Friday, January 10, 2020 at 5:00PM Which actor turning 30 in 2020 will be the first to win an Oscar? (Or in the case of Jennifer Lawrence win a second Oscar). Here's a list of key working actors of the moment (with their current Oscar stats). If they've appeared in a film nominated for Best Picture (or expected to be Monday) that film is mentioned after their name...
Monday, March 25, 2019 at 11:05AM By guest contributor Samantha Craggs
Rory Culkin headlines the music bio "Lords of Chaos"
There's a scene in Lords of Chaos, now available on VOD, that sums up the film in a nutshell. Euronymous (Rory Culkin), the lead guitarist of the black metal band Mayhem, walks into the bedroom of his depressed lead singer, Pelle, who goes by the name Dead. The camera pans over the mostly barren bedroom and shows us a dead cat swinging from the ceiling, apparently with a hook through its face. Euronymous tells us in an arch voiceover that Dead hates cats, just in case we didn't get it the first time. Dead is lying on the bed, and Euronymous wants to rouse him. "Dead," he says, looking out the window, "Cat." Dead sits up, excited, and the two go out into the woods with a shotgun to stalk and kill.
You get the feeling this scene is supposed to be comic relief...
Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at 3:45PM Team Experience is at the Tribeca Film Festival. Here's Jason on Detour.
You know what will make me feel like it's the late 1990s again real quick? (If you answered "There's a Clinton in the White House" you're a little ahead of yourself, but just by a few months.) What will make me feel like it's the late 1990s again real quick is watching a movie about verbose criminals getting themselves into hyper-violent timeline-warping shenanigans - Things To Do In Denver When You're 8 Heads In A Duffel Bag; that ol' Pulp Fiction addiction.
Do you guys remember that time Oliver Stone tried to out-Tarantino Tarantino (even though Tarantino was always really trying to out-Stone Stone) and made U Turn? That's the Tarantino-ish that Detour reminded me the most of. And U Turn's not a bad thing to be reminded of! U Turn is nuts, in a never not entertaining way! And there are chunks of Detour - which tells the story of a law student (Tye Sheridan) enlisting the aid of some do-badders (Emory Cohen and Bel Powley) in a plot against his step-father - that feel vibrant with that same sort of something-borrowed storytelling flair. Director Christopher Smith (already responsible for the tremendously under-valued thrillers Severance and Triangle) employs real visual wit, and busts out all the toys from the toy-box (De Palma lover that I am I cannot resist a split-screen) to pop and pizazz us.
But the film ultimately doesn't have the conviction of a Stone working his own mirrored riff (much less First Tier Tarantino) and it's more the fault of Smiths' script than it is of direction - the characters are never Characters, Capital C for Characters, like they need to be for something this stylized to take. These are all good performers (even in a role this underwritten you can't take your eyes off of Bel Powley; she is the real deal) but Detour never quite stops feeling like kids play-acting at big people parts. (And kids play-acting Tarantino can work; I have seen Go. We have all seen Go!)
Grade: C+
Bel Powley, Emory Cohen, Tribeca, Tye Sheridan Wednesday, December 9, 2015 at 8:00PM Chris here. We're pleased as punch with all of the precursor love that's greeted Saoirse Ronan's timeless star turn in Brooklyn. Today though, in light of SAG's virtually female-free Outstanding Ensemble list, let's give some love to this film's unnominated but vibrant ensemble.
Yes, Saoirse Ronan is getting the majority of the prizes and praises for the film - heck, she could share an ensemble prize for the film with just herself and her multitude of emotions in the film and you'd have no complaints from me. However, Eilis's journey in the film is more fully realized with the lived-in actors that surround Ronan's protagonist.
THE FAMILIAR FACES
And here's where it get's really good after the jump...
Monday, November 23, 2015 at 12:10PM Nathaniel and Nick are back, after an unexpected podcast hiatus, to catch up before the Thanksgiving holiday.
43 minutes
00:01 Intros, Carol's opening, Hateful 8 gossip
04:30 Split feeling on Room
11:19 Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn
20:06 Complicated platform releases, audience confusion, and dismissed "flops" of October including Truth
32:25 Delayed reaction to Black Mass
34:40 Spotlight's conflicts, arc, quality
You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversation in the comments won't you?
