Well, here you are, dear reader. The Fourth of July hangover has finally ended, and you’re cleared eyed enough to face the big-screen disappointments: Not enough Grimlock in Transformers 4; very little “Evil” for Eric Bana to deliver you from; Jersey Boys dragged and Tammy, well, exists. So what is a man to do with his money when it seems there’s no multiplex magic to be had? Rest easy, dear reader, there’s a whole different scene to be seen before any ape planets dawn, so let’s take a walk on the indie side with this week’s buzz.
Movies: 2006 brought cinema one of its most delightful indie gems in years, a subdued Irish love story wrapped in shaky cameras and stunning songs. Once may not have made huge waves when it hit, but its Oscar-winning “Falling Slowly” has had a steady place on the airwaves (and practically every season ofAmerican Idol), launching the careers of its composers (and the film’s stars) Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. The Broadway apadation of John Carney’s micro-budget flick won 8 Tony awards and still consistenly sells out on a nightly basis, and the film has found itself revisited with the kind of gusto and admiration it deserved on first release. So naturally, John Carney’s next attempt at bat would be greeted with much more intrigue and support, and after an Ireland-only oddity called Zonad, Carney is back with Begin Again.
The film boasts an impressive cast including Academy Award nominees Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are Alright), Keira Knightley (Atonement), Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich) and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), as well as Maroon 5’s Adam Levine. It swaps Once’s covert-cam approach on the misty streets of Dublin for the bold neon lights of New York City, and utilizes larger spaces and visual effects in the way only an indie director with a bigger budget can, and indeed fumbles in some of the same ways. Yet, that’s not to say Begin Again is not without its joys.
First off, lets simply address the fact that if likeability were a form of energy, Mark Ruffalo could power Detroit; so combining his ever endearing charm with Keira Knightley (who throughout the film seems like she’s having the most fun of any she’s done) is going to make for an entertaining bit of cinema. At the very beginning, we’re introduced to Knightley’s singer-songwriter Greta via an onstage performance at the behest of platonic pal Steve (Tony-winner and Doctor Who alum James Corden). Knightley shows off a surprisingly impressive vocal talent with “A Step You Can’t Take Back”, one of 12 original songs written for the film, and entrances the as-yet unidentified Ruffalo, whose broken down, broken hearted (but not hoover-fixer-sucker) guy Dan Mulligan had earlier that day been fired from his own record label for his touched-upon-but-never-made-consequential alcoholism. The film early on jumps around in time, ultimately showing Greta’s performance from three different perspectives (Dan’s, Greta’s and the audience’s). Dan’s drunken observation of Greta’s timid intonations results in one of the film’s truly memorable moments, where we witness the mind of a producer at work, hearing what isn’t there by showing invisible forces building an orchestra around her. It reminds us that Carney isn’t a fluke success, nor that he simply got lucky with Once’s cast. He’s a talented director, shown brilliantly when Greta returns to reconcile with cheating rockstar boyfriend Dave Kohl (Levine, who spends half of the film with either a Darren Aaronofsky mustache or Matisyahu beard, making it easier to hate him as all men deep down jealously do), and the camera lingers, allowing for a single teared, wordless epiphany that builds to a tender ending. All in all, Begin Again is a cute and overall satisfying film, and would serve as an intriguing and promising debut for any director. It’s the very fact that it isn’t a debut that truly hurts the film.
You see, for all its positives, Begin Again suffers most from the fact that it isn’t Once. The story isn’t as simple or relatable, and several moments seem downright contrived (recruiting a chorus of precocious street kids who can harmonize seems strange, even for New York). The cleaner visuals the ultra-expensive RED camera provide strip away some of the gritty, indie feel that made Once so endearing. The songs aren’t nearly as good, and are on the whole so lyrically and melodically simplistic as to be forgotten almost as soon as the credits roll (the only truly standout track, both lyrically and melodically, is “Coming Up Roses” which is the only one written by Once’s Hansard and not New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander). In addition, it must be said that while both Knightley and Ruffalo are tremendous actors with great chemistry, nothing can match the sensation of watching two amateur actors’ raw, sincerely romantic connection during a live performance of “Falling Slowly” in a piano shop. This is not to suggest that films should always be viewed in the shadow of its director’s previous work, but when Carney crafts a film so similar in both theme and plot so as to essentially be an (unintentional) companion piece, its bound to happen, and if it he didn’t expect that, he should have. Once captured two people truly falling in love (Hansard and Irglova began a relationship shortly after the film’s completion), and while no man can be expected to catch lightening in a bottle twice, doing it once is gonna make all those other bottles you got seem mighty empty by comparison.
Begin Again is a thoroughly enjoyable film, with some endearing moments, and definitely a date flick for you and the lady friend. But for something truly memorable, jump on Netflix, and seek out the simpler, spectacularOnce afterwards.
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Some films, like Begin Again, are fine distractions that occasionally touch a heartstring. Other films, like last year’s Blue is the Warmest Colour, pack the kind of emotional punch that comes maybe once or twice a year at best. And yet, some films are once in a lifetime, and such is the case with Boyhood.
To paraphrase Robert Plant, Richard Linklater is a traveller of both time and space. Many suggested that his now-trilogy of films with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy were his most ambitious statement on his favorite existentialist topic, the passage of time. The trilogy, beginning with 1995’s Before Sunrise, has returned to a couple every nine years, in a different European city, to watch them muse about life, love, and their own insecurities. Yet, no one could have dreamed of a project on a scale as massive as this year’s Sundance mind-blower Boyhood. Utilizing the same three lead actors (Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and newcomer Ellar Coltrane) to tell the story of a boy’s life over the course of 12 years, the film was actually made in real time. You follow Ethan Hawke from Training Day to The Purge, and you watch Ellar Coltrane age from 6 to 18, feeling the astoundingly crushing and somehow inspiring passage of time play out on screen as it never has before. The film is emotional, powerful, and the kind of stunning achievement that simply has to be seen. Get yourself to your nearest big-city theater (if you’re on Long Island, we’ll keep our fingers crossed for you) and see this film, because there may never be another like it, at least not in our lifetime.
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Can’t get to the city to catch Boyhood, but still want something worthwhile to watch? Well, one of the year’s best films has just hit Blu-Ray, and it features one of the best and most daring performances from our lady of the month. It seems as though science fiction is making a comeback, both in the mainstream (last year’s colossal Gravity) and this Sundance hit from Jonathon Glazer (Sexy Beast). Originally hyped for containing Scarlett Johansson nudity (and trust us, its got a lot of that), the film has a visual style so unique and inventive that calls to mind that classic 70’s experimentalism without feeling like any film you’ve ever seen. The closest comparison is Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell To Earth, utilizing a detached alien figure who entrances humans in order to examine and criticize our nature. Yet, Glazer seems unconcerned with storytelling, or at least with spoon-feeding the audience a narrative like modern science-fiction seems so eager to do now (there’s no Ellen Page exposition machine anywhere to be found in this film). Johansson, for her part, is extraordinary as an alien who (from what can be gleaned from Glazer’s 2001-esque image collage) collects stray humans in order to bring them ion her ship, strip down with them, and walk them into a mysterious black pool where they’re stripped of their flesh. The film is a mystery, and an extremely transfixing one at that. From its ominous score to its striking cinematography, Under the Skin earns its title by lingering like some gorgeous ethereal puzzle in the mind of the viewer. It’s one of the best films of 2014 thus far, and required viewing for any fan of sci-fi or Scarlett. Pick it up on July 15th at your local brick and mortar movie store.
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TV: FX’s Tyrant seems tough to nail down from the ads. Early on, its ambiguous teasers felt like another network trying to jump on the Homeland bandwagon. Yet, the premise, once further revealing, was an interesting one. Perhaps this could give another take on the Middle East conflict, and hopefully provide a more sympathetic view of Muslims and Arabs than Homeland’s almost hyper-racism. Indeed, giving us a family man returning to his home country could be an attempt at acknowledging the problems in the Middle East while still reminding us the average person is still good and…what’s that, FX? You…you cast a white guy in the lead role and are just bona pretend he’s Middle Eastern? Well, that’s not good. And overall, neither is Tyrant. It’s a thriller that simply never gets thrilling, and an attempt at a post-9/11 Sopranos without any of the tension or intrigue. The show callously utilizes sexual violence in such a cavalier fashion as to be disconcerting for all the wrong reasons (unlike FX’s Louie, these characters are fully aware what rape is, and linger on it far too long for any real purpose to be clear), and Adam Rayner is so starkly dull as the lead that one questions why they chanced justifiable outrage at a white man in brown face in the first place. A show where the second son of a Middle Eastern dictator returns to his (fictitious) home country could have been a very interesting idea, and still can be, if it doesn’t continue to be the family drama no one’s asking for, nor the “power corrupts” parable no one needs to hear for the 8,000th time. There’s a great show within the bones ofTyrant, truly there is, so its worth keeping tabs on. But for now, keep it in the corner of your eye and off your DVR.
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News: We here at Man of the Hour want to bring you the biggest news in the entertainment world, but this story, you don’t need us to know about. We all have that friend who takes the Harry Potter books way too seriously for their age. We all loved them as kids, poured over every page, but they’re the ones who still read them, and tray both book and film as works of great import, on par with Gatsby and Kane. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter seems cool, but they treat their visits like the Hajj. We all know that guy. So you don’t need us to tell you that J.K. Rowling has gone back to the well of the series she ended a three picture deal with Warner Bros. ago to give us all an update on Harry and co., like an epilogue to an epilogue, in the form of a Rita Skeeter article on the Quidditch World Cup. She released this via her Pottermore website, where Potter fans can gather, talk about which House they should be sorted into, get super-excited for the new trilogy (yes, trilogy) of films based on Rowling’s Magical Beasts and Where To Find Them spin-off book, and hum the film’s theme tune while rocking back and forth and pretending its still 1998 and there’s plenty more books and years ahead of them.
Oh yeah, and those Emmy nominations happened. After the seemingly unfair decision by HBO to run their stellar mystery miniseries True Detective as a Drama (the toughest category in the Emmys) instead of the much weaker Miniseries category (where Pizzolato’s writing, McConaughey’s haunting performance, and intend the whole transfixing television show itself could win big), at least some good can be seen from the choice: It knocked out Homeland. The 2012 winner faltered in its second season, and fell flat on its face in its third, so its at least nice to see folks come to their senses (for the most part). The Drama category was filled with the best TV had to offer this year: the aforementioned True Detective, the PBS period drama Downton Abbey, HBO’s massively popular sword and sex epic Game of Thrones, the Kevin Spacey starring political thriller House of Cards, and AMC’s two golden children, the four time Emmy winner Mad Men and the reigning drama champ Breaking Bad, for whom this is the last year to receive any awards (like they haven’t already won them all). Meanwhile, over in the comedy category…well…there were some positives, but let’s not go calling it the best of TV just yet. Sure, Louie received its usual deserved accolades, and Orange Is The New Black was a welcome addition to the category (this year’s Emmys recognize Season 1, next year will be for the even more addicting second season). Yet, the rest of the nominees seemed kind of…tired. Look, they’ve trotted out the past-its-prime Modern Family once more, and the too-popular-for-its-own-goodBig Bang Theory, whose laugh track and cheap sex jokes now cut like daggers to fans of the early cult-hit days. Veep got another nod, yet the show seems more and more a weight carried entirely by Julie-Louise Dreyfuss’ tremendous talent, and HBO’s Silicon Valley received a nomination in what was assumed to beGirls’ reserved spot, as though to tell the Dunham hit to tone down its self-importance and step up its game. Were there a few snubs? Yes, ad these noms will be discussed in greater detail as the big night approaches, but for now, let’s focus on the biggest upset, which is not a lack of a name, but rather far too many big ones: the Best Lead Actor in a Drama category. The eternal Emmy bridesmaid Jon Hamm looked poised to watch the equally deserving Bryan Cranston to take the stage once more for his final bow, with a slight chance at an upset if voters realized Hamm’s singular genius has gone unrecognized. But last year Kevin Spacey was tossed into the mix, and in an already tough category, you don’t wanna have to now go up against Kaizer Soze too. This year saw the addition of both Woody Harrelson and recent Oscar winner McConaughey (who not only should have been split into Lead and Supporting actor, but should have both been in Miniseries to guarantee their astounding work be recognized), meaning the forever favorite Cranston will be going up against two Oscar winners and a nominee (lets not forget, since True Detective rotates its cast, this is the last shot for Matt and Woody as well as Cranston for their respective shows), and Hamm falling to the wayside once more, holding out hope that maybe their final seasons (which started this year, but ends next) might finally bring him the gold. Oh, and Jeff Daniels is also nominated, which didn’t make sense last year (when he somehow won) and makes even less sense this year, when The Newsroom seemingly functioned solely to prove an HBO show could be more smug than Girls.
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Short Film: “If cinephiles think shorts don't generate the same sort of hype and fanbase as feature films, they obviously haven't heard of Don Hertzfeldt” the Sundance Film Festival once said, and its hard to argue. Don Hertzfeldt may well be the greatest animator no one knows, even though his 2000 masterpiece of experimental animation Rejected received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short (but ultimately lost to Father and Daughter, a traditionally animated Dutch short that was far less fun and meme-worthy). His style has been copied in countless commercials, and his work with King of the Hill creator Mike Judge on The Animation Show has served as the best outlet for animators since the death of Liquid Television. His hilarious Rejected paved the way for a much more bold and daring experiment called The Meaning of Life, which brought him even more critical acclaim and gave him the creative freedom to begin a three part series of shorts revolving around the hat-wearing character of Bill, the first part being this week’s short Everything Will Be OK.
Hertzfeldt’s short starts as an existentialist meditation as we follow Bill through his daily life, and learn about the stray thoughts and strange dreams which occur to him. Thoughts about death, strange quirks and social anxieties. It plays out very much like that David Foster Wallace short story “A Radically Condensed History of Post-Industrial Life”, but it builds from there, or more so deteriorates, as we discover something is wrong with Bill. At first, it seems these are new developments, but we find (with vague mentions of medications “no longer working”, etc.) that this character, whose stray thoughts and quirks, has a problem (possibly schizophrenia, though its never addressed directly). Typical Hertzfeldtian imagery appears (the “pipe is leaking” fish man, the demonic stick figures with barbaric yawps) but instead of inducing laughs emphasizes the distorted reality Bill witnesses, and perhaps Don sometimes witnesses, and that we the viewer are so very close to witnessing ourselves. Overall, however, Everything Will Be OK (and its follow up films, edited together into the feature length It’s Such A Beautiful Day) is the most human, sincere, and sympathetic without patronization portrait of mental illness ever made. Its an extraordinary and thought provoking short from a master of the medium, and demands, like Rilke’s archaic torso, that you revise your life. Watch it here.
That’s it for this week’s Buzz. Come back next week for our take on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, FX’s The Strain, another great Blu-Ray to add to your collection, and as always, all the entertainment news you need to know.
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