cult film freak: 2023

Showing posts with label 2023. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 11/10/2023 / No comments / 2023 , alexander payne , comedy , counter-culture , drama , new , paul giamatti , teen , time period

ALEXANDER PAYNE & PAUL GIAMATTI REUNITE FOR 'THE HOLDOVERS'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGek7Sz7Y0VIBHFoc-XjUJnSO-WL1PIYTjquUqUyW4SVXn3iICoPBCshEJHW2ZtsPhxMuZr62FhmrUa02Eq20K6ubCWf4RlW0CMPWoUQk_AsqM7tQRRDuNDySQEDxnt2CbC0CTpcQgDp4fsUwSCv6EedpRBd7XGtCfQAcnQLwOdwOMoCDHvSKnstMZqXQD/s1703/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-03%20at%2012.20.05%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="1703" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGek7Sz7Y0VIBHFoc-XjUJnSO-WL1PIYTjquUqUyW4SVXn3iICoPBCshEJHW2ZtsPhxMuZr62FhmrUa02Eq20K6ubCWf4RlW0CMPWoUQk_AsqM7tQRRDuNDySQEDxnt2CbC0CTpcQgDp4fsUwSCv6EedpRBd7XGtCfQAcnQLwOdwOMoCDHvSKnstMZqXQD/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-03%20at%2012.20.05%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE HOLDOVERS Year: 2023 Rating: ** </u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director Alexander Payne is passive/aggressive when it comes to his previous SIDEWAYS star Paul Giamatti's character Paul Hunham, a stuffy, curmudgeon-like professor at an all-boys boarding school, who in one scene angrily lectures his students while glibly handing-out failing grades, and the next idealistically defends the institution's grieving African-American cook from one of a small-handful of HOLDOVER teens, unable to go home for Christmas and having to spend a melancholy "detention" (like THE BREAKFAST CLUB meets DEAD POET'S SOCIETY meets 1972's CHILD'S PLAY) stuck in an otherwise empty campus...</p><p>Ironically, that particular scolded brat winds up getting a last-minute Christmas vacation reprieve... a shame since he had the kind of antagonistic attitude that would inevitably transition by the end...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

2023, alexander payne, comedy, counter-culture, drama, new, paul giamatti, teen, time period

ALEXANDER PAYNE & PAUL GIAMATTI REUNITE FOR 'THE HOLDOVERS'

Title: THE HOLDOVERS Year: 2023 Rating: ** Director Alexander Payne is passive/aggressive when it comes to his previous SIDEWAYS star Paul G...

NOSTALGIC REVIEW OF NEW ROLLING STONES 'HACKNEY DIAMONDS'

2023, album, bill wyman, charlie watts, keith richards, mick jagger, mick taylor, music, rolling stones, ron wood

NOSTALGIC REVIEW OF NEW ROLLING STONES 'HACKNEY DIAMONDS'

THE ROLLING STONES: HACKNEY DIAMONDS Year: 2023 Grade: A After several uneventful new wave attempts of solo stardom, many forget or won...

BRADLEY COOPER'S LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S BIOPIC 'MAESTRO'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MD9vA3IWWMbuekQ405COOEA_ECZ8hh9RreOO16fe2M4kPKgTrumf8zgZhbezsoB_j9B_2ZrA_HyPkJNR05boMY3QyvrVbR7pEztSKzJxQD9RcSNx4tciHr0e5DHNcHdI-rpv4cIzCKDPb_djudQiZ1jDQU9PuvBVsbgbBNL2ULhBVRJ1qC9BRYZ23ou4/s966/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-24%20at%209.28.29%20PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="966" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MD9vA3IWWMbuekQ405COOEA_ECZ8hh9RreOO16fe2M4kPKgTrumf8zgZhbezsoB_j9B_2ZrA_HyPkJNR05boMY3QyvrVbR7pEztSKzJxQD9RcSNx4tciHr0e5DHNcHdI-rpv4cIzCKDPb_djudQiZ1jDQU9PuvBVsbgbBNL2ULhBVRJ1qC9BRYZ23ou4/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-24%20at%209.28.29%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper in MAESTRO Year: 2023 Rating: *1/2</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Fifty minutes into Bradley Cooper's MAESTRO, his directorial and 
starring-role biopic of composer Leonard Bernstein, he's discussing a 
possible book written about all his accomplishments, from teaching 
children on television to his best remembered work, West Side Story...<br /><br />And
 yet we never got to witness any of it, instead  listening to he and 
classy wife Felicia Montealegre (a put-upon Carey Mulligan) within an 
intellectually-rambling romance from picnics to parties (in-between 
sporadic bisexual trysts) and not much else about the man that Cooper 
seems to have more fun portraying as a flamboyant and sophisticated, 
British-mannered, chain-smoking proto-beatnik than celebrating the 
legendary musical genius built right into the title... </p><p>And aesthetically
 Cooper's cinematic influences... from LENNY to RAGING BULL to 
CAPOTE... are on full avant-garde display but with nothing behind it, 
really, except mere window dressing... with tinted glass.</p>

2023, biopic, bradley cooper, carey mulligan, homosexual, music

BRADLEY COOPER'S LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S BIOPIC 'MAESTRO'

Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper in MAESTRO Year: 2023 Rating: *1/2 Fifty minutes into Bradley Cooper's MAESTRO, his directorial and s...

Written by James M. Tate / 7/13/2023 / No comments / 2023 , action , creature , franchise , godzilla , new

TOHO GOES SPEILBERGIAN FOR 'GODZILLA MINUS ONE'

<p> </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3bOsrmL-Coo7oeANJ1VLy-UhN-oI671FoUI0fCxE2V7buusfmKoFDgt5mdAeEo1ZDFo9SkOUwAixIVyx3x5_xoszsouBE0TS4IrwlOz82TLqu5uP05zOTJ4Hw9h_WRlK2-hVHrOf43UdCIt_o7Kd0ShOuDPwwMSk0Z2BY0vcGiprl7L61YUzymI2vZaN/s2294/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-04%20at%2012.19.05%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="2294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3bOsrmL-Coo7oeANJ1VLy-UhN-oI671FoUI0fCxE2V7buusfmKoFDgt5mdAeEo1ZDFo9SkOUwAixIVyx3x5_xoszsouBE0TS4IrwlOz82TLqu5uP05zOTJ4Hw9h_WRlK2-hVHrOf43UdCIt_o7Kd0ShOuDPwwMSk0Z2BY0vcGiprl7L61YUzymI2vZaN/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-04%20at%2012.19.05%20AM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ryunosuke Kamiki in GODZILLA MINUS ONE (doing a JAWS imitation) Year: 2023 Grade: C</u></td></tr></tbody></table>Japanese
 cinema (Toho Studios in particular) have made a popular Godzilla 
vehicle in GODZILLA MINUS ONE, which makes sense since the creature was 
literally born there: only it pays more homage to American auteur Steven
 Spielberg's JURASSIC PARK... as the roaring T-Rex-style monster first 
appears where a failed (hence living) kamikaze pilot takes a 
military-island breather... and JAWS, after the same central character 
gets a job on a tattered yet dependable fishing boat, where they drop 
and shoot floating land-mines instead of barrels (and the approaching 
dorsal fin's replaced by the creatures' spiked-back resembling immense 
reindeer horns)...<br /><br />And while attempting a searing human story 
in-between the monstrous ocean-to-city attacks... including our much too
 vulnerable hero meeting a pretty girl raising an orphaned baby in the 
ruins of their hometown... the action and downtime feels awkwardly 
imbalanced as the titular GODZILLA, looking fitfully menacing and 
formidably ferocious, seems like a special guest star crashing an 
otherwise slow-burn postwar-melodrama.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD78mxaZB5XQrZCs-v43nvj4iH5ng2WK-Mj3kdi2KIWkkRF2meg2POReful_YNpTTjxHdFJd5tO1H_0OaFvVpOMuH8FY4fA_70ZWPJd2nAYN1xC3mMXKT-Np_K3mcidc08SaNCfm27TkUSAOs2mvPUpcbGtW2Q6ZVgef4US7dhvW1tK9KfdPsi2tieLu5D/s2288/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-04%20at%2012.17.11%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="2288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD78mxaZB5XQrZCs-v43nvj4iH5ng2WK-Mj3kdi2KIWkkRF2meg2POReful_YNpTTjxHdFJd5tO1H_0OaFvVpOMuH8FY4fA_70ZWPJd2nAYN1xC3mMXKT-Np_K3mcidc08SaNCfm27TkUSAOs2mvPUpcbGtW2Q6ZVgef4US7dhvW1tK9KfdPsi2tieLu5D/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-04%20at%2012.17.11%20AM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Godzilla in GODZILLA MINUS ONE aka Gojira -1.0</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7H4Bgl_RJ5tOYl97UwbPwNuickMFXDEkK6bVut7BViWtS4UHaOwUzsz7yUOIWfzIhsbeIu7UXbiYrDGhzpr6mq-0i22GCOlGXsRU6aIzrUmdsCv5GfSa6L2SVO2mBmoz_oK9RRjoJ3jU107rgiXtGvr1PqgdKlPnQ8fDvA7Wl_wJEq6TS87ILo55p-cS/s2286/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-04%20at%2012.15.12%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="2286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7H4Bgl_RJ5tOYl97UwbPwNuickMFXDEkK6bVut7BViWtS4UHaOwUzsz7yUOIWfzIhsbeIu7UXbiYrDGhzpr6mq-0i22GCOlGXsRU6aIzrUmdsCv5GfSa6L2SVO2mBmoz_oK9RRjoJ3jU107rgiXtGvr1PqgdKlPnQ8fDvA7Wl_wJEq6TS87ILo55p-cS/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-04%20at%2012.15.12%20AM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Godzilla in GODZILLA MINUS ONE aka Gojira -1.0</u></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNk_HuhyvHmS2arFdFz2Gh5IqJ8dHZz19Jrti0e8mptSdR0oVqkAyi5hAyDBaHKL8WEixmFdrpip4NFt-Hsl7ebzQUCbifTXq3X78N98JMVqOCWjATi8CBVSazZ6z6_RRcPwZakFt0dFoIQWDRG1NylDqZY2BdiwugkPaBB6n-9gmHAv6ZYg0cWx2X3YPq/s2058/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-04%20at%2012.20.31%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="2058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNk_HuhyvHmS2arFdFz2Gh5IqJ8dHZz19Jrti0e8mptSdR0oVqkAyi5hAyDBaHKL8WEixmFdrpip4NFt-Hsl7ebzQUCbifTXq3X78N98JMVqOCWjATi8CBVSazZ6z6_RRcPwZakFt0dFoIQWDRG1NylDqZY2BdiwugkPaBB6n-9gmHAv6ZYg0cWx2X3YPq/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-04%20at%2012.20.31%20AM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Godzilla in GODZILLA MINUS ONE doing a JURASSIC PARK imitation</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>

2023, action, creature, franchise, godzilla, new

TOHO GOES SPEILBERGIAN FOR 'GODZILLA MINUS ONE'

Ryunosuke Kamiki in GODZILLA MINUS ONE (doing a JAWS imitation) Year: 2023 Grade: C Japanese cinema (Toho Studios in particular) have mad...

Written by James M. Tate / 6/24/2023 / No comments / 2023 , dennis hopper , francis ford coppola , frederic forrest , martin sheen , memorial , sam bottoms , seventies , vietnam , war

MEMORIAL FOR 'APOCALYPSE NOW' LEGEND FREDERIC FORREST

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3UeBvtDfWDNUtL7i0YWsYVPe5l17pz2A-Xa2o7CO0mr249sUIzb1ZXau6CDydm8HUC-KmEnyjeGimJnNEBMLOtfmGQpWqNQBC9q9-A9s3xoKwbGHE7hoOsGlwRFZLsrOx4esoMB_-sPiEpk_0S7To5YTp7JJWLp02CZEfrK5uoo209dH9M3qc_SPxyOf/s2380/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-24%20at%202.47.36%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="2380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3UeBvtDfWDNUtL7i0YWsYVPe5l17pz2A-Xa2o7CO0mr249sUIzb1ZXau6CDydm8HUC-KmEnyjeGimJnNEBMLOtfmGQpWqNQBC9q9-A9s3xoKwbGHE7hoOsGlwRFZLsrOx4esoMB_-sPiEpk_0S7To5YTp7JJWLp02CZEfrK5uoo209dH9M3qc_SPxyOf/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-24%20at%202.47.36%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Memorial for Frederic Forrest as Chef in Apocalypse Now</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam epic APOCALYPSE NOW, by the time Martin Sheen's Captain Willard reveals to one of two surviving PBR-boat crewman about his secret mission to kill Marlon Brando's rogue American Colonel Kurtz, Coppola's THE CONVERSATION actor Frederic Forrest loudly rails against the insane irony of risking <i>and losing</i> lives to "kill one of our own guys"...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And yet this imperative dialogue is heard either off-screen or in a peripheral wide-shot as, from beginning to end, Forrest's Jay "Chef" Hicks provides a foreboding backbone to each intense scene like, earlier on, when he and Sheen are chased by a jungle tiger, leading to Chef's explosive breakdown that soon fades out with the scene...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

2023, dennis hopper, francis ford coppola, frederic forrest, martin sheen, memorial, sam bottoms, seventies, vietnam, war