October 2nd, 2009
Penelope Cruz returns in November to North American screens in Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces.”
Tim Murphy of New York Magazine finds “Precious” star Gabby Sidibe “living the life.”
Lars von Trier — the vuvuzela of world cinema — arrives stateside later this month with the graphic and divisive “Antichrist.”
The Vancouver Sun’s Randy Shore asks, “Did you hear the one about the first nations’ comedy?”
One Film Wonder: Barbara Loden was a celebrated stage actress who only appeared in three films, most notably as Ginny Stamper, the older, promiscuous sister of Warren Beatty’s Bud in 1961’s “Splendor in the Grass, directed by her future husband, Elia Kazan, whom she married in 1968. She won the Tony for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in 1964 for her portrayal of Maggie in Arthur Miller’s “After the Fall.”
In 1970, Loden wrote and directed “Wanda,” her only feature-film work behind the camera, and starred in the title role. In his March 1971 review, The New York Times’ Roger Greenspun remarked that “Loden’s film, by the time you are through with it, has, rather surprisingly, some of the look of classical moviemaking.” Thirty-five years later, Dave Kehr in the same paper lauded the film a “masterpiece” which
“had the bad luck to be doubly ahead of its time. Politically, it was guilty of premature post-feminism. The story about a youngish housewife (played by Ms. Loden) from Pennsylvania coal mining country who walks away from her husband and two children to take up with a mean-spirited petty thief (Michael Higgins) is hardly a parade of positive role models. And formally, the film — shot in 16-millimeter by Nicholas Proferes, using the lightweight equipment that was then driving the cinéma vérité documentary movement — goes far beyond the jittery, performance-centered style associated with that era’s independent films, like John Cassavetes’s 1968 “Faces.”
Barbara Loden died of breast cancer in 1980 at the age of 48.
Posted in Beyond the Reel |
Tagged Antichrist, Arthur Miller, Barbara Loden, Broken Embraces, Dave Kehr, Discussing Mr. Darcy, Elia Kazan, Faces, Gabby Sidibe, John Cassavetes, Lars von Trier, Michael Higgins, New York Magazine, Nicholas Proferes, One Film Wonder, Pedro Almodovar, Penelope Cruz, Precious, Randy Shore, Roger Greenspun, Splendor in the Grass, The New York Times, The Vancouver Sun, Tim Murphy, Wanda, Warren Beatty |
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June 26th, 2009
Adapting her own novel, director and author Rebecca Miller presents “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,” starring Robin Wright Penn in the title role as a woman of 50 who uses the unraveling of her marriage to reminisce about the path her life has taken. The large ensemble cast includes Alan Arkin, Julianne Moore, Monica Bellucci, Maria Bello, Blake Lively, Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves. Apparently, “Pippa Lee” will be released throughout the world beginning next month, but the film is still searching for an American distributor.
IFC interviews “Precious” director Lee Daniels and discovers “The World According to Lee Daniels.”
Released in March in the UK, “The Damned United,” the biopic of famed football manager Brian Clough starring Michael Sheen, will be released stateside in September.
The Globe and Mail believes that director David Bezmozgis’s debut film “Victoria Day” Smells Like Teen Spirit.
One Film Wonder: Until he snagged the role of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks in “West Side Story,” George Chakiris had been cast almost exclusively in the previous decade as an unnamed “dancer.” Following the film which earned him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for 1961, Chakiris worked primarily on Broadway and in European films for the remainder of the decade, then spent the 1970s and 80s guest starring on American television. Since the mid 90s, he has been retired from the entertainment industry and reportedly crafts sterling silver jewelry.
Posted in Beyond the Reel |
Tagged Alan Arkin, Blake Lively, David Bezmozgi, George Chakiris, IFC, Julianne Moore, Keanu Reeves, Lee Daniels, Maria Bello, Michael Sheen, Monica Bellucci, One Film Wonder, Precious, Rebecca Miller, The Damned United, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, Toronto Globe and Mail, Victoria Day, West Side Story, Winona Ryder |
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