I know this is a little late but I couldn't let the moment go by without mentioning the passing of Diahann Carroll, the glamorous and talented entertainer that was one of the few African-American actors to receive an Academy-Award nomination, who died on October 4th after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. This beautiful performer also had the groundbreaking lead role in the 1960's television series, "Julia" where Carroll played a nurse and not the expected job for African-American women at the time as a domestic.
She was born Carol Diahann Johnson in the Bronx and got her first big break as a singer after wining the top prize on a television talent show in 1954. This lead to a supporting role in the film, "Carmen Jones" and a co-starring part in the Broadway musical, "House Of Flowers". Carroll would continue to appear on stage and screen before winning a 1962 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, becoming the first African-American female to win the prize.
After her trailblazing sitcom ended in 1971 (where she received a Golden-Globe Award and an Emmy nomination for her role), Carroll would get a major part in a feature film where she played against type in the 1974 romantic comedy-drama, "Claudine". She played a single mother with six children who is struggling to support her family on welfare assistance. When Claudine falls for a garbage collector (James Earl Jones), this threatens her benefits and complicates her relationship with her kids who are against this relationship. The film would earn Carroll an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
And in the 1980's during the era of the nighttime soaps, Carroll wanted to become TV's first "Black bitch". She got her wish by being cast in one of the most popular of the day, "Dynasty" where she played Dominique Deveraux, a wealthy nightclub performer who was also millionaire, Blake Carrington's half-sister.
I was a very young child when "Julia" came out on television yet I remember it to this very day. The program had such an impact on me (not only since there were not many African-Americans on television back then) because it really showed me that I could become anything I wanted to be when I grew up. I realize this was only a sitcom but what I saw on television and the movies at the time usually didn't include people who looked like me. This is why I know how important it is to see yourself represented in entertainment. And I want to thank Diahann Carroll, in a small yet meaningful way, for helping me realize that anything is possible.
Judy Garland, the beloved Hollywood musical star best known for her dramatic and moving singing voice, has been on the minds of many lately. One reason is that it was fifty years ago that Garland passed away at the age of forty-seven from an overdose after losing her battle against the many prescription drugs she had become addicted to since being given them as a young girl by her movie studio to keep her weight down and maintain energy throughout the long shooting days. And her tragic death has indirectly been attributed to sparking the New York Stonewall riots which would begin the modern gay liberation movement.
There is also a new biopic, "Judy" which covers the final year of Garland's life. Broke, unemployed and unstable, she was forced to leave her young children behind with her ex-husband in Los Angeles so she could accept a job performing in a London nightclub. The long-suffering yet still gifted entertainer is brought to life with an impressively mesmerizing (and award-worthy) performance by Renée Zellweger who perfectly captures Garland's sharp wit, gentle spirit, deep-set anxieties and self-destructive behavior.
Vulture has put the focus back on Garland's talent and career with a look back on fifteen of her most captivating screen appearances. While the list is certainly heavy with the musicals that greatly contributed to her legendary fame, there are also a few dramatic roles that Garland was equally adept such as her performance in "The Clock" (1945) which was her first non-musical part and her brief yet riveting work in "Judgment at Nuremberg" from 1961.
Where & When: Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, CA. September 22, 2019 12:30 PM
At one point in the engaging documentary, "Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice", Bonnie Raitt describes the singer as the "Beyoncé of her day". And that would be an accurate assessment of this versatile song stylist. Linda Ronstadt ruled the pop charts throughout the 1970's which helped make her become one of the biggest female recording artists of all time. But while she was at the top of her career, Ronstadt grew tired of the grind of the rock & roll lifestyle and needed to challenge herself creatively. She ventured out to record albums that explored theatrical comic opera, the Great American Songbook, classic country, jazz standards, Mexican Mariachi and Tropical Latin music. Her record label thought for sure that Ronstadt would ruin her career by going so far outside of conventional expectations of a pop singer. Yet thankfully they didn't stop her either. And these records became critical and commercial successes, helping to introduce Ronstadt to a wide new audience.
Ronstadt was born in Tucson, Arizona in 1946 and raised on a large ranch with her parents and three siblings. As the family was fairly isolated, the children had to find their own entertainment and that would be with music. Ronstadt was exposed to a variety of different genres of music through records and the radio while the entire family would harmonize together in song. This would help later in her career influence how she wanted her music to sound and to insist on firm creative control to make sure that would happen.
Ronstadt began singing professionally with her older brother, Peter and sister, Suzy as teens around the Tucson area. The three Ronstadts eventually joined musician Bobby Kimmel's folk-rock outfit, The New Union Ramblers and together enjoyed some local success. But Peter left to become a police officer, Suzy went off to get married and Kimmel headed to Los Angeles which left Ronstadt on her own with no idea of what she wanted to do with her life.
Kimmel knew Ronstadt would do well in LA, luring the eighteen year old out to the West Coast in 1964. They formed a group called the Stone Poneys, signed with Capitol Records and had a top ten pop hit with "Different Drum" (written by Monkees member, Mike Nesmith) by 1967. The band broke-up not long after this success but the label was more interested in their female vocalist anyway.
And Ronstadt became an incredibly popular artist and enjoyed a string of hit singles (with most being covers of some of her favorite songs) including "You're No Good", "Blue Bayou", "When Will I Be Loved", "Heat Wave", "Love is a Rose", "Ooh Baby, Baby" and "It's So Easy". But being viewed as a "chick singer" was challenging for her as there were expectations to be sexy and tough which Ronstadt was not comfortable doing. Since she was one of the few women performing in rock music, Ronstadt had to occasionally endure sexist behavior and received some resistance from her all-male band members from her calling the shots. But she never let any of this interfere with her ability to do what she loved.
Ms Ronstadt had absolutely no interest in participating in a film about her life but the filmmakers, Epstein and Friedman were persistent, frequently sending her warm and thoughtful letters. The now retired seventy-three year old performer eventually relented, in part due to their 1984 Academy-Award winning documentary on Harvey Milk which Ronstadt admired and made her feel like she would be in good hands. Yet she still had a couple of ground rules; Ronstadt didn't want to have an on-camera interview nor did she want the film to dwell on her Parkinson's disease which she has been dealing with since around 2009.
"The Sound of My Voice" covers a vast majority of Ronstadt's lengthy life and career but the film moves briskly. The highlight of this documentary, without a doubt, are the several thrilling live performances from Ronstadt in her prime which perfectly capture her skill and grace as a vocalist. Some of Ronstadt's musical contemporaries appear in the film to sing her praises which include Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder, J.D. Souther (which she had a brief relationship with), Aaron Neville and Don Henley who was at one time a part of a group of Ronstadt's backing musicians that would eventually become The Eagles.
Ronstadt never felt any competition with the other talented female performers who were around at the time and went out of her way to befriend them. Raitt and Karla Bonoff would become her life-long friends while she collaborated with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton on two highly successful country albums. The only criticism you will find about Ronstadt in the film is from the singer herself. She's notoriously self-deprecating, continuously going on about how she's not a great singer and that many of her recordings are not very good.
While she found her great fame during the era of the singer/songwriter, Ronstadt did not write her own material. "The Sound of My Voice" brings to focus her unique ability to reinterpret beloved, familiar tunes while reshaping them to feel like fresh new songs. Near the end of the film, we are treated with Ronstadt singing along with her brother and nephew to a traditional Mexican folk ballad. While the disease has robbed her of the powerful voice she once had, Ronstadt gives her all, looking elated and stating that there was no way she wouldn't join her family in song.
The 57th Annual New York Film Festival begins today and runs through October 13th. In the Main Slate, there will be twenty-nine feature films from seventeen countries with "The Irishman", the latest from Martin Scorsese, as the Opening Selection. This epic crime drama (at 209 minutes!) examines the life of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran (Robert DeNiro), a hitman that worked for the mob family of Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and his involvement in the disappearance of labor union leader, Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) who also happened to be his longtime friend.
The Centerpiece Selection is "Marriage Story", Noah Baumbach’s new film about the beginning and the end of a relationship between a married couple; a theater director (Adam Driver) and an actress (Scarlett Johansson). This dramatic-comedy appears inspired in part by Baumbach's divorce from actress Jennifer Jason Leigh.
"Motherless Brooklyn", actor Edward Norton's new film as a writer/director, has been chosen as the Closing Night Selection. Norton also stars in this New York set period drama (based on the novel by Jonathan Lethem) about a private investigator with Tourette syndrome trying to solve the mystery involving the death of his mentor (Bruce Willis). Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bobby Cannavale, Alec Baldwin and Willem Dafoe co-star.
Some Special Events at this year's fest include the New York Premiere of "Joker" with a discussion with director, Todd Phillips and star, Joaquin Phoenix; a Screenwriting Master Class with writer/director, Olivier Assayas and a screening of his latest feature, "Wasp Network" that stars Penélope Cruz and Édgar Ramirez; and the one I can't wait to see, "The Cotton Club Encore", Francis Ford Coppola's re-cut, restored and re-imagined version of his 1984 drama that featured an impressive cast that included Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Lonette McKee, Bob Hoskins, Laurence Fishburne and Gregory and Maurice Hines.
For the complete list of films, purchase festival passes or individual tickets and any additional information, please click below:
First, let me admit that I am not really a big Adam Sandler fan. While I found his man-child routine mildly amusing at the beginning of his film career yet as time went on with no real evolution, Sandler became increasingly tiresome to me. But there was one brief moment back in 2002 that made me take notice of the comedian. This was his appearance in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch Drunk Love", a dark and quirky romantic-comedy where Sandler impressively delivered an incredible, heartfelt performance. However after this critical success, Sandler quickly retreated back to the familiar lowbrow comedies that first brought him fame.
Now almost twenty years later, Sandler seems to be in the mood to take another big creative risk. And that is in the latest from the Safdie brothers, who had their commercial breakthrough in 2017 with their indie crime drama, "Good Time", with "Uncut Gems". Sandler plays a New York City jeweler who gets a thrill from his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win. He continuously places risky bets and his reckless behavior threatens his marriage, business and potentially, his life. This is a dramatic role for Mr. Sandler and he appears more than ready for the challenge.
"Uncut Gems" is due in U.S. theaters in limited release on December 13, 2019 and goes wide on December 25th.
Todd Phillips and his film, "Joker", the origin story of Batman's long-time nemesis, was the unexpected winner for the top prize of the Golden Lion at the 2019 Venice Film Festival. This comic-book drama was enthusiastically praised during it's world premiere screening and Joaquin Phoenix's mesmerizing turn as the infamous super-villian was also singled out.
Another surprise was the selection of Roman Polanski's latest, "J'accuse (An Officer and a Spy)" for the Grand Jury Prize. It was already extremely controversial that he was even in the competition and for the eighty-six year old filmmaker to win the runner-up prize was certainly making a statement about separating the art from the artist. I'm sure it must also mean that this fact-based film about a 19th century French officer of Jewish descent is falsely accused of passing military secrets to the Germans is quite exceptional and now maybe has a better opportunity to be released in the United States.
Here is a list of the winners from the 76th Annual Venice Film Festival:
Golden Lion: "Joker" Grand Jury Prize: "J'accuse (An Officer And A Spy)" Silver Lion for Best Director: Roy Andersson, "Om det oändliga (About Endlessness)"
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Ariane Ascaride, "Gloria Mundi"
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Luca Marinelli, "Martin Eden"
Best Screenplay: Yonfan, "No. 7 Cherry Lane"
Special Jury Prize: "La Mafia Non E Più Quello Di Una Volta" Marcello Mastroianni Award for for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Toby Wallace, "Babyteeth"
Horizons Best Film: "Atlantis"
Horizons Best Director: Theo Court, "Blanco En Blanco"
Horizons Special Jury Prize: "Verdict"
Horizons Best Actress: Marta Nieto, "Madre" Horizons Best Actor: Sami Bouajila, "A Son" Horizons Best Screenplay: Jessica Palud, "Revenir" Horizons Best Short Film: "Darling" Lion of The Future - Luigi De Laurentiis Venice Award For a Debut Film: "You Will Die At 20"
The summer movie season has officially come to a close. And while the U.S. box-office did ring in with over four billion dollars (which was up 1% from the previous year), much of that money went to only a few select films while many of the usually sure-fire sequels and remakes failed to generate much interest and ultimately doing lackluster business.
Now we are moving in to my favorite time of the year with the fall movie releases. This is really only because the studios (with their eyes fixated on gold prizes) tend to save much of the interesting and offbeat films for the last few months of the film season. Somehow they always seem to forget that people will actually go to the movies every week of the fifty-two in a year. Here is a small selection of upcoming films that I am eagerly awaiting to see: All U.S. release dates are subject to change:
"THE GOLDFINCH"
Release date: September 13, 2019
Based on the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel by Donna Tartt, "The Goldfinch" tells the story of thirteen year old, Theodore Decker (Oakes Fegley) who suffers a terrible tragedy after surviving a terrorist bombing at a New York art museum. This event leaves him struggling from grief and guilt, then down a path of crime involving art forgery. Luke Wilson, Sarah Paulson, Jeffrey Wright, Nicole Kidman and Ansel Elgort as the adult Theodore star.
"HUSTLERS"
Release date: September 13, 2019
Inspired by a 2015 New York magazine article, "Hustlers" looks at how a few exotic dancers who worked at the famed Manhattan strip club, Scores got even with some abusive Wall Street clients by drugging, then relieving them of their credit cards. Jennifer Lopez leads the strip club crew (which includes Constance Wu, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart of TV's, "Riverdale", rising r&b singer, Lizzo and former stripper-turned-rap artist, Cardi B.) to turn the tables on the men who marginalized them simply due to their line of work. Lorene Scafaria directs.
"WHERE'S MY ROY COHN?"
Release date: September 20, 2019
The title of the documentary, "Where's My Roy Cohn?" comes from when President Trump was feeling the pressure of all the mounting investigations against him and was seeking someone who was going to make all his problems disappear like his one-time personal lawyer and fixer had done for him in the past. This film examines the life of the reptilian and unscrupulous Cohn who first made a name for himself as the U.S. prosecutor during the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg before becoming Senator McCarthy's chief counsel during the Senate subcommittee investigations seeking out Communists and other undesirables. The man who was Trump's role-model would later become disbarred due to unethical conduct and shortly after dying of AIDS-related complications in 1986. Matt Tyrnauer, who brought us the docs, "Valentino: The Last Emperor", "Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood" and "Studio 54", directs.
"THE CURRENT WAR" Release date: October 4, 2019
"The Current War" looks at the battle of the electrical systems between Thomas Edison (Benedict Cumberbatch) and partners, George Westinghouse (Michael Shannon) and Nikola Tesla (Nicholas Hoult) over which one would succeed in powering the modern world. Each inventor has systems that worked well but had limitations. The competition reaches a conclusion as each offers proposals to supply power to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The film was originally was supposed to be released in 2017 by The Weinstein Company but became collateral damage due to the Harvey Weinstein scandal.
"THE LIGHTHOUSE"
Release date: October 18, 2019
In the follow-up to his acclaimed 2015 feature film debut, "The Witch", writer/director, Robert Eggers has returned with another dark and eerie film, "The Lighthouse". Shot in black and white, this winner of the Fipresci Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two nineteenth century lighthouse keepers, while facing the endless solitude, begin to slowly unravel and lose hold of their sanity.
"BLACK AND BLUE"
Release date: October 25, 2019
Naomie Harris, the British actress who received a well-deserved Oscar-nomination for her supporting role in the 2016 Best Picture winner, "Moonlight", has finally been given an opportunity to shine in a leading film role. In "Black and Blue", Harris plays a New Orleans rookie cop who witnesses her partner (Mike Colter) and his crew gun down a drug-dealer which is captured on her body camera. With the corrupt cops blaming the murder on her, she is being tracked down not only by the police department but also from other gang members seeking revenge. This cop's only hope is a stranger (Tyrese Gibson) in the community to help her stay alive in order to get the film out and clear her name.
"HONEY BOY"
Release date: November 8, 2019
Shia LaBeouf wrote the script for "Honey Boy" which began originally as a part of his therapy during his stint in rehab. Alma Har'el directs this drama loosely based on the actor's life which includes his struggles with mental health and his difficult relationship with his father. Noah Jupe plays Otis Lort, a child actor who grapples with his emerging fame and Lucas Hedges plays the older Otis where he begins to abuse drugs as a way to cope with his successful career. And LaBeouf appears as his former rodeo clown and felon father.
"FORD V. FERRARI"
Release date: November 15, 2019
"Ford v. Ferrari" is a testosterone-driven sports drama about the Ford Motor Company’s desire to beat the undefeated racing team of the Italian automaker, Ferrari during the 1966 Le Mans auto race in France. But Ford will need a car. They assign a team of skilled engineers, lead by Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (Christian Bale), an expert pro driver, behind the wheel to help make sure they will be victorious at the end of this twenty-four hour endurance race. James Mangold directs.
"THE GOOD LIAR" Release date: November 15, 2019
Ian McKellen teams up with director Bill Condon once again (following "Gods and Monsters" and "Mr Holmes") in "The Good Liar". The actor stars as a veteran con artist who meets his latest mark online through a dating app. Helen Mirren plays a wealthy widow who becomes completely enamored with him, easily offering her heart and home. What he thought would be a simple job becomes more complicated when he finds himself actually caring for her.
"KNIVES OUT"
Release date: November 27, 2019
The latest from writer/director Rian Johnson ("Looper", "Star Wars: The Last Jedi") is "Knives Out", a modern spin on the classic whodunit murder mystery with a little black comedy thrown in to spice it up. The family of a wealthy crime novelist (Christopher Plummer) comes together to celebrate his eighty-fifth birthday. But during the party, he is found murdered and a detective (Daniel Craig) is brought in to solve this crime. An impressive cast has been assembled which includes Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Lakeith Stanfiled and Don Johnson.
