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| Into the Woods |
Good reads for the week:
-By Joseph Belanger, Black
Sheep Reviews
I love engaging with adaptations and comparing what changes
from page to screen or from stage to screen, but there isn’t time to read and see
everything. The recent adaptation of Into the Woods is one example where I noted that I couldn’t comment on the
adaptation since I haven’t seen the play. Fortunately, though, Joseph at Black Sheep Reviews is familiar with the
musical (even having produced it once!) and he offers a detailed analysis on
what changes from stage to screen. One often gains a lot of insight into a production
by examining the gaps between one work and another, and I especially like his
reading of the film’s final act, which helps some of my own criticisms of the
film’s finale:
“Into the Woods deals directly with debunking the myth that everyone lives happily ever after, never wanting for anything more again after getting your wish fulfilled. While I have debated that the show has some structural issues in the past given that these types of reactions are frequent, I now wonder something else entirely. Is it possible that those who don’t understand the point of the second act just don’t want to know about what comes after everyone gets their wish?”
By Jeff Lebreque, EW
Speaking of adaptations, news broke that the Academy made a
significant ruling on one of the frontrunners in the Best Original Screenplay
race by deeming Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash an adaptation. Whiplash, which
distributor Sony Pictures Classics has been campaigning in the Original
category and was accepted as such by many groups including the Writers Guild of
America, is in a pickle because Chazelle raised funds for the film using a
short film (a hit at Sundance!) featuring J.K. Simmons’ drill sergeant band
conductor. “However,” Lebreque writes, “Chazelle wrote the screenplay for the
full-length feature first, and the short, which debuted at Sundance, was made
to attract notice and funding to tell the story on a larger scale.” This ruling
follows several odd calls for screenplays, most notably 2005’s Syriana, which writer Stephen Gaghan openly
adapted from Bob Baer’s book See No Evil and
credited it as his source, yet the Academy ruled it an original screenplay even
though other writers’ groups acknowledged it as an adaptation, including the
WGA and, notably, the USC Scripter awards for adaptation. Whiplash isn’t an adaptation any way one slices it since none of
the elements of the feature film engage with characters previously written and
produced. Two works conceived simultaneously simply make for two original
works.
By Jason Bailey, Flavorwire
Every year sees films that dramatize real life events, and
every year sees charges of historical inaccuracy. This year’s charges take aim
at Ava DuVernay’s Selma for its
portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson, whom Tom Wilkinson portrays in the
film. Instead of offering a counterargument and debating the merits between
fiction and non-fiction and drama and documentary, Bailey examines the
questionable timing and rhetoric of the piece and incisively takes aim at the agenda
of the Selma challengers. They’re
making noise for the history books, Bailey argues, but solely for those that
account for who wins and who loses on Oscar night: “And what does Mr. Califano
demand in exchange for this betrayal? An amendment of the film? An on-screen
correction? A public apology? Nope: ‘The movie should be ruled out this
Christmas and during the ensuing awards season.’ That line, which ends
Califano’s ‘editorial,’ is a rare bit of transparency — because that piece, and
the furor that has accompanied it, is not about correcting the record. It’s
about keeping Selma from winning Oscars.” I haven’t
had a chance to see Selma yet, but I’m
catching it tonight and looking forward to it as a work of art in its own right.
It’s much more rewarding to write about a film you love, history guys!
"Selma Director on Lyndon B. Johnson Portrayal: I'm not Gonna Argue History"
By Scott Feinberg, The Race/The Hollywood Reporter
DuVernay's been handling the opinions against Selma very well (she's a past publicist, after all) and a recent article in THR highlights Selma's power. Awards pundit Scott Feinberg notes that the film recently got a sound endorsement from journalist Gay Talese, and it couldn't be a better stamp for any filmmaker: "I was on the Pettus Bridge and I watched the mayhem, the madness of Sheriff Clark. She got it. I was there. I saw it. She wasn't there, but she got it. When I was seeing the film, I was seeing what I remembered, truly remembered."
"Selma Director on Lyndon B. Johnson Portrayal: I'm not Gonna Argue History"
By Scott Feinberg, The Race/The Hollywood Reporter
DuVernay's been handling the opinions against Selma very well (she's a past publicist, after all) and a recent article in THR highlights Selma's power. Awards pundit Scott Feinberg notes that the film recently got a sound endorsement from journalist Gay Talese, and it couldn't be a better stamp for any filmmaker: "I was on the Pettus Bridge and I watched the mayhem, the madness of Sheriff Clark. She got it. I was there. I saw it. She wasn't there, but she got it. When I was seeing the film, I was seeing what I remembered, truly remembered."
By Sam Adams, Criticwire
Another annual award season (sort of) controversy is the
announcement of the Golden Raspberry Awards
aka the Razzies. Honouring the ‘berry worst’ in film, the Razzies shame the low
points of the year. The Razzie longlist broke before the upcoming nominations,
with titles like The Interview, I, Frankenstein, and Pompeii on the list. (See the longlist
at The Playlist.) I’ll admit that I enjoy the novelty of the Razzies even
though one can never take them at face value, but rather as a bit of
finger-wagging at multi-million blunders that fall flat on their faces. The annual
news mostly brings groans about the awards and Criticwire editor Sam Adams
gives the Razzies their biggest squish this year, writing, “So
what you've got, in essence, is a group of unidentified voters with unknown
qualifications taking shots at people they reflexively dislike, and — here is
where the problem begins — being rewarded for it.” Are the Razzies an annual
novelty? Should Hollywood be allowed to laugh at itself (or be laughed at?) during
award season or is it time to turn the Razzies into jam?
-Bang + Strike
Past Oscar winners include some impressive inhabitations of
accents and make-up, while other actors fully transform their bodies to become
the characters they play. If you're looking for something outside of reading and want to play around a little, this handy infographic
charts the physical transformation of some of Hollywood’s most notable metamorphoses,
including Charlize Theron’s 30 lb commitment to become Aileen Wuornos in Monster. Some critics have been calling
Jennifer Aniston’s deglamed and hefty transformation in Cake her Monster, so
could Aniston follow Oscar history by becoming the character she plays?
By Susan Wloszczyna, Thompson
on Hollywood
Since we’re talking about Jennifer Aniston, ToH!’s Susan Wloszczyna looks at
Jennifer Aniston’s growing profile in the Best Actress race and offers seven
reasons why she could land her first Oscar nomination for Cake. Wouldn’t you know it, her transformation gets a shout-out: “But
that doesn’t mean that Aniston doesn’t deserve all those “for your
consideration” ads. And after topping People magazine’s Most Beautiful list in
2004 and being declared “The Sexiest Woman of All Time” by readers of “Men’s
Health” magazine in 2011, that's not just because she is stripped of all
makeup, exhibits facial scars and has limp fly-away hair in Cake.” Cake doesn’t
screen here until January 21st, but I’m looking forward to it!
-By Olivia Roat, Buzzfeed
No actress transforms quite like Meryl Streep does, so why
not kill five minutes and take a Buzzfeed quiz after playing around with stars’
weight loss numbers. Just what kind of Meryl Streep are you? Do you like
accents and wigs? Do you sing ABBA or Sondheim? Would you tell them to take the
little girl or the little boy? Do you snort orchids or eat butter by the pound?
I tried and got “Academy Awards Meryl Streep.” These things are hilariously
accurate!
"Best Music Documentaries of 2014"
-By Andy Markowitz, Nonfics
"Best Music Documentaries of 2014"
-By Andy Markowitz, Nonfics
Nonfics is impressively hihglighting the best docs of the year, and this week's recap of the top music docs is especially worth a read. Rock docs, rockumentaries, or whatever one chooses to call them frequently mark the most popular and audience-friendly non-fiction films of the year, but there's also an art that goes along with exploring the world of film and music. This list shows thar 2014 was a good year for rock docs, since even the terrific doc Keep on Keepin' On misses the cut, but hat's off to Nonfics for recognizing films the My Prairie Home that deserve a shout-out. (Admittedly, that film should have been included among my list of Canada's best for the year.)
-Point of View
Documentary magazine Point
of View lists the most-read articles of 2014. Popular reads include
backgrounders and interviews on some of the best Canadian docs of the year
including The Wanted 18
and Monsoon.
-The Seventh Art
Joining Monsoon at
TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten is Xavier Dolan’s Mommy.
(My favourite Canadian film of the year.) To help highlight some of the
signature style and substance of the filmmaker behind Canada’s acclaimed Oscar
bid for 2014, TIFF commissioned a video essay from Toronto video-magazine The Seventh Art. The insightful
ten-minute essay, narrated by filmmaker Patricia Rozema, is a great exploration
of Dolan’s work and shows the filmmaker’s style comes together most fully in Mommy.