ROGUE ONE, PASSENGERS ZERO: Movie Reviews of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Passengers by Howard Casner
Posted: December 27, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alan Tudyk, Ben Mendelsohn, Chris Platt, Chris Seitz, Diegan Luna, Felicity Jones, Gareth Edwards, Jennifer Lawrence, Jon Spaihts, Lawrence Fishburne, Mads Mikkelsen, Michael Sheen, Morten Tyldum, Passengers, Peter Cushing, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Tony Gilroy | 1,093 Comments »For questions: hcasner@aol.com
First, a word from our sponsors: I am now offering a new service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
In film, Sci-Fi has often been divided into two categories: adult science fiction, stories that capture the mind and are more philosophical and questioning in nature; and pop culture Sci-Fi, stories that are more escapist and less challenging where the grey cells are concerned.
Perhaps no better year can define this dichotomy than 1977 when the original Star Wars was released the same year as Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Critics often claim, or have a prejudice, that adult sci-fi is inherently superior or preferably to pop culture sci-fi. And I do have to admit, if truth be forceably told, I tend to prefer the former to the latter. But there is never a guarantee that one is going to be better than the other. In fact, in the end, the one that is better is simply the one that is better, and the reason why it is better is because, when all is said and done, it’s the, well… better one. Read the rest of this entry »
‘S WONDERFUL! ‘S MARVELOUS! ‘S OKAY: Movie Review of La La Land by Howard Casner
Posted: December 18, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone, J.K. Simmons, Justin Hurwitz, La La Land, Ryan Gosling | 3 Comments »For questions: hcasner@aol.com
First, a word from our sponsors: I am now offering a new service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
La La Land, the new musical about aspiring Angelenos, opens on a wintry 84 degree day in stalled bumper to bumper traffic on an L.A. freeway.
So, of course, to pass the time, everyone begins to sing and dance. And it’s absolutely wonderful, a marvelous moment of agile bodies twisting and turning, on car roofs and cement barriers, as the camera glides around and amongst them, as if carried by a graceful wind.
The basic story revolves around aspiring actress Mia (spunky Emma Stone, if that’s not redundant) and aspiring jazz pianist Sebastian (Ryan Gosling, perhaps the cinema’s best representative of metrosexuality), an artist so pure he refuses to join a music group because he wants to open his own club where he can play jazz the way he wants, not the way someone else wants him to.
They have trouble meeting cute, and once they do and romance blooms, they have trouble breaking up. Read the rest of this entry »
REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST: Movie Reviews of Lion and Jackie by Howard Casner
Posted: December 18, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Beth Grant, Billy Cruddup, Dev Patel, Garth David, Greta Gerwig, Jackie, John Carroll Lynch, John Hurt, Lion, Luke Davies, Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Noah Oppenheim, Pablo Lorrain, Peter Sarsgaard, Richard E. Grant | Leave a comment »For questions: hcasner@aol.com
First, a word from our sponsors: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who contributed to our Indiegogo campaign for 15 Conversations in 10 Minutes. We did very well due to you folks. For those who weren’t able to give, keep us in your thoughts. And if you are able to contribute in the future, contact me and I’ll tell you how. I will even honor the perks on the original campaign.
I am now offering a new consultation service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? FosCheck out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
About a third of the way through Lion, the new film from director Garth David (he worked on the TV series Top of the Lake) and screenwriter Luke Davies (Candy), the central character, Saroo, has a Proustian moment when he sees a plate of jelebies, a lusciously bright red sweet popular in India. He suddenly has a memory of being a boy less than six years old, deeply desiring such a confection while out working with his older brother in a remote Indian city.
This has a profound effect on him, because as a child he got separated from his brother and ended up on a train that took him to New Delhi where he ended up in an orphanage, subsequently adopted by an Australian couple.
He hasn’t thought about his early life much at all. He doesn’t even really consider himself Indian. But the rush of memory has a profound existential effect on him and he becomes obsessed with finding his way back to his birth mother and family. Read the rest of this entry »
STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE…..AN UNNECESSARY FILM!
Posted: December 13, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | 171 Comments »
STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE……AN UNNECESSARY FILM!
Star Wars….a title that evokes chills, childhood memories, and dreams of far-off places. In space, nobody can hear you scream, and that’s a good thing, because I was screaming NO NO NO!
Star Wars: Rogue One is Disney’s first attempt at a spin-off (or one-off, you decide). It’s the cash-grab we all never knew we wanted, but were happy to have once announced. I can’t say I wasn’t excited when it was announced, but as news trickled in, I was filled with absolute glee. How could I know they’d make CGI characters of pre-existing non-CGI ones?! Yes, that’s right….Grand Moff Tarkin is alive, and well…sorta. I know some of you, maybe most of you, would already know this, but please keep in mind I have a day-job, and other interests (Star Trek…gulp). The CGI wasn’t what I would expect, and….to be honest…creeped me out just a little. It was like smooshing Real life, with CGI in a lame video game. Every scene with him (There were plenty.), took me completely out of the action. Now I ask….why was this necessary to the story? Why couldn’t they introduce a new character we didn’t know, or find a look-alike to use?! Sigh….the world may never know.
Now that I’ve let off some steam…let’s get to the actual heart of the story. THIS IS THE SUICIDE SQUAD we wanted….this movie is BETTER THAN The Force Awakens. I’m not joking! It’s elements of suspense, drama, action, and humor (Thank you Alan Tudyk!) are exactly what The Force Awakens needed, but never received!
If you don’t already know, “Rogue One” tells the story of a group of unlikely heroes, who in a time of conflict, band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This story takes place between “Revenge Of The Sith”, and “A New Hope”.
If you’re not in with “The cool kids”, you might think THE FORCE AWAKENS was the bee’s knees…but you’d be sorely mistaken. Rogue one gives you just enough suspense, with plenty of action ( At-At Anyone?), humor (Again, Tudyk is THE MAN!), drama(I didn’t reference The SUICIDE SQUAD for nothing.), and suspense, you’ll be gripping the cup-holders attached to your seats!
Now let’s get down to the Meat and Potatoes! Kyber Crystals are where it’s at!
It might sound silly, but Jyn Erso is the best thing since Princess Lea! That’s right….Felicity Jones plays this character so perfectly you’d swear you were watching A Documentary! She walks that perfect line of vulnerable, strong, and nervous so well,you’ll wonder how she wasn’t manufactured in a lab!
The Kyber crystals…(Jyn carries one on her neck.) are what actually power The Death Star! It’s a great little addition to the story of “How, and Why?!”. What bothered me was how she was able to keep this necklace throughout her slavery/imprisonment, but I digress.
Keep your eyes out for some Mos Eisley Cantina East-Egg fun, along with a visit from a few droids you MIGHT be looking for!
To finish this out…..have fun with it, don’t expect the world, and you’ll find ROGUE ONE to be THE BEST, Unecessary Star Wars movie you’ve always wanted!
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!
Donald Mckinney
THE WORKING CLASS GOES TO HEAVEN: Movie Reviews of I, Daniel Blake, Paterson and Neruda by Howard Casner
Posted: December 3, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Adam Driver, Daniel Blake, Dave Johns, Gael Garcia Bernal, Golshifteh Farahani, Guillermo Calderon, Haley Squires, I, Jim Jarmusch, Ken Loach, Luis Gnecco, Neruda, Pablo Larrain, Patterson, paul Laverty | 9,652 Comments »For questions: hcasner@aol.com
First, a word from our sponsors: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who contributed to our Indiegogo campaign for 15 Conversations in 10 Minutes. We did very well due to you folks. For those who weren’t able to give, keep us in your thoughts. And if you are able to contribute in the future, contact me and I’ll tell you how. I will even honor the perks on the original campaign.
I am now offering a new consultation service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? FosCheck out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
Critics, at least those in the U.S., have at times complained about the dearth of movies that focus on the life of ordinary, often blue collar, workers. It’s not that it never happens. We’ve had our On the Waterfronts and Blue Collars.
But still, it feels that the lunchbox is more than a bit bare.
Great Britain has fared better, especially since the emergence of the angry young man stories and kitchen sink dramas in the 1950’s and ‘60’s.
British director Ken Loach has even made it his focus to create films about those on the lower rungs of society, especially their struggles to get by. He might even be called the cinematic poet of the working class. Read the rest of this entry »
RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN: Movie Reviews of Rules Don’t Apply and Allied by Howard Casner
Posted: December 1, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alden Ehrenreich, Alec Baldwin, Amy Madigan, Annette Bening, Brad Pitt, Candice Bergen, Dabney Coleman, Ed Harris, Hart Bochner, Jared Harris, Lily Collins, Marion Cottilard, Martin Sheen, Matthew Broderick, Matthew Goode, Oliver Platt, Paul Schneider, Paul Sorvino, Robert Zemeckis, Rules Don’t Apply, Simon McBurney, Steven Knight, Warren Beatty | 2,307 Comments »For questions: hcasner@aol.com
First, a word from our sponsors: I am now offering a new service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
Rules Don’t Apply, the latest, and from what I understand, the last film from Warren Beatty who wrote, produced and plays famous recluse Howard Hughes here, has some charming moments in the first half.
The story revolves round Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich, who has the looks, charisma, but a lot more talent than B-movie actor Audie Murphy) who is one of Hughes’s many drivers who escort one of the billionaire’s many starlets around Los Angeles. The starlet assigned to Frank is Marla Mabry (Lily Collins).
Both are quite religious (Hughes chose his drivers from church goers as a guard against them trying to bed his starlets). They say grace before meals, watch The Billy Graham Crusade on television, and attend church every Sunday. And not only do they do this unapologetically when others are around and in the streets where they might scare the horses, Beatty himself presents this spiritual side of the characters just as unapologetically. Read the rest of this entry »
YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN: Movie Reviews of Manchester By The Sea, It’s Only the End of the World and The Commune by Howard Casner
Posted: November 29, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: C.J. Wilson, Casey Affleck, Gretchen Moll, It’s Only the End of the World, Jean-Luc Lagarce, Kenneth Lonergan, Kyle Chandler, Lea Seydoux, Lucas Hedges, Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Matthew Broderick, Michelle Williams, Nathalie Baye, The Commune, Thomas Vinterberg, Tobias Lindholm, Trine Dryholm, Ulrich Thomson, Vincent Cassel, Xavier Dolan | 16 Comments »For questions: hcasner@aol.com
First, a word from our sponsors: I am now offering a new service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
You Can’t Go Home Again is, of course, the title of a posthumously published novel by Thomas Wolfe, and a phrase that has entered common discourse since. I’ve seen three movies lately that are about people returning home or using memories of their early years as the basis for their stories.
The basic premise of writer/director Kenneth Lonergan’s new film Manchester by the Sea revolves around Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck), a janitor living in Boston who is very good at his job, but is a loner with a somewhat self-destructive personality. When he receives word that his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) has died, he returns to his home city of Manchester by the Sea, a fishing and tourist town. There he is shocked to discover that his brother in his will has requested Lee to become guardian to Joe’s sixteen year old son, Lucas. Joe has provided for Lucas’ expenses in his will and just needs Lee to return to Manchester to live.
Why Lee can’t return and the conflicts over how to handle this request make up the bulk of the movie and much of the heart breaking suspense is waiting to find out what happened that led to Lee’s present situation-you know it has something to do with his three children since they are only shown in flashback. The waiting is painfully unbearable at times. Read the rest of this entry »
FANTASTIC VOYAGES: Movie Reviews of Arrival, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Moana by Howard Casner
Posted: November 27, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alison Sudo, Amy Adams, Arrival, Auli’i Cravalho, Collin Farrell, Dan Vogler, David Yates, Denis Villeneuve, Dwayne Johnson, Eddie Redmayne, Eric Heisser, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Finally, Forest Whitaker, J.K. Rowling, Jeremy Renner, Jon Voigt, Michael Stuhlbarg, Moana, Ted Chiang | 990 Comments »For questions: hcasner@aol.com
First, a word from our sponsors: I am now offering a new service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
I think their might be a competition for the use of the geekiest hero in thrillers these days.
In the movie The Da Vinci Code, Tom Hanks plays a symbologist who races to uncover a mystery in order to save Christianity and the Catholic Church.
Now we have the film Arrival in which Amy Adams is a linguist who is called in to save the world from a possible alien attack.
What’s next? A philatelist? A trademark attorney?
The basic premise of Arrival revolves around a group of spacecraft that suddenly appear and hover above the earth in twelve different locations. In order to try to communicate with them and discover why they are here and what they want, they bring in Louise Banks (Adams), a college professor, someone who, it seems safe to say, is just a bit out of touch with her fellow man-the day after the craft arrive she comes in to teach her class and seems a little put out that no one else showed up. Read the rest of this entry »
JUST LIE BACK AND ENJOY IT: Movie Reviews of Elle, Nocturnal Animals and The Salesman by Howard Casner
Posted: November 25, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Amy Adams, Armie Hammer, Asghar Farhadi, Austin Wright, Christian Berkel, David Birke, Death of a Salesman, Elle, Isabel Huppert, Jake Gyllenhaal, Laura Linney, Michael Shannon, Michael Sheen, Nocturnal Animals, Paul Verhoeven, Phillipe Djian, Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoost, The Salesman, Tom Ford | 4,119 Comments »For questions: hcasner@aol.com
First, a word from our sponsors: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who contributed to our Indiegogo campaign for 15 Conversations in 10 Minutes. We did very well due to you folks. For those who weren’t able to give, keep us in your thoughts. And if you are able to contribute in the future, contact me and I’ll tell you how. I will even honor the perks on the original campaign.
I am now offering a new consultation service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? FosCheck out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
SPECIAL NOTE: the review of Elle is especially riddled with spoilers, but I don’t know really how else to talk about it.
There has been a lot written of late when it comes to the use of rape as a plot point in movies about women. More and more, for many viewers and critics, the use of such a storyline has turned into a cheap device and exploitive way to get an audience, especially men, to tune in.
It may have even become so polarizing that, to some extent, it has made it difficult to write about a film in which sexual assault is central to the action.
For example, I have seen three movies lately that have employed attacks on women as part of the narrative. Two were explicitly rapes, the other a bit more ambiguous. But in the two that were explicit, I couldn’t tell if the rape felt exploitive because that’s what it was, or that it felt exploitive because the political climate today is such that it doesn’t allow it to be anything but. Read the rest of this entry »
WOMEN WHO WORK: Movie Reviews of Things to Come and Miss Sloane by Howard Casner
Posted: November 23, 2016 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Andre Marcon, Edith Scob, Father of my Children, First Love, Goodbye, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Isabella Huppert, Jake Lacey, Jessica Chastain, John Lithgow, John Madden, Jonathan Pereira, Mark Strong, Mia Hanson Love, Michael Stuhlbarg, Miss Sloane, Sam Waterston, Things to Come | 1,035 Comments »For questions: hcasner@aol.com
First, a word from our sponsors: I wanted to say thank you to everyone who contributed to our Indiegogo campaign for 15 Conversations in 10 Minutes. We did very well due to you folks. For those who weren’t able to give, keep us in your thoughts. And if you are able to contribute in the future, contact me and I’ll tell you how. I will even honor the perks on the original campaign.
I am now offering a new consultation service: so much emphasis has been given lately to the importance of the opening of your screenplay, I now offer coverage for the first twenty pages at the cost of $20.00. For those who don’t want to have full coverage on their screenplay at this time, but want to know how well their script is working with the opening pages, this is perfect for you. I’ll help you not lose the reader on page one.
Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? FosCheck out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r
and check out my Script Consultation Services: http://ow.ly/HPxKE
Warning: SPOILERS
Two films at this year’s AFI fest had, as their central characters, women who work outside the home. But the takes on the situation by the respective filmmakers couldn’t be more different.
In Things to Come (not to be confused with the Sci-Fi film from 1936 starring Raymond Massey…I hope), Nathalie Chateaux teaches philosophy in high school. And I don’t mean teaches philosophy, she TEACHES philosophy (and in a way that makes you put on sackcloth and ashes, moaning and bewailing in despair over the U.S. educational system).
Everything in her life seems in perfect equilibrium. She has a loving husband, family, occupation (her only real downside is that her mother is emotionally unstable).
Then she encounters a series of misfortunes. Her husband asks for a divorce; her mother dies; and she is basically fired from her position of overseeing the philosophy texts used in school. Read the rest of this entry »
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