Five New Films You've Never Heard Of - Joan Finch

I love finding out about new films and as I was looking at upcoming March releases I came across 5 interesting ones you may not know about. 

Friends With Kids is about a pair of singles whose friends have all become married parents & who decide to have a kid together. But apparently not be together. Thats some serious peer pressure. The cast has echos of last years Bridesmaids with Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm and Chris O'Dowd. 

It's a directorial debut for actress Jennifer Westfedlt who also wrote and stars in Friends with real life beau Jon Hamm. 

Being Flynn stars Paul Dano and Robert De Niro as father and son struggling with ideas of identity and the father/son relationship. It's based on the personal memoir of Director Paul Weitz who also directed About A Boy and lest I forget...American Pie. Really a surprising mix of films from this guy. 

Jeff, Who Lives at Home looks like a existential comedy but it's being talked about as a variety of genres.  The words 'tonal strangeness' were used to describe it. Brothers Mark and Jay Duplass are unfamiliar to me but it seems like none of their previous work fits well into conventional 'types'.  

Jeff is played by Jason Segel co-starring with Ed Helms, Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon. I don't really know what to make of this one. I'm going to have to see it. 

The Deep Blue Sea is a period piece with a small cast about a love affair and its players. It stars Rachel Weisz, Simon Russell Beale and Tom Hiddleston  respectively as the wife, the husband and the other man. Deep Blue is written and directed by Terence Davies who has a background in theatre and apparently sought Weisz out for the part. I'm a big fan of Rachel Weisz and hopefully she gets to flex her acting muscles. 

Based on the trailer it's also going to be visually stunning. 

Turn Me On, Dammit! is a Norwegian film starring unknown actors with inconceivable yet beautiful names. It's billed as a coming-of-age story and looks like it has a lot of angst, attempted rebellion, social exile, as well as, hormone fueled fantasizing. It's like it's about sex without actually having any. 

Turn Me On is by a female filmmaker named Jannicke Systad Jacobsen. Frankly, the rather spoilery review I read mead it sound pretty great.

Also Mentionable: Detachment with Adrien Brody, Christina Hendricks, James Cann & Lucy Liu.  Indiewire.com describes it as, “a unique and stylized portrait of the American Education system seen through the eyes of substitute teacher Henry Barthes (Adrien Brody).”  Thats a great pitch coming from people who gave it a terrible review. Probably will not be eager for Detachment.

While these may not be coming out in your area they may be worth tracking down. If you're curious about one of these...which was the point...there are some reviews and summaries on imdb.com and The Hollywood Reporter you can check out for more info.

SMASH (2012, TV) Review - Veda Rains

Two weeks in, and I think I've found a new guilty pleasure in NBC's SMASH. I was first drawn to this drama/musical due to its subject matter: a behind-the-scenes look at making a Broadway musical-starting at the very beginning. I grew up on musicals and one of the first things I did when I went to NYC (for the first time) was go see Wicked. I love how much goes into live-action musicals-and how much those musicals can make you feel (well, unless the musical is pretty bad) so this subject matter piqued my interest.
The women vying for the lead in this particular musical are-Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee), a waitress with dreams of grandeur, and Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty), a chorus girl who's put in her time. Both actresses do a good job with what they're given-in Hilty's case, it's a little more interesting. I was concerned the creators would make both girls very polarizing: incredibly good or devilishly bad, but I'm rooting for each character. However, I have to say, on the surface, at least, I'm somewhat disappointed with how stereotypical McPhee's character and her situation is (I think I've written this character a fair amount of times myself). Her parents are from the Midwest and want her to get married already, she constantly disappoints her patient boyfriend and she's green as can be. Thank goodness McPhee turns in a pleasant performance and the second episode shows promise of her character fleshing out. This is my only negative comment, I have to say, because I do really enjoy the writing on the show! All of the characters have a lot of promise and room to grow. It's good to see Anjelica Houston in such a meaty role-throw that drink in that bastard of an ex-husband's face again!
Sure, because this is a musical show, I could say you'll love it or you'll hate it, but I don't think I can. You really need to check out a couple of episodes before you judge. As for me, I'll keep watching to see what happens next.
P.S. They use original music (by the guys who brought you the musical adaptation of Hairspray!) as well as revised versions of current and classic hits!

The Artist (2012) The Short of It Review- Veda Rains

Two weeks until the Oscars! A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of seeing this years' Best Picture front-runner: The Artist (do you see where this review is going? haha). It's new take on an old film form has captivated audiences across the globe and I was no exception.
I find that sometimes my favorite stories on film, are perhaps the most simple stories. It's the way the story is told and how each and every single element brings that seemingly ordinary story together to become an extraordinary story. The Artist is one of these stories.
Fans of Hollywood history and its transition from silent films to talkies immediately are transported back to that time where George Valentin, a silent film star who has it all, comes to terms with the harsh reality that silent films are on the outs. While George is on the way out, Peppy Miller is on her way in, having had a small role in one of Valentin's films, she never forgets Valentin, even as she becomes Hollywood's "it" girl. Both Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo play these roles exceptionally well. As this is a (for the most part) silent film, the actors have masterfully balanced the challenge/art of expressing their emotions in a way that is not over-the-top clown-like, but rather youthful, hopeful. I found myself immediately rooting for both characters.
Overall, this story is a (shall I say) magnificent piece of work! I think you, too, will be rooting for these characters. You'll share their joy, as well as their pain. And what makes this story/journey even better? It has a happy/uplifting ending! A rarity when it comes to films that gets such acclaim. So go see it! You may cry a little, but it just goes to show how heart-warming and spirited this film is. I can only compare it to Pixar films (that team is good!). You just come out of it feeling uplifted, happy, and almost better for watching the film. So go see it!

The Woman in Black (2012) Review - Veda Rains

CBS films must be patting themselves on the back for picking up the $3 million domestic distribution of the gothic horror film, The Woman in Black. The film is expected to make over $21 milllion this weekend and marks Daniel Radcliffe's first onscreen adult role.
The story was first released as a novel in 1983, followed by a stage and screen adaptation (the latter of which, starred Radcliffe's on-screen Harry Potter father, Adrian Rawlins) that same decade.
The tale follows Arthur Kipps, a sad widower who is sent by his law firm to settle the estate of a deceased old woman in a small town. Once he arrives, he is immediately met with angry townsfolk who won't exactly say why they're angry (presumably because they know his business), only that Kipps needs to head back to where he came from. It would have been somewhat helpful for them to actually give reason or share clues to why he avoid the old woman's home (instead of waiting until it's too late), but I suppose it's supposed to add to the mystery. Unfortunately, it also makes most of the townsfolk one-dimensional, save for Daily, a wealthy sensible man who befriends Kipps.
The story is chock-full of moments that will make any viewer jump, as Kipps digs deeper and deeper into the old woman's affairs and sees the woman in black for the first time. The woman is extremely creepy as are the toys in her secret room-seriously, don't get your kids, friends, or family members creepy toys!
Radcliffe turns in an exceptional performance as the tortured Kipps, proving he has a hopeful film career ahead of him. Once Kipps learns the story of the woman in black, and believes he can make things right and rid the town of her, it's very clear that the woman's work will never be done. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be the case, or if Kipps truly believed that he was rid of the woman in black (most likely, he just expressed hope). Of course, once his child meets him at the train station, he clearly wants to play it safe.
Overall, this film was a great choice for a rainy day. It has all the makings of a classic horror story: mystery, secrecy, scary moments that will make you jump, redemption and hope. The end was particularly touching, but not for the reasons countless other horror stories have forged. While I would not mark it down as a masterpiece, it's faults are few and it's definitely worth a viewing or two-just don't watch it alone.

Somewhere (2010) "The Short of It" Review - Veda Rains

I remember reading a lot of positive reviews about this film when it first came out, so when I happened upon it on a Saturday night with little to do, I excitedly settled in for the night to watch it. Starring Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning, this film follows actor Johnny Marco, a hard-living party guy who's recuperating from a hurt arm at the Chateau Marmont. When his daughter is dropped off with little notice, he starts to question his current life situation.
Overall, this is a lovely film due to the fantastic father-daughter dynamic between Dorff and Fanning. I only wish Marco's daughter could have come into the picture sooner, as the beginning drags. Did we really need to see the "pole dancing girls" perform their entire routine? Or a single minute of it-more than once? Anyway...Despite the long opening and those dancing girls, it truly helps shape Dorff's character and made the setting and his life that much more realistic. It was almost as if the viewer is peaking in on Marco and his private life.
One of the most interesting scenes for me, was when Marco goes in to get a cast of his face for a new film he's working on. When everyone leaves him to sit while the cast dries, it truly evokes a sense of symbolism of how lonely Marco is and how much he needs to find purpose in his life-as the film goes on and Marco opens his eyes to his daughter for perhaps the first time in his life, he sees that maybe his purpose was in front of him all along.
This film is touching, honest and real. I would definitely recommend others to check it out!

Award Season is in Full Swing!-Veda Rains

The Golden Globes air tomorrow night and the nominations for the Academy Awards will be announced this coming week! So far, The Artist appears to be the front runner for Best Picture... We'll be watching to see how the night goes.
It's unfortunate that so many of the films that have been getting award recognition or look truly interesting don't get to be shown to the masses like films nominated 30 years ago. Still, we're looking forward to catching some of these films. Another great thing about the award season, is that it sometimes piques the viewers' interest and the ticket sales for films nominated/awarded goes up, causing the films to be released to more theaters. I'm hoping this happens for such films as The Artist! For people in the Columbia, MO area, it looks like it will be coming to Ragtag soon! A few other award hopefuls are playing there now, so check it out!

Once Upon A Time

I have become completely sucked in to the ABC show, Once Upon A Time. It is the most magnificent and imaginative show on ABC since the dearly missed Pushing Daisies. The premise is this: tough bounty hunter Emma Swan gets a visit from the son she gave up years ago. He claims that the town that he came from, Storybrooke, Maine, is in fact a long last magical kingdom. He says that his adoptive mother, Regina Mills, is an evil queen who put a curse on all of the residents of this magical land to make them forget who they really are. Emma is skeptical at first, but when she takes Henry, her son, home, weird things start happening. It's a new and different twist on the old fairy tales that we have all come to know so well.

Every person in Storybrooke has a fairytale counterpart. Some of them you'll discover right off, and others are harder to determine. This is a show that was very promising from the beginning, but it just keeps getting better and better as it goes on.

The cast is stellar and every character(even the evil ones) is compelling and multi-layered. I look forward to seeing what else this show has in store for the viewers.