Showing all posts about film
Ridley Scott blames oblong obsession for The Last Duel’s poor showing
26 November 2021
It seems Ridley Scott’s latest feature The Last Duel isn’t doing too well at the box-office, and the celebrated director is pointing the finger of blame at smartphones, and millennials apparent obsession with them:
“I think what it boils down to – what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cell phones,” Scott said. “The millennian, [who] do not ever want to be taught anything unless you told it on the cell phone… This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook. This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”
By that rationale though wouldn’t most movies, not just historical dramas, be doing poorly at the box-office?
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JFK Revisited, a documentary about John F. Kennedy’s assassination
26 November 2021
JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass (trailer), is a documentary by American filmmaker Oliver Stone, a follow up of sorts to his 1991 drama feature JFK.
“Conspiracy theories are now conspiracy facts,” Stone asserts, having presumably combed through many of the previously withheld papers in relation to the 1963 assassination of late US President John F. Kennedy, released by Donald Trump in 2018.
Not all film commentators are in agreement with the arguments Stone presents though. And for a cold light of day assessment of Kennedy’s murder: this 2003 article published in The Guardian, written by Kenneth Rahn:
The real story of the assassination is this: Kennedy was killed by one misfit guy, a cheap but effective rifle, a good vantage point from the building where he worked and a run of fortuitous events. It is over. We must realise that this horrible event was not some evil plot. It was the product of chance, not conspiracy.
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documentary, film, John F. Kennedy, Oliver Stone
King Richard, a film by Reinaldo Marcus Green
24 November 2021
American actor Will Smith depicts Richard Williams in King Richard (trailer), a bio-pic directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green about the father of American tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, and his efforts to coach his young daughters after recognising their talent.
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film, Reinaldo Marcus Green, trailer
David Stratton and the future of cinema
24 November 2021
Renowned film critic David Stratton has recently written a book, My Favourite Movies (published by Allen & Unwin, November 2021), which as the title suggests, is a selection of his personal favourites. But having watched close to what he estimates to be thirty thousand films during his life, choosing just one hundred and eleven titles to feature in My Favourite Movies, was no easy task, as Stratton explained in a recent interview with FilmInk.
In the course of the discussion, he also offered his thoughts on the current state of cinema, something I’ve been wondering about, especially in the light of the pandemic, and the impact lockdowns have had on the industry.
There have been tremendous changes in every area to do with film. The opportunities for commentary on film have been reduced and of course the film industry itself has changed dramatically. I wonder sometimes whether the cinema will survive.
That’s bleak commentary coming from one of Australia’s best known film critics.
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The retro themed artwork of the soundtrack cover for Licorice Pizza
20 November 2021
Retro themed artwork for the soundtrack cover for Paul Thomas Anderson’s retro themed movie Licorice Pizza. The title track is credited to Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. I couldn’t find out who the cover designer is, does anyone know? You can hear most of the soundtrack here on Spotify, sans, at the moment, Greenwood’s contribution.
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film, Jonny Greenwood, music, Paul Thomas Anderson
Belfast, a film by Kenneth Branagh
20 November 2021
Belfast (trailer) is a coming of age story set in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, during the 1960s, directed by British actor and filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, and is based in part on his childhood.
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film, Kenneth Branagh, trailer
Don’t except to see Jane Campion directing a superhero film
19 November 2021
You won’t catch Sydney based New Zealand born film director Jane Campion helming a superhero movie. She loathes them. It’s a good thing, there’s far too many superhero movies in the world anyway.
Campion is the latest acclaimed director to criticise superhero films, following on Martin Scorsese, who compared them to “theme parks” in 2019, and Ridley Scott, who called them “fucking boring as shit” earlier this month. Both Marvel and DC have tried to bring over more auteurs, most recently Chloé Zhao, the Oscar-winning Nomadland director who made this month’s Eternals. But the film has become the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s worst reviewed offering to date.
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Zola, a film by Janicza Bravo
18 November 2021
Based on a series of viral tweets, and a 2015 Rolling Stone article written by David Kushner, Zola (trailer), a film directed by American filmmaker Janicza Bravo, sees Stefani (Riley Keough) lure fellow stripper Zola (Taylour Paige) on a road trip with the promise they’ll make a lot of money prostituting themselves. No doubt.
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River, a documentary by Jennifer Peedom and Joseph Nizeti
17 November 2021
The spectacular trailer for River, a documentary by Australian film producer Jennifer Peedom, and musician and composer Joseph Nizeti. The soundtrack includes music by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and Radiohead.
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film, Jennifer Peedom, Joseph Nizeti, music, trailer
The Tragedy of Macbeth, by Joel Coen
15 November 2021
How good’s this? American filmmaker Joel Coen, he of Coen brothers fame, has made an adaptation of the old Shakespeare play The Tragedy of Macbeth. See the trailer here. And what’s become of brother Ethan, the other half of the renowned film production duo? It seems he’s had enough of making films, according to Indiewire.
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