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“The Last Movie Stars,” Directed by Ethan Hawke, @ SXSW 2022

By Connie Wilson

On March 20, 2022

In Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

Ethan Hawke helms “The Last Great Movie Stars” at SXSW.

The documentary “The Last Movie Stars” at SXSW from CNN Films and HBO Max is helmed by Ethan Hawke. He was approached to take an in-depth look at the life and careers of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Joe Rudge gets credit for the music. The filmed interviews with various luminaries are explained by Director Ethan Hawke as having been done when Newman was still alive. For reasons that are not explained, the tapes were destroyed, but someone with a great deal of foresight had commissioned a transcript of the remarks of those who were close to Paul and Joanne.

So, we have interviews that were actually done with people like Gore Vidal—an important individual in their lives— and some remarks from Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, themselves. Ethan Hawke approached an All-Star cast and asked them to read the parts of these famous interview subjects as though portraying the famous voices of yesteryear .

Therefore, we hear George Clooney’s voice giving us Paul Newman’s remarks, etc. Other All-Star cast members in the project included Mark Ruffalo, Karen Allen, Steve Zahn, Maya Hawke, Billy Crudup, Alessandro Nivola, Sam Rockwell, Zoe Krazitz, Oscar Isaac, Ewan McGregor, Bobby Canavale, Josh Hamilton, Laura Linney, Vincent D’Onofrio, Brooks Ashmanskas (as Gore Vidal) and others. Mario Andretti co-produced and Martin Scorsese executive produced.

Sanford Meisner, Joanne’s New York City acting teacher, said of Joanne Woodward (now 92 years old and suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease) that the reason she went into acting was “it was the only thing she knew how to do.” Joanne’s mother was an avid movie buff and one funny story has a 9-year-old Joanne jumping into Laurence Olivier’s lap inside his limo as he arrived for the premiere of “Gone With the Wind” accompanying his then wife Vivian Leigh, (as Joanne’s mother had bought the pair tickets to the World Premiere.)

Joanne and Paul made 16 films together, and Paul directed Joanne in her Oscar nominated role in 1968’s “Rachel, Rachel.” Although Paul had directed the film, he was snubbed in the category of Best Director of 1969, which, Joanne admitted, bothered her.

The remark is made that “They presided over the end of the theater and the advent of television” during their lengthy careers. They did 100 TV shows in 2 years.

Newman is the only American actor to have been nominated for Best Actor over a 5-decade period. The couple’s last film together, 50 years after their first, was “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge.”

“The Last Movie Stars” at SXSW, 2022.

They met when both were understudies for “Picnic” on Broadway in 1953, although there might have been an earlier meeting at their mutual agent’s office that did not go particularly well. “Picnic” won the Pulitzer Prize for William Inge’s first play. Paul said, of meeting Joanne, “We recognized in each other a couple of orphans and orphans have a healthy appetite for everything.” Years later, he would say, of their enduring marriage, “I think the glue that held me and Joanne together was the thought that anything was possible. The promise of everything was there from the very beginning.”

It is only fair and accurate to mention that Paul was already married to his first wife and had three children with her when he and Joanne met in 1953. He wanted to marry Woodward, but his first wife would not give him a divorce, so the affair went on for five years before the first Mrs. Paul Newman relented. Paul and Joanne subsequently had three daughters of their own. Once, when questioned about Paul Newman’s appeal as a sex symbol on a talk show appearance, Joanne said, “I don’t get it. He’s over 40, has six kids and snores.” She also said, in 1987, of acting, in general: “Acting is like sex. You should do it, not talk about it.”

One interesting fact was the close friendship with novelist and well-known radical/homosexual Gore Vidal, to whom Joanne was once engaged. Even after she broke it off with Vidal to marry Paul, the Newmans briefly lived at Vidal’s home.

Paul’s desire to be taken seriously as an actor was mentioned. He admired Brando’s appearance in “On the Waterfront,” which, he said, was the first film that made an impression on him. He wanted acceptance from such luminaries as Ben Gazzara, Elia Kazan, Tennessee Williams, Eli Wallach and James Dean. In fact, both Paul and Joanne auditioned for parts in “East of Eden.”

When James Dean died in a car crash (September 30, 1955, at the age of 24), Paul Newman’s star rose. Newman always said, of his early outsider status, “I’m not a true eccentric. I’ve got both feet firmly planted in Shaker Heights, Ohio. There are people that didn’t consider me an actor.”

Paul’s film debut was in 1954’s “The Silver Chalice.” He considered it embarrassingly bad, although it had a star-studded cast. The 1954 film had Oscar winner Jack Palance and the female lead was Virginia Mayo. Others in the cast included a very young Natalie Wood (age 16; Newman was 30 and it was their only film together), Lorne Greene as the narrator in his debut screen role, E.G. Marshall and Pier Angeli. Newman had auditioned for James Dean’s role in “East of Eden” (1955) and so, when the two were working on neighboring lots, Dean went over to visit Newman on the set of “The Silver Chalice” and met Pier Angeli, where he met the love of his short life.

When “The Silver Chalice” ran on television in 1966, Paul Newman took out ads in the Hollywood trade papers, calling it “the worst motion picture produced during the 1950s,” apologizing for his performance, and asking people not to watch the film. His action had the opposite effect.

That had the opposite effect. Many people tuned in to watch it on television. Newman once screened the movie for friends at his house, giving them whistles, pots, and wooden spoons, and encouraging them to make noisy critiques of the film.

My list of the Top 20 Paul Newman Films:

1) “Butch Cassidy and the Sun Dance Kid” (1969) – Is there anyone who was alive and going to the movies in the year 1969 when George Roy Hill directed Newman and Robert Redford in the William Goldman written script that doesn’t think of Newman as “Butch?” Think of the scene where Newman is urging Redford to jump from a high cliff, to avoid those pursuing them so relentlessly that they end up in Bolivia. Redford admits, reluctantly, that he can’t swim. Newman laughs and says, “The fall alone’ll kill ya’!” And they jump.

2) “Cool Hand Luke” – (1967) – “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Fifty hard-boiled eggs. Strother Martin’s green teeth. Luke as a symbol of man’s indomitable spirit. A classic. Newman was nominated for the Oscar, but did not win.

3) “The Hustler” – (1961) As “Fast Eddie” Felsen, he took on Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) in the pool game of the century. Newman was nominated for the 1962 Oscar, but did not win.

4) “The Color of Money” – (1986) – Reteamed as “Fast Eddie” with Tom Cruise, Newman took home the Oscar for his role in this film. It might not have been as good as some others on this list, but this one won him the gold statuette. He is the only American actor to be nominated for Oscars over 5 decades.

5) “Hud” – (1963) – The scene with Patricia Neal in the kitchen oozes sexuality. Another movie for which he was Oscar-nominated in 1964, but did not win.

6) “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” – 1958 – As Brick Pollitt opposite Elizabeth Taylor’s Maggie the Cat, the pair personified hot, steamy sex. He even looked good on crutches.

7) “Sweet Bird of Youth” – (1962) Chance Wayne (Newman’s character) was as hot as Brick. Geraldine Page was the beneficiary in this Tennessee Williams play made into a movie.

8) “The Long, Hot Summer” – (1958) – As Ben Quick, Newman provided the steam in this movie based on a William Faulkner novel “The Hamlet.” The cast he worked with included Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Orson Welles, Lee Remick and Angela Lansbury.

9) “The Verdict” – (1982) . As Frank Galvin, an attorney with a drinking problem, Newman gave an Oscar-worthy performance and was, in fact, nominated for a 1983 Oscaar, another one he didn’t win. The movie received 5 nominations. Lindsay Crouse as Nurse Kaitlin Costello was great.

10) “Road to Perdition” (2002) – Newman came storming back in the role of John Rooney, co-starring with Tom Hanks in the film based on the Max Allan Collins graphic novel, which was based on an actual gangster named John Looney who terrorized the streets of Rock Island. The gangster’s name was changed from Looney to Rooney and Jude Law was added as a villainous photographer. Daniel Craig has a role. This Sam Mendes-directed film was to be Newman’s last “great” role, and also the last time that legendary cinematographer Conrad L Hall would do the lighting, which is superb. [Hall was reputed to be the best in the business and the last man working who could call for the right camera lighting without a light meter.]

The second ten are included to show the breadth of this fine actor’s career, but the “Must See(s)” are above.

11) “Absence of Malice” (1981) – Playing Michael Colin Gallagher with Sidney Pollack directing, the film garnered 3 Oscar nominations and co-starred Sally Field, Bob Balaban and Melinda Dillon.

12) “The Sting” – 1973 – Reteaming Newman (as Harry Gondorff) and Robert Redford as con men. Arguably, belongs in the Top Ten. A great Scott Joplin song or two didn’t hurt.

13) “The Drowning Pool” – (1975) – Lew Harper (from 1966) comes back to the scene as a gumshoe detective. Co-starring Joanne Woodward and Anthony Franciosa. The film gave ingénue Melanie Griffith, daughter of Tippi Hedren, her first big part.

14) “Harper” – (1966)- Lew Harper’s first appearance on the scene as detective extraordinaire.

15) “Somebody Up There Likes Me” – (1956) – The life story of Rocky Graziano, Newman rebounded from “The Silver Chalice,” which he considered so bad that he bought up all the prints and publicly apologized.

16) “Slap Shot” – (1977) – Reggie “Reg” Dunlop – Hockey. George Roy Hill directed. Some familiar co-stars resurface, including Strother Martin (from “Cool Hand Luke”), Lindsay Crouse (from “The Verdict”) and Michael Ontkean.

17) “Sometimes A Great Notion” – (1971) – Logging story. Nominated for 2 Oscars. Based on the Ken Kesey novel. Co-starred Henry Fonda, Lee Remick and Richard Jaeckel, whose scene when he is trapped under a log and will soon drown if the log cannot be removed is worth the rental.

18) “Exodus” – (1960) – Ari Ben Canaan. A movie about the formation of Israel based on the Leon Uris best-selling novel.

19) “From the Terrace” – (1960). Newman played David Alfred Eaton. “An ambitious young lawyer chooses a loveless marriage and an unfulfilling life, in exchange for a successful Wall Street career,” says the International Movie Data Base.

20) “Towering Inferno” – (1974) – Newman played Doug Roberts and there was talk of strife between Newman and Steve McQueen, who played the fire chief assigned to rescue the hapless individuals trapped in a high-rise building. It had a great cast: Newman, McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Jennifer Jones, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner and…..wait for it….O.J. Simpson. (Yes, that O.J. Simpson.)

I was teaching junior high school students at the time, and we took busloads of students, who had been participating in some after-school “craft activity” classes, to see a double bill of “Towering Inferno” and “Earthquake.” Wags dubbed it “the Shake-and-Bake special.” My friend, Nelson Peterson, the history teacher, put a sign on MY bus that said, “HOOKERS: this bus” because the students in my group had been taking part in an after-school class on rug-hooking. I’m still smiling.

I truly enjoyed “The Last Great Movie Stars” at SXSW 2022 and, if I slighted Joanne Woodward’s career, let’s not forget that Paul is gone (at age 83, from cancer, in 2008), while Joanne is still with us. For those of you who only know Paul Newman from his spaghetti sauce and salad dressings, try to see all of the above films. We’ll work on Joanne’s “Best” list if and when she rejoins the love of her life, Paul Newman. In the meantime, if you see this film screening on television, you can recapture bits of their career through film and interviews.

(*NOTE: This is the first chapter of a 6-chapter documentary series.)

“DMZ” (HBO Max), the 4-Part Series, Critiqued @ SXSW 2022

By Connie Wilson

On March 19, 2022

In Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews

Benjamin Bratt and Rosario Dawson on March 13 at SXSW.

Just finished watching all four episodes of “DMZ” with Rosario Dawson and Benjamin Bratt available on HBO Max.

The first episode, which I saw at the World Premiere on Sunday, March 13^th, in Austin at SXSW, was dynamite. The other three episodes continue the chaos and action-packed drama of a United States that has experienced a Civil War, with Manhattan a microcosm of the tragedy of war as 300,000 residents are trapped within a demilitarized zone.

The set-up of the comic-book generated plot is that Alma must journey back from the relative safety of the U.S. outside of Manhattan and re-enter the DMZ to try to find the child she became separated from when evacuating 8 years prior.

I will try not to give away too many plot points, but I do want to make some observations about the entire season, not just the first episode. Ava Duvernay directed one episode, but Ernest Dickerson directed the rest of the series. It is all done well, with special mention of the acting, special effects, script and the title sequence.

Here are some “Pro” and “Con” observations for the entire series, complete with the pictures taken on top of the Riley Building in downtown Austin on Sunday, March 13^th, which Warner Media took over for a press event at noon, just prior to the film’s 4:15 p.m.

PROS:

Cast of “DMZ” at SXSW (l to r): Freddy Miyares, Bnjamin Bratt, Rosario Dawson, Hoon Lee and Writer/Producer Roberto Patino.

The acting is top-notch. Rosario has some gut-wrenching scenes and she gives it her all. She also has to be a kick-ass heroine, fighting, running, etc. Great work. The Writer/Producer Petino praised Dawson’s work from the stage of the Paramount. Watching Benjamin Bratt at work as the charismatic gang leader is equally riveting.
I have always thought that Benjamin Bratt was an under-utilized leading man and the parts I’ve seen him in did not make the most of his charismatic presence. Here he is magnetic as the would-be leader of the DMZ, a man who fought in Afghanistan and should know that those who fight and die in the trenches are used and abused by their superiors. Parco Delgado, Bratt’s character, is willing to do whatever it takes to keep and hold power and we see that in episode 1 and all others.
The writer/director who plucked Rosario’s character from the comic book and amplified it is going for a “good versus evil” vibe that puts Alma’s character as the White Knight and leaves us wondering how she will cope with the brutality of a Parco Delgado. The way that Parco is dispatched was fitting.
This is a star-making turn for young actor Freddie Miyares, who plays the adult version of Rosario’s son, Christian. Miyares first came to the public’s attention playing one of the Central Park Five in “When They See Us” and he also appeared in “The L Word.” He has worked with Ava Duvernay previously.
The young actors In the cast—-Madison Johnson, Venus Ariel, Jordan Preston Carter—are all good and natural actors.
The explosions and helicopters and ruins of the war-torn DMZ are beautifully rendered.
The opening credits are very good.
Hoon Lee as Wilson was good, as was Reynaldo Gallegos as Cesar.
The screenplay written by Roberto Patino has some great lines that relate to ALL wars and ALL war zones and victims, so it is particularly timely against the backdrop of the Ukraine/Russia ongoing assault.
There is the possibility of continuing this series past the four episodes in the can.

CONS:

Cast of “DMZ” present in Austin, Texas, for press event on Sunday, March 13, 2022 at SXSW.

For my tastes, the constant man-on-man beat-downs could have been reduced to, at most, two. As it is, there are several. I am not a fan, although others will be. I will say that the fight between the fit 48-year-old Benjamin Bratt and the much-younger Freddy Miyares was epic, as was the fight scene between the characters of Parco Delgado and Wilson.
There were a lot of “war scenes,” which makes sense in that this is a war zone, but who is fighting whom and why is not made perfectly clear, other than the infighting amongst the various New York City sections of Manhattan.
I also watched a few episodes of the new “Halo” series and “DMZ” is infinitely superior. “Halo” involved killing people that we haven’t even met, let alone learned to care whether they live or die, whereas, in this four-part series, we get to know the characters first.
One power broker has (supposedly) gained control of water. How? We are told very few of the mechanics of power in this DMZ. Did she take over a dam or what?
The function or purpose of the United States Army is not made totally clear. Are they trying to take over Manhattan from the locals because the locals are defending their city to the death, as is happening in Ukraine now? Naaaah. The New Yorkers I personally know (and I know a few) would not be fighting to the death against the U.S.’s superior fire power. (They might want better garbage pick-up, however.)
Other than Rosario’s star turn as the Big Kahuna, the other women get short shrift. The kids actually get more screen time and more lines than the other females, including the girlfriends of characters Skel and Parco.
Did Coca Cola underwrite a big part of this film’s costs? I ask because of one specific scene. I was reminded of the Coca Cola scene in “Dr. Strangelove,” for some reason, but, today, the specific mention of a product in such glowing terms is usually a product tie-in. I thought the idea that the machine would have ANY Coke cans left in it, or that they wouldn’t be flat, was preposterous. Many of my soft drinks are flat the instant I bring them home from the grocery store, so I found the delicious-ness of Coca Cola to be highly suspect in one scene in the plot.
The individual(s) manning the radio broadcast(s) are somewhat unclear. Who was it? Who is it going to be?
Lots of character names are dropped and, eventually, we find out who some of them are, but simply mentioning “Susie” (et. al.) didn’t cut if for me. But, then, I was not a reader of the comic books during their hey-day.

I enjoyed all the lines that underscored the futility of violence as a solution to world problems, and, while I praised them in my original review and even repeated some of those lines, verbatim, with the current world situation, the more the better, so I’m both praising writer/producer Roberto Patino for his excellent work in that regard and saying, “More, please

“Facing Nolan” at SXSW Is A Must-See for Baseball Fans

By Connie Wilson

On March 16, 2022

In Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews

“Facing Nolan” (Ryan) at SXSW, 2022.

Pitcher Nolan Ryan is now 74 years old. His family members, especially sons Reese and Reid, collaborated on this documentary at SXSW directed by Bradley Jackson that showcases the achievements of the pitcher of whom Rod Carew said, “There will never be another like Nolan Ryan.” Pete Rose added, “Nolan was a lion.”

Drafted at age 18 right out of high school, the pitcher with the 100 mph-plus pitch is lauded as “the most dominating pitcher that the game has ever seen.” As Cal Ripken, Jr., said, “There will never be anything like him.”

The man who pitched for 27 years, notching 320 victories, 5,714 strikeouts and 7 no-hitters was also a devoted family man. He married his high school sweetheart, and the pair had three children, two boys and a girl. The former President of the United States, George W. Bush, is interviewed about Nolan and said, “What really matters in the long run is a good set of values.”

During his induction into the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1999, Nolan acknowledged wife Ruth’s contribution to his amazing success and the grandchildren attest that Ruth, who was also a high school athlete in Alvin, Texas, was the 1965 state doubles tennis champion and is credited for keeping Nolan pitching at a time when he was waivering in his resolve to continue. When son Reid was hit by a car in Villa Park California and lost one kidney and his spleen, it was Ruth who kept the family going and focused on their sick son while Nolan focused on his amazing career.

Bradley Jackson, the director of “Facing Nolan” at SXSW.

Sandy Koufax was one of Nolan’s early idols, but Nolan was able to break all of Koufax’s pitching records within 10 years. The youngest of six children of Depression era parents, Nolan stood 6’ 1” and weighed 142 pounds, but he could throw a baseball over 100 miles an hour and, as he said, “I guess I was born to be a pitcher.” At his induction into baseball’s Hall of Fame, Ryan said, “I took a lot of pride that I was still able to compete at that level at that age” His 27-year record-breaking career included play in four decades.

Ryan pitched for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers. After his retirement in 1993, Ryan served as chief executive officer (CEO) of the Texas Rangers and an executive advisor to the Houston Astros.

When he left California to play ball in Texas, only 35 miles from his hometown of Alva, after disputes with owner John McMullin in 1988, fans were incensed. As it tells us in the documentary, “In Houston they still cuss him out.” However the manager of the Texas team he joined, said, “It was like Elvis had come aboard.”

Nolan Ryan was born in 1947. He was shown signing baseballs at a Round Rock event. Considerably heavier than in his playing days, he is surrounded by a loving family who are obviously very proud of their famous father. The documentary is a baseball lover’s Must See. It is well done by Director Bradley Jackson with the cooperation of family members as producers; Jackson has assembled a Who’s Who of Nolan Ryan’s friends and competitors to comment on his truly extraordinary life and career.

Two Shorts @ SXSW: “Everything Will Be All Right” & “Belle River”

By Connie Wilson

On March 15, 2022

In France, Movies, News, Pop Culture, Reviews

Director Farhad Pakdel and star of “Everything Will Be All Right” Nahema Ricci behind the scenes in Montreal. (Photo credit Manon Assens).

Farhad Pakdel, the writer/director/producer of the short “Everything Will Be All Right” helms this 16 minute short tale of a young pregnant teacher, Leila, trying to reach home in Iran before her father dies of Covid. Pakdel underscores Leila’s situation with the underpinning of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. It is playing at SXSW 2022, and I hope we see Pakdel’s first feature-length film here in the future.

Orpheus, you will recall, went to the Underworld to retrieve the love of his life, Eurydice, but he was told he could not look back while leading her from Hades. When he did look back, she was sentenced to live in Hades forever and he was killed. The students in Leila’s class (Leila is beautifully played by Nahema Ricci of “Antigone”) point out the unfairness of the fact that Eurydice did nothing to bring her fate down upon her; she was thrust into Hades forever by circumstances beyond her control, the actions of Orpheus in disobeying his instructions. So, too, is Leila being buffeted by the vagaries of fate.

Pakdel is commencing work on his first feature film (after 9 shorts) and has a Master’s in Cinema from the University of Tehran and a Master’s in film from the University of Montreal. He shows depth and competence that bodes well for future work.

The film is shot in Montreal during the height of the pre-vaccine Covid outbreak (March of 2020). Leila, shown in her classroom discussing the story of Orpheus and Eurydice with her students, has just received word that her father back home in Iran is seriously ill and hospitalized.

Nahema Ricci in “Everything Will Be All Right” from Writer/Director Farhad Pakdel.

As the short moves us forward, detailing Leila’s efforts to leave work and secure passage home, the prime minister of Montreal, Francois Legault, has just announced that all schools will be closing for two weeks due to the pandemic. However, there are complications well beyond simply securing air fare during a time of international chaos surrounding air travel. There is the doctor appointment that Leila must re-arrange, but how?

The backdrop to the story of Leila’s desperate attempts to get home in time to say good-bye to her terminally ill father is that she is pregnant and scheduled for an abortion, which will be complicated by the necessary quarantine restrictions should she leave the country, as she will move from 10 to 14 weeks pregnant. The romance—[if it was a romance and not assault]—with the baby’s father is long over; he has now become a stalker.

Leila had made up her mind to terminate the pregnancy, but the various time constraints associated with flying overseas during a pandemic cause all sorts of problems with that plan. At one point in the cab on her way to the airport, Leila has to step out of the cab. to say good bye to her father by phone via FaceTime as he lies mortally ill in an intensive care unit in a hospital thousands of miles away.

This scenario of having to say good bye to family members via Face time is gut-wrenching; I think of it every day. It played out in my own family with the loss of my 62-year-old sister-in-law to Covid on April 18, 2020. FaceTime is how she had to say good-bye to her husband and three adult children.

Nahema Ricci in “Everything Will Be All Right” at SXSW, 2022.

Facing a few health situations of my own currently, I am well aware of the conflicting emotions that must be sweeping over the pregnant young woman, buffeted by the vagaries of fate. She steps outside the cab at one point—no doubt to say good-bye forever to her beloved father— and, when she re-enters the vehicle, the cab driver says, “Spring is unpredictable. Everything will be all right.”

Will it? What will happen to Leila from this point forward? Does she continue driving towards the airport for a departure to her homeland anyway? I wanted to know more about Leila, and, while I understood the title and its mythical import (it helped that I taught a unit on Myths and Legends for 20 years to junior high school students), I still wanted to know if everything WAS going to be “all right” for Leila, so well played by Ms. Ricci.

This short is both poignant, timely and resonates with the world today. It was well constructed to drive tension, has excellent camera work from Alexandre Bussiere, is well-acted, and makes me want to see more from this talented filmmaker (and to learn more about the fictional Leila, caught in a trap not of her own making.) Bravo!

********

“Belle River,” a short at SXSW 2022:

“Belle River” was a journey to Pierre Part, Louisiana. The area is flooded and the Morgana Spillway is opened to protect Baton Rouge and Louisiana, just the third time that has occurred in over a century. It is unclear what effect, exactly, this has had on Pierre Part in terms of “before” and “after” the opening of the spillway.

“Belle River,” a short about Pierre Part, Louisiana at SXSW, 2022.

The entire 16 minute short from Guillaume Towner, Samuel Matteau, and Yannick Nolin simply shows us flooded homes and stores. There are unidentified residents (speaking in Cajun French with English subtitles) saying, “If we get a hurricane, that’ll really mess us up.” However, along with pointing out the obvious (flooded streets, homes and businesses), lines like “We’re ready. We’re prepared for this,” seem like whistling in the dark.

There was no real documentation of how far underwater the town has become due to the opening of the spillway or just the effects of nature and no “main character” or main characters for us to relate to, as were highlighted in 2019’s “Lowland Kids.”

In “Lowland Kids”, also shown at SXSW (3/12/2019) we learned that the area of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana was losing one football field-sized piece of land to the water every hour on the hour. There were 180 to 200 families in Isle de Jean Charles who were about to become the first casualties of global warming and flooding in Louisiana. We also got to hear from Juliette and Howard Brundt, a brother and sister living with their handicapped Uncle and about to be displaced from the only home they have ever known.

I was disappointed that “Belle River” had so little concrete information on Pierre Part’s situation and would recommend the slightly older (2019) short “Lowland Kids,” reviewed on this blog at that time. “Belle River” needed more information from the filmmakers, because it simply plays like an insert on the evening news in its current format.

Check out “Lowland Kids,” reviewed on this blog, for another short film that makes a great companion piece to “Belle River.”

http://www.weeklywilson.com/?s=Lowland+Kids

“Spin Me Round” at SXSW 2022 Falls Flat

By Connie Wilson

On March 14, 2022

In Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews

“Spin Me Round” at SXSW, 2022 on March 12/13, with Allison Brie and Aubrey Plaza.

Mark and Jay Duplass executive produced a film at SXSW that seems to be a comedy that might have been a romance, that considers becoming a thriller (briefly) and also works in a plug for female empowerment. It Is pretty meandering and difficult to categorize. The script (Allison Brie and Director Jeff Baena) needed work and focus.

I met the Duplass Brothers at the Chicago International Film Festival many years ago (2011), when “Jeff, Who Lives At Home” was hitting the festival circuit, and, since then, have enjoyed their individual appearances in “The Morning Show” as Jennifer Aniston’s director Chip Black (Mark) or in “Tully” and Jay’s breakout role as Bill Dobson in “The Chair,” the loopy widowed professor. I also enjoyed “Jeff, Who Lives At Home.” but other Duplass outings seemed low-budget (“Creep”) and poorly crafted. But this one had some truly funny people in it, so I gambled and lost.

This effort seems not to know what it is going for. The cast tells us that it is going to be a comedy. Why do I say that? We have, as its lead, Allison Brie (of “G.L.O.W.”), Fred Armisen (“Portlandia”) and Molly Shannon, “SNL” alums; Zach Woods (“Veep”) as Dana and Aubrey Plaza (“Parks & Rec”) as Kat. All-in-all, it’s a cast that should scream comedy, but the difficult-to-determine-what-it-is screenplay, co-written by Allison Brie (who also produced) and Jeff Baena, the writer/director, doesn’t seem to make up its mind what it’s going for, even by film’s end. It was a film that started out being about Italian pasta. I honestly felt as though those in charge just threw everything against the wall and hoped something would stick.

The tag line for the film is: “A woman wins an all-expenses trip to a company’s gorgeous “institute” outside of Florence and also the chance to meet the restaurant chain’s wealthy and charismatic owner. She finds a different adventure than the one she imagined.”

Shooting began in Italy in June of 2021; the Italian countryside is beautiful.

Her co-star in what seems to be trying to become a romance instead of a comedy is Alessandro Nivola, who we saw in “The Many Saints of Newark,” the “Sopranos” prequel.

As mentioned in the tag line, a young girl (Allison Brie), who works in an Italian chain restaurant, the Tuscan Grove in Bakersfield, California, fashioned on The Olive Garden or Biaggi’s, is sent off to Tuscany in what is touted as the Tuscan Grove Exemplary Managers’ Institute. There, she joins a group of other such selected employees from around the United States, some of them wacky (Molly Shannon as Deb) and some of them other pretty young girls or random weird males. The founder of the chain, a handsome wealthy fellow (Alessandro Nivola) stops by and the plot takes off, more-or-less (mostly less).

From the outset, we get the impression that Aubrey Plaza as Kat is mainly employed by the chain’s founder (Alessandro Nivola as Nick) to pimp for him, separating the more desirable female attendees from the group and herding them out to Nick’s yacht, where he comes on strong as a romantic suitor. The character of Kat also allows the film to include today’s obligatory lesbian vibe, despite the fact that it seems totally unsuitable to moving this plot forward (which seems to be a heterosexual romance, at that point).

Alessandro Nivola looked too old for Allison Brie’s character, (and somewhat out-of-shape), but rich men always get a pass, so that I could deal with. (He is 10 years older than Ms. Brie, in real life.) Things seem to be heading in the direction of a romantic comedy (some of the other attendees, like Molly Shannon, are wacky, and her outfits are over-the-top) but then the plot take a darker turn, as visions of Epstein’s island activities crowd our consciousness and a murder is even suggested.

Fred Armison, portraying a wealthy artist with a villa who hosts large orgies where wild boars (there is an actual boar handler listed in the credits) ramble through is not “funny,” and the entire enterprise teetered on the brink of “Who killed Dana?” for a moment until—wonder of wonders—-Dana (Zach Woods of “Veep”) isn’t really dead after all.

In short, the script is a mess and the message of the script seems lost in the many mis-steps of tone.

At the very end of this Cinema-by-committee offering, the wealthy suitor (Alessandro Navolo, who has completely embarrassed himself with a crying scene that is more comic than dramatic, but never convincing) shows up in person to pitch Allison Brie’s character back in Bakersfield, California, at her franchise outlet, bringing with him a baby turtle ( turtle wrangler on set). She tells Nick to get lost, which, given the events that have occurred prior to his Grand Finale appearance, seems like too little, too late. So there’s our “Be gone, toxic masculinity!” moment.

I’ve been burned by some Duplass Brothers low-budget horror flicks before, but this potential comedy had people in it who can be genuinely funny. I was suckered in by that, alone.

Don’t bother.

You won’t make much sense out of the film, either, but I’m sure that Alessandro and Allison will have better roles in better films in the future.

“DMZ” Series Has World Premiere at SXSW on March 13, 2022

By Connie Wilson

On March 14, 2022

In Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDsrZk9yxwk

The riveting drama “DMZ” was premiered at SXSW 2022 on Sunday, March 13^th, 2022, at the Paramount Theater in downtown Austin. Prior to the showing of this first of four episodes of the limited series (which will air on HBO Max beginning on March 17^th), Dawson and Bratt and others met the press on the rooftop of the Riley Building. The cast continued answering questions at a Q&A following the screening of the first of the four-part series.

Cast of “DMZ” (Warner Media) on Sunday, March 13, at the Paramount Theater in Austin at SXSW 2022.

Producer/Writer Roberto Patino (“Westworld”), taking the stage with the cast in Austin (far right), described how he had taken the Vertigo graphic novel (comic), which ran from 2005 to 2021, and selected Rosario Dawson’s character of Alma Ortega to develop more fully. Because of the pandemic, the series was pared down to only 4 episodes

Premise: A Civil War has decimated the United States. This is particularly relevant at a time when we are closer to Civil War than at any time since the 1861-1865 North/South conflagration. The story focuses on the DMZ (Demilitarized zone), a ravaged Manhattan Island with 300,000 souls trapped inside.The various parts of Manhattan have been taken over by various gangs. We are taken to the Village, the Upper East Side, Midtown, Central Park, Chinatown and all other parts of the city.

One power-broker within the warring factions is portrayed beautifully by Benjamin Bratt, as a whip-thin political gang leader radiating ruthless charisma. Onscreen, he explains, “People don’t want leaders. They want spectacle.” Imagine a good-looking, taller, younger, articulate Hispanic Putin. He’s a power-hungry leader who will stop at nothing to consolidate his reach and is running for Governor of the DMZ, telling the enthusiastic crowd that the DMZ will become its own state. Bratt is outstanding in the role, menacing and believable.

Rosario Dawson and Benjamin Bratt at the Premiere of “DMZ,” a 4-part episodic WarnerMedia presentation at the Paramount Theater in Austin on March 13, 2022, at SXSW Film Festival.

Alma (Rosario Dawson) portrays a medic, a single mother desperate to find her missing son, Christian They were separated while fleeing the city six years prior, in a scene straight out of the train stations in Ukraine occurring right now. In Episode #1, Rosario interacts with another medic, portrayed by Mamie Gummer, daughter of Meryl Streep and a look-alike for her talented mother. It’s an intense exchange as the medic trapped within the DMZ (Gummer) takes Dawson’s Alma under her wing in helping her search for her missing son. Show-runner/writer Patino paid tribute to Dawson’s work telling her, “You inhabited this woman so thoroughly and made her your own.” True that.

Everyone in Episode #1 was very credible, but another outstanding performance is turned in by Jordan Preston Carter, who portrays the young Odi Peerlis. The actor has eleven credits since 2016 and, while his exact age is not mentioned in his bio, he appears to be roughly ten years old and holds his own against a talented adult cast. He is a natural. The character of Odi conveys the trauma and pathos of children caught in the midst of war. The parallels with current real life are obvious.

One line from the film explains the film’s themes/conflict this way: “Even when we’re here, surrounded by two armies with guns firing on one another, people can’t see past killing each other to better themselves.” Later, the line is: “People won’t hesitate to kill you for whatever you’ve got.” A lot of truth in those scripted lines.

Dawson’s character represents hope and a better way of dealing with life than through never-ending violence. In her remarks to the audience, she mentioned her own hard-scrabble upbringing on New York’s lower East side and described the entire four-episode series as “real” and “poignant.” Dawson decried “patriarchal toxic masculinity”and said that she hopes her character is a catalyst to help eliminate it.

Benjamin Bratt at SXSW with “DMZ.”

Bratt, too, described a change of heart in portraying his character as he began work on the series based on a comic book. He said that, at first, he thought it would be fun to portray a kick-ass comic book character. As the series went on, he began to see Parco Delgado (his character) as “a real person suffering from habituation learned as a young man; might makes right. Clearly he is someone who recognized the opportunity to seize power.”

The Ava Duvernay directed series, judging from the showing today, is dynamite. Don’t miss it! (HBO Max on Thursday, March 17, 2022).

Deb’s Drive-In Artwork: WHO HAS AN ORIGINAL OF THIS POSTER?

By Connie Wilson

On March 11, 2022

In Local, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture

As a favor to a friend, I am posting this picture of Deb’s Drive-in (Milan, Illinois), which, as you can see, was originally painted by a [now–deceased] artist, Kenneth L. Prestley. Yes, we’ve tried using the phone number given. If you want a phone number to discuss this, try 309-737-2225.

My friend would like to purchase an original poster. If you know where she can secure the original artwork that matches this photo (which appeared in a Quad Cities cookbook many years ago) please contact me at Einnoc9876@gmail or [email protected].

Thank you very much. If you DO have a print of this in your attic or closet, do so promptly, as there is a time limit on this search. (Tempis fugit!) Just put Deb’s Drive-In in the subject line.

I now return you to our regular programming, which, for the next several days (March 11-20) will be filled with reviews of new films, new television series, and a host of other on-the-spot accounts of what is going on here in Austin, Texas during SXSW.

Deb’s Drive-In Poster Art

“Dog” Marks Channing Tatum’s Directorial Debut

By Connie Wilson

On February 21, 2022

In Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews

Channing Tatum stars in and co-directed the film “Dog,” out now in theaters. His co-director on the project was fellow first-time director Reid Carolin, who also co-wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Brett Rodriguez. The movie clocks in at an hour and 41 minutes and follows the adventures of a Belgian Malinois service dog named Lulu who is being transported to her handler’s funeral in Arizona by Channing Tatum.

Lulu’s previous handler in Afghanistan, Riley Rodriguez, committed suicide-by-car-accident back home in Arizona; the grieving family would like the dog transported to the cemetery, so Channing Tatum, as Jackson Briggs, is elected to drive the dog to the funeral. Briggs hopes to get a pass to deploy for battle once again, but his many tours of duty have left him with some heavy-duty head problems.

In other words, the owner of the dog obviously suffered from PTSD after serving in a combat zone and had a death wish. It would appear that Jackson Briggs (Tatum’s character) shares that death wish, as he is eager to return to a war that will probably kill him. The Ranger brass are reluctant to authorize another deployment. If Briggs will undertake this picaresque journey to Camposanto Cemetery, Briggs might get his wish, foolish though it seems.

Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin do a nice job of keeping the focus on Briggs and the dog (Lulu, as portrayed by three different dogs, named Zuza, Bula and Lana 5). Since his co-star has a non-speaking part, Channing Tatum must suck it up and handle the interaction with his non-human co-star; he has a nice and easy rapport with the animal.

While driving the Pacific highway to their destination, Briggs feels they should also try to have some fun. The clips we see where Briggs pretends he is blind to get a free suite at a posh hotel provide one such detour. Another happens when Lulu gets free and Briggs has to chase the dog through rugged mountain terrain. He stumbles upon an undercover pot operation run by someone even larger and more muscled than himself, which is something. That character (Gus) is played by the heavily tattooed Kevin Nash, and his hippie soul mate in the boonies is the recognizable character actress Jane Adams, portraying Tamara.

There is an attempt by Channing Tatum to find a willing sexual partner for the night in a bar, which fizzles. A decision is made to revisit Lulu’s litter mate brother, who is being trained to re-enter polite society by a former Ranger buddy. There is also a detour during a frightful storm, where Briggs and the dog take shelter in a barn to wait it out.

Finally, as it must, the film gets us to the church on time. Or, in this case, to the cemetery just in time.

Anyone who stays through five minutes of the movie can predict that the ex-Ranger who seemed to be nursing a death wish before meeting the dog now has a reason to live, and, if it isn’t spelled out clearly enough for you in scene after scene, we have the line, “Thanks for saving my life,” with beautiful cinematography by Newton Thomas Segel, coupled with great song selections from Season Kent (music supervisor), with old Kenny Rogers lyrics like “Know When to Hold ‘Em.” The original music by Thomas Newman is also quite good.

So, mission accomplished for both Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin and the audience.

The movie was enjoyable and heart-warming and the dog(s) do a great job of ingratiating themselves to the audience, (as cute canines will.) Since this dog is also a hero, we like Lulu very much. It was one of two new films released on February 18^th (the other was the Mark Wahlberg/Tom Holland opus “Uncharted”) and we selected it over the carefully scripted adventure yarn of buried treasure (Haven’t we had enough of buried treasure ?).

SPOILER REMARK:

One comment regarding a slight reservation about the film. We learn that Jackson Briggs has a three-year-old daughter. He visits her house and mother and is in and out of that house in under five minutes with no dialogue. He spends no time talking about his daughter, nor does he seem particularly intent on seeing her again. Yet, by the film’s end, we know that Jackson Briggs is such a caring individual that he will adopt the combat dog in order to save its life.

So, does this mean that our hero would choose mentoring and adopting a dog over taking care of his own flesh and blood? If so, it does diminish somewhat the likeability and appeal and charisma of our lead character. I’m wondering if this entire sub-plot of the almost non-existent and clearly forgotten daughter would have been better left on the cutting room floor? It did not make me like Briggs more, While applauding his dedication to the lead dog of the story (Lulu), totally ignoring his daughter for a period of years did not come off as admirable or understandable.

“Station Eleven:” Futuristic Series Set in Chicago

By Connie Wilson

On February 2, 2022

In Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

We’re watching “Station Eleven,” a 10-part mini series that Patrick Somerville adapted for the screen. Somerville was the show runner (and writer) for “The Bridge,” (2013-2014) followed by two years on “The Leftovers” (2015-2017) and “Maniac” in 2018.

When I first obtained my condo in Chicago in 2003, I took an evening class in Writing the Novel at the University of Chicago. Patrick Somerville was the instructor. He was, at that time, a noted “metrosexual” serious fiction writer.

The class had been meeting for some time, so I had to have permission to join the already-assembled group. When I entered, I was asked to tell the group something about myself. The group was largely female and consisted of very highly-educated women— doctors and lawyers who, apparently, wanted to write a novel. (I had already written a novel at that time, “Out of Time,” so I had a bit of an idea what I was in for.)

Looking around at the assembled group, I decided to hit them with my best shot. I told them that I was “an active, voting member of the HWA,” which stands for the Horror Writers’ Association. I figured that would get their attention, although not necessarily in a good way. It was true at that time, although I have moved on to ITW (International Thriller Writers) since then.

Patrick Somerville was very interested in hearing about HWA. I think that, even then, he was planning his escape to L.A. to write for Hollywood. He was never very chummy with me. He would hang out with the women who were always smoking and, sometimes, someone would bring a bottle of wine to class. I still remember there was a woman doctor in the class who was writing a novel set in a nudist colony in pre World War I. Odd. We would have to read parts of our writing to the class and there did not seem to be any “real” writers in the class—unless you count me, and I’ll leave that up to you. We read and discussed “The Plague” by Albert Camus and it was a totally worthless exercise in learning (or teaching) someone how to write a novel.

Now, Patrick Somerville is involved in a partnership with David Eisenberg called Tractor Beam productions for film and TV production.

Right now I’m watching actors act out a scene in a high rise that could well be the Hancock Building in Chicago. “We gotta make moves. Never, ever, ever can we fake moves.” Rapping. This sudden deterioration into rap music is but one of many signs that this series has jumped the shark for me. I think the vast array of writers responsible may be part of the issue, but the biggest crime is the jumping around in time that leaves you wondering if the dead character is supposed to be a “flashback” or “imaginary” (see the new “Dexter”) or what, exactly, is going on. (Where is Ridley Scott’s linear approach when you need him?)

It was going along swimmingly with this log line:“A post apocalyptic saga spanning multiple timelines, telling the stories of survivors of a devastating flu as they attempt to rebuild and reimagine the world anew, while holding onto the best of what’s been lost.”

Well, class, I think we can all relate to that theme, at this point, 3 years into Covid-19.

The early episodes of the series, sketching the arriving pandemic were good. “What would you have done, if you knew the flu was coming?” asks the small girl. The character says he would have come home earlier and spent time with his mother, who died from the flu. “I would have made the choice I wanted to make—you know?”

The little girl who asked the question said she would have said good bye to Arthur Leander, (portrayed by Gael Garcia Bernal, who appears in only 4 episodes) and notes, “I didn’t get to say good-bye to anyone.”

I had a passing ships-that-pass-in-the-night relationship with Gael Garcia Bernal, who showed up at the premiere of a film he had directed and starred in. I had never seen such a huge crowd for any celebrity in Chicago before or since! The largely Spanish-speaking audience packed the theater to the point that they were seated on the steps leading down to the stage. I finally got up and left so that the audience would have an extra “real” seat.

Himish Patel, who was so good in “Yesterday,” plays Jeevan Chaudry in “Station Eleven.” He and his brother Nabhaan Rizwan as Frank Chaudry, and a young woman (Mackenzie Davis as Kirsten Raymonde) and a small girl (Matilda Lawler as Young Kirsten) are fighting for the apartment in what may be the Hancock Building. The group was re-enacting a play written by Young Kirsten, before going out to see if there is anything left of Chicago. They are either going to starve to death in 90 days or freeze to death in what looks like a very cold Chicago winter.

I wonder if the Chicago location was chosen by Patrick Somerville because of his past association with the Windy City? I’m even more surprised to read in the credits that principal shooting was in New York City, but there definitely are some real Chicago exteriors, as well.

Like most of the things I’ve mentioned, there was a lot of jumping around in time, which made it very difficult to figure out what was going on. Still, the use of the Cubs stocking hat and the exterior Chicago locations is welcome to a Chicago quasi-native.

Frank has just been dispatched in the plot by an intruder. But young Kirsten is being told to go forth with Jeevan and that look like what is going to happen. They are leaving the high rise for the first time in a long time.The music is ponderous and moody, but the exterior shots of Chicago, with “The Present” typed on the screen, are what remains in my mind. The female lead has apparently stayed behind (Kim Steele wrote this episode based, as all episodes are, on the book by Emily St. John Mandeville).

The biggest thing about the future after the Apocalypse is preserving respect for the Bard, apparently. Odd that Shakespeare is so cherished when it is possible to graduate from a Big Ten university these days with an English degree, but without having taken a single Shakespeare class, I’m told.

“I stood looking over the damage, trying to remember the sweetness of life on Earth, but I couldn’t remember.” (oft repeated in several episodes)

“We don’t even know if it’s like it was before.”

“There is no before. Or after. The past is safe; everything else changes.”

And from that post-Apocalyptic scene, the dead character Arthur Leander (as King Lear) enters the dressing room to be with Clark (David Wilmot). This makes it really difficult to know where we are in time, since Arthur has been dead.

“You say I only hear what I want to” by Alanis Morrissette is playing in the background. This is part of a traveling troupe of actors who keep culture alive by traveling the countryside performing Shakespeare (and other plays).

Sarah, as portrayed by a truly ravaged-looking Lori Petty, is a composer.

Elizabeth Colton, as portrayed by Caitlin Fitzgerald, is one of the better-known actresses in the series, as she played Libby Masters in “Masters of Sex” (2013-2016).

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife:” First 3/4 = Enjoyable; Ending? Flawed

By Connie Wilson

On January 26, 2022

In Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews

We were looking for a movie we had not seen to take in at our local Cineplex. We discovered that most of the offerings that were good had come and gone right at Christmas time, but “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” was still playing, so we took it in.

The first thing I’d like to say about this Jason Reitman-directed film is that the appearances of the “old” Ghostbusters gang (Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Ernie Hudson), as seen on various late-night television shows, is quite misleading. The trio appears for less than 20 minutes onscreen and they do literally nothing. It was a nice tribute to have the holographic participation of the fouth “Ghostbuster,” Harold Ramis, but he did not speak.

The movie began at 4:10 p.m. Up until 5:45 p.m.—things were going quite well. Carrie Coons as the mother was good and People’s “sexiest man alive, “Paul Rudd was the love interest. It was far better than I had anticipated for the first (roughly) 100 minutes of the 120 minute film.

The young talent were quite good, especially Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things”) and McKenna Grace as Phoebe, a bespectacled science nerd. They were very effective in their lead roles. Able support was provided by Asian youth Logan Kim as Podcast and Celeste O’Connor as Lucky.

McKenna Grace was born in 2006, which means that, IRL, she was 15 when the film was shot, but was playing a 12-year-old. She has previously appeared in “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

The film had real promise until 20 minutes from the end, when it totally jumped the shark. CGI special effects took over any semblance of a plot at that point.

I cannot recommend the ultimate denouement, but I think that my 13-year-old granddaughters will like the movie.