El Ángel” is a stylish foreign crime thriller
What is the power of influence over film?
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What is the power of influence over film?
“Wildlife” is a film that oozes potential. The cast, for one, is enough to get anyone excited: Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal staring side by side. It’s the directorial debut of Paul Dano, an actor whose portfolio includes some of the greatest pieces of cinema from the last couple of years (“There Will Be Blood,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” and “12 Years a Slave” to name a few). It has a premise that lends itself so well to the screen: a father leaves his family to fend for themselves as he goes to fight a wildfire in the backwoods of Montana in the 1950s.
Movies about stardom tend to be too self-aggrandizing. “Maybe Hollywood isn’t interested in making fine art, but hey, we are!” is usually how the script goes. Now, peppered with some song and dance, and boy have you got a mediocre picture. It’s just that films of that nature don’t have anything important to say aside from the happy Hollywood ending the story already told.
What is the role of the documentarian? Should they maintain a certain distance in their filmmaking or is it their duty to insert themselves in their art and take a stand? Should they let the facts speak for themselves or tell us what to make of the bits and pieces presented? Is documentary filmmaking a form of journalism or simply a glorified Op-ed?
The season of the summer blockbuster is upon us. That overcrowded action-film-packed time of the year where most movies feel distinctly similar and clichés run amok at cinemas across the country. Gear up for the latest superhero flick, or get ready for another heart throbbing rom-com. Then, there stands “Sorry to Bother You,” a movie that is so crazy and wild, so fresh and new, that it could perhaps provide a cure (if only temporary) to that blockbuster fatigue.
The summer, while usually reserved for the blockbuster smashes of superhero action flicks, has found a darling in Boots Riley’s first feature film, “Sorry To Bother You.” The film centers on Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) as he descends into the seedy underworld of telemarketing while discovering his “white voice.” The film is out now and has been a project of Riley’s for some time: the original script was finished in 2012 and published as its own paperback in 2014. Starting his career as a musician, Riley is used to creating socially conscious pieces of art within various different mediums.
Director and British Statist Armando Iannucci finds himself in a weird predicament. His latest film “The Death of Stalin” has been a sensational critical hit, with The New Yorker magazine heralding it as “the most accurate picture of life under Soviet terror that anyone has ever committed to film.” Inevitable connections have been drawn between his comedic portrayal of Soviet Russia and current political situations domestically and abroad.
We live in strange times, don’t we? Where alternative facts are nearly indistinguishable from the truth. Where our leaders do and say things that often leave us scratching our heads. Where our presidential cabinets have become a revolving door of characters. That’s what makes “The Death of Stalin” so wonderfully funny and reflective. Its timeliness reminds us of the humor and absurdity of our present political conditions—and perhaps the horror we see in the face of it.
It’s those five words that have us on the edge of our seats every year: “and the Oscar goes to…” We await in gleeful anticipation for who will carry that golden statuette. Will it be a surprise? Will it finally be someone who should’ve gotten it three movies ago? Will it be the newcomer?
Among conversations on contemporary pop culture, there is a consensus: a lack of representation is certainly holding back important stories from being told. Among conversations on cinema, there is a question: if movies are heralded as the universal and accessible art form than for whom are they accessible to? It is clear that we have reached a fever pitch in our society where the demands for equal representation in film is, perhaps finally, being met with real action.
“I live on the wrong side of the tracks” says Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson ( Saoirse Ronan) in the movie, “Lady Bird.” At first, the comment seems innocuous, a humorous quip that cements the utter quirkiness of our female protagonist. On a second reading, however, it gives more depth to the film; “Lady Bird” is a movie on place and class more than it is about the mother-daughter dynamic.
LGBTQ films are having a mainstream moment; from “ Moonlight” to “BPM” to “Call Me By Your Name,” recent audiences have been intrigued and delighted by the portrayal of non-hereto norms on the screen. Enter “A Fantastic Woman,” Chile’s official submission to the 2018 Oscars and front-runner for best foreign film. This film is all at once a meditation on identity and sacrifice, discrimination and acceptance and love and loss. Make no mistake: this is not a love story, but in its totality it is a reflection on what it means to suffer a loss in all aspects. A loss of acceptance, of identity, and of a loved one.