PERIOD PIECE: 1950’s America and Movie Reviews of Brooklyn and Trumbo by Howard Casner
Posted: December 9, 2015 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Brooklyn, Bryan Cranston, Carol, Christian Berkel, Colm Toibin, Dalton Trumbo, Dean O’Gorman, Diane Lane, Domhnall Gleeson, Edward G. Robinson, Emory Cohen, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, John Crowley, John Goodman, Julie Walters, Louis CK, Michael Stuhlbarg, Nick Hornby, Otto Preminger, Saoirse Ronan, Trumbo | 9,590 Comments »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.
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Warning: SPOILERS
I’m not sure what it is about America in the 1950’s, but it has become very popular as of late in film. Three movies this year that took place during the Eisenhower era have captured the fervent imagination of the audience: Carol (which I’ve already reviewed), and now Brooklyn and Trumbo.
Hm. It seems that that time period also has a penchant for titles with only two syllables as well.
The reason for this mini-Renaissance may all be due to the success of TV’s Madmen, which dramatized America’s transition from the 1950’s to the 1960’s.
Or maybe instead, “transition” is more the key word here. The 1950’s is one of the great transitional periods in our nation’s history, slowly trying to grow away from the conservation way of life of the Depression and World War II, struggling to break free so it can surge into the Summer of Love.
And it all happened under a Republican president no less. Read the rest of this entry »
WOMEN GONE WILD: Movie reviews of The Homesman, Wild and Miss Julie by Howard Casner
Posted: November 3, 2014 | Author: Donald | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: August Strindberg, Cheryl Strayed, Colin Farrell, Hilary Swank, James Spader, Jean-Marc Vallee, Jessica Chastain as Julie, John Lithgow, Kieran Fitzgerald, Laura Dern, Liv Ullman, Meryl Streep, Miss Julie, Nick Hornby, Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Morton, The Homesman, Thomas Sadoski, Wesley A. Oliver and Tommy Lee, Wild | 127 Comments »First, a word from our sponsors. 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
Warning: SPOILERS
It’s November, which means it’s that time of year: Oscar season is officially open. Ducks are now safe, but theater goers? Not so much maybe.
The season is especially serious for actresses since it is generally agreed that this has been one of those incredibly weak years for female leads in movies—or at least the types of leads that could receive a statuette—in America (overseas, the number of quality roles for women is still going strong, or at least much stronger than stateside).
I have recently seen three movies with actresses who have all been mentioned as possibilities for this year’s highest middle-brow prize in thespianic activity.
I was not particularly impressed, sorry to say. Read the rest of this entry »
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