Editor’s note: The Double Take series has been on hold for a while now, but today marks the return of this two-sided format of perspectives. Here, Bill Graham and Andrew Crump both offer their two cents on the freshly released literary drama, The Words. By Bill Graham: The lesson in The Words isn’t that first-time writer/directors can get in over their heads but that a solid editor might make the difference between a film that gets sidetracked in its own convolution and something worthwhile. The bulk of the narrative plays out with struggling writer Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper) trying to make ends meet with his wife Dora (Zoë Saldana) rooting him…
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'Before Midnight' Finishes Filming in Greece
So far this week, I’ve attended a screening of The Words, finished reading Perdido Street Station, begun my Brian De Palma education, and done some philosophical and theological research for an upcoming essay I’m writing on one of my favorite 2012 releases. Meanwhile, over in Messina, Greece, Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy polished off Before Midnight after claiming just last week that they were only in the writing phase of the project. How accomplished do I feel now? Regardless, the third installment of the romance between Jesse and Celine is now finished, and First Showing has a statement from the team about their film: “It’s great to be back…
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Off the Netflix Queue…'Jiro Dreams of Sushi'
If Jiro Ono, the subject of David Gelb’s documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, hadn’t found his passion in making sushi more than seventy years ago, he very well could have found a lucrative, successful career in life coaching. In his 80s and still working more steadfastly and efficiently than most young men in their 20s, Ono professes early on in the film his belief that one must fall in love with their profession and that hard work is “the key to being regarded honorably”, a sentiment which he expresses directly into the camera. He speaks with a firm but quiet earnestness that nonetheless bears a timbre of erudite command; you…
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G-S-T Review…The Possession
Good news, horror fans: The Possession contains fifteen minutes of a solid Sam Raimi flick. There’s bad news, of course, and that’s that those minutes find their home in the climax, which is preceded by a mixed bag of demonic possession tropes brought to us by Danish filmmaker Ole Bornedal. The Possession finds itself in an uncomfortable place where it reminds us why Raimi is such a treasure to the horror genre, but for reasons that aren’t necessarily good; when the heavily Raimi-influenced climax outshines the entirety of the rest of Bornedal’s film, it’s something of a disservice to the rest of the picture, a possess-by-numbers yarn inspired by a very real and allegedly…
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G-S-T Review…Oslo, August 31st
For most of us, a day out in the cities we live in doesn’t represent a strictly dangerous prospect. From street to street, familiarity engulfs us and fosters in us a sense of mundane security; the haunts and locales we visit and patronize become so commonplace that we could never construe them as harmful to our well-being. For Anders, the principal character of Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s sophomore effort, Oslo, August 31st, a single twenty four hour span of time is fraught with the perils of temptation, populated with ghosts from his past, and resonant with the echoes of his guilt and shame. Such are the circumstances of a recovering…
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G-S-T Review…Hit & Run
So, shocking news: Hit & Run is kind of a blast…go figure. Dax Shepard has, in fairness, made a movie before (2010’s Brother’s Justice, which sounds delightfully, suspiciously odd), so the man isn’t totally green in the realms of screenwriting and directing. All the same, permit me my surprised reaction. It’s late August, the film co-stars Tom Arnold, and Shepard remains best-known for his role in the MTV series Punk’d and Without a Paddle. Those aren’t exactly the kinds of credentials that inspire confidence in the jaded, but Shepard and co-director David Palmer use the aces hidden in their sleeves to great effect. Color me tasteless– Hit & Run works.…
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The Criterion Files: Days of Heaven
Days of Heaven: Directed by: Terrence Malick Written by: Terrence Malick Starring: Richard Gere, Abby Brooks, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz Cinematography by: Néstor Almendros, Haskell Wexler Music by: Ennio Morricone Released: September 13, 1973 Among the minute number of films Terrence Malick has directed over the course of his decade-spanning career, 1978’s Days of Heaven stands out as his most significant. Maybe it isn’t difficult to rise to the top of a five picture filmography (Malick’s sixth feature length release, To the Wonder, is allegedly due out later this year, and he has two more features tentatively planned to be shot back-to-back soon after), but the purpose of this exercise isn’t about competition;…
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G-S-T Review…Klown
Frank Hvam and Casper Christensen, the stars and writers of Denmark’s Klown, should find themselves in good company among the most prominent members of the raunchy comedy pantheon. Alternately, the remorselessly profane Danish duo might repulse their peers just as easily. Klown, the cinematic evolution of the television show Hvam and Christensen created and featured in together for four years, pushes every boundary of good taste with a smirk and a cackle; there’s gleeful deceit to how the film frequently builds toward redemptive kindness before pulling the rug out from under our feet. But if the film’s primary interest lies in taking the mickey out of Frank, Casper, and the audience, its…
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Sweet Trailer…'Seven Psychopaths'
It’s been four years since Martin McDonagh directed his first feature-length picture, but the wait between In Bruges and McDonagh’s next project is almost over. Today, Seven Psychopaths gets its first trailer, which should blow away any preconceptions you may have formed about the film in your head based on the title. For me, this is nothing but good news; with one two and a half minute clip, McDonagh’s placed his sophomore effort firmly on my radar for the fall season. Put more simply, Seven Psychopaths looks hilarious and deranged, but what else can you expect from a filmmaker with such a black sense of humor and a cast containing everyone from Walken to Rockwell to…
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Sweet Trailer…'Playing For Keeps'
The trailer for Film District’s pending romantic comedy, Playing For Keeps, tells us one thing right off the bat: Gerard Butler is still firmly interred in rom-com prison. The single most interesting detail here is that for once he’s not being forced to play American, which lets the film have a little fun with little kids and British pejoratives. (Listening to little children scream “wanker”, for various reasons, takes me back to childhood. It’s a long story.) I don’t know if that sells the film to anyone beyond its core audience, but it’s a change of pace. Have a look… Playing to the norms of the genre, Butler plays a has-been…
