Trailer: The Fault In Our Stars
Posted on January 29, 2014 at 1:24 pm
Get out your handkerchiefs for one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year, based on John Green’s book
More on Paul Williams
Posted on January 27, 2014 at 9:01 am
If you saw Paul Williams on the Grammys last night and want to know more, take a look at the superb documentary Paul Williams Still Alive
He won Grammys and an Academy Award; wrote many #1 songs; starred in a Brian DePalma movie; put out his own hit records and albums; was a guest on The Tonight Show fifty times; and is the president of ASCAP… and you might not have heard of him. In the 1970’s, Paul Williams was the singer / actor / songwriter that emotional, alienated teenage boys all over the world wanted to be, a sex symbol before MTV, when sex symbols could be 5″2 and sing songs about loneliness with the Muppets.
And then…
Good to have him back.
Gimme Shelter
Posted on January 23, 2014 at 6:00 pm
B+| Lowest Recommended Age: | Middle School |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving mistreatment, some drug content, violence, and language, all concerning teens |
| Profanity: | Very strong language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Drugs |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Abuse including attack by a parent |
| Diversity Issues: | Diverse characters |
| Date Released to Theaters: | January 24, 2014 |
| Date Released to DVD: | April 28, 2014 |
| Amazon.com ASIN: | B00HW3EJQE |
Vanessa Hudgens gives a touching and sensitive performance in this fact-based story of a pregnant, homeless teenager. Both Hudgens and writer/director Ron Krauss moved into a shelter so that they could do justice to the stories of these young women. That dedication and integrity lifts this above the Afterschool Special formula for an affecting drama that shows us the resilience and courage of girls who have to learn very quickly to be the loving parents they never had.
Hudgens plays Agnes, who insists on being called “Apple,” for reasons we do not learn until the end of the story. We first see her hacking off her hair, whispering reassurance to herself as she gets in a cab to run away from her shrieking, strung-out mother (a feral Rosario Dawson). She is going to find her wealthy father (Brendan Fraser), who has never seen her before. She briefly stays with him, but it is clear that she does not fit in with his elegant wife and pampered children. They do not trust her and she is not ready to trust anyone. When they find out that she is pregnant, they pressure her to have an abortion. She runs away again.
In a hospital, recovering from an accident, she meets a kind priest (James Earl Jones), who brings her to a shelter based on Several Sources, established by Kathy DiFiore, who, as she explains in one scene, was once homeless herself and as soon as she was able to take care of herself devoted her life to taking care of young women in need of support. DiFiore is played by the always-outstanding Ann Dowd (“Compliance,” “Garden State”), with enormous compassion and strength. Apple has a lot to overcome, including the fury of her mother, who wants her back so she can get the welfare money Apple and her baby will receive, but most of all, she has to learn how to be a part of a family, how to trust others, and how to trust herself. Somewhere inside her, all along, there is the hope of a different life, almost overshadowed by the fear that she does not deserve it. Hudgens shows us Apple’s ferocity, her vulnerability, all the ways she has been beaten down and all of the strength she has to keep coming back. The result is a story that is touching and inspiring, with photos in the closing credits to show us that happy endings are not just for fairy tales.
Parents should know that this movie’s themes include homelessness, drug abuse, child abuse, teen pregnancy, abandonment, and homelessness. There are portrayals of a brutal attack by a parent, a car crash, and tense and angry confrontations.
Family discussion: Why did Agnes decide to be called Apple? What did the girls learn from reading their files? What did she find in the shelter that she could not find anywhere else?
If you like this, try: “Riding in Cars with Boys,” “Juno,” and “Homeless to Harvard”
Let It Go from “Frozen” — in 25 Languages
Posted on January 22, 2014 at 2:44 pm
And the LA Times explains how they do it.
As the film business has become an increasingly global one, Dempsey’s job has become ever more complex, with languages in emerging territories added every year. The newest additions include Bengali, Malay and Vietnamese. While “Frozen” is available in 41 languages, Dempsey recalls casting for about 15 languages on “The Lion King” in 1994….For Dempsey, “Frozen’s” music posed a special challenge: He had to mimic the vocal tone and texture of Menzel, a Tony Award-winning soprano famous for her penetrating pipes. “Idina has one of the best voices, period, in terms of her smooth tone, the warmth when she hits the lower end,” Dempsey said. “In certain territories — Taiwan, Cantonese — the voice might want to be thin because that’s part of the culture. It was always a challenge to find her match.”
Steve James Talks About His Roger Ebert Documentary
Posted on January 20, 2014 at 3:58 pm
Rogerebert.com editor Matt Zoller Seitz spoke to Steve James, one of Roger Ebert’s favorite filmmakers, and the man behind the crowd-funded documentary about Ebert, based in part on his autobiography, Life Itself: A Memoir
It seems fitting that two decades after Roger helped breathe commercial life into “Hoop Dreams,” James would return the favor by adapting Roger’s memoir “Life Itself,” and that it would premiere at Sundance, a festival that Roger’s attention helped legitimize.
In addition to telling the story of one man’s life and career, “Life Itself” recounts the decay of Roger’s body in the final months of his life, after the cancer he’d battled for years returned with a vengeance; it includes medical scenes of great frankness, filmed with the encouragement of Roger and his wife Chaz, this site’s publisher. The result is a testament to the fragility of flesh and the transformative effect of love. More than anything else, it’s a record of Roger’s generosity, the effects of which are still being felt.
The interview is a treat to read. My favorite part is when James, one of the people behind the extraordinary “Hoop Dreams,” talks about what he loves about documentaries.
art of the reason that I love doing documentaries is that you start with ideas—and you hope good ideas—about what it’s about and who you’re following and all of that, but if it’s a really great experience it always deviates and deepens as it comes, and is more interesting than anything you could imagine. Because if I could imagine that well, then I should be doing more fiction than docs.