THIS WEEK’S LINEUP
A United Kingdom (Amma Asante)
Alone in Berlin (Vincent Perez)
American Honey (Andrea Arnold)
Fences (Denzel Washington) / It’s Only the End of the World (Xavier Dolan)
The Founder (John Lee Hancock)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (Chad Stahelski)
Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (Hark Tsui)
Kedi (Ceyda Torun)
Keep Quiet (Sam Blair / Joseph Martin)
La La Land (Damien Chazelle)
The Lure (Agnieszka Smoczynska)
Moana (too many to list, so I’ll just go with: Disney)
Mr. Gaga (Tomey Heymann)
My Life As A Zucchini (Claude Barras)
Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo (Olivier Ducastel / Jacques Martineau)
The Red Turtle (Michael Dudok de Wit)
The Salesman (Asghar Farhadi)
Split (M. Night Shyamalan)
A UNITED KINGDOM (Amma Asante): Masterpiece Theatre, the founding of Botswana edition.
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 28, 2017
Oyelowo/Pike color it with refreshing life, but they can’t obscure the impenetrably distancing artificiality/conventionality (ex: the title)
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 28, 2017
ALONE IN BERLIN (Vincent Perez): Masterpiece Theatre, 1940s Nazi Germany edition.
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 28, 2017
FENCES and IT’S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD wrestle in dynamically different ways with how to adapt theatrical language from stage to screen.
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 14, 2017
I’m watching THE FOUNDER, and just got to the scene in which Michael Keaton sings – SOMEONE CAST THIS MAN IN A BROADWAY MUSICAL PRONTO
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 9, 2017
Neither scale the lofty heights of satire because they fail to meaningfully comment on the genre tropes that they expertly spoof
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) March 2, 2017
P.S. Lincoln Center should totally add those benches around the fountain; could ultimately be the franchise’s greatest cultural contribution
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) March 2, 2017
tbh, the noticeably cartoonish effects ENHANCE the tone. Most big budget CGI unfortunately prioritizes seamless realism over creativity.
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 21, 2017
…viral cat video that at 80 mins is unbearable for anyone except the lamentably feline-obsessed.
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 20, 2017
most concerning his psychology) barely addressed in boringly superficial approach of the 2 few talking heads just telling his story at us.
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 28, 2017
Hot take: Pasek&Paul are this generation’s Stephen Schwartz; pedestrian, faux-serious fluffy pop lyrics cheapen their eminently catchy tunes
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 20, 2017
thus musical – roots (Dionysius, 1st god of theatre, lured his audiences with illusions of excess and pleasure too), ultimately becoming a
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 28, 2017
But honestly, you had me at “horror musical.” When’s the off-Broadway American version opening?!
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 28, 2017
sadly, the rest of the movie mindlessly relies too heavily on the tropes of this formula, never transcending them like the score does
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) January 3, 2017
Realization: @Lin_Manuel‘s HAMILTON and MOANA both re-connect societies to their forgotten roots, as voyagers and immigrants, respectively.
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 20, 2017
MR. GAGA (Tomey Heymann): Poetry in motion through the interplay of words and images. Also, the most persuasive long-form advertising ever?
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 20, 2017
Insights here often take the form of eloquent one-liners. My favorite, regarding the definition of art: the essence of everything in nothing
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 20, 2017
world looks to abandoned children AND their indefatigable innocent whimsy. The simple beauty of this style is matched in the story, which –
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) March 2, 2017
only 66 mins!) does not allow sufficient trotting here. See subtitled version (vs. dubbed one) to retain the precise tone.
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) March 2, 2017
PARIS 05:59: THÉO & HUGO (Ducastel+Martineau): Gaspar Noé/EYES WIDE SHUT meets Linklater’s BEFORE series, yet execution pales in comparison.
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 14, 2017
fanciful animation to compensate for lack of novelty/reduced human-to-human connection. Simplicity can be a virtue, but here feels rote. 2/2
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 14, 2017
Asghar Farhadi needs to write/direct a play that runs in NYC. Besides just the DEATH OF A SALESMAN through-line in THE SALESMAN,
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 28, 2017
ultimate subjectivity of inherited truth and the critical ways different spaces shape the lives lived within them–past, present, and future
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 28, 2017
More is gained hearing the natural cadence of his words than is lost reading subtitles/hearing any translation by culturally foreign actors.
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) February 28, 2017
McAvoy DEVOURS scenery. Glad HAPPENING and AVATAR didn’t compel me to sell my condo on M. Night island #CardCarryingLadyInTheWaterApologist
— Steven Strauss (@aintnohero) March 2, 2017
WRITE ALL NITE 