Blockbuster Dustup: Skyfall v. Dark Knight

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Zac Petrillo

You know something’s a little off in the movie world when Steven Spielberg’s awards season release has united cinephiles and critics alike by being described as “transfixing,” “introspective,” and “incendiary.” Now, the last major movies expected to hit multiplexes are directed by former enfant terribles David O. Russell, Kathryn Bigelow, and Quentin Tarantino, an indie film Brit Tom Hooper, and a spiritual creator with a film about a boy, a boat, and a digitally-designed tiger. If nothing else, 2012 has indeed been a curious and polarizing year for big American movies.

Maybe we should have expected something was in the air when the first two highly-anticipated blockbusters, The Avengers and Prometheus, hit theaters to drastically differing responses. Joss Whedon’s The Avengers experienced audience ecstasy that crowned it an Oscar contender and the best superhero movie ever. Samuel L. Jackson even Twitter-swiped A.O. Scott for daring to have an opinion that strayed from the masses. However, the buzz for that picture has dissolved a bit since it hit. On the contrary, Prometheus opened to disappointment that divided critics, frustrated theory-buffs, and perplexed audiences. Now that the grime of “How is this not Alien?” has worn away, a fantastic Blu-ray release and time to ponder has been good to Prometheus.

This past Friday, Skyfall bowed to reviews reminiscent of The Dark Knight, causing many enthusiasts who have stood by Nolan’s franchise to cry foul by condescendingly dismissing Skyfall as a fraud. In some respects, it looks like you can divide American film lovers into two camps: those on the side of The Avengers and TDKR and those championing Skyfall and Prometheus. I rest firmly in the second group. This is my rant on why.

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Two Lincoln Clips

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Zac Petrillo

Lincoln has already opened in select cities and critics are pretty much over the moon about it. Audiences seem to be taking to Spielberg’s film as well. This one might be the not-so-subtle frontrunner for Best Picture. Time will tell.

The first clip shows off Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens. This role will almost definitely continue to garner heaps of praise. The second clip give you a brief look at John Hawkes – always worth a look.


Click below for the next clip:

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Exploring Hitch and Alma

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Zac Petrillo

Here’s a very nice look at Sasha Gervasi’s Hitchcock. Going into more detail about the basic conceit of the picture than the trailer, this piece illuminates the filmmaker’s approach to Hitch’s critical personal and professional relationship with his wife, Alma. Hitchcock hits theater on November 23rd.


Click below for an older feature about about Oscar favorite, Anna Karenina. To my mind, a film that’s far more creative. Anna Karenina comes to theaters on November 16th.

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A Bond Newbie’s Thoughts on 007: Skyfall

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Zac Petrillo

I initially planned to wait until after I had seen all the Bond movies before writing about Skyfall. But I’m not nearly as far along in my Bond movie marathon as I had hoped, Skyfall’s fresh in my mind, and the film is so striking that I thought it would be silly to wait.

Sam Mendes’s turn at James Bond feels less like a popcorn movie than most of the sequels churned out by the Hollywood system. There’s little connectivity with the previous movies, and the plot of Skyfall initiates concepts that dive deeper into the characters than most franchise film’s allow. Besides alluding to Bond’s icy past as an orphan, Skyfall also tests the limits to which M will prioritize her job over the lives of her agents. Where Judi Dench’s M had previously been a playful older sister type, here she becomes the cold pragmatic leader whose legacy is predicated on the success of England’s spy agency on her watch. Central to Skyfall is Bond’s awakening as a person whose been turned into a machine by the organization he serves.

Skyfall begins with an extraordinary chase sequence that finds Bond motorcycling on narrow rooftops and grappling atop a speeding train. As an assassin for MI6 tries to get a shot at Bond’s opponent, M makes the call to shoot at will, even if it means risking Bond. The sniper takes the shot and hits Bond in his arm. He falls to what seems like his death. Flash forward and M et al. have written Bond’s obituary and moved on. That is, until an attack on MI6’s headquarters announces a computer-hacking terrorist named Silva (played brilliantly by Javier Bardem) who has the identity of MI6 agents and threatens to take down the entire system. Bond puts his betrayed feelings on hold and returns to M’s side.

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Simpsons Short Makes Academy List

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Zac Petrillo

The Academy Awards yesterday announced the list of Animated Short Films that will compete for a nomination. Included are the annual Disney entry, Paperman, and work from a handful of film schools around the world, such as Head over Heels (National Film and Television School).

Also in the mix is Gracie Films’ Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”. This marks the second time a Simpsons flick has been made eligible for the Oscars, with the first being The Simpsons Movie in 2007. That film failed to get a nomination, and the FOX show went on to spoof the Awards a few years later.

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in December.

Here’s the full list:

“Adam and Dog,” Minkyu Lee, director (Lodge Films)
“Combustible,” Katsuhiro Otomo, director (Sunrise Inc.)
“Dripped,” Léo Verrier, director (ChezEddy)
“The Eagleman Stag,” Mikey Please, director, and Benedict Please, music scores and sound design (Royal College of Art)
“The Fall of the House of Usher,” Raul Garcia, director, and Stephan Roelants, producer (Melusine Productions, R&R Communications Inc., Les Armateurs, The Big Farm)
“Fresh Guacamole,” PES, director (PES)
“Head over Heels,” Timothy Reckart, director, and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, producer (National Film and Television School)
“Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”,” David Silverman, director (Gracie Films)
“Paperman,” John Kahrs, director (Disney Animation Studios)
“Tram,” Michaela Pavlátová, director, and Ron Dyens, producer (Sacrebleu Productions)

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Those Oscar Missed: Best Visual Effects

Posted on November 9, 2012 by filmscorehunter

GUEST COLUMN BY JAKE THOMPSON

Visual Effects can be a difficult category to predict sometimes.  In a given year, the most obvious of choices will deservedly get nominated.  But every now and then, one of the nominees will make us scratch our heads and wonder, “How the hell did (Movie A) get nominated over (Movie B) in the Visual Effects category?”  When most people think of visual effects today, they think of CGI.  While special effects are mostly digital these days, there are filmmakers who still rely on practical effects captured on set, use miniatures, and employ camera tricks to tell their stories (CGI can often be used to augment these effects without anyone realizing it).  While most of the films that get nominated for Best Visual Effects were deservedly nominated, it is important to shine a light on those films that were ignored or forgotten by the Academy.

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The Pensive Fairy Tale of Le Havre

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Zac Petrillo

‘Just think, they never sleep!’
‘And why not?’
‘Because they never get tired.’
‘And why not?’
‘Because they’re fools.’
‘Don’t fools get tired?’
‘How could fools get tired!’
– Franz Kafka, Children on a Country Road

As an American considering the absurdity of a recent election, which saw millions of people preach spending control as they pumped funds into campaigns that ultimately resulted in the status quo, I was reminded of a lesson Aki Kaurismaki’s Le Havre sets out to teach. At first glance, Kaurismaki’s dry, deadpan, and borderline cartoonish style doesn’t speak to a realistic portrayal of immigration and prejudice. This is not to say Kaurismaki’s films don’t always cradle a strand of social commentary into the downtrodden humor, just that nothing prepares a viewer for the kind of stark realities offered by Le Havre’s calming narrative. The filmmaker’s most sentimental and outspoken film to date, Le Havre reduces the concepts billions of people across the globe struggle with – race, class, and gender bias – to their brass tacks. Kaurismaki yells softly and pointedly that we all just need to get along and this choice is easy. His dry approach suits the black and white style; telling it straight, with a tinge of humor.

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Russell Crowe Sings in New Les Misérables Trailer

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Zac Petrillo

Tom Hooper and cinematographer Danny Cohen sure do like short-sided frames and 14mm lenses. The compositions were my favorite part of what I found to be an otherwise pat experience in The King’s Speech. Similarly, Les Misérables risks looking quite stuffy and musical theatre-lite to my eyes. Yet, the images are explosive, especially when juxtaposing canted angles with scenery that cuts diagonally through landscapes. Plus, Russell Crowe sings.

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Michael Haneke’s Amour

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Zac Petrillo

Sometimes the value of a movie can’t be explained in the typical words we use to generally analyze. Sometimes a film ascends the notion of plot, story, narrative, or driving action to be something entirely emotional. Something that cuts deeper. This intangible, to me, defines the word ‘Cinematic.’ Like trying to describe the color green or communicate the way a smell ignites your memory. Only the interaction between the viewer and what’s inside that box for two hours can relate what a work of this kind adds up to. Michael Haneke’s films always have a way of usurping typical conventions and penetrating your psyche in these unexpected ways. Even though it’s his “calmest” film to date, no movie Haneke’s made sidesteps conventional discussion more than his newest, Palme d’Or winner, Amour. A seemingly simple story about a former musician whose loving husband stands by her side, gradually watching her wilt into death, Amour adds up to something that reaches from the screen and speaks with you as though it understands your pain. It’s been there; we all have.

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Zemeckis’ Flight Sounds

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Zac Petrillo

I remember being a kid and for the first time recognizing that the sound in a movie was “made up.” That was while watching Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her. It might sound like an insult, but really I think it’s because Zemeckis’ sounds were so present and vivid, like they were working in tandem with the picture to make something bigger. Cast Away, Back to the Future, and Forest Gump had similar effects. Zemickis’ newest, Flight, is no different. Sound Design by the great Randy Thom.

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