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| Shailene Woodley in White Bird in a Blizzard, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. |
(USA, 91 min.)
Written and directed by Greg Araki
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Eva Green, Christopher
Meloni, Shiloh Fernandez, Gabourey Sidibe, Thomas Jane, Angela Bassett
That Shailene Woodley is quite the actress. She’s having a
banner year, for she proved that she could carry a movie, for even though Divergent disappointed and didn’t quite
make her the next Katniss, her lead performance arguably elevates the film
above its shoddy source material. Ditto the cancer weepie The Fault in Our Stars, which is shrill gook worth seeing only for
her astonishing dramatic turn, plus the reliable Laura Dern as her radiant
mother. Woodley shows yet another side of her skills with the risqué White Bird in a Blizzard, as she stays
strong to the indie roots that launched her career. Woodley offers a complex
and gutsy performance in White Bird in a
Blizzard and proves that, like Jennifer Lawrence, she’s here to stay long
after dystopian teen cinema runs its course.
Woodley is a marvel as Kat, a teenager getting over the
bizarre disappearance of her mother (Eva Green) in the funky 1990s. Woodley
gives her most stripped-down and bold performance as director Greg Araki offers
another of his edgy, moody, psychosexual films. White Bird calls on Woodley to play a young role of sexual
awakening as she also plays detective, and the girlish seductiveness of
Woodley’s performance plays Kat as confident and strong, but totally in over
her head.
Woodley impresses, but Eva Green steals the show in her
brazen performance as Kat’s lonely/loony mother. Green’s always a little bit
nuts, but the eccentricity of Araki’s direction and his willingness to take the
actors as far as they want to go is a perfect marriage of minds as Green’s
chews the scenery with ferocity of a woman desperate to get the heck out of
Dodge and an one unhappy marriage. The film itself might not be as strong as
its performances, but White Bird has
some truly hypnotic dream sequences that realize the nightmare in which Kat and
her mother lose themselves.
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
White Bird in a Blizzard is currently in limited release from
Magnolia Pictures.
It is currently
available on iTunes and hits DVD/Blu-ray in Canada in January from VSC.
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me
(USA, 81 min.)
Dir. Chieme Karasawa
Broadway icon, comedian, and old-battle-axe extraordinaire
Elaine Stritch gets a sobering portrait in the terrific documentary Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me. This intimate
behind-the-scenes glimpse into the life of the late actress is a must-see for
fans of the 2010 doc Joan Rivers: A Piece
of Work since it’s a feisty tribute to barrier-pushing actresses who defy
the age resistance of show business and go out with their heels on. Stritch’s
signature brash humour cuts right through the bullshit of the entertainment
industry as director Chieme Karasawa follows her along rehearsals of an
upcoming solo show in which she’ll revive some of the top Stephen Sondheim
numbers from her career.
The film also confronts the physical and emotional struggles Stritch faces as it sees her take several trips to the hospital for health scares related to her age and diabetes, yet each trip simply ignites more fire into her performances as she gives each show as if it were her last. Stritch riffs on her old age and works it into the numbers, mocking Hollywood ageism while poking fun at herself in turn. Karasawa gets some surprising footage behind the scenes, though, as Stritch senses her approaching expiry date and accepts it in turn, both fearing the end and defying it by going out on her own terms.
The film also confronts the physical and emotional struggles Stritch faces as it sees her take several trips to the hospital for health scares related to her age and diabetes, yet each trip simply ignites more fire into her performances as she gives each show as if it were her last. Stritch riffs on her old age and works it into the numbers, mocking Hollywood ageism while poking fun at herself in turn. Karasawa gets some surprising footage behind the scenes, though, as Stritch senses her approaching expiry date and accepts it in turn, both fearing the end and defying it by going out on her own terms.
The philosophy in Elaine
Stritch: Shoot Me is truly remarkable as Karasawa follows the energetic
Stritch and gathers interviews from peers in the acting community, including
Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, and James Gandolfini (to whom the film is dedicated),
as they share enthusiasm for working with such an eccentric performer—and an
admittedly difficult one—who brings out the most in her collaborators. Her
demanding flare for showbiz never fades throughout the film, as she, like Joan
Rivers, is a perfect embodiment of Bette Davis’s old adage that “Growing old
ain’t for sissies,” which Stritch and others reference throughout the film. Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me is an
entertaining and insightful portrait of the thrill of performance, a dedication
to one’s craft and, above all, a thirst for living life to the fullest until
the last day. Stritch’s sass and spark will endure in this wonderful glimpse of
her craft.
Rating: ★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me is now available on VOD.
Get On Up
(USA, 138 min.)
Dir. Tate Taylor, Writ. Jez Butterworth, John-Henry
Butterworth, Steven Baigelman
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis, Dan Aykroyd, Viola
Davis, Jill Scott, Octavia Spencer.
Get on Up plays
like crib notes from Film Biopic 101. A great lead performance by Chadwick
Boseman (42) as James Brown, the
Godfather of Soul, is a fully committed turn that could and should make him a
star, but the film is a bloated dramatization that doesn’t jive in tune.
Boseman is electrifying, full of soul and swagger as he delivers some of
Brown’s most famous songs, dance moves, and randy shouts. Director Tate Taylor
makes a disappointing follow-up to The
Help, though, since Get on Up
struggles to balance the drama on a wide canvas that calls for showstopping
numbers, powerful flashbacks, and forceful confrontations with violence, booze,
and drugs. The film mostly suffers from a formless editing job that leaves the
musical numbers clunky and the criss-crossing flashbacks incoherent, especially
a climactic scene with Viola Davis as Brown’s estranged mother. This scene
could be the emotional force of the film, but Get on Up undercuts it with a disappearing act that shuffles it
around the film.
Many of the numbers are awkwardly staged, and Brown’s
infrequent direct-addresses to the camera do little to comment on the material
or involve the audience in the sprawling biopic, but the charm of Boseman’s
performance handily saves everything. The energetic performances alone do
Brown’s story justice, though, and Boseman’s soulful work demands to be seen,
so Get on Up nevertheless marks a
worthy offering for fans of Ray and Walk the Line since it’s bound to induce
some infectious toe-tapping. Efforts by the arts departments, especially the
costumes by Sharon Davis, elevate the production while the booming sound mix
ensures that Brown’s music is powerful and funky.
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Get on Up is currently in theatres from Universal Pictures.
The recent binge-watching also included a return visit to The Grand Budapest Hotel, which is just as much fun on the second trip. This one's on my top ten list for sure!
