Lincoln (Non-Vampire Hunter Version)

     Of all the Oscar buzz fall films, Lincoln is the one I am looking forward to most.  I was an American History major, I have a crush on Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Day-Lewis looks freakishly perfect as Lincoln himself.  Yes it's Spielberg so it's pretty much a lock to get award notice, add to that a classic figure in American history, and it would be hard for this film not to generate crazy Oscar hype.  What's really attractive to me about this film is the amazing supporting cast behind Daniel Day-Lewis who is sure to steal every scene he is in.  I'd easily rank this as the best cast of any film this year, with industry heavyweights, quirky indie darlings, obscure career character actors, and up and coming new stars.

Industry heavyweights: Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, Sally Field as crazy Mary Todd Lincoln, Hal Holbrook as Francis Preston Blair.

Quirky indie darlings: Tim Blake Nelson as Richard Schell, James Spader as WN Bilbo, Jackie Earle Haley as Alexander Stephens, John Hawkes as Robert Latham, David Strathairn as William Seward,

Career character actors: S. Epatha Merkerson as Lydia Smith, Bruce McGill as Edward Stanton, Jared Harris as Ulysses S. Grant.

Up and coming new stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Todd Lincoln, Lee Pace as Fernando Wood, Joseph Cross as John Hay.

     I'm sure I'm leaving out some other actors but how do you look at that list and not say WOW, particularly after Spielberg's 2011 War Horse was noticeably short on recognizable actors.  Hopefully the films lives up to the hype.  Obviously the Kearns Goodwin book is about the best plce you could possibly start when making a historic bio-pic.  Tony Kushner wrote the screenplay, his first since the 2005 Munich, also by Spielberg, and a pretty good film (how can it not be with Daniel Craig in it).
     The film has all the makings of a powerhouse Oscar season winner, I'll guess we'll find out November 16th. 

Filmfest DC's Arabian Sights October 25th to November 4th

I'll be volunteering as a Theater Manager again this year for Arabian Sights, come down  and say hello and catch one of the great films this year, full catalog should be out shortly:

Arabian Sights Website

Arabian Sights 2012

The Arabian Sights Film Festival will take place October 25 through November 4.
The Seventeenth Annual Arabian Sights Film Festival returns with the newest and most innovative films from today's Arab world. Select directors will be present at their screenings to discuss their work. Special events will be held and an Audience Award for favorite film will be presented. All films will be screened with English subtitles. Please check back for updates on films, guests, events, and more.
This year, film screenings will take place at the National Geographic Society's Grosvenor Auditorium in conjunction with 1001 Inventions: Discover the Golden Age of Muslim Civilization, an award-winning exhibition dedicated to the history of science and technology in the Islamic civilization during the Golden Age.

Spike Jonze / Charlie Kaufman film next year

     These 2 have finally got back together to do a film together, ten years after Adaptation.  Apparently the film is already in post-production but has yet to be named.  The cast looks pretty great though, Amy Adams, Samantha Morton, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, and Joaquin Phoenix.  The only real details of the film seems to be that Phoenix's character falls in love with the voice on his computer and everything spins from there. 

     Don't let the premise turn you off, Spike Jonze has proven in the past that he can make incredibly enjoyable movies out of the simplest of narratives, there were only 338 words in Where the Wild Things Are and he managed an incredibly enjoyable 101 minute film out of it.  While Jonze's career has been made up mostly music videos, shorts, and video documentaries, his films like Being John Malkovich have attained a bit of a cult status. He's also know for films he's turned down directing, Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Human Nature, Memoirs of a Geisha, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Synedoche, NY.

    Spike Jonze's has seemed to live a bit of a charmed life and may rank as one of the cooler people on the planet.  He came up directing skate videos and working for the Beastie Boy's Grand Royal Magazine as well as directing their video for Sabotage.  Besides dating Michelle Williams he was also Francis Ford Coppola's son-in-law for 4 years. He stole every scene he was in in Three Kings as an actor, and still pops up in film and TV roles, not to mention creating Jackass for MTV and his work with the Torrance Community Dance Group.  The guy has just excelled in every medium he has worked in, not bad for a kid from Rockville, MD.

     The last couple years he's mainly been directing videos for band across the board from the Beastie Boys to Arcade Fire, Kayne to Bjork, let's hope this new film brings a return to full length movies. 

Oh, and when he was 22 he did this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ7z57qrZU8

And this crazy Adidas Commercial, the music produced by his DJ brother and sung by his then girlfriend, the lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Wk7wYqfJn8

Milos Forman film series showing at NGA in September

     

 

 

     One of my favorite all time directors, Milos Forman's career has spanned 50 years and is still going strong.  He is one of only 3 living directors with 2 Oscars for best picture (with Coppola and Eastwood), and he has directed 8 different actors in best actor Oscar performances.  He has directed some of my favorite films of the last 30 years, The People vs Larry Flynt, Amadeus, Valmont, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Man on the Moon, Ragtime, Hair...

     The National Gallery of Art is showing free screenings of some of his earliest films and also the Director's cut of Amadeus throughout the month of September.

 

 

Miloš Forman: Lives of an Artist

September 22, 23, 29, 30

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Distinguished leader of the Czech new wave and celebrated Hollywood director Miloš Forman (born 1932) turned 80 years old this year. From any perspective, his life has had more than its share of dramatic situations. His parents died in concentration camps, his earliest work was challenged by the authorities, and he was denied admission to drama school, yet managed to graduate from the FAMU film academy and work for Czech television in the 1950s. When barely 30, during the early days of cultural liberalization known as the Prague Spring, he launched his experimental approach to filmmaking under the watch of the communist regime. Yet as the brief but pivotal Prague Spring drew to a close in 1968, Forman was forced to leave for the United States where, somewhat tentatively, he resumed his filmmaking career. This cycle of Forman's work is presented in association with the Czech Film Archive and the Embassy of the Czech Republic, with thanks to Barbara Karpetova, Mary Fetzco, and Michal Bregant.

 

 

Origins of the Czech New Wave

September 22 at 4:00

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Illustrated lecture by Michal Bregant
Film historian, critic, curator, and director of the Czech Film Archive in Prague, Michal Bregant discusses the career of Miloš Forman and his relationship with the Czech new wave, the artistic movement of the late 1950s and 1960s that profoundly affected the course of European cinema. (Approximately 50 minutes)

 

Audition
followed by Taking Off

September 23 at 4:30

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

With his first 16 mm camera Forman made Audition, an account of tryouts for a musical play at Prague's famous Semafor Theatre, combining documentary and fiction. A satirical portrait of the young women who flock there merely to show off mediocre talents, the film's imaginative soundtrack is a mix of Czech pop, folk, and classical music. (Konkurs, 1963, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 47 minutes)
In the aftermath of his exile, Forman's American debut was Taking Off, another tale that begins with a talent competition. Although it borrows motifs from Audition, the story takes a different turn, focusing on the American suburbanite parents of a runaway daughter who find themselves adrift in the "flower power" counterculture of the era, as they try to locate their girl. Chosen as the official American entry in the 1971 Festival de Cannes, the film—which includes a performance by Ike and Tina Turner—was awarded the jury prize. (1971, 35 mm, 93 minutes)

 

 

The Fireman's Ball

September 29 at 1:00

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Introduction by Michael Bregant
A provincial fire department's annual ball erupts in mayhem—raffle prizes are pilfered, the beauty pageant goes awry, the contestants' carousing fathers drink too much—and outside in the town, a house burns down. For a humorously unassuming political allegory, The Fireman's Ball suffered one of the most unusual fates in film history. Not only was the president of Czechoslovakia outraged by its satirical tone, but thousands of volunteer firemen threatened to strike after it opened. Ultimately, the film was banned. (Horí, má panenko, 1967, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 71 minutes)

 

 

Black Peter
followed by Loves of a Blonde

September 29 at 3:00

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Forman's first full feature was filmed in a small town with a nonprofessional cast who improvised much of their dialogue. Inspired by the vérité approach of Italian neorealism, Black Peter centers on a shy but sympathetic young store clerk who, assigned to apprehend shoplifters, lacks the nerve to confront anyone. Its warmth, ironic humor, and realism were a hit with viewers and, though criticized by the regime, the film was selected as the best picture of 1963 by Czech film critics. (Cerný Petr, 1963, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 85 minutes)
Another critical success for Forman was Loves of a Blonde, a tender story of a naive factory worker who has a one-night stand with a musician from Prague and then follows him home. "Forman's humor comes from the fact that his characters peer out at the world like timid nocturnal animals, always prepared to defend themselves against attack but constantly having the ground cut from under their feet by the discovery that people are never quite what they seem"—Tom Milne. (Lásky jedné plavovlásky, 1965, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 83 minutes)

 

Amadeus

September 30 at 4:00

East Building Concourse, Auditorium

Director's cut
Sweeping nearly all major categories in the 1984 Oscars, Forman's adaptation of Peter Shaffer's drama about a brash Mozart and his beleaguered rival Salieri was not without its detractors. Pauline Kael wrote, "The insensitivity to what Mozart might have been like is so flagrant that for the first hour you almost think it's a joke." Returning to Prague for the filming, Miroslav Ondříček’s cinematography captured opulent baroque spaces, while Forman played these period settings as counterpoint to his eccentric characterizations, curiously validating the whole effect. The director’s cut of the film is loaned through the courtesy of the Academy Film Archive and Saul Zaentz. (1984, 35 mm, 180 minutes)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Free screening at Smithsonian American Art Museum Thursday, August 2

 

     A classic starring Liz Taylor and her husband at the time, Richard Burton, every single cast member was nominated for an Academy Award.  This was also Mike Nichols' directorial debut, followed the next year by The Graduate.  Fred Zimmerman had been slated to direct but bailed on the project to direct A Man for All Season instead, the film that beat out Virgina Woolf for the Best Picture Oscar that year.  Amazing performances all around and the cinematography is perfect from Haskell Wexler for which he also won the Oscar.

 

 

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

When	Thursday, August 2, 2012, 6:30 – 8:30pm
Categories	After Five, Films
Location	American Art Museum
Event Location	McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level
Note	Rated PG (129 minutes; 1966) When Nick and Honey are invited to George and Martha’s home for cocktails, they unexpectedly find themselves witness to a bitter marriage crumbling apart. Starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and directed by Mike Nichols, the film won six Academy Awards®, including Best Actress for Elizabeth Taylor.

Chilean Film at Hirshhorn June 27, 2012

On the Road vs. Great Gatsby in 2012

     2 of the most well loved American classics are coming to the big screen this year.  Walter Salles, director of the Motorcycle Diaries and the impressive Central Station, directs On the Road, while Baz Luhrman takes another shot at a non-musical with the Great Gatsby.  How is it possible 2 of the most well loved American novels turned to film can be directed by an Australian and a Brazilian?  I'm kind of surprised neither of these titles fell to a Scorsese, Spielberg, or Howard. 
  

    To start with On the Road, on the surface the cast looks impressive, Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Steve Buscemi, Elizabeth Moss, and Terrence Howard.  On further inspection however, these actors play only the supporting characters.  For some reason funding was drastically cut for this picture, despite being a benchmark of 20th century American literature, and the financial upside of this film can't be that great.  All the major roles are cast with relative unknowns, Sam Riley (Brighton Rock) as Sal Paradise, Tom Sturridge (Being Julia, Pirate Radio) as Carlo Marx, and Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy, Friday Night Lights) as Dean Moriarty.  Yes, Kristen Stewart also plays Marylou.  A grouping of relatively hot young actors for sure, but I'm not convinced any of them have the background to pull this off, though I am hopeful.  With a budget of only $25 million you can't really hope for a high caliber cast, beyond this, even even they had to take a pay cut to stay involved. 

     On to Gatsby.  A much bigger budget Hollywood adaptation with the requisite big name stars and director.  Baz Luhrman is really more known for musical pieces like Moulin Rouge and Strictly Ballroom and it should be interesting to see what he can do with a more understated storyline like Gatsby's.  He's been doing mostly short films since the highly anticipated but uneven Australia and this is his jump back into big budget Hollywood, like $127 million big budget films.  I'm not much of a DiCaprio fan outside of This Boy's Life and Basketball Diaries but I think he is perfect for this role of Jay Gatsby.  Much like Catch Me If You Can and Titanic, I can envision him more as a rich Long Islander than I can as some sort of action star as in a Blood Diamond or Gangs of New York.  I can't think of anyone better to cast in this role.  For Daisy Buchanan, Carey Mulligan, probably my favorite current young actress today.  This role was apparently incredibly sought out by the A list Hollywood crowd, Portman, McAdams, Hathaway, Seyfried, Wilde, Johansson, and even Alba were considered.  I think this was a fantastic choice.  For Nick Carraway, Tobey Maguire.  I've never really understood how he has become so popular.  Outside of Wonder Boys and the Ice Storm I've never really appreciated much that he has been in honestly.  The role will reunite him with Mulligan who was also in Brothers with Maguire, but I think the other co-star of that film, Jake Gyllenhaal might have been a better choice.  Maquire is closer to Sam Waterston in looks and demeanor though, the Nick Carraway of the 1974 Francis Ford Coppola written adaptation before this one.  Unfortunately that film never really lived up to the hype either, despite an all star cast of the time with Redford, Farrow, Dern, and Black. 

     I'm sure I'll end up seeing both of these though I'd bet that Gatsby proves to be the real winner.  Fitzgerald's work never really achieves the greatness it deserves on screen.  Benjamin Button was a critical and commercial success of course, but I still think the Last Tycoon with DeNiro is my favorite Fitzgerald adaptation to hit the big screen.