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Fan Rant: 'The Deal' is Better Than 'The Queen'
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Casting », Deals », New Releases », Celebrities and Controversy », Scripts », Home Entertainment », Politics », Columns », Fan Rant »
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When Stephen Frears' The Queen came out in 2006, all the buzz emphasized Helen Mirren's icy performance as London's reclusive royal highness. The ubiquitous praise lead to her Oscar win, but it overwhelmed recognition of the movie's secret weapon: Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, quietly pressuring his Majesty to face the public in the wake of Princess Diana's untimely demise. There's a reason why Sheen conveyed the nuances of Blair's role in the event, which transpired a mere three months after the Prime Minister rose to power -- he had practice. The Deal, a fantastic made-for-TV movie Frears directed in 2003, tracked Blair's cunning (and morally questionable) instincts in the years leading up to his position at the top of the Labor Party.
Sheen played Blair in The Deal first, and it's both a superior performance and a superior film. Whereas The Queen had a tabloid hook and only tangentially explored the deeper political ramifications of a reclusive national leader, The Deal delves into precisely how Blair managed to emerge at the top of British politics with a series of calculated maneuvers. Political drama at its finest, The Deal hit DVD in the United States last month, where it has been touted as "the prequel to The Queen." That's not quite fair; The Queen is the sequel to The Deal, and the two movies ought to be seen as a single, wholly fascinating package depicting British politics in the 1990s.
The Exhibitionist: The Best Seat in the House
Filed under: Action », Foreign Language », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », New Releases », Exhibition », Columns », Western »
Most people have a favorite place to sit when going to the movies. Some people like the back row; some people like the centermost spot (middle seat, middle row); some people like to sit near the front so that they can stare up at the screen and let the picture fill the limits of their peripheral vision.
I figure that last preference made more sense fifty years ago, when Cinerama and CinemaScope presented vast, expansively shot epics and westerns that were made to surround our senses and engulf our whole eye-span. Nowadays, most movies are too fast-cut and often the camerawork is too shaky to really work for close viewing. Have you ever been forced to sit in the first few rows when a movie is sold out? Wasn't it hard to tell what was going on most of the time?
Personally, I like watching movies close up, when it's appropriate. Unfortunately, it rarely is. But movie theaters can't just start removing those front rows because they aren't good for the moviegoer's eyes. No, that would mean a lot fewer tickets sold, a lot fewer popcorns sold, and a lot less money going to both the theater owners and the movie distributors. So, moviemakers should go back to making movies that are more accommodating to the theatrical audience, right? Yeah, that's not going to happen.
The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar: From Noir in NYC to Sci-Fi and Horror in LA
Filed under: Fandom », Exhibition », Cinematical Indie », The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar »
Welcome to The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar. Each week, we'll give you a round-up of what's going on in indie film (and sometimes just cool film news and screenings) in cities near you. If you know of cool stuff happening that's related to film -- a local fest, a series of classic restored films, lectures, workshops, open calls for casting of an indie film -- send your tips to me at kim(at)cinematical(dot)com and we'll add them to the calendar. Here are this week's happenings in film from New York to LA and points in between, right after the jump ...
New Directors/New Films Review: First on the Moon
Filed under: Documentary », Drama », Foreign Language », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports », Peter Jackson », Cinematical Indie »
If the press materials provided at its screening are to be believed, Aleksey Fedorchenko’s First on the Moon, which professes to tell the story of a secret, Soviet moon mission in 1938, is the first Russian mockumentary. Through a combination of archival footage (both real and fake), fake surveillance video, and modern-day interviews with “participants” in the venture, the film traces the history of the moon project back to the invention of the rocket, and explores the mystery of its ill-fated ending. Very early in the film, it becomes apparent that it’s unusual within its genre for a reason that goes beyond its origin: First on the Moon is a mockumentary with almost no interest in humor. Instead, when viewed with any knowledge of Soviet history at all, Fedorchenko’s melancholy film becomes a regretful indictment of the Soviet government, and its devastating need to destroy the best and the brightest the country had to offer.
New Directors/New Films Review: Texas
Filed under: Drama », Foreign Language », Independent », Romance », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »
Texas, the first feature from 29-year-old Italian director Fausto Paravidino, is clearly a very personal film. Paravidino co-wrote the screenplay with two of his stars, and, as Enrico the narrator, he himself also appears on screen. His movie has the feel of something for which public exposure is a bonus, not the goal; it exists because it has to, not because there is an audience to wow. That is not to say, however, that Paravidino isn't sure of himself as a filmmaker. Indeed, Texas practically explodes off the screen with a thrilling, inescapable confidence that expresses itself not in showy, attention-getting tricks but rather in a willingness to be wildly unconventional without regard for the reaction of viewers. The movie is crazed mix of tones, jumping from almost slapstick humor to complete solemnity at the drop of the hat, and combining one-joke, one-dimensional characters with fully-developed, tragic figures in virtually every scene. And yet, thrillingly, it works. Of the six New Directors/New Film offerings I've seen so far, Texas is easily the most assured, most accomplished of the bunch.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
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