Maggie’s Plan Written by Rebecca Miller Directed by Rebecca Miller USA, 2015 Is it sexist, or at the very least unfair, to compare Rebecca Miller’s Maggie’s Plan to the works of Noah Baumbach and Woody Allen, but with a tone of derision? Either way, it’s hard to divorce Miller’s manic wit and preoccupation with middle-class …
This week, Variety reported on a study that was released confirming what many already know about the film industry, or at the very least anecdotally: Women are having an increasingly hard time breaking in. The study showed that there’s a large gender gap between independently financed and directed projects by women when compared to projects …
30. Sense and Sensibility Directed by: Ang Lee Ang Lee has gone in about eight different directions in terms of genre. His resume includes “The Ice Storm,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Hulk,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Life of Pi,” and this delightful Jane Austen adaptation, starring Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, and young Kate Winslet. “Sense …
This column is a few days late this week, but then this was a particularly busy few days. The first three of the actual awards precursors finally arrived this week, including the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Board of Review and the Gotham Independent Film Awards. What’s the verdict? This is still anyone’s …
In the end, our bodies betray us. Most aren’t fortunate enough to go out on their own terms, but some are dealt a crueler fate than others. While most films treat Alzheimer’s disease with overwrought melodrama and naïveté, Still Alice stares unflinchingly into the abyss. Bolstered by a haunting performance from Julianne Moore and the focused storytelling of filmmakers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, this film has the raw power to simultaneously crush and rejuvenate your spirit. Painful, required viewing for life’s brutal training ground.
The splitting of the conclusions of recent fantasy or sci-fi franchises into two parts (or more – looking at you, Peter Jackson) has been financially successful for Hollywood studios, but less so creatively. Only arguable trendsetter Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I proved a satisfying film in its own right by being so rich in character interplay and having an actual sense of progression. Mockingjay – Part I is heavy on character beats, but they are repetitive ones due to its limited scope through withholding all the big stuff until Part 2.
As the end of the year approaches, the number of question marks in the Oscar ranks continues to sink lower. This past week, Selma, American Sniper, The Gambler and A Most Violent Year all dropped at AFI Fest, leaving only movies like Unbroken (still presumed to be a front-runner in a crowded field), Exodus: Gods …
It’s only just October and already the Oscar season has grown ugly. And it’s not even the contenders battling for rank. The heat is coming from the pundits themselves, who have already grown weary of some of their colleagues’ BS and perpetual trumpeting. In Mark Harris’s brilliant first post about the Oscar race so far, …
The Hype Cycle is News Editor Brian Welk’s roundup of industry news, reviews and predictions of everything Oscar, boiled down into weekly power rankings of the buzziest and most likely contenders in this year’s awards season. The Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award has been one of the most reliable barometers for both Best …
Based on a popular novel by Lisa Genova, Still Alice is a weepy portrait of a linguistic professor, Dr. Alice Howland, battling early onset alzheimers shortly after turning 50 years old. Boasting a cast that includes Alec Baldwin, Kirsten Stewart, Kate Bosworth and the always electric Julianne Moore, above all else this is a film that leans on strong performances. This is not a film about script, ideas or even direction, it is about the intimacy of faces and the passion of performers.
Hollywood could easily be the perfect fantasy world of Cronenberg’s obsessions. The themes associated with body horror, from the fascination with decay to the battle between body and mind, are staples of the torrid extremes of Tinsel Town. In 2012, David Cronenberg’s son, Brandon, tackled these ideas with his feature debut Antiviral. That film explores a dystopian future in which the obsession with celebrity is taken to extremes of consumption. In Antiviral, the masses purchase meat grown from their favourite celebrity’s cells and head to a special clinic in order to be infected with the same venereal strain as their Hollywood Idol. The film externalizes the growing cultural obsession with fame, and concentrates that obsession through corporeality and sex.
Non-Stop Written by John W. Richardson, Chris Roach, and Ryan Engle Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra USA, 2014 Liam Neeson’s face has become a world-weary, pock-marked road map over the years, detailing a wholesome leading man’s travails into cinematic battle. In the last 6 years, he’s revitalized himself as a no-nonsense action hero, an unstoppably tough …
It is hard not to wonder, while watching Don Jon, exactly how much Joseph Gordon-Levitt can’t stand the culture of which he is a part. His directorial debut (which he also wrote) is a deeply cynical portrait of what he must consider the shallowest elements of pop culture.
A reimagining of the classic horror tale about Carrie White (Chloe Grace Moretz), a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother (Julianne Moore), who unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom. Based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, Carrie is directed by Kimberly Peirce with a screenplay by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.
Don Jon Directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt Written by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (screenplay) US, 2013 Gender roles can be a land mine of a topic. The subject matter is riddled with opinions that no one can agree on. It is a topic that perforates and polarizes. However, most can agree that objectification plays a large role in …
The 64th annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held on September 23rd in Los Angeles to honour the best of primetime television shows, movies, and miniseries that aired over the last year. With first-time host Jimmy Kimmel, many were interested to see how their favourite shows, actors, and actresses would fare in the most prestigious awards …
At the end of each month, the Sound On Sight staff will band together to write an article about their favourite scenes in films released. Here are our favourite scenes from the month of February. **** Once Upon A Time In Anatolia – Opening Scene Nuri Bilge Ceylan is without a doubt one of the …
It has been a good awards season run for her this year, nominated for several awards for her The Kids Are All Right role, could she now be aiming for the next awards season? The blogosphere exploded today, with confirmation from The Hollywood Reporter, that Julianne Moore has been cast as former Alaskan governor/ex-Republican Vice Presidential …
What really impresses is the way the script, co-written by Ford and David Scearce, sidesteps the maudlin and the pretentious to show us how ridiculous we can be, even in our darkest moments. – A Single Man Directed by Tom Ford With fashion supremo Tom Ford at the helm, the very least you’d expect from …