Category Archives: Outtakes

Movie-related whatnot

Outtakes, Slider

Countdown: Best in Film through Half of 2015

Leave a comment

Believe it or not, 2015 is officially half over. It’s been a pretty big half, though – July through December has its work cut out for it if it hopes to stand up. While historical Supreme Court rulings and heartbreaking tragedies are the items we will remember the longest, there were also some great movies released in the first half of this year that deserve a mention. Here are the best films of the first half of the year.

10. Spy
Spy is the latest team-up for director Paul Feig and star Melissa McCarthy, who gave us the hilarity of Bridesmaids and its one-for-the-ages character of Megan. (They will collaborate again in what may be the most inspired reboot of them all, Ghostbusters.) Feig also gets writing credit for Spy, and it’s hard to believe he didn’t craft the script especially for McCarthy. Beyond creating a boisterous, hilarious, perfectly cast send up of Bond-style capers, the film also meticulously points out the steaming pile of double standard b.s. McCarthy has had to deal with during her entire career.

Rose Byrne continues to show real comic flair, and Jason Statham practically kidnaps the film as Agent Rick Ford, a riotous parody of the to-the-extreme tough guy roles that made him famous. But this is McCarthy’s show, and a leading role tailor made for her powerhouse talent. As her Agent Susan Cooper assumes various identities and becomes more confident in her role as a badass, the film lands some sly shots at the sexist barbs often thrown McCarthy’s way. Bravo.

9. La Sapienza
If you like to check your phone or take frequent bathroom breaks at the theater, La Sapienza is not for you. Writer/director Eugene Green makes sure every shot and each line of dialogue is significant in his beautiful meditation on spirituality and love.

A renowned French architect and his wife take a trip to Italy, where they befriend a set of siblings. Many philosophical discussions follow, with Green often making sure each character speaks directly into the camera, demanding that viewers take part.

As Green’s camera lingers on the contours of classic Italian structures, and as man and boy share their architectural philosophies, the roles of teacher and student begin to blur. While one questions the meaning of life and believes in “salvation through work,” the other’s desire is to create spaces with an “emptiness which must be filled with people and light.”

La Sapienza still thinks big questions can have simple answers, and that cinema is still capable of uncovering both truth and beauty.

8. Clouds of Sils Maria
Somewhere between Twilight and the tabloids, Kristen Stewart began doing some real acting. She’s better than ever in Clouds of Sils Maria, and though hers is a supporting role alongside one of the screen’s major talents, Stewart pulls plenty of weight in a terrific drama with much to say.

Juliette Binoche is customarily excellent as Maria, a famous actress returning to the stage in a revival of the play that launched her career twenty years earlier. Stewart is Maria’s ever-present personal assistant Valentine, who not only runs both errands and lines for Maria, but serves as her bridge to a younger generation.

Writer/director Olivier Assayas’s script is sharp and his camera is fluid, effectively blurring the line between onstage and off. The beauty of Clouds of Sils Maria lies in its complexity. It offers subtle insights that sneak up on you, and uses an exceptional cast to make them stick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L-9rcEhGm4

7. The Nightmare
Idiosyncratic documentarian Rodney Ascher walks a line in his films between open and earnest investigation and metacommentary. His great achievement with this film is not that it transcends the quirky indie doc subgenre, but that it works equally well as an honest piece of nonfiction filmmaking and as a terrifying horror film.

He investigates sleep paralysis, but his weirdly attuned style and his mastery of slow reveal pulls you in to the deeply disturbing case histories long before you really understand what is happening to these poor people. Then, little by little, he makes you realize that, by virtue of watching this film, you may also be at risk. It’s a bit like The Ring, but a real life version.

Any horror film worth its mettle will make you a little nervous about going to sleep. This one will panic you.

6. Girlhood
Moments after Girlhood’s perfectly disconcerting opening, you settle into the world of its protagonist, Marieme, but writer/director Celine Sciamma has already told you something very important. You shouldn’t assume anything.

Few, if any, films have been able to do justice to coming of age the way Sciamma’s does. Girlhood is a character study, following Marieme (Karidja Toure) through her days as an adolescent in a deprived Paris project, struggling against each of her equally unappealing life options.

Sciamma, thanks to a quietly powerful performance from Toure, represents more than just the bittersweet romance and nostalgia generally associated with the coming of age film. Saying goodbye to childhood is rarely as simple and lovely as movies make it out to be, and Sciamma’s interest is in seeing the same transition from an under represented point of view. For Marieme, her choices are limited along racial, sexual and socioeconomic lines, but Sciamma’s perceptive film is too honest and understated to feel preachy.

5. Love and Mercy
Even if you’ve never heard a note of Brian Wilson’s music, one listen to “God Only Knows,” or countless other Beach Boys classics reveals a musical visionary like none other. His success and inner turmoil have both become legend, and director Bill Pohlad utilizes an ambitious script and fine performances to make Wilson’s story resonate with heartbreak and hope.

Paul Dano is flat out fantastic as the younger Wilson. Beyond the considerable physical resemblance, Dano is able to mine multiple layers of wonder, inspiration and doubt, as Wilson struggles to follow his vision in the midst of those who can’t understand it.

Variations on the Brian Wilson story have been attempted before, but Love and Mercy is an original tune that won’t need to be covered for quite some time.

4. It Follows
A perfect blend of new ideas and genre respect, It Follows looks like a John Carpenter film but tells a unique tale. More than the STD of horror movies, it’s a film that channels the best of the genre while using an indie drama sensibility to keep you off guard. Excellent performances and positively inspired camerawork ensure that you care what happens, and are basically terrified from the opening sequence.

Writer/director David Robert Mitchell employs an effectively retro score with a voyeuristic camera to keep you on edge, and the impossible to pinpoint time period allows the film to feel both fresh and nostalgic simultaneously. He punctuates the building dread with a handful of jump scares – usually really effective ones – but the film is not reliant upon this gimmick. It’s a unique vision, beautifully written and provocatively executed, that marks a serious new force in filmmaking, genre or otherwise.

3. Inside Out
It’s a tumultuous time in young Riley’s life. Her family has just moved from Minnesota to San Francisco, and her emotions are working overtime. Inside her mind, five particular feelings are running the show at Riley “headquarters.” There’s Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black) and Disgust (Mindy Kaling). Joy is usually able to keep the rest in check (“I’m detecting high levels of sass!”), but when she and Sadness get lost in the outer regions of Riley’s psyche, the race is on to get back to base before the young girl’s personality is forever changed.

So, yes, Pixar returns to the “secret world” theme they know well, but there’s no denying this is a brilliant premise, perfectly executed by a veteran Pixar team. From rides on the “train of thought” to commercial jingles that get stuck in your head to a clever gag about mixing facts and opinions, co- directors/co-writers Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen keep things fresh and funny while maintaining a simple conflict that easily gets younger viewers invested.

And that’s the real beauty of Inside Out. Once again, Pixar examines the changing phases of life with charm, humor and a subtle intelligence that can’t help but give you a fresh appreciation for all the jumbled feelings that make life worth living.

2. Mad Max: Fury Road
After 30 years, George Miller returns to the desolate wasteland that drove poor Max Rockatansky mad. What he delivers with Mad Max: Fury Road is a film so far superior to its three predecessors as to be almost magical. The always magnificent Tom Hardy more than fills the shoes left behind by Mel Gibson, but the star of this film is Charlize Theron as Furiosa – just another cast off looking for redemption. If you can not only outshine but out-badass Tom Hardy, you are one miraculous performer.

Like Miller’s previous Mad Max efforts, this film dusts up some political and environmental gripes, but he’s never been so pointed about his concerns. Not that this will distract you from the utterly kick ass visuals of a film shot using mostly practical effects. How on earth he did some of this is anyone’s guess, but it looks like hell on wheels and leaves you cheering. A flamethrower electric guitar? Hell yeah!

1. Ex Machina
Smart, seductive, and wickedly funny, Ex Machina is the directorial debut from veteran writer Alex Garland, and it instantly marks him as one of the most promising dual threats in film.

Computer wiz Caleb (Domhnall Gleason) gets word that he’s “won” a contest at work. The firm’s founder, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), has picked Caleb as the lucky one who will get a look inside the reclusive genius’s world and assist on a top secret project.

The ever-versatile Isaac is mesmerizing, crafting Nathan as a walking, talking, drinking God complex in bare feet. Gleason gives Caleb a perfect mix of naïveté and good intentions, while Alicia Vikander is a true wonder as Ava. Living in the space between woman and machine, Vikander pulls it off with nary a hint of caricature.

Sci Fi and horror films have long provided glimpses into a particular generation through the fears and anxieties that manifest on screen. Anchored in science, sex, and creation (sound familiar?), Ex Machina is an insightful, deliciously fun time capsule we need to open right now.

Outtakes

St. Patrick’s Day Countdown

Leave a comment

Are you ready? It’s just about time to find your Guinness T-shirt and crack everybody up with “You know what I wish? IRISH I had another beer!” Yeah, that one always kills, most likely because all your friends are hammered.

But aside from the blackouts and inflated drink prices, let’s celebrate the season with five..er..six of our favorite Irish flicks!

6. The Boondock Saints (1999):

Let’s start with the pretend Irish here at home. Jesus, these brogues are terrible. Just awful. But writer/director Troy Duffy’s sordid story of the righteously violent McManus twins did find an audience. They’re out to clean up the Boston they love – or at least ensure that it’s the Irish, not the Russians, allowed to shoot up the neighborhood. Steeped in Catholicism, blood, pathos and, again, the worst imaginable accents, Boondock Saints is weirdly watchable. It helps that Willem Dafoe tags along as one bat shit insane FBI agent.

5. Knuckle (2011)

James Quinn McDonagh cuts an enigmatic presence through the bloody world of Irish Traveler bare knuckle “fairfights” in Ian Palmer’s documentary Knuckle. The unbeaten pride of the Quinn McDonaghs, James takes on challengers from the feuding Joyce clan. Unfortunately, each win quells the action only briefly, as family members’ chest thumping and boasting reignite the feud, and another challenge is made. Palmer aims to illustrate the culture that fuels rather than overcomes its grudges, due in equal measure to unchecked bravado and finance (wagers bring in fast money for the winning clan). Filming for more than a decade, Palmer uncovers something insightful about the Traveler culture, and perhaps about masculinity or warmongering at its most basic.

4. The Guard (2011)

Then to a lighthearted look at drugs and crime on the Emerald Isle. Writer/director John Michael McDonagh assembles a dream cast anchored by the ever-reliable Brendan Gleeson to wryly articulate a tale of underestimation and police corruption in this very Irish take on the buddy cop movie. Through Gleeson, McDonagh shares a dark, philosophical yet silly humor, crafts almost slapstick action, and offers a view of hired guns as workaday folk. The Guard is a celebration of tart Irish humor and character; the actual plot merely provides the playground for the fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKU_9PlNomk

3. Calvary (2014)

McDonagh and Gleeson return three years later in Calvary. The endlessly wonderful Gleeson plays Fr. Michael, a dry-witted but deeply decent priest who has a week to get his affairs in order while a parishoner plans to kill him. Sumptuously filmed and gorgeously written, boasting as much world-weary humor as genuine insight, it’s an amazing film and a performance that should not be missed.

2. Once (2006)

You can’t celebrate St. Pat’s without some music. In Once, an Irish street musician fixes vacuums by day and dreams of heading to London in search of a recording contract. His unpredictable relationship with a Czech immigrant becomes the needed catalyst. Writer/director John Carney creates a lovely working man’s Dublin in a film blessed with sparkling performances from heretofore unknown leads Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Their chemistry and their music are the heart of the film. This immensely charming slice of life picture, superbly crafted with tender realism, also boasts an honest, understated screenplay, and undoubtedly the best soundtrack of 2006.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWJIylZ8VyM

1. The Commitments (1991)

Jimmy Rabbitte intends to manage the greatest soul band in the world, so he hand crafts The Commitments, a Dublin-based, all white, blue collar soul band the likes of which Ireland has never seen. (The band includes Hansard again, much younger and with a magnificent ‘fro.) Alan Parker’s “behind the music” style tale of the rise and fall of a band is as charming, energetic and great sounding a way to spend St. Patrick’s Day as you will find.

 

Those are a few of our favorites…and if you think we missed any…let’s meet at the bar and fight about it!

Outtakes

Countdown: Movies You Can’t Turn Off

Leave a comment

As we sat and watched Jaws for the 400th time last weekend, we laughed about all the movies that – when we find them on TV, no matter where in the film we switch on – we are compelled to watch to the end. It’s 11:30 pm and we stumble upon the opening diner sequence from Pulp Fiction? It looks like we’ll be up til 1:30 today. We’ve pulled together the list of films we cannot turn off when we find them on TV. What’d we miss?

Jaws (1975)

This is the top one for us. George, in particular, has seen this movie dozens and dozens of times. It’s an absolute marvel, and while every watching of course brings back memories, there truly is something new to notice every time you see Jaws. Spielberg’s raw talent, for example. Or John Williams’s pitch-perfect score. Jaws is always thrilling, always scary, always amazing.

 

Pulp Fiction (1994)

It’s a masterpiece that sucks you in no matter when you turn it on because every scene is a work of utter genius. Every character is as cool as can be, every exchange is more fun to watch than anything else you’re going to find on TV, and it’s the kind of movie absolutely no one ever really made before or since. There is nothing quite like Pulp Fiction, which is why you should watch it at every opportunity.

 

Die Hard (1988)

This is George’s favorite movie of all time, so it kind of goes without saying that it stays on if we come across it. And why not? The iconic Eighties game changer altered the course of action movies with its wiseass underdog, confined terror and magnificent Euro-trash villains. Not enough can be said for the smarmy brilliance of Alan Rickman, and watching Bruce Willis at the top of his game is always fun, too.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

This is Hope’s favorite movie of all time. There are no flaws in this movie. The fact that a movie wherein a man who eats human flesh helps the FBI track a man who wears human flesh could go on to win every major Oscar says about as much for the craftsmanship behind this movie as anything could. It’s Jonathan Demme’s greatest achievement and one of the greatest films ever made.

Caddyshack (1980)

When you can say every line along with the film you are watching, you’ve seen the film too many times. And yet, is it possible to watch Caddyshack too often? Ted Knight! Rodney Dangerfield! Bill F. Murray! No, it is not. Somehow this weird accumulation of spontaneous insanity remains fresh 35 years on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrTqenN1SqQ

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Another one that’s funny no matter how often you see it, Lebowski benefits from magnificent writing and superb direction (as is always the case with The Brothers Coen), but more than anything, the film demands rapt attention because of Jeff Bridges’s magical lead turn. Well, demand is kind of a fascist word. It’s just a really, really hard movie to turn off, man.

Alien (1979)

From the moment Nostromo lands – allegedly drawn by a distress signal – Ridley Scott’s horror/SciFi hybrid starts building horrific tension. Nobody wants to be awakened unexpectedly. This crew seems weary of their mission and tired of each other. Scott’s drained all the color from the crew and the set – it’s like being trapped in a bad dream that’s only going to get worse. And yet, we just can’t turn away.

Aliens (1986)

You can’t have one without the other. Where Ridley Scott’s original was a slow build horror show, James Cameron’s is a badass action flick and Sigourney Weaver is equally at home in either genre. Cameron abandons claustrophobia, opening the film up with death trap labyrinths and expanding the terror with an army of acid-blood monsters. This is the very best kind of high octane fun.

The Conjuring (2013)

Thank God for HBO because The Conjuring is on almost daily now. The thirtieth time you jump at the same damn ghost, you know a movie has got something, and we’re telling you, every time little Cindy Perron starts sleep walking into that bureau, we tense up. Yes, there are silly moments in this nuts and bolts haunted house flick, but director James Wan understands pacing and knows when flesh and blood are scarier than FX. The result is a fun, jumpy night with one stinky, foot grabbing ghost.

Dazed and Confused (1993)

Richard Linklater’s wonderful, rambling ode to coming of age in the Seventies pops up a lot, lately. We usually come in right about the time a handful of freshmen are conning Ben Affleck’s delightfully dickish Fred O’Bannion that there’s a cherry ass to beat. Whether it’s Matthew McConaughey’s most iconic character or the way Linklater and cast languidly capture both a time period and a universal right of passage – or maybe it’s just wanting in on that party – we are always hooked.

Outtakes

See This in 3D While You Can

Leave a comment

 

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

by George Wolf

Thursday, March 5th, as part of the “Essential 3D” series at the Wexner Center, film fans in Columbus get a great chance to see this again in 3D – truly a remarkable experience. Below is my review that first ran in 2011.

 

Seldom has a film transported an audience back in time as effectively as Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

The time is over 30,000 years ago, and the place is France’s historic Chauvet Cave, home of the earliest known recorded visions in human history.

The cave was discovered in 1994, and the French government has been impressively careful with its treatment. A small scientific team is granted access for two weeks twice a year – and then for only a few hours each day. Not only are the cave’s radon and carbon dioxide levels dangerous to humans, but too many human breaths can produce mold inside the cave’s pristine setting.

Last year, writer/director Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man) was granted permission to take a small production crew inside, and the result leaves you grasping at superlatives.

Breathtaking. Stupendous. Exhilarating. Awe-inspiring.

Herzog films in 3-D, reminding you the technique can be so much more than a gimmick to sell kid’s movies. You feel the depth of the cave, the breadth of its reach and the beautiful contours of its walls, adorned with the work of incredibly sophisticated artists. Herzog’s camera lingers as the art from tens of thousands of years ago speaks to you so loudly you may find yourself holding your breath.

When Herzog mixes the prehistoric findings with the futuristic testing methods of the science team, he creates a wonderful merging of past and future that raises questions not only about where humankind has been, but where it is going.

Hopefully, it will be going to see this film.

 

Verdict-5-0-Stars

 

 

 

Outtakes, Slider

And the Oscar Goes To….

Leave a comment

We are thrilled to be able to co-host the Oscar Red Carpet Bash at the Drexel Theater this week. Please join us Sunday a the Drexel (2254 E.Main St.) Sample delicious wares from local restaurants and wear your fanciest duds or dress like someone in one of the nominated films for a chance at prizes. We’ll also be handing out prizes for trivia as well as for the closest predictor of the Oscar winners.

In case you’re on the fence, we thought we’d put together our own list of Oscar’s likeliest winners.

Best Picture

American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

One of this year’s few tight races, the best picture contest comes down to one brilliantly told, magical tale told from the inside of celebrity versus one unrelentingly and somehow magically realistic picture of childhood. The push over the cliff for us are all the telltale awards in recent weeks from the Screen Actors, Directors and Producers guilds – all with Oscar pool overlap.

Should Win: Boyhood 

Will Win: Birdman

Got Snubbed: Nightcrawler

 

Best Director

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Whenever Best Picture’s a toss up, you can expect the nod for directing to be just as close a race. Oscar could split – one to Birdman, one to Boyhood – but we get the sneaking suspicion that one film will mop up the two top prizes.

Should Win: Richard Linklater, Boyhood 

Will Win: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman

Got Snubbed: Ava DuVernay, Selma

 

Best Actor

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Here’s the only performing category with much of a race going on. The bet is between beloved veteran Michael Keaton for his fearless performance in Birdman against talented semi-newcomer Eddie Redmayne with his turn as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. It’s a close one, but not too close to call.

Should Win: George says: Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Hope says: Michael Keaton: Birdman

Will Win: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Got Snubbed: David Oyelowo, Selma; Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler

 

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Here begin the easier calls to make. In a relatively weak field, Julianne Moore shines all the brighter regardless of the fact that the film Still Alice is not especially strong.

Should Win: Julianne Moore, Still Alice 

Will Win: Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Got Snubbed: Essie Davis, The Babadook

 

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

In a year full of locks, no race is more of a foregone conclusion than this. Though we do feel badly for Edward Norton, sporting the very best performance of his impressive career, there’s really only one option.

Should Win: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Will Win:  J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Got Snubbed: Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice

 

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Emma Stone, Birdman
Keira Knightly, The Imitation Game
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

This one may not be locked up quite as tight, but you can be pretty confident that Alabama Worley will finally get her justs.

Should Win: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Will Win:  Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Got Snubbed: Viola Davis, Get On Up; Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer

 

Best Original Screenplay

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo   Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) 
Richard Linklater   Boyhood
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman    Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness  The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy Nightcrawler

What an insanely great year for original screenplays! Truth is, you really can’t go wrong with any of these. There’s a good chance the award will go to Birdman in a huge awards-grab, but we think smart money is with another brilliantly crafted piece of writing.

Should Win: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobono, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo, Birdman

Will Win:  Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Got Snubbed:  Ruben Ostlund Force Majeure; J.C. Chandor,  A Most Violent Year

 

Best Adapted Screenplay

Jason Hall  American Sniper
Graham Moore  The Imitation Game
Paul Thomas Anderson  Inherent Vice
Anthony McCarten  The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle   Whiplash

It’s another tight race and honestly, it wouldn’t surprise us if the Oscar went to any of these writers. Well, it might surprise us (pleasantly!) if Paul Thomas Anderson’s  Inherent Vice won, but otherwise, the field’s wide open.

Should Win: Damien Chazelle, Whiplash

Will Win:  Damien Chazelle, Whiplash

Got Snubbed: Paul Webb, Selma

 

Keep us honest – join us Sunday night at the Drexel and keep track of our hits and misses while you enjoy the Oscar broadcast, some delicious food and beverages, and win big prizes. For more information, visit www.drexel.net.

Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

Outtakes

Join us for the Red Carpet Oscar Bash!

Leave a comment

We’re excited to be back as your hosts for the Red Carpet Oscar Bash at the Drexel Theatre!

Sunday, February 22
6:30 pm doors open / 8:00 pm telecast

Drexel Theatre
2254 E. Main St.
Columbus, Ohio 43209
Fax: (614) 231-9958

For the 18th consecutive year, the Drexel invites you to walk the Red Carpet and mingle with Columbus movie fans for HOLLYWOOD’S BIGGEST NIGHT presented LIVE ON THE BIG SCREEN in stunning HD! You won’t want to miss a minute of the glitz and glamour as filmland’s favorites claim their golden statues!

Walk the red carpet and be cheered by autograph seeking fans and paparazzi, enjoy delicious hors d’oeuvres from area restaurants and specialty themed drinks at our cash bars. Come in your most glamorous attire or dress-up as a nominated star or movie, and win fabulous prizes. During the commercial breaks, we’ll award exciting prizes with fun contests!

Think you can correctly pick the most winners? Enter the annual “Pick the Winners Contest” to win a year of free movies at the Drexel!

The Red Carpet Pre-show coverage will be shown from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, and the entire AWARDS will begin at 8:00 pm and continue until the last statuette is presented.

Ticket Prices:
$30 in advance / $35 at the door
DREXEL MEMBERS – $20 in advance / $25 at the door
Purchase tickets online here* or at the box office.

*You may need to change the date to March 2 if it is not the date shown when you use the link above.

All proceeds benefit the Friends of the Drexel, Inc. and the Drexel Theatres artistic and educational programs.

Outtakes

Countdown: Favorite Onscreen Couples

Leave a comment

It’s almost Valentines’ Day! For the love of God, don’t watch The Notebook again. Maybe instead of the same old rom coms and smooch fests, check out some different but nevertheless great onscreen romances. We recommend ten of our favorite silver screen couples.

Carl & Ellie, Up
Perhaps the most beautiful and most heartbreaking opening to any animated film, the relationship arc between Carl and Ellie promises to bring you to tears because of its excruciating tenderness. It’s a remarkably uncommon way to open a child’s film, but without this strong a sense of where Carl has been you simply can’t understand or accept where he thinks he’s going or fully appreciate where he winds up.

carlellieup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annie Savoy & Crash Davis, Bull Durham
Sexy, grown up, fun and funny, Bull Durham is both the best baseball movie and best romantic comedy ever made – a fact due almost entirely to the easy chemistry and combustible energy between its stars. Kevin Costner is the dreamiest minor league catcher in history, and he only has eyes for Southern eccentric Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon at her absolute sultriest). Whip smart dialog has rarely fallen into such capable hands.

bufalosdedurham8809

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lloyd Dobbler, Diane Court, Say Anything
He gave her his heart, she gave him a pen. Everyone rooted for Lloyd Dobbler (John Cusack) as he voyaged toward manhood (don’t be a guy!) and to love with untouchable, brainy Diane Court (Ione Skye). This may be the best high school romance film ever made.

Lloyd-Diane-Say-Anything

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lula & Sailor, Wild at Heart
Overheated and on the run from the law and whatever Mamma can dish up, nothing can break the bond between Sailor (Nicolas Cage, before he sucked) and Lula (Laura Dern, who never sucks). Violent and nuts in the way that only a David Lynch film can be, with as colorful a cast of characters as any film you’ll ever find, this is a love story unlike any other.

WildAtHeart_PUB02

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clarence & Alabama Worly, True Romance
The world gave up on Clarence and Alabama (Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette), but nothing will dent their love – not a silver toothed pimp or a sweaty hit man or a pot smoking roommate or any other thing screenwriter Quentin Tarantino can throw at them. And we love them for that.

trueromancebed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pat & Tiffany, Silver Linings Playbook
Sparks and dysfunction fly as one man (Bradley Cooper) plots to woo back his wife, restraining order be damned. Lawrence introduces layers and layers as cynical misanthropic dance lover Tiffany and Cooper perfectly balances JLaw’s manic negativity with his own positive energy mania.

o-SILVER-LININGS-PLAYBOOK-facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harold & Maude in same

Everyone’s favorite May/December romance upends every expectation, filling the screen with joy and pain, love and heartbreak. It’s a hilarious black comedy, but a true love story as well, and Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort made us believe.

harold-and-maude-original

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seth & Evan, Superbad
In our favorite bromance, BFFs Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) have to face an adult world where they may never again know the comfortable, intimate, familiar relationship they’ve had their whole lives together.

Superbad-580x290

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jack Foley & Karen Sisco, Out of Sight
Elmore Leonard wrote a kick ass romance that lit up the screen thanks to the natural chemistry between George Clooney as ex-con Foley trying to evade and yet seduce Jennifer Lopez’s Sisco.

elmore2_1772002b

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buck & Jessie St. Vincent, Boogie Nights
In a film about damaged and damaging couplings, one true love bloomed. Buck and Jessie St. Vincent (Don Cheadle, Melora Walters) fell in love as the freewheeling Seventies turned to the judgmental Eighties. Sweet hearted sweethearts, their tenderness in the midst of all the ugliness and turmoil gave the film its heart.

fhd997BGN_Melora_Walters_006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Outtakes, Slider

Five More Remakes in Need of an All Female Cast

Leave a comment

Rumors of an all-female Ghostbusting team got us A) excited for the reboot, and B) thinking of other movies we’d love to see reimagined with women in the lead. Here are the 5 films we think could benefit from some gender-retooling, along with our dream casts.

Jaws

Steven Spielberg’s 1975 great white classic benefitted from one of the best buddy trios in cinema with Roy Scheider’s reluctant shipmate Sheriff Brody, Richard Dreyfuss’s on-board scientist, and salty sea dog Quint played to perfection by Robert Shaw.

Who has the gravy to run nails down a chalkboard, frighten the locals and bark that she’ll find the shark for $3000, but “catch him, and kill him, for 10”? Nobody but Jessica Lange. We’d flank her with Anne Hathaway as the transplanted cop who wants a bigger boat and Emily Blunt as the oceanographer willing to take the risk when the cage goes in the water.

Easy Rider

How fun would this be? Let’s rework the classic American outlaw motorcycle ride! Who’s the laid back badass looking for an unsoiled America? We’d put the great Viola Davis in Peter Fonda’s role. For the thoughtful square up for an adventure, we swap Amy Adams in for Jack Nicholson. And who could fill legendary wacko Dennis Hopper’s motorcycle boots? We want Melissa McCarthy. (Come to think of it, she’d give Blue Velvet an interesting new take as well.)

Glengarry Glen Ross

Who on this earth could take the place of Alec Baldwin with perhaps the greatest venomous monologue in film history? Jennifer Lawrence – can you see it? We really, really want to see a movie with JLaw chewing up and spitting out this much perfectly penned hatred.

“Put that coffee down!”

And at whom should she spew? The wondrous Meryl Streep should take Jack Lemmon’s spot as loser Shelley Levine. We’d put Kate Winslet in Pacino’s slick winner Ricky Roma role and Kristin Scott Thomas in Ed Harris’s shadowy Dave Moss spot. Then we’d pull it all together with the magnificent Tilda Swinton in the weasely role worn so well by Kevin Spacey.

Predator

We knew we needed an action film, but who could be the new Schwarzenegger? Our vote: Michelle Rodriguez. We then put the ever formidable Helen Mirren in the Carl Weathers boss role. Obviously. The ragtag group of soldiers sent to, one by one, to be skinned alive? Scarlett Johansson, Kerry Washington and Gina Carano. Done.

Reservoir Dogs

Picture it:

Ms. Orange (Tim Roth): Rosamund Pike

Ms. White (Harvey Keitel): Julianne Moore

Ms. Blond (Michael Madsen): Charlize Theron (Cannot wait to see her get her crazy on.)

Ms. Pink (Steve Buscemi): Lupita Nyongo

Ms. Brown (Tarantino): Shailene Woodley

Nice Guy Eddie (Chris Penn): Cate Blanchett

Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney): Kathy Bates

 

All right, Hollywood. We’ve done the hard part. Now get on it! All we ask is executive producer status and points on the back end.

Outtakes

Oscar-Nominated Short Films Here!

Leave a comment

by George Wolf

If you’ve ever watched the Academy Awards and wondered where and when you might see the nominees in the Short Subject categories, this year the answers are 1) the Gateway Film Center and 2) beginning this weekend.

It’s the sixth consecutive year the Gateway has hosted the short film nominees, and Johnny DiLoretto, the Gateway’s Director of Communications, loves the support from Central Ohio filmgoers.

“We get a terrific response for this every year,” DiLoretto said. “There is an audience for these shorts which is incredibly encouraging.”

Each Short Subject category is shown separately, with honorable mention titles added to the animated program to augment the brief running times of the five nominees.

We wholeheartedly recommend seeing them all.

And the nominees are….

 

Animated

Me and My Moulton (Torill Kove) – 14 minutes/Canada/English

Feast (Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed) – 6 minutes/USA/Non-dialogue

The Bigger Picture (Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees) – 7 minutes/UK/English

A Single Life (Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins, Job Roggeveen) – 2 minutes/The Netherlands/Non-dialogue

The Dam Keeper (Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi) – 18 minutes/USA/Non-dialogue

 

Live Action

Parvaneh (Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger) – 25 minutes/Switzerland/Dari and German

Boogaloo and Graham (Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney) – 14 minutes/UK/English

Aya (Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis) – 39 minutes/Israel and France/English, Hebrew, Danish

The Phone Call (Mat Kirkby and James Lucas) – 21 minutes/UK/English

Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak) (Hu Wei and Julien Féret) – 15 minutes/France and China/Tibetan

 

Documentary Program A

Joanna (Aneta Kopacz) – 40 minutes/Poland/Polish

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry) – 39 minutes/USA/English

 

Documentary Program B

Our Curse (Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki) – 27 minutes/Poland/Polish

White Earth (J. Christian Jensen) – 20 minutes/USA/English and Spanish

The Reaper (La Parka) (Gabriel Serra Arguello) – 29 minutes/Mexico/Spanish

 

More info at GatewayFilmcenter.com!

Outtakes

Countdown: Best Military Movies

Leave a comment

American Sniper contiues to generate loads of box office cash and social backlash. Director Clint Eastwood – a figure absolutely synonymous with the badass, the gunman – continues to be fascinated with telling that guy’s story. His most powerful films are always stories of the physical and emotional damage the badass accrues over the course of a lifetime of violence, and American Sniper is another in this potent vein. Debate rages over whether it’s a responsible depiction of Chris Kyle as a man, but as a film American Sniper is a brilliantly acted, well executed thriller, ranking as one of the best of its genre.

Military films have often riled audiences and critics alike. Here’s a non-sequential list of ten of our other favorites.

 

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

This is Stanley Kubrick’s chilly vision of the war in Vietnam and its impact on the American psyche. More intense and  yet more controlled than any of the other Vietnam epics of the ’80s, this film is a punch to the gut from boot camp through the Tet Offensive. It’s brilliant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9f6JaaX7Wg

 

No Man’s Land (2001)

Two soldiers – one Bosnian, one Serb – are trapped in a trench between the Serbian and Bosnian fronts. Their position is symbolic of the fuzzy barrier dividing compassion and hatred, as well as a symbol of the film itself – balancing and blending the bitter comedy of absurdities and the devastating human issues of war. This often comedic, often punishing look at the idiocy of war, in concept and in particulars, took the best screenplay prize at Cannes 2001.

 

Stripes (1981)

Yes, a change of pace for Army training, sir, but no doubt the most entertaining film on the list. Every list should have a Bill Murray film on it, and if you can pull from the exceptional bank of Harol Ramis-penned comedies, all the better. Plus, it’s a history lesson about all kinds of Eastern European nations that no longer exist.

 

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1959)

A timeless examination of the madness of war and the bone-deep respectability of the British upper class, The Bridge on the River Kwai hauled in 7 Oscars. Director David Lean knows what he’s doing with a camera. The film looks amazing, and the choices made by every major character continues to surprise and confound almost 60 years later.

 

The Hurt Locker (2008)

Far and away the best of the Iraq War films, this unflinching and politics-free look at a U.S. bomb squad operating inside Baghdad is a triumph for director Katheryn Bigelow. It won 6 Oscars, including Best Picture and the historic Best Director nod. Four years later Bigelow upped the ante with the even more gripping Zero Dark Thirty (not an outright “military” film for our purposes here but we can have that debate another time). The Hurt Locker gets to you with the quiet intelligence of a film benefitting from years of history and hindsight. The fact it had neither makes the achievement all the more startling.

 

Das Boot (1981)

Wolfgang Peterson’s study in claustrophobia is the most tense and terrifying look at WWII you are likely to find.

 

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Great performances and an excellent story follow what is one of the  most devastating and visceral action sequences in war movie cinema. Steven Spielberg was robbed a best picture Oscar for this one, but he can rest assured that his WWII effort is holding up a little better than some fluffy Shakespeare tale.

 

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Trippy, violent and hypnotic, Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic take on Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is hard to watch and harder to turn away from. The film stinks of death and insanity thanks to Coppola’s bizarre vision and equally unsettling performances from Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen and Dennis Hopper.

 

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Twelve criminals execute a suicide mission in WWII. Here’s a throwback thriller where the guy who has your back in your top secret mission is very likely insane. Never trust a guy named Maggot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE-m6zUNKH0

 

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Robin Williams’s best performance comes in the form of an obnoxious radio DJ sentenced to a station in Vietnam during the war. Funny and tragic, boasting an endlessly quotable screenplay and excellent performances all around, it’s one of the decade’s best films.