Ridley Scott’s 2000 Best Picture directorial work Gladiator was a seminal moment in 21st century cinema. Oscar winner Russel Crowe’s broody Maximus made an impression on filmgoers. Gladiator 2 arrived in cinemas this week. It is best to leave well enough alone. This come twenty-four years later sequel is an out of sync spectacle.
Paul Mescal has some big sandals to fill as Lucius, the less brutal, more pondering vengeful son of Maximus. Not lacking in the spirit of role but lacking the grit, the Irish actor looked as if he was learned how to swim without an instructor for the first time.
Denzel Washington as Macrinus
Denzel Washington as the scheming Macrinus was relishing his role at times the twice Academy Award earner overshadowed a cast that came off as having taken a high dosage of Xanax.
The Wikipedia referenced script has the usual assortment of Roman Empire intrigue for the civic crown. I, Claudius captured these characters better.
Scott plays well with the visual, too bad the whole Gladiator 2 was just a lot of humdrum separate parts.
2.5/5 stars.
Gladiator 2 is in European Cinemas. Running Time: 2 hours 28 mins.
I placed Elem Klimov’s 1985 anti-war work Come and See on my watch list years ago. The film’s title comes from the Book of Revelation, “I heard the Beast say Come and See”.
When the restored print was released in 2020, there was universal acclaim for the 142-minute film. At times shocking, numbing, unforgettable, the director writer consciously acknowledges Aleksei Rodionov’s realistic camera work with startling character portrait compositions.
Aleksey Kravchenko as Florya
Come and See is the story of a simple Russian peasant boy with visions of adventures fighting occupying Germans along-side the resistance. The inescapable Hell on Earth brutality of World War 2 confronts fourteen-year-old Florya, an extraordinary performance from Aleksey Kravchenko, as youth evolves to a shattered existence.
Klimov’s Come and See is about human beings who stopped being human, just beings.
I interviewed filmmakers Sam Freeman and Ng Ping for a Chat Cinema podcast last year. The BAFTA nominees had completed their short film noir FEMME. Fast forward to this week, the duo unrolled their feature debut FEMME at the Berlinale. A continuation on the sexual repression theme from the duo’s first work, the longer version stars Charles MacKay and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett in a cat a mouse game of revenge. The reviews have ranged from mixed to positive.
This Award Season reflects life, uncertainty. Trying to decipher a front runner in the race has confounded critics and filmgoers.
Tar and Everything Everywhere All at Once seem sure bets as does Braden Fraser and Ke Huy Quan are nods bets.
Cate Blanchette, Michelle Yeoh and Danielle Deadwyler for the little seen Till are front runners for actress.
Will Tom Cruise get the gold this year? Top Gun was the feel good flick of the year. The veteran blockbuster draw deserves a trophy for his $1 billion achievement.
The Best Picture field is wide open. Tar, The Fabelmans, Banshees of Inisherin and Babylon top the list. Wakanda and Babylon could sneak in the pack. Avatar:The Way of Water, the $350 million production will certainly get a number of technical nominations leading to a spot on the Best Picture list.
Todd Field for Best Director, Tar has the momentum, but I would not rule out James Cameron.
Award Season runs until March 12th 2023, the final ceremony is the Academy Awards in Hollywood.
An extraordinary film released in 1981, Jean-Jacques Beineix‘s DIVA is a classic example of Cinema Du Look. Expressive, colorful, romantic. The French thriller is the story of an Opera Singer and a secret tape. Released by Rialto Pictures in the US.
For this episode of Chat Cinema, a conversation with Film Director Martin Strange-Hansen about his short film ON MY MIND. A personal story drawn from real life experience. The Danish work received a nomination in the Best Short Film category for the 94th Academy Awards.
One question asked, “how did he come with the one sheet tag line?” If you want to know the answer, click below.
The Academy Awards winners are announced on March 27th.
Indie Road Flick Pooling to Paradise is an engaging and often fun critique on contemporary living. Married mum and step-mother Jenny (Lynn Chen) plans to travel to Las Vegas for a professional Blogger conference. Involuntarily she chooses the Car Pool option on her app. This means she will subsequently miss her flight. Joining her in the car are Kara (Dreama Walker), Sean (Jonathan Lipnicki), and driver Marc (Jordan Carlos).
Such an inclined space demands our attention. It’s also interesting to see how characters play off one another. Here are four strangers at different stages in their lives. We have already learned that Jenny is a highly-strung mother. The younger Kara is a struggling and deluded actor. The even younger Sean wants to kill himself after breaking up with his girlfriend, Dawn (Taryn Manning). Meanwhile, driver Marc is a casualty of activist parents. He now drifts through life with the help of numerous narcotics.
During the trip they inevitably get to know each other better. At one point Sean pulls out a gun. However, he reassures everyone it’s to kill himself, despite not being loaded. Kara tries to convince everyone she’s on her way to stardom. Jenny constantly talks domesticity like everyone would somehow be interested. Marc, having undoubtedly been in this situation before, goes with the flow.
An increasingly distraught Sean offers to pay Marc to drive him to Dawn’s home in Paradise, Nevada. With Paradise being near Vegas, and that she’s already missed her flight, Jenny agrees to Sean’s plan. Kara, with nothing better to do, also agrees to this to help Sean.
Pooling to Paradise is worthwhile but does not contain an abundance of laughs. It is more of a light drama with funny moments that continually raises the bar. The fun is in getting to know these characters better. There are also regular respites as they leave the car at different points in the journey.
The denouement has Jenny speaking at a conference. This somewhat feel-good sentimental ending is out of synch with the tone of the film. However, this minor flaw aside, it’s worth staying along for the ride. Writer Caytha Jentis shows good pacing and sympathetic characterization, while the dialogue rarely feels scripted.
Reading the headline about the Ryanair flight intercepted to Belarus, a story straight from a Cold War novel, suddenly the world was back in an East versus West game of high stakes chest. President Alexander Lukashenko has been in power for almost 3 decades with no signs of exiting the stage. After the the 2020 election demonstrators took to the street demanding accountability and change.
While interviewing Director Aliaksei Paluyan about his film COURAGE,a documentary on thethe current Belarus political sitaution, he said something that hit me, “Minsk is equal flying distance from Berlin as Paris.”
The exclusive interview with Aliaksei.
After the Roman Protasevich hijacking, do you feel safe?
It would be a lie If I said I feel safe, There is a feeling of fear by all of Lukashenko’s critics. I think more about safety.
I’ve not lost control, but I have held to my goal of telling the truth.
A Lost Moment
Were you expecting a “Ceausecu Moment” during the demonstrations?
Yes. No one wanted violence. If there is a civil war, the protesters don’t have guns. This is a movement of moral choice. Our choices were taken away from us. The country does not want to be a geopolitical chess piece between the east and the west. Belarus’s destiny must be decided by us not in foreign capitals.
There is a wrenching scene, standing outside the prison, is this a tradition in Belarus?
There are 350.000 detainees in the country. Not a tradition! A tragedy! This was the hardest scene to shoot. How to understand the emotion? Women reading a list of the disappeared. The nightmare of waiting for loved ones outside a prison, while inside, people are tortured. The crowd applauses when detainees are released.
You can see sense of loss in the guard’s eyes, especially the young ones. People on both sides are broken.
When Dzianis speaks about being abused in prison in the 90’s. It left me in doubt concerning hope. Oppression has been handed down, is this right?
It was important to bring this fact to the audience. Lukashenko has been power since 1994. I used archival footage to show how long this has been going on. He is not a dictator, he is a tyrant abusing his own country, declaring war on his people. Many turned a blind’s eye what was happening.
Political
Are you political?
Director Aliaksei Paluyan
I can’t say I’m political. It is impossible not say anything cause the of critical situation. The trauma is huge.
The wife, Maryna, was the most pragmatic of the characters. She says, “What’s Next?”
She’s a mother.
What about the play and the actors, what happened?
All the performers were detained for a while. They knew the possible consequences. That is the courage. Keep fighting, overcoming the fear and hopeless.
Pavel left for Kiev. The Director of Photography is still in Belarus. After the Ryanair event, Myrna left on the last flight out. Denis was blackballed. He can not work anywhere.
Courage was screened in May with English subtitles
My first day at the virtual Tribeca Film Festival. My first impression of the overall films: technically superb, polished, broadcast quality, indeed ready for a streaming service. These are filmmakers with an end goal concerning their work.
While I have not seen broad risk taking, after viewing a few features, the message here is: I am here ready to work in the business.
