Where the heART Is
An intimate character study, 2016's Maudie, written by Sherry White and directed by Aisling Walsh, fuses familial drama with Canadian East Coast humour. Beginning in the 1930's, the story is based on the real life of Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis – the titular character is brought to vivid life by the ultra-talented Sally Hawkins. Born with a bad case of juvenile arthritis, Lewis is a woman of strong will due to her affliction. With a bad limp, awkward disposition and secret from her past, she is seen by the community at large as being different. . . also, a stain upon their family according to her holier-than-thou Aunt Ida (Gabrielle Rose) and overly patriarchal brother, Charles Dowley (Zachary Bennett). One example of his ways – he sells off their parents’ home soon after their death without even telling his sister beforehand.
Star Pick with Rod Blackhurst
Pulling its title from the novel (written by James Jones) that it is based on, Terence Malick’s 1998 film, The Thin Red Line, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards, brings together a who’s who ensemble cast to tell the tale of an intense World War 2 story set in the Pacific Theatre, specifically, the Guadalcanal Campaign. Over the past several weeks you have read about the filmmakers behind the Tribeca Audience Award winning movie, Here Alone – first, producer Noah Lang, and secondly screenwriter David Ebeltoft. Today’s Star Pick will feature the motion picture’s director, Rod Blackhurst. An up and coming director in the business, he has had great success from the beginning. The first time I came across some of his work, funnily enough, was by accident.
He’s Gotta Split
After a multitude of lackluster features, M. Night Shyamalan has returned to form with his most recent, more independent style foray, 2016's Split – a horror/thriller with an unexpected. . . or should I say, an expected twist (could it be that there is no real twist?). Featuring a tour de force performance from James McAvoy, the talented actor takes on the role of a plethora of very different personas, as his character has more than twenty split personalities. Ranging from a lisping young boy and grand British dame, to a fashion designer and Christopher Walken-like New Yorker, one of his splits, Dennis, kidnaps three teenaged girls, Claire (Haley Lu Richardson), Marcia (Jessica Sula), and Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) from a public parking lot. Claire and Marcia are, for all intents and purposes, the popular girls in school – the type of gals that most cling to and the rest hate, while Casey is a lone wolf and outsider, her unusual ways forcing her to the periphery of the mainstream.
A Double Dose of Hilarity
Gaining prominence during The Great Depression, it is no secret why the silly, farcical slapstick comedy of The Three Stooges was a hit with audiences – as their crazy antics onscreen were able to give those watching a short respite from their complicated, downtrodden lives. Signing on with Columbia in 1933, the trio of nyuksters we all now know (Larry, Curly and Moe) became ‘short film’ icons in 1934 (prior to this, it was Ted Healy and His Stooges), continuously developing new projects (sometimes with Shemp or others) until their last in 1970 (their stint at Columbia ended in 1959 with their 190th feature) – an impressive run to say the least. Their first short of 1937 (and twentieth overall), Grips, Grunts and Groans (a very Stoogey title) finds the impoverished triumvirate riding the rails. Fleeing after getting the better of a pair of railroad police, they find themselves in a wrestling and boxing club, somehow befriending a behemoth named Ivan Bustoff (Harrison Greene). Run by the mob, the gangsters have placed a whopping bet on their wrestler.
I Like Trains. . . In General
The General, often considered to be Buster Keaton’s magnum opus (and for good reason – thankfully it was re-evaluated after its initial release, which was not kind), also falls into the realm of being one of the most important train and Civil War films ever produced. To those who do not know the motion picture, they will likely believe that the title refers to the military designation, though it is actually the name of the train the story revolves around. Basically an intricately plotted, lengthy chase, Keaton co-wrote and co-directed the story along with Clyde Bruckman, it being based upon a famous, true Civil War happening, ‘The Great Locomotive Chase’ (also known as Andrews’ Raid). Keaton takes on the role of Johnnie Gray, a train engineer living in Georgia just as the bloody 1861 hostilities boil over. In love with only two things, his beloved locomotive and an angelic, brown haired woman, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), he is told by his love that he too must enlist (like her father and brother). The first in line, they reject him, seeing his present job as being of the utmost importance for the South.
Cross-country Chaos
A little bit like the action packed, chase-filled version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, 1988's Midnight Run finds a pair of equally mismatched individuals making their way across the country. Written by George Gallo and directed by Martin Brest (Beverly Hills Cop; Scent of a Woman), the action crime comedy finds a disgruntled, ultimately unhappy former cop and present day bounty hunter, Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro), surviving the rigours of day to day life. The money isn’t particularly good and the job comes with some dangerous drawbacks (criminals tend to pull a gun on you). So, when bail bondsman liaison Eddie Moscone (Joe Pantoliano) offers Walsh a seemingly simple gig in which he is to pick up an accountant named Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Charles Grodin) for an unimaginable sum (one hundred thousand dollars) – he jumps at the opportunity. The reason for the big ticket price is that it will save Moscone’s business, as the criminal is on the lamb, hiding out as he has stolen fifteen million dollars from gangster Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina), meaning that he will not get his money back if he is not brought in. Another catch, The Duke has to be back in Los Angeles by Friday – giving the bounty hunter a measly five days to track down the elusive man.