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Watch a Visual Effects Breakdown For Robert Zemeckis’ ‘The Walk’
28 November 2015 12:03 PM, PST
One of the more puzzling box-office failures of the year is Robert Zemeckis‘ The Walk, an often thrilling and moving feat of visual effects and genuine emotion, as detailed in our review. Barely crossing the $10 million domestic mark, it’s a shame many won’t get the opportunity to experience it in it intended IMAX presentation, but we imagine it’ll gain some life as it gets discovered in the years to come.
Zemeckis’ experimentation with CGI and motion-capture led to perhaps the detriment of overall quality with some of his earlier films this century, but The Walk beautifully reimagines Philippe Petit’s infamous 1974 walk across the World Trade Center towers.
Today we have a visual effects breakdown for Rodeo, which showcases some of the build-up to the event (we imagine a behind-the-scenes of the actual walk will wait for the Blu-ray, though some can be seen here). With nearly »
- Jordan Raup
10 Great Boxing Movies to Watch After Seeing ‘Creed’
27 November 2015 11:09 AM, PST
The life of a professional boxer can be desperate and toilsome. Unless you’re a marquee prizefighter, there’s little money to be made, leaving many fighters stricken by poverty. Yet, few professions are so straightforward. Almost disturbing in its simplicity, you punch your opponent until they fall down, whilst they try to do the same to you.
In cinema, the boxer is an ever-present figure, often solitary and driven to succeed by demons from the past. Creed, Ryan Coogler‘s new addition to the Rocky series is out this week in a wide release, and garnering some very positive reviews (including our own). There’s no better time to brush up on your boxing movies, as it’s an enthralling little sub-genre, ripe for explosive violence and drama.
We compiled ten of the best boxing movies below, so check them out, and let us know your favorites.
Ali (Michael Mann »
- Tony Hinds
New to Streaming: ‘Goodnight Mommy,’ ‘Victoria,’ ‘Manhunter,’ ‘The Second Mother,’ and More
27 November 2015 9:17 AM, PST
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
It might be hard to conceive of how a tragic story like Madame Bovary could be turned into a farcical and winning comedy, and yet here we stand. With remarkable tonal control from director Anne Fontaine and a winning pair of performances from Gemma Arterton and Fabrice Luchini, Gemma Bovery somehow manages to be an affecting and hilarious treat. Set in modern day Normandy, »
- TFS Staff
Cahiers du cinéma’s Top 10 Films of 2015 Includes ‘Mia Madre,’ ‘Jauja,’ ‘Arabian Nights,’ & More
27 November 2015 8:22 AM, PST
Established in the 1950’s by André Bazin, Joseph-Marie Lo Duca, and Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, France’s Cahiers du cinéma has long been a bastion for quality film criticism. Year after year their rundown of the top films usually ignites a response, and we doubt 2015 will be any different.
They’ve now released their list for this year, which includes a few films that won’t get a U.S. release until next year (the chart-topping Mia Madre, Cemetery of Splendour, In the Shadow of Women, and Journey to the Shore). Also among the list is Lisandro Alonso‘s stellar Jauja, Miguel Gomes‘ epic Arabian Nights, and George Miller‘s blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road.
Following Sight & Sound’s top 20 of 2015, check out the full list below (thanks to Jordan Cronk), and see reviews where available.
1. Mia Madre (Nanni Moretti)
2. Cemetery of Splendour (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
3. In the Shadow of Women (Philippe Garrel »
- Jordan Raup
Composer Michael Brook Discusses Scoring John Crowley’s Understated ‘Brooklyn’
27 November 2015 6:51 AM, PST
Michael Brook is a Golden Globe and Grammy-nominated composer, producer and recording artist recognized for his unique style of composition that traverses ambient, world, Americana, electronic and orchestral territories. His work often contains unusual combinations of instruments, sounds and moods that create a powerful, unique and emotional impact.
Brook’s music career began as a recording artist, guitar player, producer and collaborator, working with artists such as Brian Eno, David Sylvian, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Pogues, on ground breaking labels such as 4Ad and Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records. As his music began to be licensed in films such as Heat and Any Given Sunday, he developed an interest in composing for film and moved to Los Angeles from the UK in 1999. Among the more than 40 films that he has scored are The Perks of Being A Wallflower, The Fighter, Into the Wild, Chavez, An Inconvenient Truth. and the Oscar-winning documentary Undefeated. »
- Marc Ciafardini
‘The Assassin,’ ‘Carol,’ and ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Top Sight & Sound’s 20 Best Films of 2015
27 November 2015 6:19 AM, PST
While our year-end coverage will arrive at… well, the end of the year, other outlets are getting the jump early. One of the first is the estimable Sight & Sound, who have culled together 20 of the year’s best films from 168 of their contributors and colleagues. Topping the list is Hou Hsiao-hsien‘s magnificent The Assassin.
Some may be surprised at the inclusion of Inherent Vice, but that hit U.K. theaters this year, while Arabian Nights, 45 Years, Son of Saul, Cemetery of Splendour, Amy, and Chantal Akerman‘s final film, No Home Movie, all cracked the top 10. Also rounding out the top 20 are two animated films: Charlie Kaufman‘s Anomalisa and Pixar’s Inside Out.
While some have yet to be released in the states, if you’ve missed a few during their theatrical run, we’re keeping tabs on where you can stream them here. In the meantime, »
- Jordan Raup
[Review] Victor Frankenstein
25 November 2015 11:09 AM, PST
It’s taken a whole laboratory of mad scientists to conceive Victor Frankenstein, the latest exploitation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel, but the resulting schizophrenic lump of stitched-together cinematic remains hardly deserves the moniker ‘alive.’ Not the first adaptation of the original to monkey with the rather esoteric source material—in truth, almost every version has staged a grand departure—Paul McGuigan’s take isn’t a failure for ditching the original text, but for lacking the gumption to take any of its intended diversions and extrapolate them into something lively, fresh or fearsome. If there’s any real juiciness in this carcass, it’s in the performances of James McAvoy, whose Victor is a preening, pompous charmer of a deranged scientist, and Daniel Radcliffe, who imbues his carnival hunchback-cum-brilliant physician and social climber with an introverted sensitivity that is one of the few sincere touches on display.
The special effects, »
- Nathan Bartlebaugh
Giveaway: Win ‘American Ultra’ Starring Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg on Blu-ray
25 November 2015 10:56 AM, PST
Arriving on Blu-ray this week is the stoner comedy/thriller American Ultra starring Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg. We’ve teamed with Lionsgate Home Entertainment to give away two (2) Blu-rays of the film. See how to enter below and all entries must be received by 11:59 Pm Est on Sunday, November 29th.
To enter, do the first two steps and then 3 and 4 each count as an entry into the contest.
1. Like The Film Stage on Facebook
2. Follow The Film Stage on Twitter
Follow @TheFilmStage
3. Comment in the box on Facebook with your favorite stoner comedy.
What's your favorite stoner comedy?Comment for a chance to win #AmericanUltra on Blu-ray. See more details: http://bit.ly/1MDaoWn
Posted by The Film Stage on Wednesday, November 25, 2015
4. Retweet the following tweet:
We're giving away 'American Ultra' on Blu-ray. Follow us and Rt to enter. Details: https://t. »
- TFS Staff
Ozu Muse Setsuko Hara Dies at 95; Stream Her Best Films
25 November 2015 9:34 AM, PST
Having been born in 1920, it’s hardly any shock that Setsuko Hara has passed away; and having entirely disappeared from the public spotlight by 1963, it isn’t so odd that only today, November 25, do we learn of a death that occurred on September 5. But the actress, as iconic as any that Japanese cinema has ever given us, radiated such grace, warmth, and kindness through several masterpieces of the post-war era that many a cinephile, yours truly included, take the news with a heavy heart.
If there’s any consolation — other than the knowledge that she died sans media attention, as was very likely wished — it’s that several films showcasing her brilliance can be streamed online. (Assuming you have a Hulu subscription, that is.) The collection of directors represented here, who were pulled towards and made her a regular collaborator, speaks volumes: Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, and Mikio Naruse. There »
- Nick Newman
Captain America and Iron Man Face Off In First Trailer For Marvel’s ‘Civil War’
25 November 2015 4:22 AM, PST
Considering it reached $1.4 billion worldwide, if you’re reading this, you probably sat through Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, if you’re like this viewer, you couldn’t help but feeling more than a little disappointed by the superhero tentpole. Thankfully, the next film that gets (most of) the gang back together looks a bit more interesting.
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, returning after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, next summer’s Captain America: Civil War pits Iron Man and our title character against each other as they battle behind their different ideologies. Judging from the first trailer, which debuted last night, the action and set-up is already looking much improved over some of Marvel’s blander entries, so hopefully it’s a strong kick-off to the summer.
With an ensemble featuring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Emily VanCamp, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, »
- Jordan Raup
Watch: Quentin Tarantino, Cast & Crew Discuss the Glorious 70mm of ‘The Hateful Eight’ In New Featurette
24 November 2015 4:51 PM, PST
With the 70mm roadshow release officially clocking in at 187 minutes (including a 12-minute intermission) for Quentin Tarantino‘s The Hateful Eight, you’ll certainly want to travel to the closet theater playing the special event. As we await the official list (we know it’s coming to 96 theaters in the United States, 4 in Canada, and select locations elsewhere around the world), today we have an excellent featurette to show off the process.
“Ultra Panavision also produces subtle aesthetic effects, unusual even to viewers familiar with 70 millimeter,” NY Times reports. “The lens “for lack of a better word is a softer lens,” Mr. Sasaki said. During a screening of test footage for the film, he pointed out the impressionistic qualities of the focus and explained how the image catered to our eyes’ natural depth cues.”
As the eight-minute featurette explains, it was quite an undertaking to refurbish new cameras, shoot the project, »
- Jordan Raup
[Review] The Good Dinosaur
24 November 2015 2:00 PM, PST
It is a shame that The Good Dinosaur should have to be released so shortly after this year’s other Pixar film, Inside Out. Following in the wake of the earlier film, which was an endlessly imaginative analogy for the emotional and psychological development of a young girl, it is hard for any film from any studio to feel like anything more than a tired retread of familiar ideas. The story of Joy, Sadness, and Riley was so stuffed with inventiveness and novelty with gloriously rendered and conceived avatars of abstract concepts that it defied belief. Inside Out was a clear classic, a bold exercise in filmmaking that showed us what exactly animation can do that no other medium could hope to accomplish.
The Good Dinosaur, on the other hand, is a simpler, more literal story that plays like a cross between Finding Nemo and a Jack London story but »
- Brian Roan
First Trailer For ‘Belgica,’ From the Director of ‘The Broken Circle Breakdown’
24 November 2015 1:36 PM, PST
Over the past few years, there have been a number of films focusing on the personal toll of music making. This year saw Eden, the lightly fictionalized story of a failed DJ, which dominated the festival circuit, and the Edm story, We Are Your Friends, which attracted a small but vocal fanbase. And though they took markedly different approaches in tone and presentation, they both provided a snapshot into the coexisting destructive and wondrous effects of music.
Belgica, the next from from the Oscar-nominated Broken Circle Breakdown helmer Felix van Groeningen, looks to mine similar emotional terrain with its story of two brothers, Jo (Stef Aerts) and Frank (Tom Vermeir), who start a bar and become subsequently immersed in the Belgium club scene.
The first trailer emerged today, and it looks both exhausting and thrilling, shifting back and forth between the strained home life and frenzied work life of the two characters. »
- Michael Snydel
Trailer For Mika Kaurismäki’s ‘The Girl King’ Shows the Reign of a Cultural Revolutionary
24 November 2015 1:23 PM, PST
Mika Kaurismäki has had a long film career, but he still may be best known to film fans in the shadow of his brother, Aki Kaurismäki (Le Havre). The Girl King, his next film, may change that reputation though given the pedigree of both the cast and writers, and its possibility to tell the story of a feminist icon and eccentric historical footnote.
Written by Michel Marc Bouchard, who most recently adapted Xavier Dolan’s Tom at the Farm, and starring Michael Nyqvist, Sarah Gadon, and stateside unknown Malin Buska in the lead role, The Girl King, is the story of Christina of Sweden.
Ruler of Sweden for eighteen years in the 17th century beginning at age 6, Christina worked to modernize Sweden against the wishes of a conservative country. She was a cultural revolutionary who prided herself on various forms of sexual and gender ambiguity, and views that could be considered proto-feminist. »
- Michael Snydel
Celebrate ‘Christmas, Again’ In Trailer for Acclaimed Drama
24 November 2015 11:37 AM, PST
Hitting theaters and VOD just in time for the holidays is Christmas, Again, a drama that’s been earning fine notices at its festival appearances throughout the year. Writer-director Charles Poekel has crafted a story centered on a man (Queen of Earth‘s Kentucker Audley) spiraling into a miserable state of mind while selling Christmas trees at a lot. A woman (Hannah Gross) soon appears and changes his life — which obviously sounds familiar, but is apparently handled with the sort of sensitivity that’s become rare.
Or so we said out of Sundance, having written, “Christmas, Again becomes the kind of Christmas movie not very common anymore. One lacking in cynicism and irony.” (Reactions have, in general, been quite enthusiastic.) With the participation of Dp Sean Price Williams and editor Robert Greene also in play, here’s a title worth considering before the holiday crush (both at the movies and »
- Nick Newman
U.S. Trailer for ‘Arabian Nights’ Brings You Closer to Miguel Gomes’ Three-Film Epic
24 November 2015 10:55 AM, PST
I agree with our Cannes review when it says, “While it could certainly have used trimming in parts, Arabian Nights is definitely worth the six-hour investment,” and yet I remain uncertain about the total impact of Miguel Gomes‘ massive project. Being divided into three films — The Desolate One, The Restless One and The Enchanted One — it’s only natural that certain titles and their individual sections (of which there are many) will be better than others. How, then, to reconcile the preference for film two over film, or both over film one? What about a preference for the first half of film three over all else, and perhaps seeing the second half of film three as inferior to everything else?
At some point or another, you can (and, yes, should) decide for yourself. Arabian Nights will begin its theatrical run in New York at the start of next month, and »
- Nick Newman
The Films of Todd Haynes: Performance, Desire, and Identity
24 November 2015 10:55 AM, PST
Returning to the big screen after nearly a decade, queer maestro Todd Haynes presents his film Carol, based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, a rapturous love story between Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. In honor of the release, the Film Society at Lincoln Center has assembled a retrospective called “Todd Haynes: The Other Side of Dreams,” and, for our own appreciation, we’re taking a look back at his films.
Through glances, touches, performances, cleaning, singing, organizing, cooking, and sex, Todd Haynes has established himself as one of the most inventive filmmakers, and perhaps the most daringly unapologetic when it comes to broaching topics of identity, femininity, queerness, love, and desire. But his work is also imbued with passion and sensitivity, and he’s as invested in characters’ interior lives as he is playing intellectual games with the audience. Join us as we take a walk through his filmography. »
- TFS Staff
John Toll Talks Adjusting for the Small Screen, ‘Sense8,’ the Wachowskis & More
24 November 2015 10:14 AM, PST
Being that I don’t enjoy — and, by extension, bother with — much contemporary TV, perhaps you should take it with a grain of salt when I say that Sense8 is my favorite series in at least a decade, if not longer. Still, that prerequisite shouldn’t dull the effect of the Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski‘s show — directed by the former pairing, Tom Tykwer, James McTeigue, and Dan Glass — which is immensely entertaining, always takes advantage of the endless number of possibilities its concept offers, and evinces a crucial understanding of the many opportunities afforded by long-form storytelling.
It’s also a formally accomplished bit of work, which is thanks in no small part to the helping hand of cinematographer John Toll. It might be surprising that the who shot The Thin Red Line, Braveheart, and Almost Famous would head to a conceptually bizarre sci-fi TV show, but his »
- Nick Newman
First Trailer For ‘Krisha’ Provides Glimpse at SXSW Winner and 2016 Highlight
24 November 2015 10:05 AM, PST
Despite winning both the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at this year’s SXSW and making an appearance at Cannes, Trey Edward Shults’ debut feature, Krisha, didn’t seem to pick up the same buzz as most festival darlings this year. But with the news that A24 is distributing, and this first stunning trailer, it should become visible to a far greater audience.
Driven by a universally acclaimed performance by Krisha Fairchild, Krisha is the story of a woman who’s been absent from her family for more than ten years, but returns for Thanksgiving dinner to love, but also deep-rooted demons. The trailer is coy about the specifics of her past, but judging from statements like “I have tried to become a better human being,” she left deep destruction in her wake.
With its tight-knit sense of family and spiritual naturalism, it’s tempting to call the trailer’s visual aesthetic Malick-esque, »
- Michael Snydel
‘Carol’ Tops 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations
24 November 2015 9:37 AM, PST
In its 31st year, the Film Independent Spirt Awards showcase the best that modest (and, occasionally, lower budget) filmmaking has to offer annually. This year, it’s little surprise the the stellar Carol is leading the pack with six nominations, while Spotlight and Beasts of No Nation are close behind with five each. On the actual smaller scale of productions, the iPhone-shot drama Tangerine picked up a heft four nominations, a film that, alongside Anomalisa and the aforementioned titles, rounds out their Best Feature category.
Ahead of a ceremony on Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 5Pm Est, check out the full list of nominations below, which also recognize It Follows, Bone Tomahawk, The End of the Tour, Room, The Mend, James White, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Heaven Knows What, and more.
Best Feature
Award given to the Producer; Executive Producers are not awarded.
“Carol”
“Spotlight »
- Jordan Raup
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