The Society of Composers & Lyricists have announced the full list of SCL AWARDS’ nominees, to be presented the 3rd Annual SCL AWARDS for score and songs in visual media on February 1st at the Skirball Cultural Center (Covid permitting). Awards are presented in seven competitive categories: Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film, Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film, Outstanding Original Score for a Television Production, Outstanding Original Song for a Dramatic or Documentary Visual Media Production, Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Visual Media Production, Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media, and the David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent.
The evening hosted by Darren Criss will include musical performances from Grammy-nominated singers/songwriters of Bridgerton: The Unofficial Musical Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Grammy winner Judith Hill, and more. A musical tribute will accompany the spirit of collaboration award.
Full list of nominees below:
Outstanding Original Score for a Studio Film
Nicholas Britell Don’t Look Up
Alexandre Desplat The French Dispatch
Germaine Franco Encanto
Jonny Greenwood The Power of the Dog
Hans Zimmer Dune
Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film
Jonny Greenwood Spencer
Daniel Hart The Green Knight
Alberto Iglesias Parallel Mothers
Rachel Portman Julia
Kubilay Uner American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally
Outstanding Original Score for a Television Production
Christophe Beck WandaVision
Nicholas Britell Succession
Natalie Holt Loki
Jung Jae-il Squid Game
Cristobal Tapia de Veer The White Lotus
Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Visual Media Production
Kris Bowers & Siedah Garrett “Together All The Way” Dear White People
Nicholas Britell & Taura Stinson (w/Ariana Grande & Scott Mescudi) “Just Look Up” Don’t Look Up
Amie Doherty “Fearless” Spirit Untamed
Jamie Hartman, Jennifer Hudson, & Carole King “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” Respect
Lin-Manuel Miranda “Home All Summer” In The Heights
Outstanding Original Song for a Dramatic or Documentary Visual Media Production
Jeymes Samuel (w/Shawn Carter & Scott Mescudi) “Guns Go Bang” The Harder They Fall
Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell “No Time To Die” No Time To Die
Rufus Wainwright “Secret Sister” Rebel Hearts
Diane Warren “Somehow You Do” Four Good Days
Diane Warren “(Never Gonna) Tame You” The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses
Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media
Germaine Franco Kung Fu Panda: Land of Awesomeness
Hildur Guđnadóttir & Sam Slater Battlefield 2042
Austin Wintory Alien Fireteam Elite
David Raksin Award for Emerging Talent
Anne-Kathrin Dern The Claus Family
Stephanie Economou Jupiter’s Legacy
Joy Ngiaw Blush
Spirit of Collaboration Award: Carter Burwell with Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
The Spirit of Collaboration Award presented to Oscar nominated composer Carter Burwell and Oscar-winning filmmakers Joel Coen and Ethan Coen; the three have collaborated on 17 films including Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, No Country for Old Men, Fargo, and The Tragedy of Macbeth directed and adapted by Joel Coen.
Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” coming soon to theaters and Apple TV+
Past winners who went on to win Oscars include Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste for Soul as well as Hildur Guđnadóttir for Joker. The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) is the primary organization for professional film, television, video game, and musical theater composers and lyricists. With a 76-year history in the art of creating music for visual media, members include the top creative professionals working today. The organization is focused on education and addressing the creative, technological, legal, newsworthy issues affecting the music for visual media community.
Trust, identity, and the danger of unchecked power push a covert operative to the edge in director Mark Williams’ intense action thriller BLACKLIGHT.
Travis Block (Neeson) lives and fights in the shadows. A freelance government “fixer,” Block is a dangerous man whose assignments have included extracting agents out of deep-cover situations. When Block discovers a shadowy program called Operation Unity is striking down ordinary citizens for reasons known only to Block’s boss, FBI chief Robinson (Quinn), he enlists the help of a journalist (Raver-Lampman), but his past and present collide when his daughter and granddaughter are threatened. Now Block needs to rescue the people he loves and expose the truth for a shot at redemption. Nothing and no one is safe when secrets are hidden in BLACKLIGHT.
Only in theaters on February 11, watch the brand new trailer.
As Deadline exclusively reported in September 2021:
Briarcliff Entertainment, with The Solution Entertainment Group and Sina Studios, is set to distribute Blacklight, the new action thriller starring Liam Neeson and directed by Mark Williams. A wide domestic theatrical release has been set for over 2,000 theaters on February 11, 2022. Briarcliff CEO Tom Ortenberg and Solution CEO Myles Nestel made the deal. Neeson has managed to topline back-to-back No. 1 films (Honest Thief and The Marksman) during the pandemic, which connotes a special set of skills to get audiences out of the house and into theaters.
Ortenberg calls Blacklight “a timely action thriller with a ‘ripped from today’s headlines’ feel to it from start to finish. It is an honor to be working with the incomparable Liam Neeson for the sixth time and to be partnering again with friends Myles Nestel and multi-hyphenate filmmaker Mark Williams.”
“The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.”
Winner of six Academy Awards (including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay),The Hurt Locker arrives February 22 on 4K Ultra HD SteelBook from Lionsgate, exclusively at Best Buy.
Directed by Academy Award winner Kathryn Bigelow (2012, Best Picture, Zero Dark Thirty), the critically acclaimed film THE HURT LOCKER features Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner (2010, Best Supporting Actor, The Town), Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Endgame, TV’s “Altered Carbon”), Brian Geraghty (The Guardian, Flight, TV’s “Chicago P.D.”), Primetime Emmy Award winner Guy Pearce (2011, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, TV’s “Mildred Pierce”), Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes (1996, Best Actor, The English Patient), and Golden Globe nominee Evangeline Lily (2007, Best Television Actress – Drama Series, TV’s “Lost”). Featuring all-new artwork by Olivia Barrett, The Hurt Locker will be available on 4K Ultra HD™ SteelBook at Best Buy for the suggested retail price of $27.99.
War is a drug. Nobody knows that better than Staff Sergeant James, head of an elite squad of soldiers tasked with disarming bombs in the heat of combat. To do this nerve-shredding job, it’s not enough to be the best: you have to thrive in a zone where the margin of error is zero, think as diabolically as a bomb-maker, and somehow survive with your body and soul intact. Powerfully realistic, action-packed, unrelenting, and intense, The Hurt Locker has been hailed by critics as “an adrenaline-soaked tour de force” (A.O. Scott, The New York Times) and “one of the great war movies” (Richard Corliss, Time).
4K ULTRA HD SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary with Director Kathryn Bigelow and Writer Mark Boal
The Hurt Locker: Behind the Scenes
Image Gallery
CAST Jeremy Renner The Avengers, Wind River, TV’s “Hawkeye” Anthony Mackie Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Endgame, TV’s “Altered Carbon” Brian Geraghty The Guardian, Flight, TV’s “Chicago P.D.” Guy Pearce Memento, Iron Man 3, L.A. Confidential Ralph Fiennes Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Schindler’s List, The Grand Budapest Hotel Evangeline Lilly Ant-Man, Avengers: Endgame, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
FIVE RIVAL AGENTS. ONE ELITE TEAM. FROM THE STUDIO THAT BROUGHT YOU JASON BOURNE. UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS JESSICA CHASTAIN, PENÉLOPE CRUZ, BINGBING FAN, DIANE KRUGER AND LUPITA NYONG’O.
THE 355 opens in theaters January 7th.
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(Fandango Promotional Code is good toward the purchase of two movie tickets [$15 per ticket, up to $30 total ticket and convenience fee value] to see The 355 at Fandango partner theaters in the United States. Code is void if not redeemed by 1/30/2022 or when THE 355 is no longer in theaters, whichever comes first)
A dream team of formidable female stars come together in a hard-driving original approach to the globe-trotting espionage genre in The 355.
When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands, wild card CIA agent Mason “Mace” Brown (Oscar®-nominated actress Jessica Chastain) will need to join forces with rival badass German agent Marie (Diane Kruger, In the Fade), former MI6 ally and cutting-edge computer specialist Khadijah (Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o), and skilled Colombian psychologist Graciela (Oscar® winner Penélope Cruz) on a lethal, breakneck mission to retrieve it, while also staying one-step ahead of a mysterious woman, Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan, X-Men: Days of Future Past), who is tracking their every move.
As the action rockets around the globe from the cafes of Paris to the markets of Morocco to the opulent auction houses of Shanghai, the quartet of women will forge a tenuous loyalty that could protect the world—or get them killed.
The film also stars Édgar Ramirez (The Girl on the Train) and Sebastian Stan (Avengers: Endgame).
The 355 is directed by genre-defying filmmaker SIMON KINBERG (writer-director-producer of Dark Phoenix, producer of Deadpool and The Martian and writer-producer of the X-Men films). The screenplay is by THERESA REBECK (NBC’s Smash, Trouble) and SIMON KINBERG from a story by THERESA REBECK. The 355, presented by Universal Pictures in association with FilmNation Entertainment, is produced by JESSICA CHASTAIN and KELLY CARMICHAEL for Chastain’s Freckle Films and by SIMON KINBERG for Kinberg Genre Films. The film is executive produced by RICHARD HEWITT (Bohemian Rhapsody).
The film’s director of photography is TIM MAURICE-JONES BSC (The Woman in Black), the production designer is SIMON ELLIOTT (The Book Thief), and the costume designer is STEPHANIE COLLIE (The Hitman’s Bodyguard). The 355 is edited by LEE SMITH A.C.E.(1917) and JOHN GILBERT A.C.E.(The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring); the composer is TOM HOLKENBORG (Mad Max: Fury Road).
Neil and Alice Bennett (Tim Roth, Charlotte Gainsbourg) are the core of a wealthy family on vacation in Mexico with younger members Colin and Alexa (Samuel Bottomley, Albertine Kotting McMillan) until a distant emergency cuts their trip short. When one relative disrupts the family’s tight-knit order, simmering tensions rise to the fore in this suspenseful jolt from writer/director Michel Franco.
Bleecker Street will release SUNDOWN in select theaters starting January 28th, 2022
In what could be described as an interesting year, movie geeks and film fans over the past 12 months found the movie going experience a bit of a challenge but one that provided rich rewards and dazzling spectacles.
We witnessed the epic battle of titans Kong vs Godzilla, journeyed once again to the planet Dune, cheered on real-life heroes as well as superheroes Spider-Man, Black Widow, Shang-Chi, and The Justice League, rooted for supervillains The Suicide Squad, said hello once again to Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss “Trinity and Neo” and bid a sad goodbye to Daniel Craig’s 007 “James Bond.”
Whether the films of 2021 debuted in theaters or went straight to streaming services like Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime, cinemas offered everyone an escapism from the trials and tribulations of everyday life with the continuation of franchise favorites SAW, A QUIET PLACE 2, MORTAL KOMBAT, FAST & FURIOUS 9, CANDYMAN and THE CONJURING.
We feasted on directors Steven Spielberg, Chloé Zhao, M. Night Shyamalan, Nia DeCosta, Edgar Wright, Jane Campion, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ridley Scott, Lana Wachowski and Guillermo del Toro visions of musicals, horror, comedy, cinema noir and DC/Marvel superheroes.
But in the end, it was your friendly neighborhood webslinger that saved 2021 with a huge box office return, the reemergence of villains (as well as Daredevils) and an emotional return with not only one but two Spider-men that had audiences sobbing, smiling, cheering and giving us hope for the coming year.
Even if Tinseltown is recovering from the long-term effects of the pandemic, 2022 is shaping up to be a pretty great year on the big and small screens with the upcoming THE BATMAN, BLACK ADAM, DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS, TOP GUN: MAVERICK, THE FLASH, JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION, Jordan Peele’s NOPE, BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7 and THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER, just to name a few.
Before we kick off our list, check out this video montage of the best of what the big screen had to offer moviegoers.
“Open your heart to what I mean, we must begin to tell our young, there’s a world waiting for you, yours is the quest that’s just begun.”-Nina Simone, “To Be Young Gifted and Black”
In his review, Jim Batts says, “the superb SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) is also cause for rejoicing and adoration. What a time. What wonderful timeless entertainment.” In his directorial debut, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson sought to recover the meaningful spirit of the past – when the biggest names in African-American music, culture, and politics came together for six consecutive weeks for a landmark, transformational Black cultural event. His little-seen footage had remained in storage for the past 50 years, keeping this singular event in American history hidden – until now. The filmmaker presented fans with never-before-seen footage of concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King and The 5th Dimension. The winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival, SUMMER OF SOUL is one of the best documentaries of 2021 and an amazing must-see for music fans.
10. WEST SIDE STORY
So, was a remake of the beloved, multi-Oscar-winning film from 60 years ago needed? While some still debate this, the “new spin” from Steven Spielberg was a surprisingly moving “re-interpretation” thanks in part to the script enhancements from Tony Award-winning playwright Tony Kushner brought to vivid life by a young cast headed by the fiery Ariana DeBose as Anita and this year’s major movie discovery Rachel Zegler as Maria. Plus, there’s plenty of bright “star power” emanating from the “force of nature” Rita Moreno from the original (and now a co-producer). Lots of kudos to the army of artisans and craftspeople that meticulously recreated 1957 NYC. Best of all this is another chance to savor (and for youngsters to discover) the spectacular songs from Leonard Bernstein and the recently departed, much-missed Stephen Sondheim. It all gives support to the adage “Everything old is new again”.
As the multiplex is bombarded with animation offerings from the major studios to the “indies”, the artists at Walt Disney Animation continue to impress (along with “sibling” Pixar who offered the lovely LUCA this year). Peppered with catchy, bouncy tunes from the very busy (whew) Lin-Manuel Miranda, this story of an enchanted village and its founding family is indeed magical, alive with color and comedy. Plus, it features a heroine that strives to save the day despite having no “gifts’ other than her bravery and intelligence. Oh, and she wears glasses (a first for Disney). And despite the incredible character design and superb action and slapstick, the dynamics of family and love are first and foremost in this fabulous fable.
After his 15-year adventure as James Bond, Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007 had a bittersweet ending in director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s NO TIME TO DIE. Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain (Rami Malek) armed with dangerous new technology.
Bond 25 has one of the franchise’s best action scenes in the opening chase scene through the Southern Italian city of Matera.
Academy Award-winning director of photography Linus Sandgren’s thrilling cinematography is rich, colorful and exciting. The choreography is old-school filmmaking at it’s finest.
Fun facts about the film: At the age of 18, Billie Eilish is the youngest artist to record a Bond theme song, the first in the series to have sequences shot with 65mm IMAX film cameras and was co-written by “Fleabag” creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Like all 007 missions, the ending credits once again made a promise: “James Bond will return.”
7. CRUELLA
Emma Stone as Cruella in Disney’s live-action CRUELLA.
A mischievous Emma Stone gave us the performance of the year (and 47 costume changes) as CRUELLA, which was a suitably wicked backstory for one of Walt Disney’s greatest villains. This ‘mean girl’ fairytale’s stylish direction by Craig Gillespie, intricate dedication to period detail, eye-popping costume design, and crazed 70’s soundtrack, not to mention a truly game supporting cast, made CRUELLA the biggest surprise of 2021.
6. TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
Joel Coen’s first solo production is an gripping adaptation of Shakespeare’s Scottish play, starring Denzel Washington as Macbeth and Frances McDormand as the ambitious Lady Macbeth. The film grabs you straight out of the gate with a weirdly wild meeting of the three witches, actually played by one woman with wicked contortionist skills, as a kind of unholy trinity. Shot entirely in a gorgeous black and white, with surrealist sets and a stark, wide-spaces cinematography where people might dissolve into an explosion of crows, but with a pared-down narrative tightness, it is Shakespeare as noirish thriller, or a “ticking-clock thriller” as Coen himself put it.
5. CRY MACHO
If 91-year Clint Eastwood had directed his 91-year-old self in a movie where he rides a horse, shoots a gun, punches someone in the face with his old-man fist, and dances with a woman, that alone would have been enough to put CRY MACHO on this list. But Clint gave this movie so much more. It was a gentle, even sweet, film about the wisdom of growing old. CRY MACHO felt like a parting gift from our greatest living director and star.
Wes Anderson’s charming, creative, color-drenched literate comedy tale is an homage to the early New Yorker magazine, here re-imagined as a French-based Sunday weekly of a Kansas newspaper. Told through an anthology of short tales representing various stories by different contributors, this film packed with all the quirk and charm you expect from Wes Anderson, and it also sports an unbeatable all-star ensemble cast, including Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright, Tmothee Chalamet, Tilda Swinton, Benicio Del Toro, Frances McDormand and more.
Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s charming ode to the sparkly 70s is the perfect “middle section” between Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD and PTA’s own BOOGIE NIGHTS. It gets all the pop culture’s excesses of the period just right, though it’s more than merely a nostalgia “checklist. This is an endearing look at a couple, a wandering woman in her mid-20’s and an ambitious, always-hustling teenager, who can’t stop circling each other, both played superbly by two relative screen unknowns, Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. But its secret weapon might be the hysterical scene-stealing performance by Bradley Cooper as a real-life Hollywood “power broker”. What a gem.
2. SPIDER MAN: NO WAY HOME
Tom Holland stars as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Columbia Pictures’ SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.
As we near the 20th anniversary of this character’s film franchise, our biggest movie holiday present is this entertaining blockbuster, proving that there’s lots of life in the old superhero movie genre. While many “tent-poles” try to ignore their history, this zippy “thrill-ride” fully embraces its past in a story of courage, sacrifice, and redemption, as Spidey not only rescues the innocent bystanders but seeks to save, rather than punish or execute, the “villains”. Oh, and it’s really funny just as it tugs at your heart. It’s a sweet “look back”, while marking a new chapter in the “webbed wonder’s” life. Bravo to Sony for agreeing to team with Marvel Studios for another trilogy. And with Tom Holland on board, fantasy film fans have great cause to rejoice.
1. BELFAST
(L to R) Jamie Dornan as “Pa”, Ciarán Hinds as “Pop”, Jude Hill as “Buddy”, and Judi Dench as “Granny” in director Kenneth Branagh’s BELFAST, a Focus Features release. Credit : Rob Youngson / Focus Features
Kenneth Branagh’s semi-biographical tale of childhood in 1969 Belfast is a complete charmer, with a surprising amount of humor despite taking place during the Irish troubles. Sprinkled with terrific performances by Ciaran Hinds and Judi Dench as wise-cracking grandparents, young Jude Hill as lively 8-year-old Buddy and Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe as his fiery, loving parents. A terrific film on all levels with fabulous, creative black-and-white cinematography, this one is a sure front-runner for Oscars.
STAFF PICKS
Jim’s Top Ten for 2021:
1. LICORICE PIZZA 2. SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME 3. ENCANTO 4. WEST SIDE STORY 5. THE SUMMER OF SOUL 6. LUCA 7. THE LAST DUEL 8. LAST NIGHT IN SOHO 9. RITA MORENO; JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT 10. DREAM HORSE
Honorable mentions: CODA, STILLWATER, POWER OF THE DOG
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO
Cate’s Top Ten for 2021:
1. BELFAST 2. THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH 3. FRENCH DISPATCH 4. THE HAND OF GOD 5. LICORICE PIZZA 6. DON’T LOOK UP 7. THE POWER OF THE DOG 8. PASSING 9. A HERO 10. THE GREEN KNIGHT
Honorable Mentions: DRIVE MY CAR, STILLWATER, JOCKEY, WEST SIDE STORY, NIGHTMARE ALLEY, PARALLEL MOTHERS, SPENCER, CODA, THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, TITANE, BEING THE RICARDOS
1. BELFAST 2. SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME 3. Zack Snyder’s JUSTICE LEAGUE 4. GODZILLA VS KONG 5. THE GREEN KNIGHT 6. NO TIME TO DIE 7. A QUIET PLACE PART II 8. DUNE 9. THE POWER OF THE DOG 10. THE LAST DUEL
Honorable mentions: OLD, SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, THE SUICIDE SQUAD, THE HARDER THEY FALL, THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, MALIGNANT and MATRIX RESURRECTIONS
The next Toyman Show is Sunday, January 9th from 9:00a to 3:00pThe Toyman Toy Show in St. Louis has been going strong for 30 years now and just keeps getting bigger and better! The fun takes place at The Machinists Hall 12365 St Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton, MO 63044 . A Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE
Machinist Hall is OPEN with the ability to have vendor n attendees WITHOUT having to count heads.. Social Distancing will still be under advisement with limited chairs for vendors and continuing with ToyMan larger aisles as we had pre-covid.”Per CDC – UNVACCINATED SHOULD wear a mask. “ToyMan will have AVAILABLE hand sanitizer & 3-ply masks at NO CHARGE. There are over 120 vendors at the Toyman Toy Show spread out over 220 tables. all selling vintage toys, comics, dolls, diecast cars, movie memorabilia, and more as well as cosplayers and artists. It’s an unbelievable amount of fun for only $5!
“He was an abominable man. Why do women marry abominable men?”
Marlene Dietrich in Alfred Hitchcock’s STAGE FRIGHT (1950) will be available on Blu-ray January 25th from Warner Archive
In Alfred Hitchcock’s world, theaters are where danger stalks the wings, characters are not what they seem, and that “final curtain” can drop any second. The droll Stage Fright springs from that entertaining tradition. Jane Wyman plays drama student Eve Gill, who tries to clear a friend (Richard Todd) being framed for murder by becoming the maid of flamboyant stage star Charlotte Inwood (Marlene Dietrich). Filming in his native England, Hitchcock merrily juggles elements of humor and whodunit and puts a game ensemble (Alistair Sim, Sybil Thorndike, Joyce Grenfell, Kay Walsh and daughter Patricia Hitchcock) through its paces. No one turns a theatre into a bastion of dread like Hitchcock, and Stage Fright is proof positive. (Pictured below, Hitchcock in a rare behind-the-scenes photo with stars Marlene Dietrich and Jane Wyman)
Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in “The Tragedy of Macbeth” in theaters and coming soon to Apple TV+. Courtesy of APPLE TV+ / A24
Macbeth is Shakespeare’s most murderous play, and a favorite of actors, even if they won’t say its name. Director Joel Coen, working for the first time without his brother/film-making partner Ethan, leans into that darkness with a noir-ish thriller adaptation that pares down the Bard’s work about a ruthlessly ambitious couple, played by Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, to its most furious, fiery essence. Shot in gorgeous black and white, with striking cinematography, surrealist sets in stark, wide-spaces, but with a pared-down narrative tightness, it is Shakespeare as taut, noirish thriller.
At a brisk 105 minutes, Coen’s THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH is shorter than most film adaptions. Joel Coen’s version slashes lines and even whole scenes, to focus in on a elegant, mad core. The result is electrifying nightmare, a tale with a sense of both nail-biting tension and horrifying inevitability. Visually, the film is as spare, nightmarish and crackling as the action, shot in a stark black and white, with surreal sets that evoke German expressionism and Orson Welles’ innovative adaptation of the Scottish play. Crows are a motif, with flocks of them (called a murder) sometimes exploding across the screen or wheeling through a fog-drenched sky. Landscapes are frequently obscured by fog, clouds fill skies, but shafts of light stab through windows and doorways. Dramatic light falls on door handles, transforming them into daggers.
The striking, shadowed, surreal visual landscape pairs perfectly with outstanding performances, particularly a never-better Denzel Washington. Yet, an unforgettable Kathryn Hunter, a British stage actor with contortionist skills, nearly steals the show at the start, playing all three witches in an unholy trinity. The film grips you right from the first, with a weirdly wild meeting of the three witches, all played by Hunter, and followed by an encounter with Macbeth (Denzel Washington), the Thane of Glamis, and his fellow Scottish noble Banquo (Bertie Carvel), two battle-weary generals returning home from war. On the road, they encounter the weird sisters – Hunter in a black robe, with duel reflections in a pool of water before her – who hail Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor and King to be, and predict Banquo will beget kings but not be one.
Macbeth thinks little of their mysterious prophesies, jokingly dismissing them to Banquo as they continue on their way to King Duncan (Brendan Gleeson). When an emissary from Duncan, a thane named Ross (Alex Hassell), greets Macbeth with the news that he is now Thane of Cawdor, he reconsiders what the witches have said.
While Macbeth is comfortable with just letting the prediction about becoming king play out on its own, his wife is not. Ambitious and ruthless from the start, Lady Macbeth (Frances McDormand) urges her husband to take bloody action. Macbeth is reluctant, and is conflicted, but once persuaded, proceeds with bloody determination.
Denzel Washington brings all his considerable skill to bear for this Macbeth. He is amazing as he takes Macbeth from loyal, brave soldier serving King Duncan to a madman consumed by power and haunted by guilt. Frances McDormand is coldly calculating from the start but as things unravel, so does she. Usually the roles are played by younger actors but by making the couple older, director Coen adds an urgency to them, a sense of a last chance for unfulfilled ambitions.
That twist is something that fits well with this adaptation’s film noir tone, casting them as a desperate pair making a last grab at a golden ring, but with a sense of inevitable failure typical of noir. Each turn of events leads to new desperate actions, also with that grim sense of the inevitable. The violence is often up-close, giving it an extra rawness and edge. When Macbeth murders King Duncan, the camera moves in close, giving a gut-wrenching immediacy to the deed.
The rest of the cast excels as well, with some particular standouts in small roles. Brendon Gleeson plays King Duncan with a quiet gravitas, and Harry Melling, as Duncan’s son and heir Malcolm, takes him from an expressive, enthusiastic boy to a steely, more hardened man. Stephen Root makes the most of his small role as the porter, adding a singular moment of bawdy humor before the first murder is discovered. Other standouts are Alex Hassell as the coolly calculating Ross, Corey Hawkins as the skeptical, upright Macduff and Moses Ingram as the ill-fated Lady Macduff.
The starkly beautiful photography by Bruno Delbonnel emphasizes the shadows and sharp lines of the sets and adds to the film noir feel as well. There are no ceiling fans and Venetian blinds, but sets often have slanting light and actors are half-lit, Fog and clouds often fill the skies. Overhead shots isolate characters and make them appear small. Crows fly out of foggy landscapes. Angular, stony sets loom like giants over the players. Landscapes are both surreal and hauntingly empty.
The noirish surreal tone is aided by Carter Burwell’s powerful but spare score. There are strains of music in a minor key, sometimes suggesting bagpipes, but also eerie tones, bird-like sounds, and insistent drum beats that reflect the images on screen. Set design by Stefan Dechant suggest a stark Scottish landscape and harsh brutalist buildings that loom threateningly, dwarfing the people within, while Mary Zophres’ costume designs suggest period Scottish outfits but pared-down to basic outlines.
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH is a remarkable, muscular adaption of Shakespeare’s bloody tragedy, pared-down to its basics but packed with haunting performances, and set in an unforgettable surreal landscape with breathtaking cinematography. It is a must-see for both fans of the Bard and the Coens, as well as a creative, lightening strike of a drama that is a top contender for Oscar seasons gold.
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH opens Saturday, Jan. 1, in theaters and streaming on Apple TV+ beginning Friday, January 14.
“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes”
The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave in St. Louis), the best place in St. Louis to see movies! The Hi-Pointe has the best popcorn, the biggest screen, and a great beer selection! No reservations required at The Hi-Pointe. Just show up! Joel Coen’s THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETHopens tonight December 31th at The Hi-Pointe. The Hi-Pointe’s site can be found HERE
In THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, a Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power
