Yes No Maybe So: "Killers of the Flower Moon"

by Cláudio Alves

Ahead of the film's Cannes premiere, Apple TV has released the teaser for Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon. The historical crime drama cum Western epic has been intensely anticipated by film lovers everywhere, making itself the hottest ticket at the Croisette, where it'll screen out of competition. With an exclusive theatrical release scheduled for October before dropping on the streaming service sometime afterward, the picture is well positioned to be one of the awards season's strongest contenders, with many predicting it in early prognostications. Though, when faced with the wonder of Scorsese's cinema, awards talk feels superfluous.

Not all filmmakers slow down in their twilight years, as is the case of this auteur. Indeed, in a recent interview, Scorsese talked about his sense of mortality, how the possibilities of the seventh art keep expanding to him, and there's not enough time to explore them all. It's too late. Following the superb Silence and The Irishman, Killers of the Flower Moon looks like the work of a master who still has much to show us…

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Showbiz History: Maureen O'Hara, Bruce Lee, The Wizard of Oz...

7 things that happened today in showbiz history...

1920 CENTENNIAL Maureen O'Hara, inarguably Ireland's biggest 20th century female movie star, was born in Dublin. She went on to a career filled with numerous classics -- many of which we've written about here at TFE. We *finally* have another Irish female star of her magnitude (probably) in Saoirse Ronan provided she doesn't burn out early (which we don't think she will)...

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Martin Scorsese: Master of the Remake

by Cláudio Alves

As a general rule, remakes don't represent a particularly respected type of film among cinephiles. Concerns about lack of originality abound, as do questions of necessity and the way remakes can lead to the obscuration of older movies. That being said, to characterize every remake as a mercenary minded waste of time isn't fair to the filmmakers involved. Moreover, it can result in the unfair dismissal of interesting cinematic propositions. Remakes can recontextualize past narratives, respond to aesthetics of yore and comment upon them, reinterpret texts and revitalize forgotten styles, deepen pre-established themes or even make us look at a classic through new eyes. They can also highlight the specificities of different artists' visions, exposing how their particularities shape the same raw material. Not all remakes are good, but we can say that about every kind of film project.

Some directors have shown a particular aptitude for this type of project, like Luca Guadagnino with A Bigger Splash and Suspiria. Still, we're not here to talk about that epicurean delight or the transfiguration of Dario Argento's post-Giallo masterpiece. Our subject, today, shall be Martin Scorsese and his mastery of the remake… 

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Horror Actressing: Jessica Lange in "Cape Fear"

by Jason Adams

It was said that the director Ken Russell helped the actor Oliver Reed modulate his performances with a scale ranging from "Moody One" to "Moody Two." And while I am in no way insinuating that the actress Jessica Lange has in any way that sort of limited range -- step off, Lange-anistas, I love her too! -- it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to gauge her work on a sliding scale of how much hand fluttering each role involves. And using that system Cape Fear comes out, blissfully, near the top.

Normally if I was feeling inclined to talk about the terrific actressing going on in Martin Scorsese's hot-brained 1991 remake I'd make a bee-line straight for the (rightfully) Oscar-nominated Juliette Lewis, who's the best in show over every single one of her far older and more experienced co-stars...

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Podcast: Everything you wanted to know about precursor awards week ... but were afraid to ask*

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl welcome back NICK DAVIS! 

In this hour long conversation Nick, Murtada, and your TFE mastermind Nathaniel discuss the first gigantic week of precursor season. What hath the Globes and SAG wrought and who are we sad about (Alfre Woodard!) and who are we rooting for (Antonio Banderas) and the like. We're divided on Judy and Dark Waters and Robert DeNiro's The Irishman and we dunk a little on Richard Jewell and The Two Popes (sorry!). We also have words for NEON not finding a way to honor Clemency while pushing Parasite. Finally we try to suss out the impossible "Best Actor" race which is giving everyone predictive pause.  

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Precursor Madness