The two greatest Nebraska-born auteurs of the last 100 years are surely the late Harold Lloyd and the alive-and-well Alexander Payne. Different world views and approaches to cinema, of course — a brilliant physical comedian and a brainy, low-key dramatist with a wry sense of humor — so there’s no need to compare the two. … Read more
A couple of hours ago writer for hire, critic and feminist Monica Castillo tweeted that her mom “chose Roma for tonight’s movie, so we’re finally watching it together.” Cool, but the screen shot she posted shows what appears to be a natural color image. So Roma is somehow being streamed in color by some entity…? … Read more
To go by the trailer, Bob Nelson‘s The Confirmation doesn’t seem half bad. But why is it playing at the Berlin Film Festival market rather than as a regular festival selection? And if Saban Entertainment is going to post a critical blurb on the one-sheet, shouldn’t they go with the opinion of an occasionally tough … Read more
A color version of Nebraska is showing this Sunday night (8.10) on EPIX, and I for one wouldn’t miss it for the world. Online voices are claiming that the EPIX showing will be some kind of travesty, but don’t you believe it. In an interview last year with Fade In‘s F.X. Feeney, director Alexander Payne … Read more
In an interview with Nebraska director Alexander Payne, Fade In‘s F.X. Feeney discloses that there’s a color version of Nebraska that was prepared by Payne and dp Phedon Papamichael. “I saw the color version once,” Payne says. “I liked it. It was really pretty. Some shots look even prettier in color. We made it look … Read more
Since Cannes my attitude toward Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska has been one of…uhm, muted respect. And that’s not a putdown. It’s certainly worth seeing (especially for Bruce Dern‘s performance, which he and his Paramount backers are doggedly calling a lead, and Phedon Papamichael‘s black-and-white photography). I figured Nebraska might get a Best Picture nomination (what the … Read more
Today’s announcement of the full 2013 Toronto Film Festival slate confirms what I was told and reported on 8.5, which is that three presumed Telluride Film Festival headliners — J.C. Chandor‘s All Is Lost, Joel and Ethan Coen‘s Inside Llewyn Davis and Alexander Payne‘s Nebraska — will not make the trek to Toronto. No one … Read more
Like Sasha Stone, I’ve succumbed to an emotional downshift attitude as far as the Cannes Film Festival is concerned. Tomorrow is my last full day. James Gray‘s The Immigrant at 8:30 am, Jim Jarmusch‘s Last Lovers Left Alive at 7:30 pm and in-between a Nebraska round-table session at the Carlton. I don’t feel like seeing … Read more
I don’t want to put Nebraska down too much. I “liked” it as far as it goes, but so much of it is about capturing the banality of sedentary midwestern lifestyles, and the whole thing just feels overly measured and mid-range and almost resigned. Bruce Dern‘s Woody Grant reminded me of my cranky, cantankerous dad … Read more
Magnolia Pictures announced today that Wayne Wang‘s The Princess of Nebraska, a year-old drama that’s been playing the festival circuit since the ’07 Telluride Film Festival, will make its world premiere on YouTube on Friday, 10.17.08. The free release on the recently launched YouTube Screening Room (http://www.youtube.com/ytscreeningroom) is part of a larger distribution plan which … Read more
We all need to accept that Brady Corbet believes in immersing audiences in the thick, fetid swamp of his own elephantine imaginings. Most of The Brutalist was mute nostril agony for me. But that was nothing compared to what’s coming. For the last year or so Corbet has been cooking up a “get the whiteys!” … Read more