Review: Prisoners

This review originally appeared in my column at Towleroad

Thanksgiving in movies is usually overstuffed with dysfunction and hostility. Who can digest from all the bile at home? That's not the case in PRISONERS, the new dramatic thriller from undersung Canadian director Denis Villeneuve (Incendies), which is more retrograde in its approach with the family unit as something sacred and continually under attack. Despite the occassional interjection of ominous music (shut up Jóhannsson... there's plenty of time for your score later!) and an initially drab grey color palette, things seem realistically jovial at this get together.

The Dovers (Hugh Jackman + Maria Bello) are celebrating the holiday at the home of the Birches (Terrence Howard + Viola Davis) just down the street -- close enough to walk -- as they clearly do every year (or perhaps they trade off). The parents are realistically both amused and vaguely annoyed by their children, attentive but 'don't bother me' tired. It's only when the film leaves the homes of the Dovers or Birches that there's trouble brewing... somethings just off. Why did the movie open with a father/son hunting trip? Why is that strange RV parked on the road? Where did Anna's (Hugh's daughter) red emergency whistle go? Are Joy and Anna back yet? The two youngest children just went back to the Dovers to grab that red emergency whistle they wanted to p... OHMYGODwhere are Joy and Anna?

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Podcast: Reader Questions & Short Term 12

For today's super-casz edition of the Podcast it's just Nathaniel & Nick gabbing. We argue about Short Term 12's schematic screenplay and individual character arcs (Nathaniel loved it all / Nick did not) and how the movie reflects what we look for in movies. After that discussion it's off to reader questions involving directors & their muses, the art of movie titling (not the credit sequences, the actual titles), and opinion-shifting from past Oscar seasons.

You'll have to listen to find out how Gravity, American Beauty, Vera Farmiga, and Spike Jonze's Adaptation fit into it all. You can do so here at the bottom of the post or download it on iTunes. Join in the conversation in the comments once you've listened.

Short Term Podcast

Emmy Night Winners

I've opted not to live blog tonight since I was bombing earlier on twitter. Not my night...

what i'll be doing later when Jon Hamm loses again

But that's okay because it's the Emmys and my attention drifts in and out and I'm way behind on writing projects which I'll sneak in on the side when things get dull in the middle.

Here are the acting and series winners... (refresh for updates)

LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Her fourth win so she joins the top ten actresses of all time for Emmy comedy (only 10 women have 4 or more) The speech was priceless with a meta-Veep moment with Tony Hale standing behind her, giving cues.
LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
His third win for this role
SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY Tony Hale, Veep
A minor surprise that also doubles as a tip of the hat to Arrested Development. Buster!
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY Merrit Wever, Nurse Jackie 
The most adorable acceptance speech. Wever is amazing on that show and a true original but given that Emmy seems to be over Nurse Jackie it was a surprise. Jane Krakowski must have murdered someone in Hollywood to go totally Emmyless for one of TV's all time funniest characters on a multi-Emmyed show (30 Rock) but what can you do? 

LEAD ACTRESS, MINISERIES The Lovely Laura Linney, The Big C: Hereafter
So Elisabeth Moss lost which is a mystery as complex as the one she was investigating in Top of the Lake. But clearly the cast of Mad Men will collectively never win any Emmys. Someone has voodoo dolls.
LEAD ACTOR, MINISERIES Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra 
And yes he asked Matt Damon if he wanted to the top or the bottom of the statue. 
SUPPORTING ACTRESS, MINISERIES/MOVIE Ellen Burstyn, Political Animals
SUPPORTING ACTOR, MINISERIES/MOVIE James Cromwell, American Horror Story: Asylum

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad
SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA Bobby Cannavale, Boardwalk Empire
LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA Claire Danes, Homeland
Her second win despite that awkward awkward moment early on when Diahann Carroll demanded a win for Kerry Washington 
LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA Jeff Daniels, Newsroom

MINISERIES / MOVIE Behind the Candelabra
Oy. Listen I liked Behind the Candelabra a lot but the fact that it won all these things and Top of the Lake went home empty-handed is kind of embarrassing. 
DRAMA SERIES Breaking Bad
Apparently it's only the third series to ever win for the first time on its fifth season
COMEDY SERIES Modern Family
four consecutive wins seems crazy but what can you do. It's Emmys. It's tough for them to break character. The only show with five consecutive wins is Frasier so we'll see if Modern Family can do it next year, too. 

Now to attempt to scrub out the horrific memory of Carrie Underwood covering the Beatles.

Peace out. 

Box Office: The Family Prisoners of Oz

Jake Gyllenhaal sure needed it. Hugh Jackman's still got it. Prisoners, their tense new child abduction thriller had a strong opening weekend. It shouldn't come as a surprise, really. Hugh hasn't had anything like a true "flop" since Deception (2008) and The Fountain (2006). Even Australia, which people remember as a flop, would have been a hit all told with its solid global gross had it not had such a steroid-humongous budget. We'll discuss Prisoners in depth tomorrow (it's the type of movie that people will unfortunately "spoil" while discussing it enthusiastically so let's give it another night before we dive in) once we're past Emmy weekend.

marketed largely on Hugh Jackman, Prisoners turns out to be a true ensemble piece

WIDE RELEASE
01 Prisoners $21.4 
02 Insidious Chapter 2 $14.5 
03 The Family $7
04 Instructions Not Included $5.7
05 Battle of the Year $5
06 We're The Millers $4.6 
07 Lee Daniels' The Butler $4.3 REVIEWED 
08 Riddick $3.6 
09 Planes  $2.8
10 Percy Jackson 2 $1.8 

I ran into Joe Reid at the movies on Thursday and we talked about the tiny short shelf life of some movies. We were joking that people won't even remember that The Family ever came out by Friday. But here it is for the second week in a row in the top three grossers. So perhaps we were wrong. I haven't had the time (or, more pointedly, the heart) to write up the movie. I will say that Pfeiffer, DeNiro and Jones are good enough with the material but none inspired by it. What prompted them to make it beyond the paycheck? The fault lies with Luc Besson and the writing since it's such an unwieldy and even ugly mix of tones, swerving from heartfelt drama to black comedy to slapstick to god-only-knows what in nearly every scene with none of the dramatic empathy or comic inspiration that it would need to survive its indecisiveness and total mediocrity.

Mother & Robot. After school.

P.S. The only moments of joy I felt watching the movie was a couple shots of an endearing beautiful dog (named "Malavita" - ha!) and every shot of La Pfeiffer as it came with tiny flashes of nostalgia from the 80s classic Married to the Mob wherein the goddess was also comically cavorting with gangsters.

P.P.S. Dianna Agron is awful but I actually think she has the film's most impossible role and I can't believe I'm saying this but it needed someone of Chloe Moretz's total "f*** you" adolescent confidence and technical skill - she can fake human-like responses when she has to. Agron can (sort of) "act" confidence but she's like a robot when it comes to emotions; they do not compute.

LIMITED or STILL PLATFORMING
01 Wizard of Oz IMAX 3-D $3
02 Thanks For Sharing $.6
03 Enough Said $.2
04 Rush $.2 REVIEWED
05 Short Term 12 $.1 REVIEWED (cum $.7)

Having recently rewatched The Wizard of Oz for the millionth time for Hit Me With Your Best Shot I didn't feel the need to see it on the big screen again (I've done that several times, too). But did you? In other news, I fear that Short Term 12 is not long for this world, encountering its first dip during its gutsy and beautiful weekly expansion... so get out there and see it, people. Support movies that are crafted with everything BUT box office on their minds, and we'll get better movies!

What did you see this weekend? And was it money well spent?

Three Reasons Why People Ought to Stop Bitching About the Foreign Film Race and Just Appreciate The Movies

There are now 38 Official Submissions for Oscar's Foreign Language Film race, one of The Film Experience's favorite categories. Which means there are now undoubtedly about 38,000 bitchy articles lodged around the web and print... many of them undoubtedly focused on Blue is the Warmest Color, due to its high profile both from content (lesbian sex!) and prestige (Cannes winner).

the new US poster. It's a beauty

I am exhausted by the griping each year about this category. I really am. And often from people who should know better. The grumbling over this oft divisive category reminds me of how Oscar fans like to say...

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