NYFF: The visual wonder of "The Tragedy of Macbeth"

By Nathaniel R

“When” is the first word of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, uttered by one of three witches. Though the word precedes a question it sounds more like a definitive statement in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth; the writer/director even grants the word its own solo title card. Later the word “Tomorrow” will also grace the screen alone. Time, we immediately understand, is at the heart of the latest big screen Shakespeare. And it’s running out. Coen’s adaptation casts two older-than-usual actors as the titular Lord (Denzel Washington) and Lady (Frances McDormand). As a result their infamous power grab plays like a violently desperate game of “last chance”…

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Cannes at Home: Day 11

by Cláudio Alves

Spike Lee's illustrious jury will hand out its prizes Saturday night. Friday was still full of screenings, however, including the last two premieres in the Main Competition. Justin Kurzel's Nitram has generated some controversy, purporting, as it does, to tell the story of the man responsible for the deadliest mass shooting in Australian history. To extend cinematic empathy, or even a gesture of exploitation, towards such a figure is bound to cause a polemic. The other film to screen on this last competitive day of Cannes 2021 was Joachim Lafosse's The Restless, the story of a Belgian family dealing with the struggles brought upon by bipolar disorder. To celebrate the event, we'll take a look at two previous tales of killers from these filmmakers. One is a mythic warrior, haunted by the carnage he commits. The other, a real-life mother who did something unthinkable…

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Welles beyond Kane

by Cláudio Alves

With David Fincher's Mank on Netflix, many have been talking about Citizen Kane. The writing of Orson Welles' putative first feature (technically, though unfinished, Too Much Johnson precedes it by three years) is central to the new movie, but the narrative is far more interested in the 1934 California gubernatorial election than in the shooting of Kane. We never see cameras rolling on that which has been, at one point, considered the best movie ever made. Whether you agree with that hyperbolic title or not, it's undeniable that it's one of the most written about works ever produced by Hollywood, with essays such as Pauline Kael's Raising Kane enshrining the picture in prestige and controversy.

While I admire Citizen Kane and find it a masterpiece, I must admit to being far more fascinated by Welles' later efforts. Through exiles and a myriad of unfinished experiments, Orson Welles' filmography extends well beyond Kane…

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Nun vs Monster! Give our '65 conversation a listen.

by Nathaniel R

Who do you suppose was in second place for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1965? We suspect Shelley Winters won in a landslide for her monster mom but perhaps Peggy Wood's Mother Superior was the runner up since The Sound of Music was so massive. What'cha think? We've noticed on the Smackdown posts that y'all don't really comment about the conversation of the podcast itself but just the write-up / blurb portion. We hope you're listening. The panelists (mwah) were super fun and lively. Here is the podcast again embedded below for your pleasure.

Podcast: 1 hour and 15 minutes
00.01 - Introductions: Spencer Garrett, Kayleigh Donaldson, Baby Clyde, Kevin Jacobsen, and Terence Johnson
06:30 - Othello , Laurence Olivier's "blackface", minstrelsy in that era, Dame Maggie Smith in her youth and today, and the documentary Tea with the Dames
27:00 - Shelley Winters in A Patch of Blue -- some people hate the performance, some love it. The movie is more complex than you've heard and an example of the shifting of the 1960s towards more adult themes
38:30 - Natalie Wood's failed Oscar bid for Inside Daisy Clover. A trainwreck of a movie or a fascinating timepiece or both? But it really needed to be a musical. More new Hollywood vs Old Hollywood issues
54:00 - The Sound of Music. Supremely rewatchable. We talk about musical dubbing, our favourite musical numbers, and Julie Andrews Oscar run. Why didn't they nominate Eleanor Parker? 
1:10:00 - Goodbyes and the re-casting game!

listen on iTunes or download right here

Smackdown 1965

Ranking Laurence Olivier's Oscar nominations

by Cláudio Alves

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1965 will be up on Sunday afternoon so here's an extra list before we get there. Before each event, I like to watch every nominated movie, even those I have already seen. Because of that, I found myself with the unenviable penance of revisiting 1965's Othello. Many of you surely did the same, exposing yourself to one of Sir Laurence Olivier's most problematic star turns, a Blackface version of Othello. I figured if I was going to force myself to watch this dirge, I should something productive with it. Hence, this write-up, in which that famous thespian's ten acting Oscar nominations are ranked...

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