Productions, and employees have reportedly witnessed the starlet's ghost descending the stairs.

Thomas Ince Ince is considered one of the visionary pioneers of American movies. He was one of the most respected directors of the silent era, best known, perhaps, for his westerns starring William S. Hart. He partnered with other early Hollywood giants such as D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett, and founded Culver Studios, which later became MGM. Ironically, Ince's death overshadowed his film legacy. He died aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924, and although the official record shows the cause of death as heart failure, the hot rumor is that he was shot by Hearst in a fit a jealousy over Hearst's wife, Marion Davies. Ince's ghost - as well as several other ghostly figures - have been seen in the lot that was once Culver Studios. Film crew members have seen the specter of a man matching Ince's description on several occasions; in one instance, when the workers tried to speak to the spirit, it turned and disappeared through a wall.

Ozzie Nelson Ghosts and hauntings are the last thing that come to mind when you think of the perpetually cheerful Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The couple, with their real-life sons Ricky and David, were stars of the long-running sitcom "Ozzie and Harriet," noted for its good-natured, gentle humor. Yet poor Ozzie doesn't seem to be as contented in the afterlife. Family members, it is said, have seen Ozzie's ghost in the family's old Hollywood home, and it always appears to be in a somber mood. Perhaps he's unhappy about how another Ozzy and his family have gained notoriety on TV.

George Reeves From 1953 to 1957, George Reeves was TV's Superman. Reeves had been around Hollywood for a while, playing bit parts in such films as Gone with the Wind and dozens of B-movies, but it was "The Adventures of Superman" on TV that brought him fame. Reeves died of a gunshot at his home in 1959. The official cause of death was suicide, but that conclusion has been hotly disputed, with some believing that Reeves was murdered. Whether it was suicide or murder, Reeves ghost has been seen in his Beverly Hills home. A couple claims to have seen the ghost of Reeves - decked out in his Superman costume - materialize in the bedroom where he died, after which it slowly faded away. Others believe that Reeves succumbed to the "Superman curse," in which those associated with the fictional character over the years allegedly have met with disaster or death. But is there really a curse?

More Celebrity Ghosts

Rudolph Valentino - This silent film heartthrob has been seen in the bedroom and stables of his old Hollywood home. Jean Harlow - The spirit of this blonde bombshell is said to haunt the bedroom of her home on North Palm Drive, where her husband allegedly used to beat her. Mary Pickford - This legend of the silent era - actress, writer and producer - was co-founder of United Artists with her husband Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. Comic Buddy Rogers, who lived in the house Pickford once owned, saw her ghost appear in a white ruffled dress. Grace Kelly - Princess Stephanie of Monaco believes that the ghost of her mother, Grace Kelly, helped her write a song from the spirit world.

Celebrities Who Have Seen Ghosts

Nicholas Cage - This Oscar-winning actor (Leaving Las Vegas) refused to stay in uncle Francis Ford Coppola's home after seeing a ghost in the attic. (Cage was also cast as Superman in director Tim Burton's film project, which was never made.) Keanu Reeves - The star of The Matrix films and Devil's Advocate was just a kid in New Jersey when he saw a ghost that took the form of a white double-breasted suit come into his room one night. He wasn't imagining it; his nanny saw the phantom, too. Neve Campbell - She's been in more than her share of paranormal-themed movies (The Craft, Scream), but she's had real-life encounters as well. A woman was murdered in the house she now lives in, and friends have seen her ghost walking around. Matthew McConaughey - This popular actor (Contact) says he freaked out the first time he saw the ghost of an old woman, whom he calls "Madame Blue," floating around his house. Tim Robbins - Robbins, who was nominated for an Oscar in Mystic River, didn't see ghosts, but strongly felt their presence when he moved into an apartment in 1984. Following his instinct, he moved out the next day. Hugh Grant - British romantic comedy lead Hugh Grant (Love Actually) says he and friends have heard the wailing and screaming of some tormented spirit in his Los Angeles home. He even speculates it might be the ghost of a former resident - Bette Davis. Dan Aykroyd - The Ghostbusters star (and Oscar-nominated for Driving Miss Daisy) has long had a fascination with the paranormal. He believes his home, once owned by Cass Elliot of The Mamas and The Papas, is haunted. "A ghost certainly haunts my house," he said. "It once even crawled into bed with me. The ghost also turns on the Stairmaster and moves jewelry across the dresser. I'm sure it's Mama Cass because you get the feeling it's a big ghost." Sting - Rock star Sting (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and his wife Trudie have seen ghosts in their home. "I was absolutely terrified," he said. "I now believe those things are out there, but I have no explanation for them." Jean Claude Van Damme - The Belgian action star (Timecop), also known as "Muscles from Brussels," swears he saw a ghost in his bathroom mirror while he was brushing his teeth. Richard Dreyfuss - He won an Oscar for The Goodbye Girl, but at one time had a cocaine problem. Visions of a ghost, he said, helped him kick the habit. "I had a car crash in the late 1970s," Dreyfuss said, "when I was really screwed up, and I started seeing these ghostly visions of a little girl every night. I couldn't shake this image. Every day it became clearer and I didn't know who the hell she was. Then I realized that kid was either the child I didn't kill the night I smashed up my car, or it was the daughter that I didn't have yet. I immediately sobered up." Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman - This Hollywood couple was forced to flee their "dream home" in Sneden's Landing, N.Y. when it became all too apparent that it was haunted. They still are reluctant to talk about their frightening encounters. Belinda Carlisle - This pop singer and founding member of The Go-Gos, who appeared in Swing Shift and She's Having a Baby, says she saw a "misty shape" hovering over her as she lay in bed one night. She also says that when she was 17, while nodding off to sleep in a chair in her parents' home, she levitated and had an out-of-body experience. Elke Sommers - This German-born actress, who appeared in the 1966 film The Oscar, claims to have seen the ghost of a middle-aged man in a white shirt in her home in North Beverly Hills. Guests in her home have also seen the specter. So much paranormal activity was reported in the house that the American Society for Psychical Research was brought in, and which verified the unexplained events. The severely haunted house was bought and sold more than 17 times since Sommers vacated it, and many have reported ghostly phenomena. Paul McCartney - Ex-Beatle and Oscar-nominated songwriter ("Live and Let Die") says that he, George Harrison and Ringo Starr sensed the playful spirit of John Lennon when they were recording Lennon's song, "Free As A Bird" in 1995. "There were a lot of strange goings-on in the studio - noises that shouldn't have been there and equipment doing all manner of weird things. There was just an overall feeling that John was around."

#Ghosts of Hollywood #paranormal #ghost and hauntings #ghost and spirits

12 notes · View notes

mypearchive · 3 years

Photo

PHILIP ETTINGER  in HBO Series I Know This Much Is True

 PHOTOGRAPHY Mark Squires FASHION EDITOR Deborah Ferguson  Interview by Sydney Nash

 Philip Ettinger is an American actor, whose credits include starring alongside Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried in “First Reformed” and “The Evening Hour,” which debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Ettinger’s most recent project is HBO’s “I Know This Much is True,” helmed by director Derek Cianfrance and starring Mark Ruffalo. Based on Wally Lamb’s acclaimed novel by the same name, it tells the story of the complicated relationship of two brothers (twins), one of which lives with paranoid schizophrenia. Ruffalo stars as the older iteration of the twins, while Ettinger inhabits the two characters in their youth. ContentMode spoke to the actor about the limited series and arguably, his best performance yet.

 Q: Before we dive into questions about I Know This Much Is True, I must first say, bravo. This show is visceral, heart-wrenching, and achingly beautiful. It was a very emotional experience watching, I must say. I’m curious as to the type of feedback you’ve been hearing from viewers and the people around you about the show.

 A: Thanks for saying that. This project is so close to my heart. It felt super emotional shooting it… it’s been really special. You know we’re going through such a fucking crazy time right now. You make a thing and have that whole experience of shooting it, and then you never really know how it might connect in the time of when it’s finally released. When I’m working on something, I’m so much in the state of not even thinking of it as being a product. Then, when it’s time for it to come out, it’s a bit of a mind fuck and scary. And this in particular was such a vulnerable experience. Everyone gave so much of their heart to it. It’s being released in a really crazy and heavy time, and the show deals with a lot of real and heavy things. But what’s been amazing is the people who have reached out to me to tell me how important it’s been to them. And how much of an emotional balm it’s been. People have vulnerably shared with me how this show has made them feel less alone in their own unique situations and emotions. Honestly, it’s been fucking beautiful to see how much we all can relate and share in the really difficult work of being a human being.

 We’re all connected. It’s been a nice reminder for me personally in this isolating time of quarantine.

 Q: Tell me about how this role came about. I know you’ve been a long admirer of Mark Ruffalo’s work, so this must have been a dream project.

 A: The whole thing just feels kind of kismet. One day, I get a random email from a friend of mine who was going in to audition for young Dessa (younger Kathryn Hahn). This was before I really knew anything about it. She forwarded me her appointment with the script and said, “You should be young Dominick/Thomas.” All of young Dessa’s scenes were with young Dominick/Thomas, so I was able to see what it was like.

 I’ve always looked up to Mark and have been compared to him in the past. I even wrote him a letter when I was in acting school and doing This Is Our Youth, which was the play he did in New York, and I expressed to him how much I connect to his work. He was doing Awake and Sing! on Broadway at the time and I went to see the play and gave him the letter. On top of that, I grew up with a brother who dealt with schizophrenic symptoms. I felt a really strong purpose to tell this story as real and accurately as possible. It’s rare when it happens, but sometimes things come along where it’s much deeper than it just being a job. The purpose for doing it is so strong and instinctual that I’m able to move through any fears or insecurities to do it. I went into this audition with a really strong sense that I was the person who was meant to help tell this story.

 Q: Did you and Mark ever prep for the role together? I’ve read that you and him took a long walk around the Upper West Side before shooting started.

 A: Yeah we did. The way it worked was Mark shot all of Dominick first and then took a month and a half off to gain about 50 pounds in order to play Thomas. During that time off is when I shot most of my stuff. We would text back and forth with ideas and before shooting began we hung out and read each other’s scenes together. Then Mark went off to shoot his Dominick side. Derek Cianfrance our director showed me a bunch of Mark’s dailies for me to kind of get a sense of what Mark was doing with Dominick, but when it came to Thomas, I was the first one to introduce what he’d be like. It was fucking scary because I wanted to be as instinctual as possible and to make my own unique choices. At the same time, I didn’t want to paint Mark into a corner because he’d have to evolve whatever I was doing into older Thomas.

About a week before I went to shoot, I met Mark on the Upper West Side at a diner. We talked for hours. I had been waiting in the wings for months, getting ready to take over when he took his break. I can be a pretty obsessive thinker, so at that point, I was pretty much bursting holding these two distinctly different characters inside of me, ready to express myself and let my Dominick and Thomas out. At the same time, I was absolutely terrified because the thing I’d been obsessing about and literally having intense symbolic dreams about was finally going to happen. Mark encouraged me to make it my own, and on the way out of the diner, I started to tell him about these crazy and intense dreams I was having that were kind of informing me who these guys were. He said, “I’ve been having dreams too. Let’s take a walk,” and then we just walked like 50 city blocks. We were just meshing our energies, ideas and physicalities, as well as sharing stories and quickly connecting on a really vulnerable level to each other. We were having very similar dreams. It was crazy and beautiful and a night I’ll always remember. Talking about it now makes me yearn to get back into more collaborative experiences again.

 Q: If you don’t mind me asking, how emotionally intense was performing the roles of both Dominick and Thomas? Did you find one character more challenging than the other and were you able to separate the two performances, or were they always informing the other?

A: It’s hard to really describe it using words. The whole thing was one big instinctual and emotional experiment. It was kind of impossible to anticipate the best way to make it all work.

First day was completely trial and error. Mark shot each character separately with a lot of time apart, but I was having to do every scene going back and forth. The whole thing was very out of body and cathartic. Or more like in my body and out of my head.

 It’s interesting, I’ve been doing therapy in quarantine and have worked a bit with childhood regression exercises and going back to a time when I was four or five. I’ll go back on impulse and really connect to the feelings I was feeling without too much awareness of social rules and insecurities and ideas of how I needed to be and act. Then, doing the same thing, but going back to the thirteen year old version of me, who at that point had been knocked around a bit and was very insecure and shut down and scared and had less trust and freedom of emotion. Both of them are very alive inside of me. Shooting every scene, I’d be Dominick and feel really repressed and kind of locked up and angry and insecure in my feelings. Then when I’d switch over to Thomas, I got to rip off the shield and filter that I’ve created to personally protect myself in my life and just feel my feelings and pain and fear and anger and fully be on my impulse in a safe environment. It was freeing and painful and blissful, and all of the feelings. I gave myself permission not to judge myself. Then, I’d go back into Dominick and the shield went back up. It was a lot of back and forth of that.

 Honestly, it’s impossible to really explain it in retrospect. It was like one giant therapeutic experiment. It definitely changed me and gave me some different perspectives.

 Q: Did you ever feel like your acting influenced Mark’s performance or vice versa?

 A: It felt like one ongoing collaboration. We were taking from each other from the preparation through the shooting. But there was an ease to it all, which just shows how generous Mark is as a human being and artist. He didn’t have to invite me in the way he did. I’m very grateful for that.

 Q: What was it like working with director Derek Cianfrance? Did Derek allow you to bring your own experiences and POV to your characters?

 A: Derek is my emotional soul brother. The guy has so much fucking heart and just sets up an atmosphere of trust and love and challenges you to go deeper than any ideas you may have and to find the truth of every moment. He wants you to bring all of your heart and soul to the part. He’s done so much work and has thought so deeply about the characters and the scenes, but then challenges and almost expects you to surprise him. It’s all about, as he says, ‘trying to capture Halley’s Comet in every scene.’ Something that’s straight from impulse and truth and surprising and spontaneous and can never be exactly recreated. It’s all a big experiment and diving into the truth of every dynamic and relationship.

That’s exactly the way I love to work, so it was just a fucking dream to play like that. 

But in order to work at that level, you need to have such trust in the leader and it needs to be such a safe environment. With Derek, I just felt so safe.

 Q: Tell me a little bit about how filming two characters on-screen at the same time worked. How much of what the audience sees when Dominick and Thomas are together is CGI?

 A: It’s crazy. The editing is incredible. Other than a few connecting shots, many of the scenes the two brothers are never in the same shot together. I think Derek wanted to make it feel as natural and un-CGI as possible, so he relied on the performances to connect the dots. The response has been that it feels pretty seamless and not a distraction, which is great to hear. We all definitely tried to avoid the trick of it all and really cared about making each brother his own three dimensional being.

 Q: The show was shot on film as compared to digitally. What’s the difference that shooting on film makes to the final product and the audience experience?

 A: It’s awesome. It was my first time shooting on film. There’s a heightened intensity to it all, because there’s a limited amount of time before the film rolls out. It’s exciting. I tend to work best and am able to commit more when adrenaline is a little higher and there’s a little more pressure. There’s also something more tactile about it all. It feels more activated and felt like we were shooting a movie instead of a TV show.

 Q: I’ve read in other interviews where you’ve spoken about how your relationship with your own brother (who has a history with schizophrenic symptoms) influenced your performance. Can you tell me a little bit about this (if you don’t mind sharing)? How important was authenticity to you?

 A: My brother is doing great now. It’s amazing. But there was a long time when I was growing up where he was suffering. I watched him struggle through a lot of thoughts and emotions inside of his head. On the flip side, he was probably the most honest, empathetic and connected-to-the-energy-around-him person that I knew. And has deeply affected how I see things in a really special way. I also watched my parents try and understand and protect and deal with it and help. And do the best that they possibly could under the circumstances. They were amazing. But I also watched them struggle and make questionable decisions in order to help in the only ways they knew how. I was also having my own experience.

 What was so important to me about this show was to be able to express all sides of the situation and the nuance to it all. Often, when there’s mental illness in a family, everyone is doing the best that they can with the tools that they have. Sometimes the “crazy” one is the most tapped in and actually present and intuitive and available. Sometimes the ones, who on the surface have their shit together, have no idea what they are doing.

 I think this was a way for me to express myself and better understand what repressed feelings I had having a brother with mental illness. One thing’s for certain: I don’t think anyone involved was interested in anything but navigating the truths and realities of these situations.

 Q: Based on your own experiences with your brother, the director Derek added in a scene to one of the episodes. Can you elaborate on what this scene was?

 A: Yeah, I told Derek a bunch of stories about me and my brother. There was a period of time when he was around 22 and in the midst of a mental break. I was around 9, and we shared a room. Some of the stories were scary, but a lot of them were really funny and beautiful. I observed my brother be so present and tapped in to the energy and people around him. Sometimes his thoughts would get away from him, but almost always, the impulse of the thought and the intuition he would have was so on point. It made me feel like he was often more present and truthful and sane than so many other people around me who seemed to be repressing, overlooking and complying to the rules of society and the pressures of fitting in and saying and doing the right and popular thing. I felt like he really took me in and saw me better than anyone else.

 I told Derek about how often my brother’s energy felt so expansive and truthful to his feelings that it would be infectious to the people around him and magical to me. And then Derek added a scene in episode 4 where Thomas is feeling a lot of emotions and the best way he’s able to express himself is through unadulterated dance. It’s a moment that Dominick watches on and knows he’d never be able to be so free in his emotions to express himself like that. [Derek] told me he added that scene inspired by the stories I told him about my brother.

 Q: At its core, the show is about the relationship between two brothers, but the show touches on so many different enduring themes. What about the story speaks most strongly to you?

 A: We’re all trying to get through life in the best ways that we know how. We all have unique family situations, life expectations, and struggles and pains on different levels. The show and Wally Lamb’s novel just touches on what it’s like to be human and the possibility for growth and change when it may feel like it’s impossible. As he says, “But what are our stories if not the mirrors we hold up to our fears.” And another quote that seems to resonate more than ever: “With destructions comes renovations.”

 Q: You must be very proud of this show and the reception it’s receiving. How did you feel seeing the finished product?

 A: It feels a little surreal to watch. It’s hard for me to fully take in my own stuff or to judge it good and bad, but what I will say is that there’s so much heart in the show and I’m forever proud and grateful to be a part of it. And to watch Mark and Rosie and Kathryn and John and Melissa and Archie and everyone else and feel so connected to them. And to have my family watch it and have it inspire new conversations between us. It feels very healing in a lot of ways.

 Q: Moving forward, what types of roles are you hoping to pursue? What’s the most important aspect of a project to you?

 A: I don’t really know. I want to continue to work with people who inspire me and to feel a purpose with what I’m doing beyond ego and expectation. And to keep doing stuff that really scares me and to ultimately just find things that will help me evolve and gain some different perspectives. To continue to do things that make me feel connected and out of my own head.

I’ve been lucky to be a part of a few things where everyone involved is connected and on the same page and doing it for the right reasons, and the material is strong and every once in a while, when all those stars are aligned you can have moments of transcendence absent of ego and fear and judgement and you’re just riding on your impulse and intuition and heart. I want to keep chasing that.

 Q: With the world in the midst of a pandemic and social unrest, what are you most hopeful for?

 A: How connected we all really are even though the world feels divided right now. There’s so much pain and fear and anger right now, but there’s also a lot of change happening. And beauty. If there’s any silver lining to all of this loss, pain and suffering, I think it’s that it’s forced us to be more present with our families and loved ones. And maybe break some habits that we’d never be able to break on our own. And slowed things down a bit. And forced us all to look inward and to take a pause from all the fast and constant external validation so many of us think we want or need. I’ve witnessed thousands of people coming together to support each other and to stand up to injustice. This time has been traumatic on many levels for everyone, and I’m sure there will be long term effects of that, but also I’m excited to see the positive effects and positive changes this time may cause. In a way, it felt like we needed a bit of a reset and recalibration to really make some changes.

Quick Qs

 Q: If you weren’t an actor, what would you be?

A: Maybe a therapist? I’m endlessly fascinated in why people do what they do and how they do it. And don’t do things. And why. And the relationship between our conscious and unconscious bodies and minds. And the potential of evolving our thought patterns past or through our blocks and pain and traumas. I’ve also spent a lot of time working one-on-one with autistic kids and adults, so maybe that. Something to do with human behavior and connection and growth and expression. Or if I was taller and more athletically gifted, it would be pretty damn cool to be an NBA basketball player.

 Q: Role model?

 A: Literally anyone who’s able to get through life with continued kindness, open-heartedness, positivity and evolution.

Q: Pet peeve?

A: People giving advice to other people based on what they would want or how they would act or react, instead of taking in the other person’s perspective.

Q: Most slept-on movie?

 A: This is not particularly slept on, but this conversation and question is making me think of The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

 Q: The last thing you binged?

 A: I’m a novice TV watcher. This past year and during quarantine is the first time I’ve really caught up on shows. Recently I’ve gone through Mad Men, The Affair – Maura Tierney’s so good in that. I just watched Normal People. I thought Paul Mescal was such a subtle and good actor in that. Oh, and In Treatment. I love In Treatment. I just heard that they may be bringing it back, which is exciting to hear. The nuances of two people in a room talking for a long time really does it for me.

 Q: Dream role?

 A: Hamlet? Even though that scares the shit out of me and seems to be a cliche’d answer for an actor my age.

Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

 A: To try easier. It’s not necessarily the amount of time spent working, but more the quality and headspace of that time.  Also, to stop trying to control the outcome of what and how I think I want something to go. Because guaranteed it won’t go exactly as planned and trying to force what I think is the best thing is quantifying and limiting the possibilities of what it could be.  And something that I saved that Mark actually said to me:  Hang tough, stay real, make your shots count when you get them and no matter what, keep moving. Just keep moving.

 _______________________________________________ 

For remaining photographs from the Content Mode article, scroll down to the next post.

 (I am archiving this entire article here, because I have no idea whether or not the Content Mode site will continue to host the Ettinger interview in the future, as more is published there in time. No copyright infringement is intended.)

#philip ettinger #i know this much is true #iktmit #mark ruffalo #derek cianfrance #first reformed

7 notes · View notes

mtvswatches · 4 years

Text

Underrated rom-coms that I absolutely adore *chef’s kiss*

In no particular order. Click the titles to see the trailers.

The Truth About Cats and Dog - Uma Thurman and Janeane Garofalo star in this 90s gem. Janeane’s a radio host and vet who falls for one of her callers after helping him deal with his dog. Uma is her neighbor and ends up impersonating Janeane by her request because she is very insecure about her appearance. Meanwhile, she maintains amazing phone conversations with the object of her affection. First female masturbation scene I ever saw in movies. Female friendship is strong in this one.

Sleeping with Other People - A kind of homage to When Harry Met Sally if it was set in the 2010s and was much raunchier. After a chance encounter at university, Alison Brie has sex for the first time with Jason Sudeikis. They only meet again many years later and strike up a friendship in which they both dispense relationship and sex advice to the other. Each of them has their own hangups, and time and again rely on each other to get through stuff. The story does develop in the way you’d expect, but both leads deliver great performances and you can’t help but fall for them as they fall for each other. There’s a scene in particular that gives me a lot of feels and made me swoon over Jason Sudeikis, which had never happened before. (Spoiler alert: this scene.)

While You Were Sleeping - Sandra Bullock in one of her earliest, breakout roles. This is one of those movies with a #problematic lead whose behavior is probably criminal, definitely creepy and if you really start dissecting it, you realize that the heroine is actually the villain (My Best Friend’s Wedding, I’m also looking at you.) Anywho, Sandra is a lonely, single woman who works in the booth at a train station or something and daydreams about one of the daily commuters, Peter Gallagher. She ends up rescuing him after he falls to the rails. He ends up in a coma, and because of a misunderstanding, his family believes her to be his fiance, and she enjoys so much living out this fantasy that she fails to correct them. But his brother, a very swoony Bill Pullman, is suspicious of her and in an attempt to figure out whether she’s lying or not, they end up spending a lot of time together and well, you can figure out what happens later.

A Lot Like Love - I guess this one was a more deliberate attempt to recreate and modernize When Harry Met Sally. Starring Ashton Kutcher and Amanda Peet, it tells the story of a boy and girl who meet at the airport and end up spending a day together and forming a unique bond. Throughout the years, they keep crossing each other’s paths, and each time they grow closer and more intimate, although the timing is never right. You can guess the rest. It’s a very sweet movie with an absolutely amazing soundtrack.

Definitely Maybe - Raise your hand if you’ve loved Ryan Reynolds and watched pretty much everything he was in since you saw him in 1996′s Sabrina The Teenage Witch with Melissa Joan Hart. Anyway, if you’re a fan of love stories that span years and How I Met Your Mother but hated the ending, you’ll love this one. Ryan’s character, now divorced, retells his three most important past relationships to his curious daughter after she asks him how he met her mom. While that relationship obviously didn’t have a happy ending, reminiscing about his past love life helps him figure out that there may still be a chance to hold on to the one who got away.

The Wedding Date - With a plot seemingly straight out of fan-fiction - single woman hires date to go to sister’s wedding in England where she’ll run into former fiance - this movie is extremely tropey and predictable. Yet, it kind of works for me. Dermot Mulroney is extremely dreamy, and the UST between his character and Debra Messing is palpable.

Before Sunrise (and Before Sunset and Before Midnight) If smart dialogue and beautiful backdrops are a huge turn-on for you, this is your movie and your saga. While the plot is virtually non-existent - two young adults meet on a train in Europe and end up spending a day together in Vienna - this is one of those movies that are brilliantly written and in which the dialogue is the plot. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy play wonderfully off each other and you almost feel you’re watching the events transpire in real-time. There is something wonderful about watching two people slowly fall in love with each other as they talk and get to know each other in a way that people rarely do. There’s also the charm of knowing there’s an expiration date to their encounter and the desperation of not wanting it to the end. I adore this movie, this couple, this saga, this director.

Reality Bites - Yes, I do have a thing for Ethan Hawke. Sue me. This is 90s Wynonna Ryder at her best and Hawke at his broodiest, bad-boy-est. This is the quintessential Generation X movie (that’s actually the title the movie was given in my country...) in which you see twenty-somethings struggling to become adults in a world that keeps changing the rules. It touches on many issues that are relatable to young adults while at the same time giving you an insight into this group of friends who try to navigate adulthood while remaining true to who they are. Wynonna and Ethan have insane chemistry, and their scenes together still give me butterflies.

High Fidelity - A heartbroken John Cusack, who owns a record store and is obsessed with making lists, decides to make the list of his top five breakups, hunt down his exes and have heart-to-hearts about why they think their relationship didn’t work. He views these relationships and breakups as formative experiences that led him to where he is today and ultimately affected his most recent relationship, which he thought was the one. Great soundtrack, great cameos in minor roles, and John Cusack, for fuck’s sake, what more could you ask for?

Chasing Amy - Granted, this one probably doesn’t hold up so well in this day and age. I mean, comic book writer Ben Affleck falls for lesbian Joey Lauren Adams and actively tries to have her switch teams? Hmmm. Even when I watched this back then that part definitely felt ... wrong. Yet... I’ve always felt the message of the movie about sexuality - and ultimately about love - was that it is complex and it fluctuates and that we are kind of doomed if we keep slapping labels on ourselves and holding ourselves to the standards of said labels. There are definitely homophobic lines, but it’s a very interesting movie to watch mostly because of Alyssa’s character and her journey in the movie. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

Just Friends - Another Ryan Reynolds flick, arguably more of a comedy than a rom-com but feels underrated either way. Former fatty Ryan has made a name for himself as a music producer or something after he escaped his hometown and the friend zone (I KNOW) he inhabited during his highschool years. Having to take care of pop star Anna Faris (who is absolutely hilarious in this movie), he ends up accidentally returning to his town and running into his high school crush and best friend again. Now exuding self-confidence because of his looks, he decides he will get her to sleep with him to fulfill his teenage fantasies. As he attempts to woo her, he slowly reverses to his high school appearance, which undermines his confidence and brings his issues to the surface. It’s a silly, fun movie that doesn’t pretend or aim to be anything else, and both Ryan’s and Anna’s comedic skills are brilliantly displayed in it. You’ll laugh a lot, is what I’m saying.

#movies #romantic comedies #rom coms #romance #films #mine #also let me know if you would like me to do other lists like this?

66 notes · View notes

news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog · 5 years

Text

We Photoshopped an alternate cast of Avengers who almost got the roles

Avengers stans know the end is near, which means it's time to go back to the beginning. The very beginning.

In honor of the highly anticipated film, Avengers: Endgame, Marvel fans are reminiscing over just how much our heroes have grown since their first appearances on-screen. But we want to take you back even further that that — to the casting decisions.

We've come to know and love characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so deeply that they feel almost irreplaceable. Chris Evans is Captain America, Chris Hemsworth perfectly embodies Thor, and Scarlett Johansson brings Black Widow to life. But the MCU group could have looked totally different today if casting directors had decided to go with some of the other talented actors who were up for the roles.

SEE ALSO: 'Avengers: Endgame' dazzles with epic and emotional world premiere

Here's a wild glimpse at what our Marvel Cinematic Universe could have looked like, had 12 crucial casting choices been different.

John Krasinski as Captain America / Steve Rogers

Blond, buff, and beardless Captain Krasinski.

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Since the 2011 film Captain America: The First Avenger, the adorably charming Chris Evans and his beard have truly mastered the role of Cap. But the patriotic, shield-wielding hero could have been played by my ultimate crush, John Krasinski.

In 2016, The Office star told Conan O'Brien he auditioned to play Steve Rogers back in the day. He even tried on the freaking suit, but ultimately took himself out of the running after seeing a jacked Chris Hemsworth walk by and losing confidence. Since 2011, Krasinski's bulked up for roles in 13 Hours and Jack Ryan. He also grew a great beard, so we have no doubt he could have played a buff, bearded, and perhaps funnier, MCU hero.

Other rumored names considered for Cap include Friday Night Lights star Scott Porter, Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford, Magic Mike's Channing Tatum, Garrett Hedlund, Michael Cassidy, and Wilson Bethel. Even Sebastian Stan, who was eventually cast as Bucky Barnes, tried out for the part.

Tom Hiddleston as Thor

"Hey can someone help me with this hammer?" - This Thor, probably

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Karwai Tang/WireImage

Chris Hemsworth has a build, a voice, and a gorgeous head of hair that all scream "Thor." And yet, some other people still had the audacity to try out for the role.

One of the most surprising was Tom Hiddleston, who I simply can't picture as our king of Asgard and God of Thunder. Hiddleston was instead cast as Thor's brother, Loki, which suits him marvelously. But let us take a moment to imagine what he would have looked like as the mighty hero.

Other actors almost worthy of holding Thor's hammer were Alexander Skarsgård, Charlie Hunnam, and Joel Kinnaman. Not to mention, Hemsworth's very own brother, Liam, auditioned to play Thor, which, I will admit would have been pretty interesting.

Emily Blunt as Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff

"No. Shan't!" — Black Widow to the bad guys

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Steve Granitz/WireImage

Scarlett Johansson plays the character Natasha Romanoff remarkably, but it turns out Emily Blunt was the original choice for the role of Black Widow in Iron Man 2.

Sadly, Blunt was under a contractual obligation with 20th Century Fox to star in the movie Gulliver’s Travels, so she couldn't sign on to the Marvel film at the time. And though Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Eliza Dushku also showed a serious interest in the part, Johansson ultimately stepped in.

A (super) power couple.

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Noam Galai/WireImage

Rather than starring alongside each other in Marvel films, Blunt and Krasinski went on to co-star in Krasinski's hit horror film, A Quiet Place, so everything worked out. Even so, our trusty Senior Illustrator, Bob, created this couple composite to emotionally torture me and also give you all a look at what could have been.

David Duchovny as Hulk / Bruce Banner

"The truth is out there."

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Fans may recall Edward Norton played Bruce Banner in the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, but he wasn't Marvel's final pick for the Avengers films. A lot of drama surrounding Norton's relationship with Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier and his negotiations with Marvel were reported, but Mark Ruffalo was ultimately signed.

Since we already know what Norton looks like as The Hulk, we decided to Photoshop David Duchovny, who was also rumored for the role at one point in time.

Timothée Chalamet as Spider-Man / Peter Parker

Oh will wonders ever cease?

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images for Turner

Forget Tobey Maguire, Tom Holland is our Spider-Man now and we adore him. But Spider-Man also could have been played by Call Me By Your Name cutie Timothée Chalamet, who auditioned for the part along with others like Josh Hutcherson, Nat Wolff, Liam James, and Asa Butterfield.

My initial thought was that Chalamet wouldn't be dorky enough to play Spider-Man, but now WHO KNOWS, because he really pulls off the suit.

Zachary Levi as Star-Lord / Peter Quill

"Forget Fandral, I'm Star-Lord now." — Zachary Levi in a spaceship

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Victor Chavez/Getty Images

We know Chris Pratt completes the MCU Chris Trinity as Star-Lord, but Chuck and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Zachary Levi was interested in the role back in the day, and honestly? He might've been great.

Actors like Jim Sturgess, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lee Pace, Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, and even Eddie Redmayne were also associated with the role early on, but Pratt joined the Guardians of the Galaxy family, while Levi went on to star in Shazam! and play Fandral in Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok.

Olivia Wilde as Gamora

It ain't easy being green.

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

We all know Gamora as the brilliant Zoe Saldana, who memorably stood up to her adopted father, Thanos, in Avengers: Infinity War. However, the green Guardians of the Galaxy character was reportedly offered to House star Olivia Wilde.

Nicolas Cage as Iron Man / Tony Stark

Iron Man and Star-Lord plotting to steal the Declaration of Independence.

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

Since Robert Downey Jr. played Tony Stark in the 2008 film Iron Man, we couldn't envision anyone else in the maroon and gold suit. Perhaps least of all, Nicolas Cage. And yet, he was one of the names rumored to be in the running.

Sam Rockwell and Tom Cruise were also on the list, but, I mean, we really had no choice but to Photoshop Cage.

Saoirse Ronan as Scarlet Witch / Wanda Maximoff

"Call me Scarlet Witch like you said you would" — Saoirse as Wanda Maximoff, channeling Lady Bird

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Isabel Infantes/PA Images via Getty

If Elizabeth Olsen hadn't been cast as Scarlet Witch we might have seen Lady Bird star Saoirse Ronan join the MCU family... maybe.

Rumor has it that Joss Whedon had Ronan in mind when scripting Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the young star appeared to show interest in a role, saying, "I love Joss and I love those films, and I love his handle on them and how he portrayed these kinds of superheroes. So yeah, I’d love to be in it."

Later, Ronan reportedly passed on the film, which is when Marvel decided to cast Olsen.

Morris Chestnut as Black Panther / T'Challa

Could've been king.

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Chadwick Boseman absolutely slayed as T'Challa in Marvel's hit film Black Panther, and we can imagine no one better suited to rule as king of Wakanda. But in the name of Photoshop, here is Black Panther reimagined as Morris Chestnut, since he was among the names associated with the role.

Josh Hartnett as Loki

Whatever.

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Charley Gallay/Getty Images

Tom Hiddleston, who thankfully was not cast as Thor, was cast as Loki. But if Hiddleston didn't snag the role, it seems Josh Hartnett could have stepped up and took the villain's greasy black wig for a spin. Hmm...

Joaquin Phoenix as Doctor Strange

Why so serious?

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Isiah Trickey/FilmMagic

Benedict Cumberbatch has nailed the art of portraying strange on-screen, so it's no surprise he shines as Marvel's Doctor Strange. But the casting list for Stephen Strange was ridiculously stacked.

Joaquin Phoenix was one of the top contenders for the part, but explained in an interview with Little White Lies that he felt he made the right move in turning it down, explaining, "I think everybody was really happy with how things turned out. All parties were satisfied."

In addition to Phoenix, Jared Leto, Ewan McGregor, Oscar Isaac, Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, and Jake Gyllenhaal were also reportedly considered.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Ant Man / Scott Lang

Honey, I shrunk the JGL.

Image: Mashable composite; Marvel Studios, Steve Granitz/WIreImage via Getty

Finally, there's Ant Man. We know the shrinking superhero as the ageless Paul Rudd, but word has it that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was a front-runner for the part, too. If we're judging by our Photoshop, then JGL looks hilarious in the Ant Man suit. But who knows, maybe he could've been great.

It's fun to look back at this hilariously random group of superheroes who we could've been watching on the screen for the past decade, but really makes us appreciate the team of Avengers we ended up with.

WATCH: 'Avengers: Endgame' is smashing pre-sale box office records

#_uuid:4a5e337a-c05d-3a2a-ac6d-02bba236b868 #_category:yct:001000002 #_author:Nicole Gallucci #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DTrEpEAL #_revsp:news.mashable

6 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Why Training Day’s King Kong Speech Is One of the Best Movie Monologues Ever

https://ift.tt/3rjGBM3

Training Day’s “King Kong” monologue stands tall among the great speeches of cinema. Denzel Washington elevates the iambic pentameter of Iago, the villain of William Shakespeare’s Othello, to syncopated street rhythms. It is on par with Marlon Brando’s reflections on the horrors of war as Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, it is the inverse of Gregory Peck’s monologues as Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, and it ranks with Joe Pesci’s “Do you think I’m funny?” scene in Goodfellas or Groucho Marx’s breakdown in the middle of reconciliation in Duck Soup. But the single line of dialogue which hits it home wasn’t in David Ayer’s screenplay. It was pure Denzel.

“King Kong ain’t got shit on me,” LAPD Det. Sgt. Alonzo Harris declares in the most memorable scene in Training Day. Washington improvised the line in the heat of the moment. He’d earlier improvised a scene where he rubbed two handguns together as a threat. This is expert foreshadowing to the character breakdown, allowing Washington to evoke Humphrey Bogart’s Capt. Queeg, who fiddled with ball-bearings under cross-examination in The Caine Mutiny.

Before this moment, Alonzo had an iron grip over the neighborhood he patrols. He hassled out-of-towners for free weed, smokes, and pipes, and had his breakfast tabs paid with cash to table. And in this scene, he’s just made a lifesaving score and some “disloyal bitch-ass fool” gang member shuts him down, siding with a white rookie cop.

Alonzo put 13 years into this job, and he’s got a total of 15,000 man years in sentences under his belt. Yet he’s also been marked for death by the Russian mob and time is running out when he invokes Hollywood’s giant ape. Washington wears these contradictions on his face, playing Alonzo like he’s been both ordained and earned his exalted position. He throws down challenges, pulls emotional punches, and keeps the other actors tightly involved in the scene.

Not all of Washington’s dynamics are limited to the craft of acting. Some of Alonzo’s lines come across like a Tom Morello guitar run in a Rage Against the Machine song. Denzel drives beautiful dissonances without a blue note. And he does the whole thing two feet from an imposing Terry Crews, who stands there like a giant Marshall amp ready to knock him off his feet.

The monologue is more than engaging, it is arresting. And it ends in an unexpected place, certainly not foreseen by the audience or the players when it begins. Alonzo is shouting for his life here. The stakes of “go to jail or go home” are just the opening ante of the cop’s wager of controlling his neighbors. And after the rousing wakeup call ends, the crowd’s reaction recalls the conclusion of Bruce Springsteen’s street anthem “Jungleland,” which reads “and they wind up wounded, not even dead.”

Training Day tells the story of a veteran police detective, undercover cop Alonzo, who babysits rookie narc cop Jake, played by Ethan Hawke, through his first day on the street. The role of Alonzo was the first villain Washington ever played. The actor had an onscreen reputation as an authentic hero. All his characters, even Pfc. Peterson in A Soldier’s Story, who shot a black sergeant and left him on the side of the road, had a code. There is a set of ethics and morals which the character stuck to, even in the face of a murder confession. By the ‘90s, Washington was a renowned role model in cinema.

For most of Training Day, he uses this reputation to his advantage. Denzel puts on his good guy voice and most charismatic smile, and Alonzo’s side glances are invitations. He’s got all the answers and knows how to impart wisdom. Even if you don’t want to hear it.

But it’s a beautiful ruse, and Washington has a ball playing the villain. Alonzo is a demon in a 1978 Monte Carlo lowrider. The devil’s got gold chains, black leather, and a badge. The road to hell is greased with bad intent. Alonzo doesn’t need a siren. He can stop traffic with a stare. He bends the law until it breaks, and is the guy you call to put in the fix. He rousts citizens for the cardio. Alonzo messes with people’s heads as a passing thought.

Meanwhile, Jake thinks the narco beat will put him on the fast track to detective grade. Alonzo is evaluating Jake to see if he’s got what it takes, and if he’ll take what he can get.

The grooming starts slowly. A couple of pulls on a marijuana pipe and a visit to an ex-cop whose pouring drinks for on-duty badges. Corruption is a slow process, especially with a hardheaded idealist. When Jake’s one “bad boy” story ends with an admission that he didn’t have sex with his “fine” training officer after a year in park because he’s “got a wife,” Denzel shoots back with “You got a dick.” And when Jake later confirms he’s not cool with killing and robbing drug dealers, his fate is sealed in Alonzo’s eyes: off-screen the older cop arranges it with a Mexican gang so Jake can take the fall.

Alonzo is on a deadline. He beat the wrong guy to death on a trip to Las Vegas, and the Russian mafia wants $1 million by the end of that day in payback. Alonzo had that money in a bag before Jake crashed in on his getaway, shooting him in the ass and leaving him stalled at the scene, which probably got Washington his Oscar.

Movies

The Dark Knight: Why Heath Ledger’s Joker is Still Scary Today

By David Crow

Movies

Seven: The Brilliance of David Fincher’s Chase Scene

By Ryan Lambie

Training Day is filled with memorable sequences: Snoop Dogg’s arrest is pure slapstick tragedy; Macy Gray sounds absolutely unearthly; who doesn’t have the urge to get high with Alonzo after watching him take the wheel so’s not to kill Jake’s buzz? But Alonzo kills it good when his life’s on the line.

When the gang leader Bone (Cle Sloan) sides with Jake during the film’s climactic moment, letting the rookie split with the cash he’ll use as evidence to bust Alonzo, it is a cultural divide. The white cop dissociates not only from the bad cop and from the Black community, but turns Alonzo’s defining declaration into some kind of psychotic breakdown. It is street legal, common sense on the block, now diluted for mass consumption. Alonzo is not wrong about anything except his partner. The motherfucker who just shot him in the ass.

Part of the reason the scene is so effective is because of the energy of where it was shot. Producers were warned the Imperial Courts housing project in Watts was too dangerous for production, but the neighborhood community wanted the film to be made. And they wanted it to be honest. Director Antoine Fuqua shot there anyway and cast neighborhood residents as extras or in small roles. It was the first time LA gangs allowed filmmaking on their turf, and Cle Shaheed Sloan, a former member of the Bloods who was the gang technical advisor, got cameos from real-life gang members, according to Fuqua on the DVD.

Washington is performing street theater in the round during his big speech, and he’s playing it to the most appreciative audience in the world. People are getting paid to be themselves and show their pain. It works like a chorus and it amplifies the tension. Alonzo is a tiger caught by the tail but with a lot of bite. To catch a wolf, you have to be a wolf, the narc cop believes. Spittle flies onto the pavement as Denzel forges himself into the eighth wonder of the world.

King Kong was the king of the jungle but met his death on city streets. “I run this place, you just live here,” Alonzo affirms with more truth than power allows. Undercover cops control the very concrete on the blocks they rule. Gangbangers operate at his discretion, with 23-hour lockdowns at Pelican Bay state prison as the collateral held against them. When the community turns away, it is both enfranchising and heartbreaking. The king is in exile but nothing will change. Alonzo knows this as he smokes his last cigarette. Someone else is coming in to take his place, and they will never be able to achieve what he believes he did, and only he can do. He goes out believing, affirming, and convinced he is winning. Redemption doesn’t even enter his mind. Washington saves his most diabolical laugh for himself. The wolf has been sheared.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

It isn’t beauty which kills this beast, but a lethal dose of vanity. Alonzo may very well have been able to go a few rounds against the champion of Skull Island only hours before this moment. But sadly, afterward, this Los Angeles King Kong became no match for the Russian mafia.

The post Why Training Day’s King Kong Speech Is One of the Best Movie Monologues Ever appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3bivxsS

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

0 notes

weekendwarriorblog · 5 years

Text

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND May 10, 2019 - POKEMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU, THE HUSTLE, TOLKIEN and More

It’s Mother’s Day weekend and while Avengers: Endgame seems to holding strong, we get four new movies in wide release, two of which I’ve seen, both of which are pretty decent. Unfortunately, due to illness, I’m running a bit late on this column, but I’ll try not to cut too many corners.

The big movie this weekend is POKÉMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU (Warner Bros.), starring Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Pikachu and Justice Smith from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, plus the likes of Bill Nighy and Ken Watanabe, the latter who seems to be Legendary Pictures’ go-to Japanese actor. (He’ll be appearing in Godzilla: King of the Monsters later this month.) I’m hoping to still get around to reviewing the movie, but I will say that I generally enjoyed it, even if my connection to the material was the old TV cartoon rather than any of the games. (Look for that review before Friday, if I’m able to get my ass gear. In the meantime, here’s my interview with director Rob Letterman.)

I’ve been interested in the Anne Hathaway-Rebel Wilson comedy THE HUSTLE (U.A. Releasing) since it was called “Nasty Women” and was a straight-up remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, but I just haven’t had time to catch the one press screening, so it looks like I’ll have to catch this sometime down the road.

And then there’s POMS (STXfilms), a new Diane Keaton comedy featuring an ensemble of actresses in their prime, including Pam Grier and Jacki Weaver. While this doesn’t look like my kind of movie, I totally would have gone to see it if I could, but I’m less apt to see it than The Hustle.

The other movie opening Friday which I’ve seen and enjoyed is TOLKIEN (Fox Searchlight), directed by Dome Karukoski (Tom of Finland) and starring Nicholas Hoult as J.R.R. Tolkien and Lily Collins as his wife Edith Bratt. I’m hoping this finds an audience, even though it’s obviously competing with much stronger and more high-profile films.

Mini-Review: I began to watch this movie with some trepidation, because at least at first, it seemed to be a typical biopic, much like director Dome Karukoski’s previous film. At least as the film began, it cut between Nicholas Hoult’s Tolkien while on the frontlines during WWII and his early schooldays at King Edwards and then Oxford, where he formed a bond with three other students.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure I necessary needed to see a Dead Poet’s Society type way of getting the viewer to know more about the fantasy author, but that’s just a very small part of the film. Where the film really picks up is when Hoult and Collins take over their respective roles, because this is when the romance between Tolkien and Edith becomes a larger part of the story. It’s a bittersweet tale where Tolkien is forced to pick going to Oxford over continuing this romance by Colm Meany’s pries, who has become Tolkien’s guardian after his mother dies suddenly. The majority of the film bounces between Tolkien in the trenches and dealing with school issues, being a poverty-stricken orphan, but he finds an ally in Derek Jacobi’s headmaster.

I’m constantly impressed by what Hoult has been doing as an actor as he gets older, but Collins really brings more to their scenes together than any of the classmates or acting veterans.

Tolkien is a flawed film for sure, but the last half hour is so abundantly full of feels it’s easy to forgive the earlier problems, as Tolkien seeks out one of his school chums on the battlefield, a part of the movie where Karukoski is allowed to shine as a director. (Honestly, I think Steven Spielberg would be quite proud if he made this movie, and that’s saying something.)

I’m not sure this movie will be for everyone, even those who love Tolkien’s work as much as I do, but as a testament to what an amazing life he had before he started writing The Hobbit, it’s quite an amazing story with a worthy film to tell it.

Rating: 8.5/10

You can find out my thoughts on the weekend box office over at The Beat.

LIMITED RELEASES

There’s actually some decent movies opening this weekend, but the one that I want to give special attention to is John Chester’s doc THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM (NEON), which is all about how he and his wife Molly left their California apartment living behind to try to develop a 200-acre sustainable farm outside L.A. For months, my favorite doc of the year was NEON’s Apollo 11 about the 1969 moon launch, but this quickly took it over after I saw it, because it’s amazingly educational in terms of what it takes to make a farm work. It also looks absolutely fantastic, and seeing the trailer in IMAX in front of Apollo 11 made me really want to see it. If you want to see a great doc that hopefully will be in theaters over the summer, then definitely look for this one. I’m sure it will open in a few cities Friday but hopefully NEON will do another great job getting out there as they did with Apollo 11 and Three Identical Strangers last year. This movie is a MUST SEE.

Kenneth Branagh directs and plays William Shakespeare in his new historical movie ALL IS TRUE (Sony Pictures Classics) which also costars Dame Judi Dench and Ian McKellen. It follows Shakespeare on his return home to Stratford after the Globe Theater has burned down, as he tries to reconnect with his older wife (Dench) and his two estranged daughters. This is a fine film if you’re a fan of Shakespeare’s works and were interested in knowing more about his last days, because it features a great script by Ben Elton, and fine performances by Branagh and Kathryn Wilder as his younger daughter Judith, who gets caught up in controversy while trying to find a husband. It will open in New York and L.A. this weekend, and you should look out for my interview with Sir Kenneth over at The Beat in the next couple days.

Opening at the Metrograph this week is Abel Ferrara’s PASOLINI (Kino Lorber), an amazing look at the Italian filmmaker as played by Willem Dafoe. I’m not particularly familiar with Pier Paolo Pasolini’s work, although the Metrograph did a pretty extensive retrospective last year. Like with All is True above, the movie covers the last days in the filmmaker’s life, and it proved to me that Dafoe is doing some of the best work of his career these days and like a few others (Woody Harrelson and Ethan Hawke, for instance), you can put Dafoe in your movie, and it will immediately make it better. I haven’t seen much of Ferrara’s recent work but I feel it’s been a while he’s been at the height of his greatness with Bad Lieutenant and King of New York, so it’s nice to see him creating a new movie in that general vein. Apparently, Ferrara’s movie premiered at Cannes many, many moons ago, but I think it was a smart move by Kino Lorber to save the movie and give it a release. By pure coincidence… or not… MOMA has been having a Ferrara retrospective (see below), so if you haven’t been able to get up there and see the movie, then you now have a chance with Ferrara and Dafoe doing QnAs after a few showings this weekend.

Matt Smith plays cult leader Charles Manson in CHARLIE SAYS (IFC Films), the new movie from American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page director Mary Harron along with her frequent collaborator, writer Guinevere Turner. As a huge fan of their previous moviesand with interest in the subject matter, I’m not sure why I never got around to watching the screener I’ve had for months, but much of it has to do with how generally busy I’ve been. Anyway, it will open in around 35 theaters and be on VOD this weekend if you have similar interest.

Opening at the Film Forum Wednesday is Almedea Carracedo and Robert Bahar ‘s doc THE SILENCE OF OTHERS (Argot PIctures). Executive Produced and presented by Pedro Almodovar, this is an amazing film about the horrendous crimes committed under the Franco regime in Spain by people who were able to get away scott-free when it was decided to create an Amnesty Pact of “Forgiving” after Franco’s death. The thing is that there are people who had been tortured or had loved ones killed who are hoping to get justice or just get their bodies back from mass graves, and this doc covers those amazing efforts. Frankly, I found this film to be far more interesting than Joshua Oppenheimer’s similar films about the crimes by the Indonesian government in The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence.

The Quad Cinema will have two new exclusive releases starting Friday, beginning with Christian Carion’s French thriller MY SON (Cohen Media), starring Guillaume Canet as a man whose son has been kidnapped, so he travels across France to where his ex-wife (Melanie Laurent) lives to try to solve the crime.

Also, the Quad will be showing Nicolas Brown’s doc The Serengeti Rules (Abramorama), which looks at five ecologists who broke new ground with scientific concepts we take for granted, and it looks at how the Serengeti might be the place to look for civilizaton’s sustainable future.

Amy Poehler makes her feature directorial debut with the comedy Wine Country (Netflix), which is getting the usual nominal theatrical release in a handful of theaters but mostly will be on the streaming network. It co-stars long-tie Poehler pals Maya Rudoloph, Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer and Paula Pell, but I’m excited to see it for Maya Erskine from the Hulu show Pen15 and the upcoming rom-com Plus One, which was one of my favorite movies at Tribeca. (Don’t worry.. I’ve started writing something about that festival, too, so stay tuned!)

Opening in New York at the Cinema Village and in L.A. at Arena Cinelounge is Akash Sherman’s Clara (Screen Media), starring Patrick J. Adams as Isaac Bruno, an astronomer looking for life beyond Earth. This becomes more of a reality when he meets Troian Bellisario’s artist Clara, who shares his interest in space.

After years of problems and lawsuits, Farhad Safinia’s The Professor and the Madman (Vertical) is finally seeing the light of day, no thanks to a lawsuit put on it by star and producer Mel Gibson, who plays Professor James Murray, who begins compiling the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, receiving 10,000 entries from Dr. William Minor (Sean Penn), who is a patient at a asylum for the criminally insane. I have no idea how bad this movie must be to be buried as long as it has, but it has a great cast including Eddie Marsan, Natalie Dormer, Stephen Dillane, Jennifer Ehle and Ioan Gruffudd, so how bad can it really be? Good luck finding it in theaters but it will prbobably be on VOD as well.

This week’s major Bollywood release is Student of the Year 2 (FIP), directed by Punit Malhotra. As you might guess, it’s a sequel to the 2012 romantic comedy, this one involving a love triangle between a guy and two girls, and it will be released in about 175 theaters on Friday.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Amy Poehler’s directorial debut WINE COUNTRY will begin streaming Friday, though I haven’t seen it yet, so instead, I’ll recommend Dava Whisenant’s fantastic doc Bathtubs over Broadway, which will premiere on Netflix Thursday. I missed this movie last year but I got to catch-up when it screened at the Oxford Film Festival in February, and it’s fantastic. It follows Letterman writer Steve Young as he follows his passion to find rare records featuring industrial musical numbers presented at corporate events throughout the ‘50s and later to energize employees.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

I’ve already mentioned how Playtime: Family Matineeshas become this cinematic comfort food that’s helped me relive my childhood, but this weekend, the shit gets real as they screen the 1977 action-adventure Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, featuring the stop-motion animation of the late Ray Harryhausen. I still remember first seeing The Golden Voyage of Sinbad at a drive-through in Framingham, Mass. when it first came out and I loved it so much I picked up the novelization. I wonder if I still have that somewhere. (I’m pretty sure I saw this sequel as well.) Late Nites at Metrographwill screen Lukas Moodysson’s 2002 film Lilya 4-Ever, as well as the not old enough to be repertory film Climaxby Gaspar Noe. (Lots of cool movies coming up in this series, as well.) Another series starting Friday is the first-ever New York retrospective of Japanese filmmaker Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, whose new movie Asako I & II will have its theatrical premiere at the Metrograph starting next week. I’m not too familiar with Hamaguchi’s work – though I’ve seen Asakoand generally liked it -- but I don’t think I’ll have the time to see his 5-hour long 2015 family drama Happy Hourany time soon. The series features seven of his movies, almost all of them shorter than Happy Hour. (2012’s Intimacies, showing a week from Thursday, is four hours long.)

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

After showing the Judy Garland version of A Star is Born (1954) today at 2pm, the New Bev has double features of Claudia Weill’s Girlfriends (1978) and It’s My Turn (1980), the latter starring Jill Clayburgh and Michael Douglas, on Weds and Thurs. Kathryn Bigelow’s Strange Days (1995) and Lizzie Borden’s 1983 Born in Flames will screen on Friday and Saturday and then the 1933 film Christopher Strong (starring Katharine Hepburn) and Anybody’s Woman (1930) will screen Sunday and Monday. The weekend’s KIDDEE MATINEE is the animated The Chipmunk Adventure (1987) while the 1995 anthology Four Rooms (featuring one room by Tarantino) is the Friday midnight and Anna Biller’s 2016 film The Love Witch will screen midnight on Saturday. On top of that, there’s a special Cartoon Club on Saturday morning at 10AM and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Love & Basketball (2000) will screen Monday afternoon.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

It’s the last full weekend of Film Forum’s“Trilogies” series and on Thursday, they’re screening Whit Stillman’s (Is this a real title for the trilogy?) “Doomed. Bourgeois. In Love” trilogy Metropolitan (1990), Barcelona (1994) and The Last Days of Disco (1998) with Stillman doing select intros and QnAs that day. Friday is Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “BRD” Trilogy, including The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978), Lola (1981)and Veronika Voss, and this weekend is a Carol Reed Post-War Noir Trilogy, including The Third Man (1949). Saturday also sees a Michelangelo Antonioni trilogy including L’Avventura (1960) and two other films from the Italian master. Sunday and Monday sees a very rare screening of Wim Wenders’ “Road Trilogy” including Kings of the Roadfrom 1976 and Alice in the Cities. Also, on Wednesday and Saturday is a repeat of a John Ford trilogy, including Rio Grande and Fort Apache, plus don’t forget the weekend’s family-friendly Film Forum Jr, which this weekend shows a bunch of cartoons from Bugs, Daffy and Friends. Obviously, there’s a lot going on at this venerable NYC arthouse and I hope to get to some of these now that Tribeca is over.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

If you live in L.A., you can spend a good part of your weekend at Maltin Fest 2019, taking place at the Egyptian Theater, which includes a really incredible series of screenings and events with special guests. Friday is Nicole Holefcener’s Please Give with Holefcener and frequent collaborator Catherine Keener on hand, plus a screening of Sing Street! Alexander Payne and Laura Dern will be there Saturday afternoon to screen the filmmaker’s early work Citizen Ruth, plus lots more! I also want to pay special attention to them showing the late Jon Schnepp’s doc The Death of “Superman Lives” on Saturday night.

AERO (LA):

Thursday is a Christopher Munch double feature of The Hours and Times (1991) and The Sleepy Time Gal (2001) with Munch and the great Jacqueline Biset in person! Then it goes right into Starring Europe: New Films from the EU 2019 i.e. new films, not repertory but still interesting.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance shows James Cameron’s Aliens (okay, am I crazy or do they show this every other month?), Weekend Classics: Love Mom and Dad shows Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) and Late Night Favorites: Spring is the Coen Brothers’ Fargo (1996).

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

In the midst of Black 90s: A Turning Point in American Cinema, which will include Ice Cube’s Friday (on Friday, of course), as well as Set It Off, New Jack City, Belly, Straight Out of Brooklyn and Menace II Society over the weekend. Also, the late John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood will screen twice on Sunday as well as on Monday as part of the series.

MOMA (NYC):

Abel Ferrara: Unrated continues this week with repeats of 1998’s New Rose Hotel, 1993’s Body Snatchers and more recent films like 2017’s Piazza Vittorio and 2007’sGo Go Tales, and this series will continue next week. The current Modern Matiness will conclude with Pixar’s Up on Wednesday and Vincente Minnelli’s Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) on Weds and Thurs, respectively.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

Panorama Europe continues through the weekend but that’s all new stuff, not repertory.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Friday’s midnight screening is Wes Craven’s Shocker (1989) with a QnA… but not with Craven.. unless they plan the creepiest movie tie-in possible!

That’s it for this week but next week, we get John Wick Chapter 3 and more!

#Pokemon DetectivePIkachu Tolkien TheHustle POMS Movies Reviews TheBiggestLittleFarm

0 notes

geekgirlnavigatingtheworld · 7 years

Photo

I expect spectacle when I see a Luc Besson movie. My eyes will be exhausted from trying to track a thousand and one things at any given moment, and my brain registers a plot and story are in there somewhere, but, quite frankly, I’m in so much visual ferret shock, the first viewing of the movie is pretty much a giant exercise in saying “OOOO! Lookitdat!”. I don’t just accept this, I go gratefully along for the ride.

“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” is based on a series of French graphic novels. I know, I know, being Madam Obvious, there, but, just in case someone reading this doesn’t know, there it is. This movie is essentially about Valerian and his partner Laureline trying to save Station Alpha, a giant conglomerate of space stations created by thousands of different species (including humans) which has been released to float through space to avoid crashing it into the Earth. A mysterious zone of contamination has cropped up in the middle of Alpha Station. Nobody seems to know what caused it or why, and the Commander of Alpha Station is determined to stop it. Valerian and Laureline are the best agents the government has to offer, so, naturally, they’re called in.

Visually, the movie is stunning. World building is done through progressively more fantastic images, piling on sensory input to provide the eyes with a bountiful feast. The costuming and set designs, as well as the animation are done gorgeously. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I have no complaints.

Story-wise, however, well, let’s start with it. If the plot seems a bit simplistic, that’s because it is. I understand there are different types of stories with different driving mechanisms. Valerian is written as though it’s intended to be character-driven, however, it’s clear from the outset the setting is the driving force, which is emphasized and reinforced through the scenery. This one suffers from poor and inconsistent writing which would only be acceptable in the framework of a parody.

The characters aren’t really anything new here. Valerian is an overconfident cad, Laureline is a verbally and physically abusive woman who seems to mistake bitchiness for toughness and strength, Clive Owen’s character is-exactly what you peg him for the moment he steps on screen and, in the climactic reveal, ends up elevating his two-dimensionality to glossy standee levels. It’s all predictable. Really predictable. I knew what was going to happen as soon as all our principal players were introduced, which I found both sad and frustrating. I’m also going to more than quibble with a character set up like Valerian’s, where, one minute, he’s got to be chewed out by everyone on the mission with him for not reading his memo, then in a pivotal scene claiming he’s a soldier who’s all about the rules and going by the book. What. the. actual. fuck? No. No. Character development (which there’s zero in this movie) requires character consistency. A truly dedicated by the book soldier would have read that memo so many times he had it memorized, not obstinately, willfully stayed clueless so as to endanger everyone else on the mission with him.

Canonically, Valerian’s pretty much a dick. Besson didn’t mess with that character description much at all. However, with a character like Valerian, he needs to be played by an actor who has the charisma and screen presence to pull it off. Dane DeHaan was not the guy to do it. He just couldn’t pull off the necessary swagger, and instead of seeming laid-back, he comes off as sedated. I’m still not sure if he as an actor was confused or phoning it in.

When it comes to Laureline, I don’t think Cara Delevigne was miscast. I think she got bad direction. Laureline is intended to be the capable one who gets things done. She’s supposed be tough and feisty. She can GET mean, but I was never under the impression Laureline was practically as bad as everyone she’s attempting to save the world from. In the opening scene, which is supposed to be one of those fighting as foreplay kind of scenes, there’s a total lack of chemistry between DeHaan and Delevigne, to the point that, rather than flirty or playful (trust me, there is an arctic desert of playfulness going on there), it’s really uncomfortable and awkward. These two actors are wrestling for superiority and beating the shit out of each other while trying to normalize it in a context of “playing hard to get” and jockeying for dominance. There’s no sexiness. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. I will forever point to this as a scene of “No. Just, no.”

Laureline charges through the movie beating people up and shooting things while either screaming or barking at people. She’s supposed to be intimidating. I found her mostly psychopathic. I wanted to see her have more facets than “Generic Kick-Ass Unattainable Soldier Girl”. I wanted her to use some diplomacy and some eloquence to solve some problems, instead of violence, especially given Station Alpha’s intent (which is stated several times, explicitly with the EXACT SAME PHRASE EVERY TIME) to be a place where all species come together to share knowledge and intelligence. It’s really not the kind of place where violence first seems like an acceptable or effective policy. But, you know, as a woman and a feminist, I’m supposed to be totally satisfied with Laureline showing a tiny bit of tenderness when she’s designated the caregiver of an alien creature, which, of course, she knows exactly how to nurture back to health. Dammit. She’s a Mommy to an alien pet. Did I mention this happens when it’s established she’s the only woman in a room full of dudes? No? Well it does. Three more dammits in a slumped formation, let me tell you.

So, in addition to writing issues, we also have two massively unlikeable characters we’re supposed to somehow develop empathy for and root for to ultimately get together. They’re set up as so laughably toxic I can’t hold out any hope for their relationship to survive.

Clive Owen shows up to chew through scenery and snarl, which he does pretty well, especially given what he had to work with. At least he had a couple of different emotions I could find believable.

And yet...I still don’t feel as though my ticket was a waste of money.

Rutger Hauer made a return to the big screen in a blink and you might miss it role, but I’m still very happy to see him. He does cranky old bastard well and it’s fun to see him play it.

Herbie Hancock shows up as the Defence Minister. I didn’t know he acted, but he did and he was easily one of my favorite parts of this film. He had an air of wise gravity and common sense “Valerian” desperately needed. Yes, I admit it, every time he came on screen, I thought to myself “Oh, thank god, there is an adult running things here after all!”

Ethan Hawke’s turn as a sleazy space pimp was inspired and hilarious. He gave himself over to the part with complete, gleeful abandon and it showed in every second of screentime. He was having fun and, honesty, I needed to see someone in the movie looking like they were having fun being in it.

Rhianna also did a great job as Bubble. I’m not sure if this was her movie debut, but she was also great fun to watch. She definitely seemed to be having fun there, too. I was impressed with the impact she gave her character’s relatively small part. She was memorable in all the best ways.

I do like that Luc Besson is a Big Picture kind of thinker. It shows in his movies. He sees the forest and he’s so very excited to show you the entire thing, he sometimes forgets why a single tree might gain importance. He gives his audience credit for being able to follow him when he makes time and logic jumps, and he’s obviously not afraid to try new things. As a filmgoer, I find when I watch his movies, he gives me so much to look at, I see different trees and follow a different path every time. I can appreciate his style and his enthusiasm.

I had a discussion with a friend just yesterday. We were talking reviews of “Valerian” and, of all things, Michael Bay. I don’t like Michael Bay and my friend had to ask, “But why? What’s different about a Michael Bay spectacle versus a Luc Besson one?”

Admittedly, when I watch a movie, it’s a visceral, emotional experience for me. I watch first, as a rapt starry-eyed little sprocket. Then, I turn around and analyze the hell out of it. My friend was asking me to articulate a difference I hadn’t actually tried to verbalize before.My answer surprised me.

I don’t like Michael Bay movies because he condescends to his audience. His disdain for the public he can so easily shill for their money drips out of his movies more and more obviously with each new sequel. It’s so obvious in the trailers they string together I don’t even have to bother with the movies anymore. He doesn’t care about the franchise. He doesn’t care about the fans. His movies have a rote list of checkboxes and standard-issue explosions, car chases, and female body exploitation scenes in order to distract from the lack of plot and character development. He does his best to shiny thing away the plot holes and inconsistencies.

I’ve never felt as though Besson was throwing cheap tricks at me to keep my butt in a seat and make his box office. Instead, his movies, at least his true spectacle movies feel like someone who opened up a toy box and is trying to show his new friends every wonderful thing he just discovered and convince you to come and play, too. He’s tripping on the thrill of his own imagination and doing his absolute best to bring everyone else along on the ride with him.

So, yes, I loved the eye candy. The alien designs, especially for the inhabitants of Mul (which should have umlauts, but I don’t see how to add them in Tumblr) are very striking. The glimpses of the worlds within Alpha are interesting and intriguing. I found myself wanting to watch this movie again for inspiration for stories I want to tell because it’s so full of sheer concept.

“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” is a beautiful romp in a Luc Besson sandbox. It comes with some frustrations attached, but I’m glad I saw it.

#movies #movie review #valerian and the city of a thousand planets #luc besson #dane dehaan #cara delevingne #clive owen #rutger hauer #herbie hancock

2 notes · View notes

nightmareonfilmstreet · 6 years

Text

THIS IS NOT A TEST: Ranking THE PURGE Films from Best to Worst

It’s been 5 years since the release of The Purge. A groundbreaking horror film from Blumhouse where all crime in America is made legal for one grisly night a year. Since then, the world of the infamous crime night has been explored through 3 different installments; The Purge: Anarchy, The Purge: Election Year, and this year’s The First Purge. Four films in, I’m taking a look back through the murderous universe to determine where the movies rank in the series. Be warned, SPOILERS are abundant. Lets get into it!

4. The First Purge (2018)

It’s hard to really expect greatness when viewing the fourth entry to a film series. Even with low expectations, The First Purge still felt like a missed opportunity. What’s truly missing in this film compared to its ancestors is anything unique. We’ve seen this movie before. The New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) once again play the villainous role, sending out mercenaries to “get the murderous ball rolling” so to speak. This time, they target a cast of economically-poor residents on Staten Island, who must power their way through the killing convoys.

Unlike The Purge, Anarchy, and Election Year, there’s no special plot device here to separate it from the pack, other than it’s the “first” purge night. Also lost, and perhaps most importantly, is James DeMonaco’s directing. DeMonaco took a politically-charged idea and turned it into horror in an expert fashion. The First Purge simply isn’t scary. In director Gerard McMurray’s vision, missing are the visually stunning & creepy environments, the claustrophobic set pieces, and the overall sense of dread. What’s left can only be defined as a political action film with slasher elements, with a sprinkle or two of horror.

3. The Purge (2013)

The Purge films are a bit of an anomaly. How often does it happen where the first movie of a series come in at 3rd place? There’s no mistake here. The Purge plays out as a home-invasion suspense/thriller based on the concept that what the perpetrators are doing is legal. That’s really all that the idea of a country-wide “purge night” is needed for here. Fresh off of bare bones budget hits such as Sinister and Insidious, Blumhouse Productions continued the trend here. Unlike those films, however, you can really feel the $3 million budget constraints in this one. With an idea bursting with possibilities, we are stuck in Ethan Hawk’s house as his neighbors break their way in.

Don’t get the wrong idea, there are fantastic concepts here that birthed what we all know and love as “purge night” (the unsettling masks, the AWESOMELY SPINE-TINGLING alert siren, etc.). The Purge just can’t outrank the following entries in my ranking because it is frustratingly contained in a world begging to be explored. In a way, Blumhouse and co. really nailed this one if their true intentions at the time were to launch a Purge film series.

2. The Purge: Election Year (2016)

The change from #3 to #2 on this list is a huge one. In Election Year, the world of “the purge” is wide open. The American public is becoming disillusioned with the annual purge, and are about to elect a presidential candidate who has promised to put an end to the night. The NFFA see the writing on the wall, and make a nefarious change to the purge night “rules”; no one, including high-ranking government officials, are off-limits.

While the plot of the government trying to assassinate a political rival seems to fall into my complaints about The First Purge, there’s so much more to like here that I forgive it. Most importantly, action takes a backseat to horror in Election Year. The plot expands to include a shop owner and his immigrant protegé out to protect their deli from destruction, a vigilante ambulance service, and an underground resistance to the NFFA. In addition to a tight and fulfilling plot, Election Year may boast the strongest cast of the film series altogether, including the return of Frank Grillo and Edwin Hodge. Lastly, the film is shot absolutely beautifully and captures a horrific atmosphere. Director James DeMonaco’s importance to the Purge series cannot be overstated.

1. The Purge: Anarchy

As a horror fanatic, I keep a ranked list of every horror film I’ve ever seen. Right along with the ranks of Halloween, The Thing, and Insidious sits The Purge: Anarchy. The second entry in the series, this film gets everything right. Breaking out of the claustrophobic home setting of The Purge, the second entry takes the story to the streets of Los Angeles. There, Sergeant Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) decides against seeking revenge against the drunk driver who killed his son, and instead guides a group of survivors through the infamous night.

Anarchy contains everything you ever wanted from a Purge film. The visuals are phenomenal, as the empty streets of LA at night make for a truly haunting setting. The “purgers” are terrifying. The cast puts together a great performance, as I connected with the characters and wanted them to survive the night. The climax of the film, playing out like a vicious game of laser tag, rates by far as the best of the series. Lastly, we get an extremely satisfying final sequence where it’s revealed Barnes spared the life of the man who took so much from him, and the man saves him in return. B-R-A-V-O. Anarchy realizes the Purge series’ full potential, and belongs among the great horror films of our time.

How would you rank The Purge series? Let me know by following Nightmare on Film Street on Twitter and Facebook, and leave your rankings there!

The post THIS IS NOT A TEST: Ranking THE PURGE Films from Best to Worst appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

from WordPress https://nofspodcast.com/this-is-not-a-test-ranking-the-purge-films-from-best-to-worst/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress #horror #horror movies #nightmareonfilmstreet #nightmare on film street #horror pod

0 notes

whitehousefilmreviews · 7 years

Text

Sinister (2012)

The Good: The plot impressively blends aspects of other great horror movies and presents them as something that feels fresh. I’m not saying it’s original, but fresh. In contrary to trends of modern horror films, Sinister is not a source of excess in jump-scares or gore (there are jump-scares, but I’ll write about that later).

In my experience, horror films are made or broken upon the backs of the lead actor(s). In this respect, Ethan Hawke is really good. The lead in this film only needs two things, 1. Have a good “scared face” and 2. a good “contemplation face”, both of which Hawke has in Sinister. If I were director Scott Derrickson, I would have cast this role based on those two criteria alone.

The soundtrack is absolutely riveting. Sound is key to horror, and the thumping, droning synth bass sells the tension and thickens the atmosphere.

The short films which contain the various grisly murders are the highlight. The choice to have them presented on old, dirty Super 8 was obvious but brilliant, and the soundless, handheld Super 8’s are the glue which hold together the rest of the film.

An uncredited role for Vincent D’Onofrio is always welcome. Necessary? I’ll discuss it later.

Clare Foley is a really good child actor. Hope she keeps it up through the years. She’s solid in this and in the FOX show, Gotham.

The Bad: While I commend Sinister for only having two false jump scares, that’s still two too many.

The cinematography (specifically lighting, the look was solid) was not particularly to my liking. Sinister suffers from what I like to call, “Castaway Syndrome”. Much like “Castaway”, Sinister has many scenes which are primarily blackness. To be fair, I have learned I am fairly sensitive to such things and must admit that darkness should be utilized in horror, but sometimes it goes too far for me.

Unfortunately, an experienced real-crime author can’t seem to put together threads of evidence that the average person could from 30 minutes in. Seriously, other than the information from the cop he receives, the information from the expert (D’Onofrio) is pointless, much like the “Paranormal Activity” paranormal expert. This film does it better than PA I got to admit, however. At least Sinister gives the role to an incredible actor, who delivers his lines quite well with weight given the strange subject matter.

Rating: B+ This one got buzz back in 2012, and I’m glad. Just a perfectly good, suspenseful horror flick.

Spoilers: The ending can be seen from a mile away, but it is so much better than the alternative where Hawke somehow defeats the Boogie Man. That just would not have made sense with the rules the film establishes. I always love a film not afraid to go with a dark ending.

#sinister #horror #boogieman

0 notes

avisamans-blog · 7 years

Text

ROLEPLAYING HISTORY

The rules are simple! Post ten characters you’d like to role play as, have role played as, and might bring back. Then tag ten people to do the same (if you can’t think of ten characters, just write down however many you can and tag the same amount of people). Aside from that, please repost instead of reblogging!

CURRENTLY PLAYING

Prompto, and just Prompto

WANT TO PLAY

Ignis Scientia (FFXV) Fenris (Dragon Age 2) Male!PurpleRogue Hawke (Dragon Age 2)

HAVE PLAYED

Hope Estheim (FFXIII) Kadaj (FFVII AC) Zexion (Kingdom Hearts) Axel (Kingdom Hearts) Andy Biersack (Black Veil Brides) Ethan/Abel (Starfighter) Merrill (Dragon Age 2) Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians) Countless OCs InuYasha OC

WILL/WOULD PLAY AGAIN:

I would absolutely play Kadaj again if I could get the muse for him once again, the same with Merrill

TAGGED BY @dual-daggers

TAGGING: WHOEVER AINT DONE THIS

0 notes

myhauntedsalem · 4 years

Photo

Ghosts of Hollywood

Even after death, some Hollywood celebrities can’t stop putting in appearances

Marilyn Monroe

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard is said to be the current residence of several ghosts of popular film stars. Marilyn Monroe, the glamorous and funny star of such pictures as Some Like It Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, was a frequent guest of the Roosevelt at the height of her popularity. And although she died in her Brentwood home, her image has been seen on several occasions in a full-length mirror that once hung in her poolside suite. The mirror has been relocated to the hotel’s lower level by the elevators.

Montgomery Clift

Another respected star who died before his time, Montgomery Clift, was a four-time Oscar nominated actor who is best known for his roles in A Place in the Sun, From Here to Eternity and Judgment at Nuremberg. His ghost has also been seen at the Roosevelt. According to some of the hotel’s staff, Clift’s spirit haunts room number 928. Clift stayed in that suite in 1953, pacing back and forth, memorizing his lines for From Here to Eternity. Loud, unexplained noises have been heard coming from the empty suite, and its phone is occasionally found mysteriously off the hook.

Perhaps it’s fitting that the Hollywood Roosevelt should be the stirring place of celebrity ghosts since it was the site of the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. In fact, the Blossom Ballroom, where the ceremony was held, has an unexplained cold spot – a circular area measuring 30 inches in diameter that remains about 10 degrees colder than the rest of the room.

Harry Houdini

Houdini is best known as a magician and escape artist, of course, but at the height of his fame he was also drawn to Hollywood, where he made a handful of silent films from 1919 to 1923. With such titles as The Man from Beyond and Haldane of the Secret Service (which he also directed), the films were not regarded well enough to give him much of a Hollywood career. Houdini’s interest in the occult was well known, and although he earned a reputation as a masterful debunker of séances, he earnestly sought contact with those who have passed on to the other side. Shortly before his death, Houdini made a pact with his wife Bess that if he could, he would return and make contact with her from the other side. Perhaps he truly has attempted to return. Some claim to have seen the ghost of the great Houdini walking around in the home he owned on Laurel Canyon Blvd. in the Hollywood Hills. Film historians Laurie Jacobson and Marc Wanamaker, in their book Hollywood Haunted, dispute this story, saying that “Houdini most likely never even set foot in the Laurel Canyon mansion he is said to haunt.”

Clifton Webb

Clifton Webb was a very popular star of the 1940s and ’50s, earning two Oscar nominations for his roles in Laura and The Razor’s Edge. He may be best known for his portrayal of Mr. Belvedere in a series of films. It’s not too often that a ghost haunts the place in which the person is buried, but this seems to be the case for Webb. His ghost has been seen at the Abbey of the Psalms, Hollywood Memorial Cemetery, where his body is interred. But it seems to be a restless spirit, as his ghost has also been encountered at his old home on Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills.

Thelma Todd

Thelma Todd was a hot young star in the 1930s. She was featured in a number of hit comedies with the likes of The Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, and Buster Keaton. But that all ended in 1935 when Todd was found dead in her car, which was parked above the café she owned on the Pacific Coast Highway. Strangely, her death was ruled an accidental suicide, but many suspected murder and a coverup by powerful Hollywood figures. The building that once housed the café is now owed by Paulist Productions, and employees have reportedly witnessed the starlet’s ghost descending the stairs.

Thomas Ince

Ince is considered one of the visionary pioneers of American movies. He was one of the most respected directors of the silent era, best known, perhaps, for his westerns starring William S. Hart. He partnered with other early Hollywood giants such as D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett, and founded Culver Studios, which later became MGM. Ironically, Ince’s death overshadowed his film legacy. He died aboard William Randolph Hearst’s yacht in 1924, and although the official record shows the cause of death as heart failure, the hot rumor is that he was shot by Hearst in a fit a jealousy over Hearst’s wife, Marion Davies. Ince’s ghost – as well as several other ghostly figures – have been seen in the lot that was once Culver Studios. Film crew members have seen the specter of a man matching Ince’s description on several occasions; in one instance, when the workers tried to speak to the spirit, it turned and disappeared through a wall.

Ozzie Nelson

Ghosts and hauntings are the last thing that come to mind when you think of the perpetually cheerful Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The couple, with their real-life sons Ricky and David, were stars of the long-running sitcom “Ozzie and Harriet,” noted for its good-natured, gentle humor. Yet poor Ozzie doesn’t seem to be as contented in the afterlife. Family members, it is said, have seen Ozzie’s ghost in the family’s old Hollywood home, and it always appears to be in a somber mood. Perhaps he’s unhappy about how another Ozzy and his family have gained notoriety on TV.

George Reeves

From 1953 to 1957, George Reeves was TV’s Superman. Reeves had been around Hollywood for a while, playing bit parts in such films as Gone with the Wind and dozens of B-movies, but it was “The Adventures of Superman” on TV that brought him fame. Reeves died of a gunshot at his home in 1959. The official cause of death was suicide, but that conclusion has been hotly disputed, with some believing that Reeves was murdered. Whether it was suicide or murder, Reeves ghost has been seen in his Beverly Hills home. A couple claims to have seen the ghost of Reeves – decked out in his Superman costume – materialize in the bedroom where he died, after which it slowly faded away. Others believe that Reeves succumbed to the “Superman curse,” in which those associated with the fictional character over the years allegedly have met with disaster or death. But is there really a curse? Read “The Truth About the Superman Curse” by Superman expert Brian McKernan.

More Celebrity Ghosts

Jean Harlow – The spirit of this blonde bombshell is said to haunt the bedroom of her home on North Palm Drive, where her husband allegedly used to beat her.

Mary Pickford – This legend of the silent era – actress, writer and producer – was co-founder of United Artists with her husband Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. Comic Buddy Rogers, who lived in the house Pickford once owned, saw her ghost appear in a white ruffled dress.

Grace Kelly – Princess Stephanie of Monaco believes that the ghost of her mother, Grace Kelly, helped her write a song from the spirit world.

Celebrities Who Have Seen Ghosts

Nicholas Cage – This Oscar-winning actor (Leaving Las Vegas) refused to stay in uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s home after seeing a ghost in the attic. (Cage was also cast as Superman in director Tim Burton’s film project, which was never made.)

Keanu Reeves – The star of The Matrix films and Devil’s Advocate was just a kid in New Jersey when he saw a ghost that took the form of a white double-breasted suit come into his room one night. He wasn’t imagining it; his nanny saw the phantom, too.

Neve Campbell – She’s been in more than her share of paranormal-themed movies (The Craft, Scream), but she’s had real-life encounters as well. A woman was murdered in the house she now lives in, and friends have seen her ghost walking around.

Matthew McConaughey – This popular actor (Contact) says he freaked out the first time he saw the ghost of an old woman, whom he calls “Madame Blue,” floating around his house.

Tim Robbins – Robbins, who was nominated for an Oscar in Mystic River, didn’t see ghosts, but strongly felt their presence when he moved into an apartment in 1984. Following his instinct, he moved out the next day.

Hugh Grant – British romantic comedy lead Hugh Grant (Love Actually) says he and friends have heard the wailing and screaming of some tormented spirit in his Los Angeles home. He even speculates it might be the ghost of a former resident – Bette Davis.

Dan Aykroyd – The Ghostbusters star (and Oscar-nominated for Driving Miss Daisy) has long had a fascination with the paranormal. He believes his home, once owned by Cass Elliot of The Mamas and The Papas, is haunted. “A ghost certainly haunts my house,” he said. “It once even crawled into bed with me. The ghost also turns on the Stairmaster and moves jewelry across the dresser. I’m sure it’s Mama Cass because you get the feeling it’s a big ghost.”

Sting – Rock star Sting (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and his wife Trudie have seen ghosts in their home. “I was absolutely terrified,” he said. “I now believe those things are out there, but I have no explanation for them.”

Jean Claude Van Damme – The Belgian action star (Timecop), also known as “Muscles from Brussels,” swears he saw a ghost in his bathroom mirror while he was brushing his teeth.

Richard Dreyfuss – He won an Oscar for The Goodbye Girl, but at one time had a cocaine problem. Visions of a ghost, he said, helped him kick the habit. “I had a car crash in the late 1970s,” Dreyfuss said, “when I was really screwed up, and I started seeing these ghostly visions of a little girl every night. I couldn’t shake this image. Every day it became clearer and I didn’t know who the hell she was. Then I realized that kid was either the child I didn’t kill the night I smashed up my car, or it was the daughter that I didn’t have yet. I immediately sobered up.”

Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman – This Hollywood couple was forced to flee their “dream home” in Sneden’s Landing, N.Y. when it became all too apparent that it was haunted. They still are reluctant to talk about their frightening encounters.

Belinda Carlisle – This pop singer and founding member of The Go-Gos, who appeared in Swing Shift and She’s Having a Baby, says she saw a “misty shape” hovering over her as she lay in bed one night. She also says that when she was 17, while nodding off to sleep in a chair in her parents’ home, she levitated and had an out-of-body experience.

Elke Sommers – This German-born actress, who appeared in the 1966 film The Oscar, claims to have seen the ghost of a middle-aged man in a white shirt in her home in North Beverly Hills. Guests in her home have also seen the specter. So much paranormal activity was reported in the house that the American Society for Psychical Research was brought in, and which verified the unexplained events. The severely haunted house was bought and sold more than 17 times since Sommers vacated it, and many have reported ghostly phenomena.

Paul McCartney – Ex-Beatle and Oscar-nominated songwriter (“Live and Let Die”) says that he, George Harrison and Ringo Starr sensed the playful spirit of John Lennon when they were recording Lennon’s song, “Free As A Bird” in 1995. “There were a lot of strange goings-on in the studio – noises that shouldn’t have been there and equipment doing all manner of weird things. There was just an overall feeling that John was around.”

#Ghosts of Hollywood #paranormal #ghost and hauntings #ghost and spirits

47 notes · View notes

myhauntedsalem · 5 years

Photo

Ghosts of Hollywood

Even after death, some Hollywood celebrities can’t stop putting in appearances

Marilyn Monroe

Montgomery Clift

Harry Houdini

Clifton Webb

Thelma Todd

Thomas Ince

Ozzie Nelson

George Reeves

Others believe that Reeves succumbed to the “Superman curse,” in which those associated with the fictional character over the years allegedly have met with disaster or death. But is there really a curse? Read “The Truth About the Superman Curse” by Superman expert Brian McKernan.

More Celebrity Ghosts

Rudolph Valentino – This silent film heartthrob has been seen in the bedroom and stables of his old Hollywood home. Jean Harlow – The spirit of this blonde bombshell is said to haunt the bedroom of her home on North Palm Drive, where her husband allegedly used to beat her.

Grace Kelly – Princess Stephanie of Monaco believes that the ghost of her mother, Grace Kelly, helped her write a song from the spirit world.

Celebrities Who Have Seen Ghosts

Matthew McConaughey – This popular actor (Contact) says he freaked out the first time he saw the ghost of an old woman, whom he calls “Madame Blue,” floating around his house.

Jean Claude Van Damme – The Belgian action star (Timecop), also known as “Muscles from Brussels,” swears he saw a ghost in his bathroom mirror while he was brushing his teeth.

#Ghosts of Hollywood #paranormal #ghost and hauntings

9 notes · View notes

myhauntedsalem · 5 years

Photo

Ghosts of Hollywood

Even after death, some Hollywood celebrities can’t stop putting in appearances

Marilyn Monroe

Montgomery Clift

Harry Houdini

Clifton Webb

Thelma Todd

Thomas Ince

Ozzie Nelson

George Reeves

More Celebrity Ghosts

Rudolph Valentino – This silent film heartthrob has been seen in the bedroom and stables of his old Hollywood home.

Jean Harlow – The spirit of this blonde bombshell is said to haunt the bedroom of her home on North Palm Drive, where her husband allegedly used to beat her.

Grace Kelly – Princess Stephanie of Monaco believes that the ghost of her mother, Grace Kelly, helped her write a song from the spirit world.

Celebrities Who Have Seen Ghosts

Matthew McConaughey – This popular actor (Contact) says he freaked out the first time he saw the ghost of an old woman, whom he calls “Madame Blue,” floating around his house. Tim Robbins – Robbins, who was nominated for an Oscar in Mystic River, didn’t see ghosts, but strongly felt their presence when he moved into an apartment in 1984. Following his instinct, he moved out the next day.

Jean Claude Van Damme – The Belgian action star (Timecop), also known as “Muscles from Brussels,” swears he saw a ghost in his bathroom mirror while he was brushing his teeth.

#Ghosts of Hollywood #paranormal #ghost and hauntings

11 notes · View notes