The Farewell is strongly autobiographical, evolving out of a memoir that Wang first iterated as a segment on the NPR radio program This American Life. The Farewell is a lightly fictionalized version of that story, starring the rapper/actress Awkwafina (Ocean’s 8, Crazy Rich Asians) as Billi, Wang’s alter ego.
Julianne Moore (shown above with SUNY-New Paltz graduate John Turturro) found herself blown away by Chilean director Sebastián Lelio’s much-awarded 2013 film Gloria, and in particular by Paulina García’s terrific performance in the title role of a long-divorced woman putting a toe back in the dating waters. It was a part that Moore wished she could have played herself. So she did something audacious: called Lelio up and asked him to do an English-language remake of the movie, set in the US, with Moore herself playing Gloria.
The cast of Us does a terrific job with the challenge of bringing to life both the core characters and the doubles who threaten them.
Is Roma worth the effort to find? Absolutely yes. Its huge pile of cinematography prizes is well-warranted; shot in digital 65mm format, its black-and-white tones are subtle, silken. It tells much of its story in long, unbroken tracking shots, with the camera often slowly rotating 360 degrees to take in all the sprawling details of a space.
The original Lego Movie didn’t merely milk consumer interest in the parent product; it brazenly mocked its own brand and passive consumerism as an approach to living. Alas, much of the charm of the original has been lost in its sequel.
Their humor ages amazingly well.
It’s a visual gem that ought to be studied frame-by-frame by anyone pursuing a career in cinema.
“If you trusted love this far, trust it all the way.” The author’s faith in his message, and Jenkins’ skill in bringing it to the screen, keep a story that is downbeat in its particulars upbeat in its ultimate tone.
I wish I could muster up as much enthusiasm for this movie as I feel for its subject.
Saoirse Ronan is incandescent as Mary Queen of Scots; Weisz & Stone are dazzlingly nasty in The Favourite.
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