Monthly Archives: August 2019

“Little Women” Trailer

August 14, 2019based on a book, classic, dramaBob Odenkirk, Chris Cooper, Eliza Scanlen, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, James Norton, Laura Dern, Louis Garrel, meryl streep, Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy LettsKenna

Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, Little Women comes to the movie screen once again with a stellar cast of women and a couple of men. Many renditions of the classic book have come to us over more than 100 years of moviemaking.

The first adaption of Little Women was a British silent film in 1917 starring Gaiety Girl Ruby Miller. In 1918, U.S. silent film starred Dorothy Bernard. The first talking movie starred Katherine Hepburn and directed by George Cukor in 1933. The second movie starred June Alyson and Elizabeth Taylor with Mervyn LeRoy directing in 1949. The third starring Wyona Ryder in 1998. Then, a modernized version in 2018 starring Melanie Stone.

Gerwig, who directed the sleeper hit Lady Bird, crafted Little Women in a way the draws both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott. The movie unfolds as the author’s alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life.

In Gerwig’s take, the beloved story of the March sisters – four young women each determined to live life on her terms — is both timeless and timely.

Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their neighbor Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

Gerwig’s signature filmmaking shines through with stunning backdrops and charming costumes.

“A Hidden Life” Trailer, Clips & Posters

August 13, 2019biography, drama, historical, independent, warAugust Diehl, Michael Nyqvist, Terrence Malick, Valerie PachnerKenna

Rightfully written and directed by Terence Malick, The Hidden Life follows the life of Franz Jägerstätter, which the Catholic church beautified in 2007, as a conscientious objector to World War II and Hilter.

Winner of Cannes 2019 François Chalais Award, Terrence Malick, masterfully guides August Diehl, who plays Jägerstätter, an Austrian. Known as a rambunctious young man and womanizer, Franz leaves the small town where he grew up to work in the salt mines.

He returns three years later, riding a motorcycle and a devout Catholic. He marries Franziska, played by Valerie Pachner, whose religious faith is almost as powerful as Franz.

Franz denounces Hilter and WW II, resulting in the small town cauterizing him. He continues tending farm alongside his wife and children.

Eventually, the Nazis sent him to prison for his religious faith and denouncing Hilter and the war, saying he could not be both Catholic and Nazi. They executed him in 1943, and Franz becomes a martyr and beatified by the Catholic church.

I invite you to take a look at Malick’s movie, The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt, Sean Pen, and Jessica Chastain. He uses similar angles and tender moments to tell the story of a young boy growing up with an angelic mother and a spiteful father.

The trailer shows Malick’s talent for serene and pastoral countrysides of quiet long and buoyant moments of love and joy. Only Malick can tell the story of Jägerstätter’s tragic end to a blissful life taken by a strong belief and devotion to God.

The red carpet interviews at TIFF discuss Malick’s direction and the area where they filmed the farmhouse. The Jägerstätters lived in St. Radegund, a small village of 500 people in Upper Austria, near Salzburg and the German border. In the same province, where Hitler was born and spent his early youth–not far from Berchtesgaden, his mountain retreat during his years as head of the German state.

The video captures them sharing their experiences working with Malick.

He arrives home, but the consequences of him being a conscientious objector will be a sad and frightful ending. The camera work and acting drive the scene forward with Malick’s direction.

The next two clips are Malick’s signature work, narrative with telling their story through his wife’s letters.

“Luce” Trailer and Poster

August 13, 2019drama, thrillerAndrea Bang, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Marsha Stephanie Blake, naomi watts, Norbert Leo Butz, Octavia SpencerKenna

My interest in this movie started when I first saw the trailer on Facebook. I watched it muted because I didn’t want to be rude, playing the sound in a public place. Watch any trailer muted, and its visuals are stronger than when it has sound. I saw a movie that I wanted to see.

The situation in the story is an interesting one because we have the appearance of a perfect student named Luce, played by Kelvin Harrison, Jr. His teacher, Harriet Wilson, played by Octavia Spencer, suspects him to be violent.

Co-written and directed by Julius Onah, Luce is a smart psychological thriller and adapted from JC Lee’s play of the same name. Lee co-wrote the screenplay with Onah.

Onah talked about collaborating with Lee on the screenplay, “Despite how different we are on some levels, we have a similar sensibility when it comes to storytelling and the way we want to explore ideas and issues. Neither of us want to tell stories that are prescriptive or didactic in how they explore complex social issues. We both want to ask people to consider their blind spots, and to recognize their experience of the world will never be identical with anyone else’s.”

An all-star high school athlete and accomplished debater, Luce is a poster boy for the new American Dream. As are his parents, played by Naomi Watts and Tim Roth, adopted him from a war-torn country a decade earlier.

When Luce’s teacher, Ms. Wilson, makes a shocking discovery in his locker, Luce’s stellar reputation comes into question. But is he really at fault or is Ms. Wilson preying on dangerous stereotypes?

Watching the trailer, Onah creates an intense, multi-layered, and entertaining look at identity in today’s America.

“Pain and Glory” Trailer, Clips & Poster

August 9, 2019drama, foreign movieAntonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Penélope CruzKenna

Written and directed by one of Spain’s most successful filmmakers, Pedro Almodovar, Pain and Glory follows a film director played by Antonio Banderas. Banderas won Cannes Film Festival 2019 Best Actor for his role and New York Film Critics Circle, Best Actor.

The director reflects on the choices he’s made in life as past and present come crashing down around him.

Watch the trailer, and you get a feel for what happens in the movie. The movie is in Spanish with English subtitles. The film also stars Penelope Cruz, who is Almodovar’s muse. His movies launched her career.

The director reflects on the choices he’s made in life as past and present come crashing down around him.

I love the colors in this movie, so vibrant.

The movie clip shows the reason Banderas won Best Actor at the Cannes Festival.

Cruz looks good in this clip. I suspect the scene is a flashback when the brothers are with their mother.

“Honey Boy” Posters and Trailers

August 8, 2019biography, dramaFKA twigs, Lucas Hedges, Noah Jupe, Shia LaBeoufKenna

Biography projects can be touchy because the screenwriter, Shia LaBeouf, takes a subjective look at his own traumatic experiences.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Alma Har’el, Honey Boy journeys the life of the young actor’s mean-spirited childhood, including his fledging adult years.

He struggles to reconcile with his father, played by LaBeouf, and deal with his mental health, fictionalizing his ascent to stardom and subsequent crash-landing into rehab and recovery.

Noah Jupe plays the young actor, with Lucas Hedges playing the older version of Otis Lort.

Har’el navigates the different stages in LaBeouf’s frenetic career. LaBeouf takes on the therapeutic challenge of playing a version of his father, an ex-rodeo clown and a felon.

Enter dancer-singer FKA Twigs makes her feature-film debut, playing neighbor and kindred spirit to the younger Otis while living in their garden-court motel home.

Har’el’s feature narrative debut is a one-of-a-kind collaboration between filmmaker and subject, exploring art as medicine and imagination as hope through the life and times of a talented, traumatized performer who dares to go in search of himself.

The trailer shows hardline misery, though Jupe is hardcore and shows committed acting skills.

Learning about LaBeouf’s traumatized childhood and knowing he worked for Disney studios in Even Stevens, what role did the studios play in helping him overcome, clearly, a bad upbringing?

In the red band trailer, I don’t see any difference from the “regular” movie trailer.

“47 Meters Down: Uncaged” Poster and Trailer

August 7, 2019adventure, thrillerBrec Bassinger, Brianne Tju, Corinne Foxx, Davi Santos, John Corbett, Khylin Rhambo, Nia Long, Sistine Stallone, Sophie NélisseKenna

Teenage girls go diving and explore a submerged Mayan City.

Directed by Johannes Roberts, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged follows the diving adventure of four teenage girls, played by Corinne Foxx, Sistine Stallone, Sophie Nélisse, and Brianne Tju. They explore a submerged Mayan City, and inside, their rush of excitement turns into a jolt of terror.

They discover the sunken ruins are a hunting ground for deadly Great White Sharks. With their air supply steadily dwindling, the friends must navigate the underwater labyrinth of claustrophobic caves and eerie tunnels in search of a way out of their watery hell.

The rest of the cast includes Brec Bassinger, Khylin Rhambo, Davi Santos, John Corbett, and Nia Long.

Roberts says that “47 Meters Down: Uncaged is very different from the first one [47 Meters Down.] These four girls – two step-sisters and two friends – basically, take a day by a lake in Mexico. One of the sisters is the daughter of an archaeologist working on this underwater mine city, mapping it out, and these girls all have basic dive skills, so they decide to go down to look at the first entrance. And then the tunnel collapses and they’re trapped.” Roberts flashes a shark-like grin before staying that, “they are not alone in there! So there’s claustrophobia, plus sharks! It’s pretty fucking scary.”

“1917” Trailers, Featurettes, Clips & Poster

August 1, 2019drama, warAndrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Richard MaddenKenna

Co-written and directed by Sam Mendes 1917, it is an epic drama during the most intense period of World War I. Krysty Wilson-Cairns co-wrote the screenplay with Mendes. They focused on the story based on his singular vision of telling the story of two young British soldiers, Schofield, played by George MacKay, and Blake, played by Dean-Charles Chapman, who are given a seemingly impossible mission. That is what you see happening in the first trailer with Colin Firth as a British commander giving their task.

In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message to stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers—Blake’s brother among them.

When I first saw the title, I thought the movie was about the 1917 revolution in Russia. Any world history fan will tell you that was a significant point. So, it bears in mind that a lot happened in Europe that year.

The movie also stars Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Mendes won an Oscar for American Beauty and directed two James Bond movies, Skyfall and Spectre.

Mendes takes filmmaking to a new level with continuous shots and storytelling through the countryside without using the exact locations. The featurette shows incredible production value.