Joy (2016). D/W: David O. Russell. DP: Linus Sandgren. Starring: Jennifer Lawrence/Robert De Niro/Bradley Cooper/Édgar Ramirez/Virginia Madsen/Diane Ladd/Isabella Rossellini/Elisabeth Rohm/Dascha Polanco. January is one of the best months for movies as there is a mad rush towards award season despite the pretense that filmmakers do not care about awards. A fun and debatable topic, this…
Star Treatment
Since its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival the Hank Williams biopic, I Saw The Light, has not been talked about. Pushed from its original award season release, Sony Pictures Classic has finally given us a trailer. Starring Englishman (AKA Loki) Tom Hiddleston as arguably the grandfather of country music as it is known…
One Man Compass
Steve Jobs (2015). D: Danny Boyle. DP: Alwin H. Küchler. W: Aaron Sorkin. Starring: Michael Fassbender/Kate Winslet/Seth Rogen/Jeff Daniels/Michael Stuhlbarg/Katherine Waterston/Sarah Snook/John Oritz. (NOTE: Based on Walter Isaacson’s book ‘Steve Jobs’) Forgive me for never making time for the Ashton Kutcher staring 2013 film, Jobs. Now with this newer, fancier, somewhat biopic film, Steve Jobs, I…
Too Big for its Britches
The Program (2015). D: Stephen Frears. DP: Danny Cohen. W: John Hodge (Based on David Walsh’s book Seven Deadly Sins and My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong) Starring: Ben Foster/Chris O’Dowd/Jesse Plemmons/Dustin Hoffman/Guillaume Canet/Lee Pace/Elaine Cassidy/Laura Donnelly. Oh the biopic. As I mentioned in my review of Straight Outta Compton the biopic has a tempestuous history…
Rebel Hearts
Suffragette (2015). D: Sarah Gavron. DP: Eduard Grau. W: Abi Morgan. Starring: Carey Mulligan/Helena Bonham-Carter/Anne-Marie Duff/Meryl Streep/Ben Wishaw/Brendan Gleeson/Romola Garai/Natalie Press/Adam Michael Dodd. As award season looms the first of many strong contenders hits theaters. Suffragette bowed at the London Film Festival and enticed domestic violence protesters to lay down on the red carpet and…
A Celluloid Story
Life (2015). D: Anton Corbijn. DP: Charlotte Bruus Christensen. W: Luke Davis. Starring: Dane DeHaan/Robert Pattinson/Ben Kinsgley/Joel Edgerton/Kristian Bruun/Alessandra Mastronardi. As the leaves begin to change, fall is upon us and once again its time to get through the slog of films and gear up for another award season. Life has made it over here…
This Is a Game and It’s Ruthless
Straight Outta Compton (2015). D: F. Gary Gray. DP: Matthew Libatique. W: Jonathan Herman & Andrea Berloff. Starring: O’Shea Jackson Jr./Corey Hawkins/Jason Mitchell/Neil Brown Jr./Aldis Hodge/R. Marcus Taylor/Paul Giamatti/Tate Ellington. Already the highest grossing R rated opening for the month of August in the US, Straight Outta Compton has put the biopic back on the…
A Powerhouse Goodbye
Amy (2015). D: Asif Kapadia. E: Chris King. Featuring archived footage and new audio. Deep into my dissertation writing on faux musical biopics, it is quite fitting that a documentary project like Amy should be released. Directed by Asif Kapadia whose previous project, Senna, brought him attention and awards, Amy is a distinct experience. Amy…
Second Time Round
New trailer for the Steve Jobs project from Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay and director Danny Boyle… Steve Jobs
Electric Eccentricity
Mr. Turner (2014). D/W: Mike Leigh. DP: Dick Pope. Starring: Timothy Spall/Paul Jesson/Dorothy Atkinson/Marion Bailey/Ruth Sheen/Lesley Manville/Sandy Foster/Martin Savage. Amidst other biopics of the year emerges Mr. Turner. The film chronicles the latter half of British painter J.M.W.’ Turner’s life as he lives eccentrically and paints in the nineteenth century. Balancing between his travels for…