The opening sequences of “Elvis” and the introduction to The King are not too dissimilar to that of “Moulin Rouge!” when Satine finally drops into frame. Australian filmmaker and Oscar nominee, Baz Luhrmann has an eccentric style of directing that leans heavy on abundance. His flair for color in every frame, manic editing and gaudy […]
Respect shows a cross-section of Aretha Franklin’s life from her childhood up through the first several of her many successes (1972 album Amazing Grace). It makes good use of flashbacks to fill out the early stories, showing the kind of background from which Aretha came and the strong influence of her father throughout her life. His influence even extends
When Nikola Tesla (played here by Ethan Hawke) pulls out his cell phone at a bar in 1888 or Anne Morgan, daughter of JP Morgan, fires up her Apple Computer to explain the number of Google searches for Telsa compared to Thomas Edison, you understand quickly this isn’t a normal biopic. Michael Almereyda’s version of
Academy Award winning filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has a divisive range of films that include an Oscar-nominated performance from Penelope Cruz in “Volver”, to airplane orgies in “I’m So Excited“. His latest “Pain and Glory” premiered at Cannes earlier this year to rave reviews and awards buzz, especially for frequent collaborator Antonio Banderas. Almodóvar turns the
Like with Bohemian Rhapsody, it’s impossible not to be moved by the performance of the leading actor. Only this time, Dexter Fletcher gets full credit and doesn’t have to worry about controversy. Taron Egerton might have a bit more feature film experience than Rami Malik did, but still a relative newcomer portraying an icon. Elton
For “The Lord of the Rings” fans, Dome Karukoski’s “Tolkien” might work as a way of celebrating the brilliant author and fantasy creator in which popular franchises “Harry Potter” and “Game of Thrones” have both been inspired from. The script assumes the audience’s familiarity with ‘Rings,’ expecting you to pick up on which people and
There seems to be an endless stream of actors directing their first projects lately. British actor Rupert Everett wrote, directed and produced The Happy Prince. He spent over a decade seeing the project through from its inception, with help from friends like Colin Firth and Emily Watson. Everett, whose career appears to have peaked in the
So much has been made about Woody Harrelson’s extensive makeup to become President Lyndon B. Johnson in Rob Reiner’s latest film. It’s true, that the first scenes of the actor’s face are shocking and curious. Harrelson (Three Billboards, The Glass Castle) settles into the role like oil and water, never quite losing his own persona
In some of the early scenes of the film, we get a graphic picture of J. D. Salinger’s personality as a highly self-confident, even cocky, social climber in his flirtations with Oona O’neil (Eugene’s daughter, charmingly played by Zoey Deutch). He does capture her attention just by the way he introduces himself, and although she
South By Southwest has become, among other places, a platform for actors to transition to directors with smaller films. Ryan Gosling did it last year with Lost River, Diego Luna the year before with Caser Chavez. Oscar nominee Don Cheadle (The Avengers) not only makes his directorial debut with Miles Ahead, but also co-wrote the