Tonight I screened Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, starring Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell.
Mildred (McDormand) seeks justice for the rape and murder of her daughter Angela (Kathryn Newton) in the small town of (fictional) Ebbing, Missouri, where the police—in her view—spend more time hassling minorities than they do solving crimes.
Because the case has gone dormant, she pays to post three billboards asking the police chief (Woody Harrelson) why. This upsets the tight community and she gets grief from the local priest and other townspeople.
The chief is truly on her side, but after suffering another tragedy, she feels she has nowhere to turn and seeks revenge instead of justice. A series of bloody, scary, hilarious (yes, it's all those things) events follows and McDormand pretty much seals up her Oscar nomination.
But she's not the only great player here. Harrelson is tough, yet sincere as the chief whose hands are tied by circumstance; Sam Rockwell as the dim-witted Officer Dixon keeps his character from becoming a caricature by adding dimension through emotion, and Peter Dinklage is the welcome town oddity as the "midget" who is hot for Mildred.
I'd say the stereotypes are a bit much, but I did live in Missouri for five years, and for better or worse, I encountered people who resembled every last one of these folks.
In addition to addressing the horrific themes of sexual assault, racism and domestic violence—so timely considering our current national conversation—it reminds us that not every good person makes smart choices and not every bad apple is without a conscience.
Writer/director Martin McDonagh was inspired to write the film after driving past similar billboards in real life. I shudder to think what prompted their placement. The movie based on them isn't easy to watch, but you won't be able to take your eyes off of it.
~~~
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 07, 2017
Sunday, May 21, 2017
SIFF Sighting: HELLO DESTROYER (Drama, Canada)
When an introverted hockey player, Tyson (Abrahamson), is pressured into playing the game violently, the consequences he suffers last long after the game is over.
In this quiet, dark film from Kevan Funk, it's evident that he went to art school instead of film school. The scenes following the violent event the movie centers around are intentionally devoid of color and claustrophobic; the time the camera spends meditating on angles is a bit much.
That said, the story is solid and the acting is good. Tyson is so emotionally scarred from what he's endured that he serves as a stain on the community, which quickly casts him aside and assumes no responsibility for his actions.
We're silent observers to his crescendo of pain, which builds like a disease for which there is no cure. Unfortunately, though the story is fictional, it's completely believable and similar situations probably happen more often than we realize.
The filmmaker mentioned in the Q&A following the screening that he wanted to emphasize institutionalized violence (choosing hockey as the metaphor because of his mostly Canadian audience).
I'd say he accomplished his mission.
~~~
Hello Destroyer screened at the 43rd annual Seattle International Film Festival.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Skyfall
Tonight I saw Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem.
What a fun ride!
I'll confess that I haven't loved the entire library of Bond movies—and the last one left a lot to be desired—but this one brought me back.
The opening scene is nothing if not exhilarating, with 007 (Craig) jumping trains and operating heavy equipment (yep) to bring down his first enemy of the chase.
Behind the scenes, M (Dame Judi Dench) is calling the shots, and unfortunately not calling them too well. There are moments of worry that the entire film may turn into one long funeral, but of course that's not the case. Bond is back, after all.
And even as wonderful as the two of them are, nothing injects the story with more pizazz than the appearance of villain Silva (Bardem), who appears to relish in the art of revenge.
Bardem is in fact so good in this role, it sort of makes me wish he could just pop in to every movie and "be the bad guy" because he brings his characters to life with such dimension. We fear him, we loathe him and we can't take our eyes off of him.
He's sadistic here, but also sad—showing traces of the time when he was once on the right side of the action. That said, our threshold for tolerating gratuitous violence may be exhausted several times as we anticipate the good triumphing over evil.
Aside from the excessive guns and explosions (it is, after all, a spy film), this story twists and turns with sexy scenes and fast-paced thrills that never disappoint.
The running time of almost three hours just flies by.
~~~
What a fun ride!
I'll confess that I haven't loved the entire library of Bond movies—and the last one left a lot to be desired—but this one brought me back.
The opening scene is nothing if not exhilarating, with 007 (Craig) jumping trains and operating heavy equipment (yep) to bring down his first enemy of the chase.
Behind the scenes, M (Dame Judi Dench) is calling the shots, and unfortunately not calling them too well. There are moments of worry that the entire film may turn into one long funeral, but of course that's not the case. Bond is back, after all.
And even as wonderful as the two of them are, nothing injects the story with more pizazz than the appearance of villain Silva (Bardem), who appears to relish in the art of revenge.
Bardem is in fact so good in this role, it sort of makes me wish he could just pop in to every movie and "be the bad guy" because he brings his characters to life with such dimension. We fear him, we loathe him and we can't take our eyes off of him.
He's sadistic here, but also sad—showing traces of the time when he was once on the right side of the action. That said, our threshold for tolerating gratuitous violence may be exhausted several times as we anticipate the good triumphing over evil.
Aside from the excessive guns and explosions (it is, after all, a spy film), this story twists and turns with sexy scenes and fast-paced thrills that never disappoint.
The running time of almost three hours just flies by.
~~~
Sunday, February 05, 2012
A Separation
Today I saw A Separation, starring Peyman Maadi and Sareh Bayat.
Nader (Maadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) are a happily married Iranian couple headed toward divorce because Nader refuses to leave his Alzheimer-stricken father to move to a foreign country. Simin wants to go because she thinks better opportunities will be available for their adolescent daughter elsewhere.
Simin temporarily moves in with her parents as they negotiate, which forces Nader to hire help to take care of his father while he's at work all day. The woman he hires is pregnant and complains after just one day that the work is too much for her. They make arrangements for her currently incarcerated husband to take her place as soon as she can get him out of jail.
Unfortunately, he isn't released as quickly as hoped, so she continues to do the work of the house and take care of the elder.
Things take a turn for the worse with everyone when Nader and his daughter return home one evening to find the woman gone, some money missing and grandpa on the floor, having fallen out of bed despite being tied to it.
He is understandably furious, and when the woman returns he asks her to leave. She tries to explain she had to go somewhere just briefly, but the condition he found his father in shakes him up too much to allow her to continue care, so he again asks her to leave. She doesn't, and he also accuses her of stealing the missing money, which greatly insults her.
Finally, there is a physical scuffle (the audience only sees one side of it) and the next day, Nader and his wife find themselves at the hospital checking in on the woman.
I'll refrain from spoiling this any further, but the rest of the movie is a clever test of morals, religious faith and basic human decency.
It asks a question any of us could be someday faced with: when things escalate due the actions of everyone involved, whose fault is it when someone gets hurt?
The actors are fantastic in this film—if I didn't know better, I'd think they were all just folks from a typical Iranian neighborhood, giving us a taste of what life is like there.
As an American I found myself thinking about how the situation would've been different if it had taken place in an American household. As the daughter of an immigrant, I could relate all too much to the importance of honor, and traditional male and female roles.
At the end of the day, it's not the second-coming of film (as many have prematurely anointed it), but it is a phenomenal slice-of-life exploration in the same vein as 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days.
~~~
Nader (Maadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) are a happily married Iranian couple headed toward divorce because Nader refuses to leave his Alzheimer-stricken father to move to a foreign country. Simin wants to go because she thinks better opportunities will be available for their adolescent daughter elsewhere.
Simin temporarily moves in with her parents as they negotiate, which forces Nader to hire help to take care of his father while he's at work all day. The woman he hires is pregnant and complains after just one day that the work is too much for her. They make arrangements for her currently incarcerated husband to take her place as soon as she can get him out of jail.
Unfortunately, he isn't released as quickly as hoped, so she continues to do the work of the house and take care of the elder.
Things take a turn for the worse with everyone when Nader and his daughter return home one evening to find the woman gone, some money missing and grandpa on the floor, having fallen out of bed despite being tied to it.
He is understandably furious, and when the woman returns he asks her to leave. She tries to explain she had to go somewhere just briefly, but the condition he found his father in shakes him up too much to allow her to continue care, so he again asks her to leave. She doesn't, and he also accuses her of stealing the missing money, which greatly insults her.
Finally, there is a physical scuffle (the audience only sees one side of it) and the next day, Nader and his wife find themselves at the hospital checking in on the woman.
I'll refrain from spoiling this any further, but the rest of the movie is a clever test of morals, religious faith and basic human decency.
It asks a question any of us could be someday faced with: when things escalate due the actions of everyone involved, whose fault is it when someone gets hurt?
The actors are fantastic in this film—if I didn't know better, I'd think they were all just folks from a typical Iranian neighborhood, giving us a taste of what life is like there.
As an American I found myself thinking about how the situation would've been different if it had taken place in an American household. As the daughter of an immigrant, I could relate all too much to the importance of honor, and traditional male and female roles.
At the end of the day, it's not the second-coming of film (as many have prematurely anointed it), but it is a phenomenal slice-of-life exploration in the same vein as 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days.
~~~
Thursday, September 14, 2006
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Saw this fun documentary tonight during a free screening.
It's about the secrecy surrounding the MPAA and the ridiculous lengths one has to go to to learn the identities of the members and even the names of the 'non-secret' appeals board.
The director actually hires private detectives to get to the bottom of this and the entire film follows them on their journey.
There's humor, explicit sex (scenes from other movies) and thought provoking questions about how far this organization goes to censor artists. There are clear biases and those are discussed by thoughtful persons of the industry ranging from Maria Bello to John Waters. Kevin Smith was probably my favorite famous face.
If you value free speech and the preservation of art as it was intended, go see it.
It's about the secrecy surrounding the MPAA and the ridiculous lengths one has to go to to learn the identities of the members and even the names of the 'non-secret' appeals board.
The director actually hires private detectives to get to the bottom of this and the entire film follows them on their journey.
There's humor, explicit sex (scenes from other movies) and thought provoking questions about how far this organization goes to censor artists. There are clear biases and those are discussed by thoughtful persons of the industry ranging from Maria Bello to John Waters. Kevin Smith was probably my favorite famous face.
If you value free speech and the preservation of art as it was intended, go see it.
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