Julia Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The Last House on the Left
A remake of Wes Craven's 1972 film, starring Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Sara Paxton, and Garret Dillahunt, the film is a harrowing look into how a family reacts to the crimes played out on their daughter. In his review, William Goss said: "for those who willingly subject themselves to the harsher experiences that storytelling has to offer, this version is a capably, confidently, and chillingly effective opportunity to place ourselves in the worst possible shoes for a length of time." Rent it. Also on Blu-ray.

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Hannah Montana: The Movie
Miley Cyrus' Disney icon finally made her way to the big screen. In his review, Nick Schager said: "and the nicest thing one can say about the film is that at least it's not The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: The Movie." I highly doubt anyone who wants the film will be reading this, so I'll just skip to: Skip it. Also on Blu-ray.

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Julia
Tilda Swinton stars as a 40-year-old alcoholic who makes a last effort at full-on sobriety. In his review, Peter Martin said: "To say that Tilda Swinton gives a riveting performance as Julia is almost to damn her with faint praise. It's her character's story, of course, so we expect that she'll dominate the screen time, but even with all that exposure, there's never a hint of artifice or self-conscious primping to make herself look better as an actress." Buy it.

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Also out: Wyvern, The Wedding Bros., Bridge to Nowhere, The Final Destination Collection

As last year, I want to use this space to highlight some terrific films that came down the pike in the first six months of the year -- and merrily continued down the pike without anyone giving much of a damn. This happens to a host of deserving movies every year; given how much of a miracle it is when an indie actually takes off, there's no avoiding it. But these seven are eminently worth your time; at the very least, I promise they're interesting. Give them a shot.

1. Two Lovers (James Gray) -- Actually my favorite film of the year, this melancholy character study is carried out with such painstaking attention to detail that it becomes akin to one of Henry Selick's stop-motion miracles -- watching it inspires a sort of awe. This is James Gray's follow-up to We Own the Night, and Gray has announced himself as one of our most important newcomers, a master at creating living, breathing, populated, real universes for his characters to inhabit. [Now on DVD.]

2. Julia (Erick Zonca) - This movie barely saw theaters at all -- I saw it in a one-week run courtesy of our local Film Society -- but it might have been a decent investment for an actual distributor. Though it has someone profoundly unpleasant at its center -- the perpetually drunk and nasty title character, played by the incredible Tilda Swinton -- it eventually turns into a remarkably tense little thriller, complete with a classic kidnapping scenario and a chance for the rotten protagonist's redemption. [On DVD August 18th.]

If an alcoholic wreck ever looks you in the eye and says, "Trust me," one word of advice: Don't, especially if her name is Julia Harris. Even if that clear-eyed glint appears genuinely sincere, and a wave of empathy impulsively washes over you for the magnificent woman who may still be residing deep within her soul, try to resist, because Julia will let you down every single time, the same way she's let herself down for her entire life.

Of course, when Julia is careening out of control in the person of Tilda Swinton, it's a much dicier proposition to turn your back on her. Swinton gives another odd, strangely magnetic performance in Julia, directed by Erick Zonca (The Dreamlife of Angels), which opened yesterday in New York. She's alternately a repulsive leech and a charming sexual creature, driven by her primal desires. She resembles a giant bug with corrosive acid running through her veins, like the Queen in Aliens; instead of defending her young, she's defending herself and her own warped view of priorities.

"Wreck" is an apt description for her character: her physical appearance is ravaged by neglect and alcoholism; her mental capacity is damaged to the point she can barely think straight; and her emotional stability is fried as though she were in a high-speed collision, bleeding out on the highway with all her parts scattered to the wind.

So why does she inspire such a strong impulse to embrace her warmly?

Last night, Vanessa Redgrave accepted a career achievement award during the Hamptons International Film Festival. Of course, if you know anything about the actress besides her work, you know that she doesn't bite her lip in awards situations. In the seventies, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting performance in Julia. Members of the Jewish Defense League protested the ceremony, the Academy got death threats, but Redgrave still won the Oscar, and in her speech, she said she wouldn't be influenced by "a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums - whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world, and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression."

The JDL continues to be less than a fan 30 years later, regardless of the actress supporting Israel's right to exist and fighting against Anti-Semitism. Chairman Shelley Rubin said before the appearance: "Even though many in the motion picture industry happen to be Jewish, any and all of them responsible for giving her work or honoring her as the Hamptons International Film Festival has done evidently suffer from either self-hatred or idol-worship." Meanwhile, festival chairman Stuart Match Suna said: "I'm a Jew who's visited Israel twice, and it's a very complex geographical, religious, and political situation there. Vanessa is a true artist who cares about humanity, and artists need to be provocative and provoke thought." I guess he's not one of the fans of summer fluff that rule the box office.

Anyhow, the night included a talk with fellow actor Alec Baldwin, and Redgrave discussed California spending more on prisons than schools, to which he said: "You're not going political on me now? Because you know I have no tolerance for that bullshit." She continued with: "We're losing all our human and democratic rights in all countries all over the world. If every politician devoted their entire attention to the well-being of children, they'd change everything in 10 years." That's not so incendiary, right? Then again, I don't think her acceptance speech was enough to label her a terrorist, like some have.