September 2017 – We Are Movie Geeks

VICTORIA AND ABDUL – Review

*Judi Dench (left) stars as Queen Victoria and Ali Fazal (right) stars as Abdul Karim in*
*director Stephen Frears’ VICTORIA AND ABDUL, a Focus Features release. Photo credit: Peter Mountain / Focus Features ©*

Director Stephen Frears’ funny, charming VICTORIA AND ABDUL was inspired by a real event late in the life of Queen Victoria, when the aging British monarch had her mood brighten by the arrival of a visitor from India, much to the dismay of her advisers and her son, the crown prince. Judi Dench gives a brave and bitingly funny performance as the elderly Queen Victoria, which feels a bit like a kind of sequel to her role as the same queen earlier in life in 1997’s MRS. BROWN. Frears’ handsome historical comedy/drama has a script written by Lee Hall, who penned BILLY ELLIOT, and is based on journalist Shrabani Basu’s “Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant.”

In 1887, Queen Victoria (Dench) is celebrating her Golden Jubilee. After 50 years on the British throne, the queen’s life on a personal level has become a depressing routine, with formal lunches and dinners for hundreds of aristocrats and state formalities which she endures rather than enjoys. Long widowed and disappointed with her children, the lonely queen overeats and has little to look forward to each morning. She would probably like to just sleep in but an army of servants and courtiers ensure that never happens. After all, she is the queen.

However, one particular formal lunch includes the arrival of a pair of exotically dressed Indian men, who are there to present a commemorative coin as a gift from the Indian people for her Golden Jubilee. As everyone bows with eyes cast down, the monarch looks at the tall handsome young Indian presenting the gift. He has been instructed to never look at the queen but, against all protocol, he looks her in the eye, and smiles. Worse, he impulsively kissed her feet. She is immediately charmed as well as curious.

Once Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal) catches the queen’s eye, she maneuvers to have him at her side and peppers him with questions about India, a part of her empire she had never visited. He dazzles her with glowing, poetic descriptions of his homeland which spark her imagination. He dazzled her with his glowing descriptions. and again breaking protocol, politely corrected her misconceptions about his homeland. When she assumed he was Hindu, he gently told her he was Muslim and told her there were many religions in India. When she asked him to teach her Hindi, he suggested instead he teach her Urdu, because it was a “noble language” more suitable for a queen.

With his warmth, naturalness, and infectious enthusiasm, an unexpected friendship quickly grows between them and Abdul quickly advances from footman to “spiritual adviser,” much to the dismay of the queen’s inner staff and especially her son Bertie (Eddie Izzard), the future King Edward VII. Among the officials alarmed by the situation are Lady Churchill (Olivia Williams), Lord Salisbury (Michael Gambon), and Sir Henry Ponsonby (Tim Pigott-Smith).

Fazal makes Abdul’s genuine fondness for Victoria is apparent, alternating between a beguiling romantic flirtation and the adoring innocence of a child. He takes a child-like joy in teaching her about India and, like a child carried away with his own dreams, his glowing tales include fantasy embellishments about his own family. Back in India, Abdul is a lowly clerk who records the names of those in prison but when he describes his work to the queen he is transformed into a respected “writer,” which she takes to mean a poet or novelist. He does not mean to deceive so much as bask in the fantasy himself, along with his kindly royal friend. She rewards him with servants, plush quarters and rich clothes, fulfilling his fantasies.

There is a lot of laugh-out-loud absurdity in this situation but there is also real human warmth between the queen and her new confident, which adds a special dimension of a young person bringing joy and brightness to the life of the elderly queen, the kind of delight grandchildren usually bring. Abdul seems clueless about the rules of proper behavior that everyone else around her observes, so Victoria can relax and just be human with him, a luxury she lacks. At times, Abdul is like a bubbly child, at others he is like a flirtatious young man, both of which boost the queen’s spirits, but he also serves to help her travel to far-off India in her mind and to be a sympathetic ear to her troubles. The friendship between the elderly queen and this outsider precipitates panic among the palace inner circle and threatens to become a political crisis.

Basu’s book was based on diaries and journals of both Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, although the friendship was covered-up and kept secret for decades after the queen’s death. In the film, director Frears uses the unlikely friendship between Victoria and Abdul to satirically explore issues of race, class, religion, culture, and colonialism, mocking the latter and drawing attention to absurdities and injustices.

This isn’t the first film in which a young man arrives to charm and brightening the life of an older woman, that also has a bit of romantic fantasy mixed with a grandmotherly affection. The fact that this is the queen herself in the famously sexually repressive Victorian era offers extra titillation. But Frears only gently toys with, alluding to the subject of MRS. BROWN, in which Dench also starred as Queen Victoria in another romantic flirtation, and generally just leaves it at looks and tone of voice between Dench and Fazal.

Judi Dench is fearless and amazing in her role as Queen Victoria. Dench allows the camera to linger on every wrinkle and even the bit of food on her chin, as the depressed queen greedily hurries through her formal luncheon, inconsiderately slurping her soup so quickly that guests hardly taste it before bowls are removed as protocol requires. When Abdul’s bright smile and enthusiasm catch her attention, Dench spotlights the queen’s curiosity and suddenly renewed interest in life, as well as her hunger for a real human connection denied her in her strictly formal life. Dench’s Victoria also shows a mischievous enjoyment sparked by goading the religious prejudice, class-ism and racism that grip her inner circle as they grow alarmed over her attentions to Abdul.

The prejudices and hatreds at play are embodied by Michael Gambon’s indignant Lord Salisbury, Olivia Williams’ disdainful Lady Churchill and Eddie Izzard’s sputtering Bertie in particular, who conspire to rid the household of Abdul’s inconvenient presence. The subject of an inappropriate romantic attraction is addressed much less than their racial, religious and class outrage.

The real Abdul Karim may have been a rogue and a bit of a con man but as Bollywood star Ali Fazal plays him he is a sweetly boyish charmer, which works much better for this film. While Fazal creates a likable dreamer and we easily see his appeal for the lonely Victoria, Abdul’s motives and inner thoughts remains opaque. Frear never really lets us inside the head of this character, although we do see his affection and real friendship for the queen. Abdul’s enjoyment at living a fantasy life as a nobleman is clear but his reasoning behind some of his deceits is murky. He spins a tale of his noble educated family when in fact they are poor and uneducated but it is unclear if he is trying to convince the queen they are social equals or just fantasizing out loud about what he wishes was true.

While always-positive Abdul is enthusiastic about being in England, his companion and fellow countryman Mohammed (Adeel Akhtar) in not. The original plan was to send a pair of tall Indian men to make the presentation to the queen together, but a last-minute problem meant the short, dour Mohammed was pressed into service instead. The change put Abdul Karim front and center before the queen, with his fellow countryman as a sort of supporting player. As Abdul ascends, Mohammad is reduced to being his servant.

Akhtar provides a pleasantly comic downbeat character to Abdul’s unrelenting sunniness, but also provides the film’s most pointed commentary on colonialism and cultural prejudice. Akhtar’s Mohammed dislikes all things British, describes their food as “completely barbaric,” and longs to go home. He serves as the voice of reality to Abdul’s dream world. While Abdul basks in his elevated position, Mohammed knows its all fantasy, and Indians are suffering at home under British colonial rule.

Cinematographer Danny Cohen (THE KING’S SPEECH) makes sure the film is visually beautiful and lavish, making good use of the wonderful locations, sets and costumes. As gorgeous as the film is, it is still Dench’s performance that really rivets.

VICTORIA AND ABDUL seems certain to snag another Oscar nomination for Judi Dench, in this funny, winning historic film.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

DOLORES – Review

*Coachella, CA: 1969. United Farm Workers Coachella March, Spring 1969. UFW leader, Dolores Huerta, organizing marchers on 2nd day of March Coachella. © 1976 George Ballis/Take Stock / The Image Works*

Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the National Farm Workers Union, the person who coined the phrase “Yes, We Can” (“Si Se Puede”), a labor organizer instrumental in leading the 1960s grape boycott, and a social activist for Chicano, Native American and Latinos rights, should be a name everyone knows, as familiar as that of Caesar Chavez, the other co-founder of the National Farm Workers Union. Never heard of Dolores Huerta? Many people haven’t, and that’s the problem the new documentary DOLORES sets out to remedy.

History seems to have a way of writing out both women and people of color, both of which describe Dolores Huerta. This well-made documentary goes a way towards righting that wrong in the case of Huerta. The film is directed by Peter Bratt (brother of Benjamin Bratt, who served as a consulting producer) and produced by Carlos Santana, who contributes to the vibrant sound track as well.

Huerta is well-known within the farm labor, Latino and social activist communities, if less so among the general public. The documentary spotlights Huerta’s personal and professional life, first as an organizer for poor farm workers in California, and then as a social activist for Mexican-Americans and Native Americans, a voice for poor Spanish-speaking immigrants, and for women within the male-dominated labor movement. Huerta has an unexpected personal story as well – the mother of eleven children, twice-married and divorced, and then in a relationship with a third man, the brother of Caesar Chavez. But Huerta was and is a woman who devoted her life to her cause above all else, someone who lived what she advocated, in the manner of Gandhi, as this film shows us.

Enlivened by music by Carlos Santana and others, the film offers archival footage of Huerta that also features such notables as Barack Obama and Bobby Kennedy, interviews with Gloria Steinem, figures within the farm workers and the Chicano movements, as well as her own accomplished children. The documentary is a bracing, illuminating tour of this segment of social change from the 1950s through the 1960s, and onward. DOLORES is a must-see for its tour of the history left out of school textbooks (or in Huerta’s case, deliberately removed) and for its shining a spotlight on a strong woman leader, a woman of ideas and action, a historical figure who deserves to be better known.

DOLORES opens in St. Louis on Friday, September 29, at the Tivoli Theater.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

AMERICAN MADE – Review

Oliver Stone’s films from the 1990s feel substantially more radical than the anarchic, protest-cinema label that many seemed quick to slap on them. Like Stone’s JFK or NATURAL BORN KILLERS, AMERICAN MADE is a barrage of visual and aural cues slapped together to create that same kinetic spirit that Stone so artfully mastered. Yet, in its attempt to be a Stone-level critique of America, director Doug Liman instead just apes the style without any discerning commentary. It’s like a high-schooler giving the middle finger to the Reagan-era policies without fully understanding the why.

Tom Cruise reunites with his EDGE OF TOMORROW director, Doug Liman, to tell the true story of a pilot who is unexpectedly recruited by the CIA to run one of the biggest covert operations in U.S. history in the late 70s. What starts out as a few trips taking aerial photos of enemy bases in South America, quickly turns into a criminal career transporting cocaine and guns from Panama to the U.S. for both the CIA and one of the most notorious cartels in the world.

One of the boldest and most outrageous performances in Tom Cruise’s career is partially overshadowed by the fact that he’s completely miscast. Sure, the story demands someone that’s charming and can lighten the severity of the subject matter, but I couldn’t help but think how Sam Rockwell could have added some emotional depth to the role. Despite all the sweating and shocked expressions Cruise exhibits from scene to scene, there’s barely a moment of tension where you feel the pressure and severity of what’s at stake.

The moral compass never balances out as the majority of the film seems to glorify his pursuit of making more money by any means possible. Liman has taken Gary Spinelli’s screenplay and spun it in a way to make it as lighthearted and zany as possible. Though the only aspect that’s even remotely funny is the fact that we’re watching one of the most controlling A-list Hollywood stars cut loose and have some fun for once. We’ve seen this type of dark satire before – and done much better with a more talented cast – but the message seems lost amid a style of filmmaking and story that’s focused on excess. The critique of the American dream has never felt so tired.

How the world and the political landscape has been affected by the Iran-Contra Scandal is an interesting story, and one that could have been injected more into this depiction of how normalcy can shift so easily into debauchery. Regardless of such big-name characters like Escobar, Noriega, and Reagan, the bigger picture is ignored to make more room for Cruise’s antics. Despite the energy that the film’s commander in chief has for the subject matter, this American tale is an exhausting exercise in saying so little, so very loudly.

Overall score: 2.5 out of 5

AMERICAN MADE opens in theaters everywhere September 29th

WOODSHOCK – Review

It’s travel time at the vacation wing of the ole’ multiplex yet again. A couple of months ago we explored France in PARIS CAN WAIT, and just a few weeks ago we joined Steve and Rob for a food-filled travelogue in THE TRIP TO SPAIN. Summer may be over, but it’s not too late to “get away from it all” with another trip….a trip inside your mind. If you’re thinking of “mother’s little helper” then you’re on the right track. Movies about drugs have changed with society over the years. The first flicks were hysterical (in more ways than one) cautionary tales epitomized by the camp classic REEFER MADNESS. With the counter culture’s rise in the 60’s and 70’s there were more enlightened films like, well Roger Corman’s THE TRIP. And in the 80’s Cheech and Chong finally took their weed humor to the big screen with UP IN SMOKE, which begat a new genre, the “dope comedy” with PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, HALF BAKED, and it’s “Citizen Kane”, THE BIG LEBOWSKI. Now that states are easing up on pot, many legalizing it, will there be a new “strain” of “chronic cinema”? Well here’s a unique mix, a thriller/marijuana whose title is a nod to a 60’s movie/event: WOODSHOCK. Oh, and you’d best hit the concession stand first.

Theresa (Kirsten Dunst) shares a rustic house with her husband Nick (Joe Cole). He works clearing trees in the massive wooded area just outside their little town. At the beginning of the story, they’re taking care of Theresa’s gravely ill mother, who’s occupying a bedroom. As the days drag on, Theresa tries to relieve Mom’s pain with marijuana. Before she rolls the joint, she mixes in a few drops of a liquid from a small amber-colored bottle. After a few tokes, mother drifts away into the embrace of death. This sends Theresa into a tailspin of grief, wearing mom’s old clothing, and weeping beside her empty bed. Nick is of little help, since he accepted a promotion and is putting in lots of extra hours. Finally Theresa decides to return to her old job at a state-sanctioned marijuana dispensary run by the gregarious Keith (Pilou Asbaek). One of the shops regulars is senior citizen Ed (Steph DuVall), who needs to ease his suffering from a lingering illness. One day Keith suggests that Theresa add a little “something special” to Ed’s prescription to “help him out”. She douses the buds and gives him the special supply. But both are stunned when Ed returns to the shop after word gets out about the death of another “regular”, college-age Johnny (Jack Kilmer). has she lost her mind? Did she deliberately switch their orders? And what about her midnight walks about the woods and her nocturnal fence building? Will a few joints laced with the liquid help her understand what happened?

After co-starring in last year’s unexpected box office smash HIDDEN FIGURES, Dunst is re-establishing herself as an “indie” film icon with this role (even more arty that THE BEGUILED remake from a few months ago). Her Theresa is the film’s main focus. Dunst conveys the all-consuming grief Theresa feels over the loss of her mother, and her own hand in it. It’s followed by numbed days, leading to extreme self-meditation. Dunst makes her an enigma (or perhaps a mystery wrapped in an enigma), a blonde ghost often literally floating through life (echoing her MELONCHOLIA role in many ways). She’s the opposite of Asbaek as the “party monster” Keith who seems to always be on the search for the newest thrill or high. His relationship with Theresa is complex. Were or are they lovers? We know they’re boss and employee, but something deeper is bubbling under the surface. There’s more passion between them than there is with Cole as the confused, clueless Nick. He wants to help his wife, but doesn’t have the skills or time to break through to her. DuVall is a hovering reminder of mortality, a guy wanting to go, but can’t get the exit door to work. Kilmer is almost a kid brother to Dunst, a warm fire snuffed out cruelly, though it’s never clear if it was by accident.

Nothing’s very clear about this film at all. Fashion documentaries Kate and Laura Mulleavy in their feature film making debut (script also) aim for atmosphere rather than coherence. the camera lingers on Dunst as she gazes into mirrors, an angel of death dispensing truly “killer weed”. Much time is spent on double-exposed images with flowers and butterflies suddenly dissolving into the background. Are they trying to make us feel as though we’re on some powerful stuff? Oh, and what’s with the fence building anyway? No clues are present nor hinted. The whole flick’s a hazy fever dream that never really lets us wake up. While the recent mother! flaunted its artistic intents, it had an energy to it, while this film glides along in a slow-motion haze. We never get attached to the characters (who mumble more than speak), which lessens the story’s impact and heightens the frustration at the stupefying conclusion (everything just stops instead of resolving). WOODSHOCK is one long pretentious trip. Bummer man.

1.5 Out of 5

WOODSHOCK opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Tivoli theatre.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS Screens at Schlafly Bottleworks October 5th

“It’s funny… the world is so different in the daylight. In the dark, your fantasies get so out of hand. But in the daylight everything falls back into place again.”

CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962) screens Thursday October 5th at 7:00pm at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue Maplewood, MO 63143).

It’s often the case with horror films that the best ones are those that rely on the power of suggestion rather than gallons of fake blood and impersonal computer-generated special effects – think of the work of Val Lewton, for example, which showed a rare intelligence for a much-maligned genre.

Herk Harvey’s CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962) was shot on a budget with no big-name stars, and yet succeeds in unsettling the viewer to a degree that goes far beyond many of its mega-budget rivals. A young woman, Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss), survives a plunge off a bridge in her friend’s car and, seemingly unscathed, travels to a new town to start work as a church organist. There is something cold and unfeeling about her, despite her apparent lack of injuries, and she eventually upsets and unsettles those around her, including the church minister and her creepy fellow lodger, Mr Linden.

In turn, Mary feels cut off from the world around her, especially as she experiences episodes where she seems to be ignored by everyone. There is also the strange matter of the zombie-like figure she keeps seeing, and the deserted fairground which somehow draws her to it ….

CARNIVAL OF SOULS could be viewed as a horror film purely on the main story (girl pursued by zombies), and is a success on that level: however, the film’s power is due to the psychological aspects underlying the plot. Mary experiences a type of disconnection with society, at one point exclaiming “I don’t belong in the world”, and it is this disorientation which affects the viewer most strongly. She is ignored in a department store: when she tries to get the attention of the shop assistants, she feels as if she is not there – and haven’t we felt that way ourselves at times, when no-one appears to acknowledge that we need attention and service. However, the problem goes deeper: Mary also finds that her supposedly sympathetic doctor seems unaware of her when she is discussing her problems.And what of the fairground? A building which usually brings back happy childhood memories, somewhere to have fun and laughter, and yet this fairground has a sinister fascination for Mary. It simultaneously repels and attracts her, and she discovers the truth when she pays it a final visit.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS is truly an original film, and one that holds up very well today. It’s a must see for fans of surrealism, horror, or just experiences. Don’t miss it October 6^th at Schlafly Bottleworks

A Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/282679472218009
$6 for the screening. A yummy variety of food from Schlafly’s kitchen is available as are plenty of pints of their famous home-brewed suds.

“Culture Shock” is the name of a film series here in St. Louis that is the cornerstone project of a social enterprise that is an ongoing source of support for Helping Kids Together(http://www.helpingkidstogether.com/) a St. Louis based social enterprise dedicated to building cultural diversity and social awareness among young people through the arts and active living.

The films featured for “Culture Shock” demonstrate an artistic representation of culture shock materialized through mixed genre and budgets spanning music, film and theater. Through ‘A Film Series’ working relationship with Schlafly Bottleworks, they seek to provide film lovers with an offbeat mix of dinner and a movie opportunities.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES – Review

If you’re over age 50, you likely recall the Billie Jean King-Bobby Riggs tennis match from 1973, a feminist landmark and time-capsule of male chauvinist history that attracted one of the biggest audiences ever for a sporting event at that time. Over 100 million worldwide watched the 29-year old Number 2 ranked women’s champion take on the 55-year old former men’s champ in a $100,000 tournament that’s now been dramatized in BATTLE OF THE SEXES, a flawed but mostly entertaining look at a repressive time when women athletes weren’t taken seriously and ‘lesbian’ was a dirty word.

Loudmouth hustler and gambling addict Bobby Riggs (Steve Carrel), was a self-confessed ‘male chauvinist pig’ even though he lived off the family money of his second wife Priscilla (Elizabeth Shue). Riggs had been a tennis champ decades earlier and was still active on the senior circuit in the early ‘70s. He got the crazy idea to challenge any “hairy-legged feminist” to a match, just to prove male superiority in the sport, then handily defeated number 1-ranked Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee). His ego kicked into high gear, he boosted the prize purse and the number 2 player, Billie Jean King (Emma Stone), accepted his challenge. King had recently butted heads with Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman) the head of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) over women’s place in the sport and saw the battle with Riggs as a chance to prove that she should be taken just as seriously as her male counterparts. King was also battling her own sexual identity as she found herself falling for Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborouh), the women’s team hairdresser, though she was married to male model-handsome Larry King (Austin Stowell).

BATTLE OF THE SEXES is a fun time, with the right mix comedy and drama, telling a true story so lively and cinematic that I’m surprised hasn’t been filmed before. Married co-directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris do an impressive job in balancing the King’s complicated love life with the media circus at the center of the story .The script by Oscar-winner Simon Beaufoy (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE) portrays Riggs as a clown, which he was. A proud clown at that, he promised to put the ‘show’ in chauvinism. His view toward women, whom he believed shouldn’t be on the tennis court—unless they’re there to retrieve stray balls, was best summed up when he claimed to love them “in the bedroom and in the kitchen”, yet Riggs in THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES is never unlikeable for a second. Carrel was born to play Riggs, and the actor’s comic chops come in handy, especially during a series of training and public relations montages that include a giant racket, a Burt Reynolds-inspired nude photo shoot, and Riggs chasing sheep off the court dressed as Little Bo Peep. A scene where he disrupts his Gamblers Anonymous meeting with some horrible advice is a gut-buster and I honestly can’t imagine another actor in this role. But Riggs isn’t the villain of the film, nor is Larry King, who was always in his wife’s corner, urging her to fight gender establishment politics. The real bully in BATTLE OF THE SEXES is Pullman’s small-minded and intimidating Jack “It’s a man’s game” Kramer and there’s a superbly-written scene near the end when King tells him off, explaining the dangerous difference between Riggs attitudes towards women athletes and his.

My main problem with BATTLE OF THE SEXES is that Riggs is such a colorful and charismatic character that Ms King often seems dull by contrast. Stone is good, playing King with conviction and with all the innocent, wide-eyed optimism of a woman determined to change the world, but whenever the movie focused on her, I found myself getting impatient, wanting the action to move back to Mr. Riggs. The many scenes between King and lover Marilyn are redundant, and the obvious “sexism is bad” message is hammered home again and again, resulting in some pacing issues. Directors Dayton and Valerie do a credible job of capturing the mood of the times through fashion and hairstyles and ever-present TVs in the background (shots of Howard Cosell digitally interacting with the film’s actors are startling and effective). While I think this is a less-lazy approach than drenching the soundtrack with period songs (though there are a few), Nicholas Brittell’s drab score underwhelms. Despite some weaknesses, BATTLE OF THE SEXES is a funny and engrossing crowd-pleaser with strong performances and plenty of memorable moments.

3 1/2 of 5 Stars

New Line Cinema’s Box Office Juggernaut ‘IT’ Floats Past Half a Billion Dollars Worldwide

Continuing its record-breaking run, New Line Cinema’s horror thriller “IT” is surpassing $500 million at the worldwide box office today, after less than three weeks in release, it was announced today by Sue Kroll, President Worldwide Marketing and Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. The critically acclaimed blockbuster is now the highest-grossing horror film ever, breaking the 44-year record belonging to “The Exorcist,” one of the longest-held records in cinema history.

After shattering numerous domestic records in its opening weekend—including those for the top horror film opening and biggest September opening for any film—”IT” is still going strong.

Internationally, “IT” has terrified a growing global audience as the film continues to roll out to record-breaking results in overseas markets. Among the records the film has broken, “IT” scored the biggest opening weekend ever for a horror film in more than 30 territories, including the UK, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. In 17 of those territories, including the UK, Russia and Australia, “IT” has already become the top-grossing horror film of all time, and still counting. Anticipation is also building in several markets where the film is yet to open, including Germany, Italy and Japan.

Kroll stated, “Crossing $500 million is rarified air for any film, but for a horror film it is history-making, and we could not be prouder. The filmmakers and cast did more than make a box office hit; they created a communal, must-see moviegoing event that has reverberated around the globe and is still going strong. We congratulate Andy Muschietti, the extraordinary producing team, and everyone involved in ‘IT’ on reaching this amazing milestone.”

Directed by Andy Muschietti (“Mama”), “IT” is based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, which has been terrifying readers for decades. First published in 1986, IT became an instant classic. It continues to be counted among the best and most influential works of the undisputed literary master of horror, inspiring numerous film and television projects in the years that have followed.

“IT” tells the story of seven young outcasts growing up in the township of Derry, Maine, who call themselves the Losers’ Club. Each of them has been ostracized for one reason or another; each has a target on their back from the local pack of bullies…and all have seen their inner fears come to life in the form of an ancient shapeshifting predator they can only call It. Banding together over one horrifying and exhilarating summer, the Losers form a close bond to help them overcome their own fears and stop a killing cycle that began on a rainy day, with a small boy chasing a paper boat as it swept down a storm drain…and into the hands of Pennywise the Clown.

The film stars Bill Skarsgård (“Allegiant,” TV’s “Hemlock Grove”) as the story’s central villain, Pennywise. An ensemble of young actors also star in the film, including Jaeden Lieberher (“Midnight Special”), Jeremy Ray Taylor (“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip”), Sophia Lillis (“37”), Finn Wolfhard (TV’s “Stranger Things”), Wyatt Oleff (“Guardians of the Galaxy”), Chosen Jacobs (upcoming “Cops and Robbers”), Jack Dylan Grazer (“Tales of Halloween”), Nicholas Hamilton (“Captain Fantastic”) and Jackson Robert Scott, making his film debut.

Muschietti directed “IT” from a screenplay by Chase Palmer & Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman, based on the novel by King. Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Seth Grahame-Smith, David Katzenberg and Barbara Muschietti produced the film, with Dave Neustadter, Walter Hamada, Richard Brener, Toby Emmerich, Marty P. Ewing, Doug Davison, Jon Silk and Niija Kuykendall executive producing.

The behind-the-scenes creative team included director of photography Chung-Hoon Chung (“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” “Oldboy”), production designer Claude Paré (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”), editor Jason Ballantine (“Mad Max: Fury Road”), and costume designer Janie Bryant (TV’s “Mad Men”). The music is by Benjamin Wallfisch (“Annabelle: Creation”).

New Line Cinema presents a Vertigo Entertainment/Lin Pictures/Katzsmith Production, “IT.” The film is being distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

“IT” has been rated R for violence/horror, bloody images, and for language.

Gary Oldman is Winston Churchill! Check Out the New Trailer for DARKEST HOURS

Focus Features will release Darkest Hour in select cities on November 22, 2017

This new trailer looks amazing:

During the early days of World War II, with the fall of France imminent, Britain faces its darkest hour as the threat of invasion looms. As the seemingly unstoppable Nazi forces advance, and with the Allied army cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the leadership of the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman). While maneuvering his political rivals, he must confront the ultimate choice: negotiate with Hitler and save the British people at a terrible cost or rally the nation and fight on against incredible odds. Directed by Joe Wright, DARKEST HOUR is the dramatic and inspiring story of four weeks in 1940 during which Churchill’s courage to lead changed the course of world history.

DARKEST HOUR is directed by Joe Wright and stars Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn

THE WITCHES Screening at Schlafly Bottleworks October 4th – ‘Strange Brew’

THE WITCHES screens Wednesday,October 4th at 8pm at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, MO 63143) as part of Webster University’s Award-Winning Strange Brew Film Series. Admission is $5

Roald Dahl may not have enjoyed the financial success of J K Rowling, but he knew how to spin a good yarn for kids. THE WITCHES (1990) is an excellent blend of Dahl ‘s dark story and British slap-stick humor, the whole thing realized in a seaside hotel that might have been run by Basil Fawlty.

These witches have gathered at the hotel to finalize plans for the extermination of nasty, smelly children (good luck to ’em, I say). Ably led by Angelica Houston – who camps it up so far over the top as Grand High Witch that you almost wish she could win – they are going to put her master-plan into execution, using a particularly powerful magic poison. Our young hero Jasen (Luke Eveshim), staying there with his invalid grandmother, accidentally discovers their plan, and being captured, is turned into a mouse. The whole adventure becomes a race against time to stop them before it’s too late.

Some of the scenes in THE WITCHES are, in effect, child cruelty – are singularly out of step with modern political-correctness and some of the scenes of metamorphosis, especially amongst the witches, are almost the stuff of nightmares. Leave the tots at home. THE WITCHES is a brilliant blend of Fantasy and Horror, this film is a treat you shouldn’t miss and you’ll have a chance to see October 4th at Schlafly Bottleworks Restaurant and Bar (7260 Southwest Ave.- at Manchester – Maplewood, MO 63143)

A Facebook invite for this event can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/1706359263006343/

The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra Accompany THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC October 12th at SWIC in Belleville, IL

THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928) Screens at 7:o0 Thursday, October 12th at The Schmidt Arts Center on the campus of Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, Illinois (2500 Carlyle Ave ). The silent film will be accompanied by the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra.

Silent films with live music! There’s nothing like it and St. Louis is lucky to have The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra here. For the past several years, The Rats and People have actively defined both the local music and film cultures of our city. In addition to its prolific composition and live performance of new scores for films of the silent era, the ensemble – equal parts indie/punk-stalwart and classically trained composers/musicians – have provided the soundtrack for many of St. Louis’ most vital and acclaimed locally-produced contemporary films.

Thursday, October 12th at 7:00pm, The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra will perfrom their score for the 1928 silent classic THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC. The event takes place at The Schmidt Arts Center on the campus of Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, Illinois (2500 Carlyle Ave )

Jeanne d’Arc (1412-1431), who was granted sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church in 1920, has become a mythic figure in world culture. Key elements of this myth include her humble peasant origins, the “celestial voices” that inspired her to action; her controversial donning of men’s clothes; her courageous military leadership, and finally her capture by the English, her trial for heresy and her execution at Rouens in 1431. She has since been made the subject of innumerable books, paintings, poems, plays and films. Carl Theodor Dreyer’s THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928), one of the most celebrated of all silent films, focuses on the last period of her brief life. The narrative compresses the twenty-nine sessions of the trial into a single day, encompassing Jeanne’s examination before the judges, the torments by the guards, her physical torture, her coercion into signing a confession that she later retracted, and finally her burning at the stake.

With its stunning camerawork and striking compositions, THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC convinced the world that movies could be art. Renée Falconetti gives one of the greatest performances ever recorded on film, as the young maiden who died for God and France. Long thought to have been lost to fire, the original version was miraculously found in perfect condition in 1981 — in a Norwegian mental institution. In the 2012 edition of Sight & Sound’s once-a-decade poll of film critics, “The Passion of Joan of Arc” was ranked No. 9 on the list of cinema’s greatest works.

Time Out London writes of THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC:

“Dreyer’s most universally acclaimed masterpiece remains one of the most staggeringly intense films ever made. It deals only with the final stages of Joan’s trial and her execution, and is composed almost exclusively of close-ups: hands, robes, crosses, metal bars, and (most of all) faces. The face we see most is, naturally, Falconetti’s as Joan, and it’s hard to imagine a performer evincing physical anguish and spiritual exaltation more palpably. Dreyer encloses this stark, infinitely expressive face with other characters and sets that are equally devoid of decoration and equally direct in conveying both material and metaphysical essences. The entire film is less moulded in light than carved in stone: it’s magisterial cinema, and almost unbearably moving.”

John Monaghan of Detroit Free Press wrote about THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC:

“Few films have earned classic status more than Carl Dreyer’s 1928 silent study of the 15th-Century teenager who helped lead French troops against the British only to be tried as a heretic.”

Mordaunt Hall at New York Times wrote of the film:

“It is the gifted performance of Maria Falconetti as the Maid of Orleans that rises above everything in this artistic achievement.”

Ken Hanke at Mountain Xpress wrote:

“Dreyer’s film remains among the most strikingly unusual cinema you’re ever likely to see.”

A Facebook invite for this event can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/118740638770400/

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