Written by Kirk Baird
By the age of 27 Paul Thomas Anderson was hailed as a genius, a wunderkind, and an impressive new voice among young filmmakers.
The film that garnered this attention was Boogie Nights, an unconventional (read: refreshingly nonjudgmental) examination of the booming pornographic film industry in the 1970s and 1980s in San Fernando Valley.
The film brought several future Hollywood stars to the fore in Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Heather Graham, and John C. Reilly; resurrected Burt Reynolds’ career; and probably saved the career of Mark Wahlberg by proving to audiences he could act better than he could rap as Marky Mark.
Anderson is back in the spotlight for The Master, as always a film he wrote and directed, a detached examination of a nascent pseudo science-religious movement in the 1950s founded by a charismatic writer and intellectual named Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman).
The film centers on the relationship between Dodd and Freddie Quell (a sure-to-be Oscar-nominated Joaquin Phoenix) as the drunken and violent ne'er-do-well who stumbles into Lancaster's life and becomes a surrogate son. Theirs is a complicated relationship of envy and respect, anger and love, and that's where the relationship remains — frozen in place, as with most of the other characters in the film.
The Master is receiving strong buzz and currently enjoys an 87 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Anderson films don’t come often: In the 16 years since Anderson, now 42, made his first studio feature, he’s directed only six movies. For comparison's sake, Steven Spielberg directed nearly twice that amount in his first 16 years as a filmmaker.
Here’s a quick examination of Anderson’s oeuvre:
Hard Eight (1996): For Anderson’s first film he establishes a persistent theme of his films up through and including The Master of surrogate father and wayward son. Philip Baker Hall plays Sydney, a longtime gambler who takes the inexperience and down-on-his-luck John (Reilly) under his tutelage in Reno. Gwyneth Paltrow plays a casino cocktail waitress and hooker named Clementine whom John falls for, which brings unexpected complications into his life.
Boogie Nights (1997): The three-minute tracking shot that introduces the film’s cast of characters remains one of my favorite opening shots in movies. Based loosely on the life of porn legend John Holmes, Boogie Nights is the story of porn star Dirk Diggler (Wahlberg) and his rise to fame, followed by his steep decline into drugs. The film is also populated with a menagerie of characters with struggles of their own.
Magnolia (1999): Tom Cruise was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 2000 as a bitter and aggressive motivational speaker, one of many fascinating flawed characters whose lives randomly intersect in this mosaic set in San Fernando Valley. The film’s emotional core is punctuated by Aimee Mann’s terrific soundtrack, which was also nominated for an Oscar.
Punch-Drunk Love (2002): Anderson thought enough of his abilities and of Adam Sandler that he cast the oft-critically maligned comic actor in Sandler’s first dramatic role as a troubled soul who finds true love, gets mixed up in strange phone sex hotline trouble, and must overcome emotionally crippling family members and other hostile forces to win her affections.
There Will Be Blood (2007): The union of Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis sprouts the expected results, with Day-Lewis earning his second Best Actor Oscar as miner turned rich oil man and force of nature Daniel Plainview in early 20th century Southern California in this mesmerizing film essay on capitalism, religion, and father-son relationships.
Written by Kyle Slagley
After waiting for three years, Mumford & Sons fans finally got a second round of the folk-rock-Americana that has carried the band to fame since Sigh No More was released in October 2009.
Babel, the album some listeners have been craving since before the boys performed at the Grammy Awards in 2011, was released on Tuesday. As expected, it contains heart-wrenching laments and instrumentals that sometimes sound like a runaway steam engine.
Although the musical formulas for both Sigh No More and Babel are fairly simple, the area where frontman Marcus Mumford really shines is in his lyrics. A close review of the text reveals references to Shakespeare, the Bible, and even Steinbeck while calling on the listener to maintain faith in ideals like love and redemption. Combine those themes with Mumford’s fiercely passionate vocals and the swelling instrumentals and it’s no wonder the group has exploded into multi-platinum territory in little more than three years.
Babel has been met with reviews on both sides of the spectrum. Those touting the success of the band’s second full-length album are clearly fans of the gritty formula that put Sigh No More at the top of half a dozen Billboard charts. The main criticism being that Babel’s sound does not deviate from Sigh No More at all. As far as I’m concerned, Mumford & Sons have a good thing going with a formula that clearly works; if it ain’t broken…
For those who logged on or ran out on Tuesday to snag a copy of Babel, it won’t be too long before we hear the familiar cry for more. Will Mumford really make us wait another three years? How will we manage? Rest assured there are other artists out there that can give listeners their folk fix in the meantime. Here are a few of my favorites to supplement your playlist.
Graceland by Paul Simon: Simon put this album out after spending a great deal of time in South Africa in the mid eighties. It’s a hodgepodge of musical styles, but the blend of South African mbaqanga on “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” makes this track one of the best on the album.
Gord’s Gold by Gordon Lightfoot: No folk collection would be complete without at least one of Lightfoot’s albums. As a die-hard Lightfoot fan, I can say that Gord’s Gold is a good collection that showcases his talent as a songwriter and contains some of the lesser-known tracks like “Don Quixote” and “Carefree Highway” that happen to be my own favorites.
Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes: This is the first full-length album by the Seattle group and it contains some of the best baroque-folk I’ve heard. Fleet Foxes enjoyed local success around the Northwest but received quite a bit more acclaim in Europe than the U.S. I recommend them as one of the best indie-folk groups you’ve never heard.
Flaws by Bombay Bicycle Club: Lead singer Jack Steadman has a voice reminiscent of Iron & Wine as is evident on the first track, entitled “Rinse Me Down.” While Bombay sports a different tone than Marcus Mumford, it’s still a good choice for when a mellower sound is wanted.
Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down by Noah and the Whale: The best part about this English quintet is by far the feel-good tone. On this debut album, listeners get a chance to hear the uplifting nature of the band’s music. Interesting fact: Laura Marling, former girlfriend of Marcus Mumford, was a member of the band until 2008, when she left to pursue a solo career a few months after this album was released.
Written by Kirk Baird
In a recent interview with Stan Lee, I asked the famed comic-book writer and co-creator of so many classic Marvel superheroes — the Amazing Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, Thor, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four — if there are any titles remaining he would still like to see on the big screen.
Of course Lee, 89, had several he said would make great movies, Dr. Strange and Black Panther being two he mentioned by name. He also said if any Marvel film was competently and properly made, any of its superheroes could be a winner on screen. Perhaps that’s why he’s excited about the upcoming Ant-Man adaptation by Edgar Wright ( Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World).
But alas, not all superhero films are created equally, especially from Marvel properties. But those that have worked have been met with critical praise and huge box-office numbers, the biggest and best of these being this summer’s The Avengers. This all-star team-up of some of Marvel’s biggest names — Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow — not only was the biggest film this summer, but ranks as the third biggest moneymaker of all time. With the release of The Avengers on DVD and Blu-ray, here are some of the other best and brightest of the Marvel superhero film catalog:
The first two X-Men movies ( X-Men and X2) and the prequel reboot, X-Men: First Class. The link between these three movies is filmmaker Bryan Singer, the director and cowriter of the first two X-Men movies and a hands-on producer for the reboot. In between these high points for mutant kind was X-Men: The Last Stand, which Singer and his writing team abandoned in favor of the ill-fated reboot, Superman Returns, while director Brett Ratner was brought in at the last minute.
X-Men: First Class was a successful attempt at negotiating around the third film disaster and reigniting the X-Men franchise, this time at the beginning, with a new cast, several new heroes, and a fun 1960s James Bond vibe.
Iron Man and Iron Man 2: With the cheeky brilliant Robert Downey, Jr., in the lead of Tony Stark/Iron Man, a genius, cocky, and sardonic scientist billionaire, the first Iron Man proved to be a classic in the comic-book genre. I’m in the minority, though, in thinking that Iron Man 2 is a worthy sequel. In terms of summer popcorn entertainment, it does exactly what it needs to do: keep you entertained from start to finish. Look for Iron Man 3 next summer.
Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2: I’m not so much a fan of this summer’s Spider-Man reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man, as I feel it covered much of the same back-story territory that Sam Raimi and co. did with the first Spider-Man, which launched the franchise in splendid fashion. The second film was even better, now that the characters had been established and it could move beyond the origin story. The third film, unfortunately, tried too hard to one-up its predecessors, squeezing in three villains and a muddled plot.
Captain America: The First Avenger: With the origin of Captain America as the movie’s plot, director Joe Johnston cobbles together an engaging superhero romp that never takes itself too seriously, and even manages to pay homage to World War II propaganda films. Chris Evans makes for the ideal film representation of the perfect soldier. Evans will also don the red, white, and blue costume again in 2014 for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Snow White and the Huntsman grabs the top spot on this week's DVD chart, while Battleship continues its run of success at #2. It was a big week for new music, with seven of the top ten titles being listed for the first time, led by the latest from the Dave Matthews Band. Likewise, six new titles make their way onto the fiction chart, with Jack Reacher propelling Lee Child's latest to the top. The non-fiction list, on the other hand, remains largely the same, with No Easy Day staying on top, followed by the latest from journalist Bob Woodward.
DVD
- Snow White and the Huntsman
- Battleship
- What to Expect When You're Expecting
- Safe
- The Hunger Games
- The Five-Year Engagement
- The Lucky One
- The Dictator
- Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
- Think Like a Man
CD
- Dave Matthews Band, Away from the World
- Little Big Town, Tornado
- Bob Dylan, Tempest
- The Avett Brothers, Carpenter
- The xx, Coexist
- ZZ Top, La Futura
- Imagine Dragons, Night Visions
- Matchbox Twenty, North
- NOW That's What I Call Music 43
- Amanda Palmer & Grand Theft Orchestra, Theatre Is Evil
Fiction
- A Wanted Man, Lee Child
- Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
- The Time Keeper, Mitch Albom
- Delusion in Death, J.D. Robb
- Telegraph Avenue, Michael Chabon
- This Is How You Lose Her, Junot Diaz
- Zoo, James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
- Frozen Heat, Richard Castle
- The Tombs, Clive Cussler and Thomas Perry
- Robert B. Parker's Fool Me Twice, Michael Brandman
Non-Fiction
- No Easy Day, Mark Owen and Kevin Maurer
- The Price of Politics, Bob Woodward
- Killing Lincoln, Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
- Obama's America, Dinesh D'Souza
- The Amateur, Edward Klein
- Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand
- Mortality, Christopher Hitchens
- Wild, Cheryl Strayed
- How Children Succeed, Paul Tough
- The Revenge of Geography, Robert D. Kaplan
The 64th annual Emmy Awards were presented on Sunday night, celebrating the best of the best that television has to offer. The ceremony was hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who kept the show moving while entertaining the audience between award presentations. It was mostly a tame performance, the highlight coming when 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan pretended to pass out on stage for a Twitter gag.
The night’s big winners were Modern Family (ABC) and Homeland (Showtime), each with four awards, including Best Comedy Series and Best Drama Series, respectively. Homeland also won for Best Drama Actor (Damian Lewis) and Actress (Claire Danes), while Modern Family won Best Supporting Comedy Actor (Eric Stonestreet) and Actress (Julie Bowen).
As a network, HBO did very well in the awards, to no one’s surprise. The movie Game Change, detailing Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, won four awards, including Best Actress Julienne Moore for her portrayal of Sarah Palin. Julia Louis- Dreyfus won Best Comedy Actress for Veep, and Boardwalk Empire took home a trophy for Best Directing. There were no awards, however, (at least during the televised portion) for series like Girls and Game of Thrones, despite a number of nominations.
Other notable winners included the History special Hatfields & McCoys, which won for Best Actor (Kevin Costner) and Supporting Actor (Tom Berenger). Dame Maggie Smith won Best Supporting Drama Actress for PBS’s Downton Abbey, while Best Supporting Drama Actor went to Breaking Bad’s (AMC) Aaron Paul. Jon Cryer won Best Comedy Actor for his role on Two and a Half Men (CBS).
Let us know your thoughts on the ceremony and the awards in the comments section below. For a full collection of winners, please see our website.
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