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Manuel here. Michelle Williams has been surprisingly absent from our screens since she played Glinda in Oz the Great and the Powerful (2013). Though if you were abroad you apparently got to see her alongside Kristin Scott-Thomas in something called Suite Française? (No, it never opened in the US). That looks to change this year. The actress has two projects that will be unveiled at Sundance next month.
First up we'll see her reunite with Wendy and Lucy director Kelly Reichardt in Certain Women. Adapted from Maile Meloy’s short stories, the film will make its debut at Sundance and follows three intersecting stories of women in Montana. It co-stars Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, James Le Gros, Jared Harris, and Lily Gladstone.
She also has a role in Kenneth Lonergan's follow-up to Margaret, Manchester by the Sea. The fillm follows Lee (Casey Affleck) as he returns to his Boston suburb hometown after a family death, coming to terms again with his estranged wife (Williams). Kyle Chandler and Lucas Hedges also star.
It'll be a nice one-two punch of a return for the actress, especially coming from two such exciting writer/directors; Williams thrives in these low-key indie films so welcome her back with open arms. And, of course, if either of these films get her glowing reviews, might the actress be angling for Oscar nom #4?
Since Labor Day Weekend is historically a lame box office weekend, it affords us a fine opportunity to look back at the year thus far rather than wait for box office results. Especially in terms of films that aren't usually spoken of in terms of box office. So let's look at two sets of baker's dozens: 2015'S FOREIGN LANGUAGE and DOCUMENTARY HITS.
*second* biggest-hits in Foreign & Documentary: "Baahubali: The Beginning" and "Amy"
How many have you seen?
SUBTITLED FILMS Top Dozen of 2015 thus far 01 Bajrangi Bhaijaan (India) $8+ 02 Baahubali: The Beginning (India) $6+ 03A La Mala (Mexico)$3+ 04 Wild Tales (Argentina) $3+ Review 05 Dil Dhadakne Do (India) $3+ 06 Tanu Weds Manu Returns (India) $3+ 07 Clouds of Sils Maria* (France) $1+ Various Sils Maria Articles 08 Piku (India)$1+ 09 Assassination (South Korea) $1+ 10 Phoenix (Germany)$1+ Nina Hoss Interview 11 i (India)$1+ 12 Timbuktu (Mauritania) $1+ Review, César Winners 13 Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (Israel)$.9+ Review, Second Opinion
As we always see in the foreign charts in the past decade or so, Bollywood films continue to be solid imported hits without the benefit of any media attention whatsoever. That's what comes when you have distribution companies that cater to niche audiences and understand/market directly to them. This is surely what China Lion is attempting of late though they have yet to find as much regular support for Chinese language films. Aside from the Hindi language films, the top of the charts also painfully remind us that subtitled films have far teensier grosses even when they get breakout media attention than they once had. Wild Tales for example surely would have been at least a $13 million rather than a $3 million hit a decade ago. The chart also shows us that Oscar nominations help (see #4 and #12) but aren't necessary (see #10 and #13). 2015 hasn't yet had a breakout Oscar-headed hit like Ida from Poland last year (Phoenix was passed over for Oscar submission last year by Germany so it's been on its own without awards-buzz to find its audience. Happily, it's done just that). Sadly Sweden's sublime Oscar entry for this yearA Pigeon Sat on a Branch... earned only $200,000 at the US box office. Maybe Labyrinth of Lies, Germany's submission, which opens September 25th can fill that semi-annual slot of foreign hit that doesn't wait for its Oscar fate to make a stir.
* I'm fudging to include Clouds of Sils Maria I know. It's surely ineligible for France's Oscar submission as its more than 50% English. If you remove it from the list, the film that enters at the lowest rung is The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared from Swedish director Felix Herngren. It earned nearly a million at the US box office but was a huge hit internationally with an additional $50 million!
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES Top Ten of 2015 Thus Far 01 Monkey Kingdom $16+ 02 Amy $8+ Review 03The Salt of the Earth$1+ Documentary Nominees Conversation 04 Iris $1+ 05 The Wolfpack$1+ Review 06 Dior & I $1+ 07 Meru $.8+ 08 Red Army$.6+ 09 Best of Enemies$.6+ Review 10 Cartel Land$.6+ 11 Seymour: An Introduction$.6+ Review 12 Deli Man$.5+ 13 The Hunting Ground$.4+
The list includes only one of last year's Oscar nominees The Salt of the Earth since most of them played in their correct calendar year. The big story beyond Disney's nature epic and the Amy Winehouse hit, is the success of Sundance Award Winners since The Wolfpack, Cartel Land and Meru were all hits in release. The late Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens) final full documentary feature Iris about eccentric fashion icon Iris Apfel was also well-received.
From this list we really expected Red Army to break out a little further as the Russian Olympic hockey documentary was quite entertaining and benefitted from a highly accessible international-interest storyline. If they hadn't waited for their Oscar nomination -- which they didn't get -- they might have fared better.
Here's a crazy colorful musical number from the year's #1 foreign language hit Bajrangi Bhaijaan starring Salman Khan called "Selfie Le Le Re"
When was the last time you saw a Bollywood film in theaters? Do you seek out the buzz titles from these categories?
It's time for another Q&A round. Ask some questions in the comments, get some answers. Maybe. I'll choose a handful or two to answer for Tuesday.
Meanwhile: Sundance Delayed Last night I took my two besties toTangerine and they both l-o-v-e-d it. We had such a good time (and I finally figured out what the title refers to though I'm not saying because it's such a good easter egg in the movie). Hopefully some of you have seen it by now. It was just as hot the second time, so funny, so lived-in, so authentically seedy LA, so high energy, so sneakily moving. We discussed it on the podcast last week in case you missed it.
Isn't it weird how randomly festival titles hit movie theaters? Several films from this year's Sundance have arrived or will arrive by the end of August (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Lila & Eve, Strangerland, Tangerine, Dope, Grandma) but we're still waiting on hard-to-get tickets from January's fest like The Witch (which A24 bought if I recall) and also had several titles from 2014's fest emerge with tiny or VOD releases in 2015. And if Xavier Dolan's Tom at the Farm arrives as currently scheduled in August, we'll even have a title from TIFF 2013. I wish distributors wouldn't be so weird and wishy washy about their pickups and release dates but what can you do?
Michael and I had a lot of fun covering this year's Sundance for you, though we definitely missed Glenn this time around resulting in less films covered. The more is always the merrier with movies. Here is a complete list of our 29 reviews in alpha order by film in case you missed any or to use as a reference guide when the films reemerge in the real world.
Tomorrow we'll talk favorite performances and Oscar (we realize it's way too early) but that's a separate conversation. Here's to Sundance 2015!
The Movies We Screened 10,000 Saints (Michael) Manhattan in the 80s with Hailee & Asa Brooklyn (Nathaniel) Saoirse Ronan grows up in this lovely adaptation of the bestseller The D Train (Nathaniel) comedy starring Jack Black & James Marsden Dark Horse (Nathaniel) documentary on breeding race horses Diary of a Teenager Girl (Michael) sexual coming-of-age drama Dope (Nathaniel) a hip hop lovin' comic treat Entertainment (Michael) a comedy from the man behind The Comedy Experimenter (Michael) not as fascinating as the real experiment I Am Michael (Nathaniel) James Franco as an ex gay pastor I Smile Back (Michael) Sarah Silverman in a downward spiral It Follows (Michael) on the festival horror hit. Will it ever open proper? Glassland (Nathaniel) mother/son alcoholism drama with Toni Collette & Jack Reynor Grandma (Nathaniel) Lily Tomlin on a road trip in this great feminist miniature James White (Michael) Self-destructive character study starring Christopher Abbott Last Days in the Desert (Nathaniel) Ewan McGregor as Jesus & Satan Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Michael) on the crowd-pleasing Sundance winner Nasty Baby (Nathaniel) Dramedy from the writer/director of The Maid The Overnight (Michael) swingers ensemble comedy Results (Michael) Guy Pearce in a rom com? Slow West (Michael) an ambitios western starring Kodi Smit-McPhee & Fassbender The Stanford Prison Experiment (Nathaniel) true story + rising star ensemble
Strangerland (Nathaniel) Nicole Kidman's kids go missing in the Australian desert Tangerine (Nathaniel) comedy about transgendered hookers in LA True Story (Michael) Jonah Hill & James Franco in dramatic cat & mouse A Walk in the Woods (Michael) Redford & Nolte take a hike The Witch (Michael) This 1630s set Salem horror film took the fest by storm World of Tomorrow (Michael) another miracle from animating genius Don Hertzfeldt Z For Zachariah (Michael) post apocalypse with three fine actors Zipper (Michael) Patrick Wilson in an infidelity drama
Michael C here. It's only fitting that I wrap up my Sundance reviews at the end of the world. I could not stop my brain from rebelling throughout Craig Zobel’s Z for Zachariah.
I understood the director was going for a story that worked on an allegorical level. I respected how well Zobel built up a world with just three actors and a handful of rustic locales by letting our imaginations fill in the rest. I appreciated the craft on display. Zobel is a skilled visual storyteller aided immensely by Tim Orr’s evocative photography. The trio of actors playing maybe the last three people alive all do fine work, particularly Margot Robbie, showing impressive range in a character many miles removed from her Wolf of Wall Street trophy wife. I got all the reasons why the film should work, but it never snapped to life for me, maybe because the characters were all too laden with symbolism to feel like real people capable of acting spontaneously. I wanted the cast to quit it with the furtive glances and address the issues everyone in the audience figured out five scenes ago. [More...]
Monday, December 21, 2015 at 9:00AM 
