Madelyne Xiao – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Fri, 20 Oct 2017 17:14:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Madelyne Xiao – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Summer movie preview https://stanforddaily.com/2015/06/03/summer-movie-preview/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/06/03/summer-movie-preview/#respond Wed, 03 Jun 2015 15:43:32 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1101864 Summer’s a season for blockbusters. From sequels to spinoffs to superhero sagas, the next three months are going to be jam-packed with a variety of films for every taste. Below, the Daily previews a few films to look out for this summer. June “Jurassic World” The much-anticipated sequel to Steven Spielberg’s epic, “Jurassic World” has been […]

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Summer’s a season for blockbusters. From sequels to spinoffs to superhero sagas, the next three months are going to be jam-packed with a variety of films for every taste. Below, the Daily previews a few films to look out for this summer.

June

“Jurassic World”

The much-anticipated sequel to Steven Spielberg’s epic, “Jurassic World” has been a long time coming. The series, based on the best-selling science-fiction novels by Michael Crichton, details the newest chapter in the fallout from mad science gone awry.

In “Jurassic World” the pre-historic theme park of millionaire John Hammond’s dreams has come to fruition in the form of Isla Nublar, a fictional island off the coast of Costa Rica. In a bid to attract more visitors to the park, scientists have successfully created a hybrid dinosaur — the Indominus rex. The name — indomitable — already means trouble.

Chris Pratt stars as Owen in "Jurassic World".  Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.
Chris Pratt stars as Owen in “Jurassic World”. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.

If we’ve learned anything about attempts to create new life and tame it, it’s that “life finds a way.” These words, a motif in the original “Jurassic Park,” stand testament to the permanence of human folly. Can we control what we’ve created? If we’d learned anything from the end of “Jurassic Park,” it seems, “Jurassic World” would be a non-entity.

Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and Vincent D’Onofrio, this summer’s installment of the dinosaur park-gone-wrong promises to thrill. Directed by Colin Trevorrow.

In theaters June 12.

“Inside Out”

Directed by Pete Docter, the kindred spirit who brought us “Up,” “Inside Out” is an animated flick about human minds and emotions. In the world of “Inside Out,” our emotions are personified: Joy, Happiness and Sadness are vividly-colored inhabitants of our Headquarters (situated punningly in — you guessed it — our heads) whose every move determines the direction of our feelings. In “Inside Out,” the trauma of a young girl’s move to a new city throws Headquarters into disarray as two emotions, Joy and Sadness, trek through the maze of their human owner’s mind.

Disney Pixar's "Inside Out." Courtesy of Pixar Studios.
Disney Pixar’s “Inside Out.” Courtesy of Pixar Studios.

Deep stuff for a kid’s movie, you might say, but Pixar brings a practiced hand to its exploration of profound subject matter and its presentation of these topics in a format that’s at once engaging, enjoyable and heart-warming. “Inside Out” screened at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and will screen at the Los Angeles Film Festival in the next week. The star-studded cast includes Saturday Night Live! alums Bill Hader and Amy Poehler. Mindy Kaling, Lewis Black and Phyllis Smith also star.

In theaters June 19.

July

“Minions”

They’re everyone’s favorite sidekicks. And now, the lemondrop-yellow accomplices of 2010’s breakout animated hit “Despicable Me” are starring in their own spinoff film.

While there’s a third “Despicable Me” in the works (slated for a 2017 release), “Minions” whisks audience away through time immemorial to learn about the origins of the little yellow sidekicks themselves. As it turns out, they’ve been around since the dawn of time. And they exist solely to wreak havoc — intentional or otherwise — on the behalf of supervillains the world over.

“Minions” deserves praise for its unforced incorporation of a female supervillain, Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock). Minions Kevin and Bob want nothing more than to work with Scarlet and her husband, Herb (Jon Hamm), to take on the most classic of supervillain objectives: world domination. Directors Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda situate the minions’ tasks on a historical timeline — they’re the behind-the-scenes henchmen for Genghis Khan, Napoleon and Dracula, among others. For a family-friendly animated adventure with an amusing dose of historical relevance, give “Minions” a go.

In theaters July 10.

“The Gallows”

There’s something special about high school memories — or at least that’s what the horror films of recent years seem to think. Stephen King’s “Carrie” set off a wave of thrillers and horror flicks set in schools or featuring high school-age main characters (“Prom Night,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Scream”). The iconic prom scene in “Carrie” — the titular character, dripping in pig’s blood — has become something of a pop culture fixture.

This summer, directors Travis Cluff and Chris Lofing will present their take on the tried-and-true high school horror model.

“The Gallows” is a performance within a performance. On the anniversary of a freak accident during the staging of a high school play (called, ominously, “The Gallows”), a few old classmates set out to restage the performance in memoriam. It sounds like a bad idea from get-go, but, if there’s anything we’ve learned about horror movie tropes, it’s that the worst of ideas will inevitably become the best course of action in the minds and hearts of our unsuspecting protagonists. Dredging up old and scary stories never seems to work out well, either, but the protagonists of “The Gallows” do just that. For a healthy dose of high school horror, “The Gallows” is your summer scare.

In theaters July 10.

August

“Fantastic Four”

Mister Fantastic, The Thing, Human Torch, Invisible Woman: our superheroes’ names are perennially bland: easily digestible but oddly impersonal.

Fortunately, the superheroes of the upcoming adaptation of Stan Lee’s “Fantastic Four” comics appear to treated as far more human than many of their predecessors.

Directed by Josh Trank, the film explores the complexities of superhero backstory. When four otherwise average humans teleport into another universe, they’re suddenly granted superhuman abilities. Trank allows his viewers to observe this transition from the ordinary to the extraordinary — far from ready-made, the “Fantastic Four” are works in progress. With their newfound powers, they set out to protect planet Earth from a familiar foe. Starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell and Michael B. Jordan as the titular heroes, “Fantastic Four” will give moviegoers a glimpse of the human side of the superhuman.

In theaters August 7.

“Straight Outta Compton”

It’s pretty telling that N.W.A., the group credited with originating the subgenre of gangsta rap, referred to their own music as reality rap. The tumult of 1980s Los Angeles is evident in their lyrics and their hometown pride: “It’s not the Bronx, it’s L.A. but just as hard,” reads a lyric from “L.A. is the Place.”

Aldis Hodge, Neil Brown Jr., Jason Mitchell, O'Shea Jackson Jr. and Corey Hawkins in "Straight Outta Compton." Courtesy of Universal Studios.
Aldis Hodge, Neil Brown Jr., Jason Mitchell, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Corey Hawkins in “Straight Outta Compton.” Courtesy of Universal Studios.

In “Straight Outta Compton,” a biographical drama about the hiphop group N.W.A., director F. Gary Gray details the formation, rise and fall of a pioneer of West Coast rap and hiphop. Original group members Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Easy-E, Arabian Prince, DJ Yella and MC Ren are played by Corey Hawkins, O’Shea Jackson, Jr., Jason Mitchell, Brandon LaFourche, Neil Brown, Jr. and Aldis Hodge, respectively. O’Shea Jackson plays his father, Ice Cube. Paul Giamatti stars as Jerry Heller, the manager and businessman who’s represented ELO, Elton John and the Who, among others.

The film, named for N.W.A.’s debut studio album, is a turn from your standard summer fare. There are no superheroes here, no animatronic monsters — only the musicians and the odds stacked against them.

In theaters August 14.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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‘Live from New York’ falls short https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/29/live-from-new-york-falls-short/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/29/live-from-new-york-falls-short/#comments Fri, 29 May 2015 14:48:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1101689 New York City has a way of filtering out its mediocre acts — there’s ample reason for the city’s reputation for world-class artistic and cultural institutions. Making it big in the Big Apple is an incredible feat. Lasting 40 years, though — that’s something else entirely. But that’s the story of Saturday Night Live!, the […]

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New York City has a way of filtering out its mediocre acts — there’s ample reason for the city’s reputation for world-class artistic and cultural institutions. Making it big in the Big Apple is an incredible feat. Lasting 40 years, though — that’s something else entirely.

But that’s the story of Saturday Night Live!, the late night comedy powerhouse that had its first show in October of 1975. The lead-in to each 60-minute episode has since become a fixture in pop culture and lends itself to the name of a new documentary about SNL.

The documentary in question, Bao Nguyen’s “Live from New York!” surveys the show’s beginnings, highs and lows. Here, Nguyen manages to condense 40 years into 80 minutes at the expense of depth of coverage. Pivotal moments in the show’s life are given their due, but we’re left with a murky image of the in-betweens, the less newsworthy but equally vital operations that keep SNL thriving.

The SNL camera crew at work. Courtesy of Edie Baskin.
The SNL camera crew at work. Courtesy of Edie Baskin.

“Live from New York!” opens with a montage of audition reels from SNL’s original cast members, followed by a patchwork of footage from news stories past and present. The latter is backgrounded by a recording of Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” “The Revolution will not be reruns, brothers,” says Scott-Heron. “The Revolution will be live.” Nguyen couldn’t have made a better choice. SNL, at once televised and live, at once a revolution and an institution, deserves a sweeping introduction.

It’s all a bit underwhelming after the peppy intro, though. The documentary draws from interviews with past and current cast members, media celebrities and past hosts to carry forth its narrative arc. Alec Baldwin, Tom Brokaw and Bill O’Reilly provide an overview of the show’s famous Weekend Update segment, but it’s hardly anything we didn’t already know. “Weekend Update is an important part of SNL and always has been,” says O’Reilly. “Because there you can do what Comedy Central does, in a more compacted form.” True enough. But there’s no really in-depth exploration of the segment’s comedy or growth. Even with 40 years of material to explore, the film’s commentary leans heavily on platitudes and non-descript remarks from its interviewees.

The documentary also examines SNL’s historic gender and diversity problems — an obligatory homage to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who “run comedy,” followed by a revealing interview with original cast member Garrett Morris. “One time I was going to be cast as a doctor,” says Morris. “And this guy says to me… ‘Garrett, people are gonna be — a black doctor!’” For all its marketing as an avant-garde comedy variety show, SNL’s revolution was limited in its reach until recent times. “Everything was done for us by the time I got there,” says Maya Rudolph, a cast member from 2000 to 2007. “…the women that came before us macheted barriers and allowed something for all of us that wouldn’t have existed if I’d been in the first cast.” These barriers — and the process by which they were surmounted — aren’t well-defined, however, and we’re simply left with a black-and-white image of original cast members Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman.

16-time host Alec Baldwin talks about SNL's legacy. Courtesy of Edie Baskin.
16-time host Alec Baldwin talks about SNL’s legacy. Courtesy of Edie Baskin.

A show set in New York is a show about New York, and Nguyen’s coverage of SNL’s reaction to 9/11 is commendable. Then- and current producer Lorne Michaels was in a dilemma — could the show go on? Should the show go on? Could people laugh in the wake of tragedy? In the end, Mayor Rudy Giuliani made use of the show’s platform as a pop-culture/politics stronghold to send his city a message of resilience during difficult times. “Can we be funny?” Michaels asks in a clip from Giuliani’s now famous opening monologue. The two men stand in front of an assembly of New York City firefighters and police officers, men who’d been at Ground Zero. Giuliani, smiling, responds in kind: “Why start now?” Here, Nguyen strikes a fine balance in recognizing SNL’s political delicacy and levity in a time of need and its reputation for irreverence.

If only the entirety of SNL’s rich history could be examined like so. Wishful thinking, I’m sure, but Nguyen’s documentary is a step in this direction. “Live from New York!” is frequently perfunctory and occasionally revealing, but the former may be more a function of the show’s incredibly fruitful life than it is the fault of the documentarian.

‘Live from New York’ opens in San Francisco on June 12 and will be playing at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema and Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Jane Curtin as Candice Bergen. The Daily regrets this error.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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‘A Separation’ director’s exceptional ‘About Elly’ receives long-awaited U.S. release https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/18/a-separation-directors-exceptional-about-elly-receives-long-awaited-u-s-release/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/05/18/a-separation-directors-exceptional-about-elly-receives-long-awaited-u-s-release/#comments Tue, 19 May 2015 05:47:32 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1101143 Asghar Farhadi’s “About Elly” is a masterful study in group dynamics. Farhadi, who hails from Iran, established himself as an up-and-coming auteur with “A Separation” — the 2011 film that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. With “About Elly,” made two years prior to “A Separation” though just now receiving a U.S. release, layers […]

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Asghar Farhadi’s “About Elly” is a masterful study in group dynamics. Farhadi, who hails from Iran, established himself as an up-and-coming auteur with “A Separation” — the 2011 film that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. With “About Elly,” made two years prior to “A Separation” though just now receiving a U.S. release, layers of intrigue and social commentary reveal the makings of a brilliant director.

The film begins simply enough: A group of young, middle-class Iranians takes off for a vacation on the Caspian Sea. The trip appears to have been orchestrated by Sepideh (Golshifteh Farahani), who’s also brought her toddler daughter’s kindergarten teacher, Elly (Taraneh Alidoosti), along for the ride. The other couples welcome the newcomer into their midst, all the while acknowledging the real reason Elly’s there: to be introduced to Ahmad (Shahab Hosseini), a visiting friend of Sepideh’s from Germany.

Farhadi’s mastered the intimation, the suggestion of something about to go seriously awry. From the film’s outset, Farhadi establishes Elly as the quietest one in the bunch. As the beach vacation commences and the friends let loose, however, her behavior borders on the bizarre — she makes a phone call and tells her mother, on the other end, to lie about her whereabouts; the men’s antics, though good-natured, visibly perturb her; she insists upon leaving the beach for Tehran after only one night. The apparent divide between Elly and the rest of the group comes to a head when Elly, already an unassuming presence, disappears. One of the couple’s children is found, floating and unconscious, in the sea. Sepideh and her friends quickly realize that Elly has either drowned in the process of going after the boy or returned home to Tehran without goodbyes.

Like so many good filmmakers, Farhadi embeds subtle details of plot and character in every scene of the film — an errant look or seemingly benign word, spoken out of place, has resounding repercussions later in the film. It’s in this way that “About Elly” offers a nuanced cultural critique.The political underpinnings of the film — women’s rights, marriage — are slyly hinted at through muted conversations and sidelong glances. In the context of a mystery, Farhadi’s breadcrumb trail is particularly satisfying for the observant spectator.

Courtesy of Cinema Guild.
Golshifteh Farahani and Taraneh Alidoosti in a scene from Asghar Farhadi’s “About Elly.” Courtesy of Cinema Guild.

Just as effective is Farhadi’s choice and manipulation of setting. An abandoned beach villa with no cellphone signal quickly becomes a black box of sorts, as the vacationing cast of characters finds its movements confined to a few unfurnished rooms and a strip of sandy coastline. There’s no better time or place than this to explore the dramatic potential of cabin fever. The limited possibilities that dictate Elly’s fate — drowning or early departure — do not make her case more solvable but actually render it all the more frustrating for those involved. Accusations fly as the adults attempt to justify their own roles in a young boy’s near-drowning. Sepideh becomes the fulcrum of their finger-pointing (as vacation planner and near-matchmaker, she’s conspicuously entangled), though she appears to be as clueless as everyone else. The friends’ formerly jovial outing quickly turns completely sour; their interactions go from gleeful to grim as they begin, reluctantly, to unravel the details of a woman’s apparent death.

The film’s pacing does dance a fine line between deliberate and slightly delayed. In two hours, Farhadi tries to keep his characters — and his audience — fruitfully occupied. Towards the end of the second hour, however, there is a sense of relieved resolution as the pent-up confusions and frustrations of the vacation finally receive closure. Farahani, playing Sepideh, is perpetually teary-eyed for the latter half of the film. Though she is engaging, her principal expression of grief is a creased brow and tremulous voice, and there’s only so much of that a viewer can take in two hours.

But the nuances of Farahani’s performance are just background noise. True to form, this is a film about Elly: Elly’s friends, the fragility of friendships and love, women and marriage.

“About Elly” opens in theaters on May 22nd at Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinema in San Francisco, Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley, and Camera 3 in San Jose. 

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Capsule reviews: Female directors break the celluloid ceiling at SFFIF https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/30/capsule-reviews-female-directors-break-the-celluloid-ceiling-at-sffif/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/30/capsule-reviews-female-directors-break-the-celluloid-ceiling-at-sffif/#respond Fri, 01 May 2015 06:50:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1100190 The 58th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF), which runs from April 23 to May 7, features work from every corner of the world. Whether you’re looking for a definitive documentary feature on Zimbabwean politics (“Democrats”) or a beautiful, subdued art film on California’s famous El Camino Real (“The Royal Road”), SFIFF has a selection […]

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The 58th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF), which runs from April 23 to May 7, features work from every corner of the world. Whether you’re looking for a definitive documentary feature on Zimbabwean politics (“Democrats”) or a beautiful, subdued art film on California’s famous El Camino Real (“The Royal Road”), SFIFF has a selection for your tastes. Both aforementioned films are acclaimed works from SFIFF’s slate of female directors. Continuing our past coverage of the film industry’s celluloid ceiling, The Daily previewed a selection of five films from female filmmakers at SFIFF.

“Democrats”

Director Camilla Nielsson explores Zimbabwe’s fraught political scene at a grassroots level. Robert Mugabe, the country’s Prime Minister, has reigned as the leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) for 31 years. In “Democrats,” his as-yet uncontested rule receives strong resistance in the form of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the country’s liberal front. Nielsson follows the travails of two men, organizers for ZANU-PF and MDC, as they attempt to draft the country’s first constitution.

Viewers are afforded a glimpse of the MDC’s bitter struggle against the well-established ZANU-PF. Nielsson subtly hints at the heroism of Douglas Mwonzora, of the MDC, as he rallies villagers and city dwellers against Mugabe’s oppressive rule. At the same time, she doesn’t villainize Paul Mangwana, the vaguely bullying ZANU-PF party member who, as far as we can see, is just doing his job — rather, she lets him speak for himself, lets us draw our own conclusions.

“Very Semi-Serious”

Who’s the man behind The New Yorker’s subtly funny comics? Director Leah Wolchok presents us with an intimate character sketch of Bob Mankoff, the wild-haired, bespectacled head of the weekly magazine’s cartoon empire. Wolchok trains her lens on Mankoff’s editorial antics, but it’s hard to ignore the department’s demographics. Almost completely white and male, department is a regular old boys’ club. Wolchok introduces Roz Chast as the magazine’s first female cartoonist. Quiet (and quietly talented), Chast putters around her house, doodles, jokingly describes her first published piece in the magazine’s pages: “Someone asked Bob if he owed my family money…”

A scene from Jenni Olson's The Royal Road, playing at the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival, April 23 - May 7 2015. Courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society.
A scene from Jenni Olson’s The Royal Road, playing at the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival, April 23 – May 7 2015. Courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society.

“The Royal Road”

Jenni Olson delivers a muted, mesmerizing portrait of one of California’s most well-known thoroughfares. El Camino Real — literally, the Royal Road — snakes up and down the California coast like a disjointed spine. For Wilson, it’s 600 miles of history, much of it personal. She’s not afraid to bring her viewers close to her. There’s nearly no narrative distance here as she speaks in a constant monotone, regardless of the topic of discussion. Wilson makes frank mention of sexuality, love and California’s colonial history: “love, and loss, and San Francisco,” as she says. All the time, she’s backgrounded by breathtaking still shots of the Royal Road. Here, a scrubby patch of chaparral; there, an exquisite piece of mission-style architecture. As viewers, we’re just along for the ride.

Brenda Myers-Powell in a scene from Kim Longinotto's DREAMCATCHER, playing at the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival, April 23 - May 7, 2015. Courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society.
Brenda Myers-Powell in a scene from Kim Longinotto’s DREAMCATCHER, playing at the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival, April 23 – May 7, 2015. Courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society.

“Dreamcatcher”

The first time we see them, the Dreamcatchers are cruising the streets of Chicago’s seedier neighborhoods. “Do you need some condoms?” one of them shouts. A prostitute approaches, nods.

In “Dreamcatcher,” director Kim Longinotto takes an unflinching look at the process by which many girls become prostitutes. Like so many good documentarians, Longinotto disappears from the frame, even as she assembles a colorful cast of very real characters to tell a story — a former pimp, a former “john,” the Dreamcatchers and the girls they’re helping. Far from pressing her own take, Longinotto lets the people in the industry speak for themselves.

“Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno Live!”

Jody Shapiro and Isabella Rossellini (the daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini) direct a series of candid mini-documentaries on animal reproduction; the latter stars as the series’ host. There’s a focus on marine life (sea lions, sardines, etc.) and their unusual mating rituals. For a bit on the shrimp’s molting and mating process, Rossellini dons a sheer pink bodysuit and hugs a large, paper replica of the animal.

Kudos go to Rossellini for her unabashed embrace of material that wouldn’t usually make a splash in a documentary — squid coitus, anyone? — and her use of a chirpy children’s show format to contrast with the weirdly risqué material she’s presenting. The effect is surreal and absurd — and, of course, educational.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Life mirrors art in ‘Clouds of Sils Maria’ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/17/clouds-of-sils-maria/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/17/clouds-of-sils-maria/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2015 07:32:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1099267 There’s a place in the Swiss Alps where the clouds seep between two peaks and pour, serpentine, into an adjoining valley. The “Maloja snake” is the title weather phenomenon in “Clouds of Sils Maria,” director Oliver Assayas’ brilliant new film.

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There’s a place in the Swiss Alps where the clouds seep between two peaks and pour, serpentine, into an adjoining valley. The “Maloja snake” is the title weather phenomenon in “Clouds of Sils Maria,” director Oliver Assayas’ brilliant new film.

In “Sils Maria,” “Maloja Snake” is also the name of a play by fictional dramaturge Wilhelm Melchior detailing the ill-fated romance of two women, Sigrid and Helena. The former is only a teenager, reckless and charmingly devious. Helena, her middle-aged counterpart, hires Sigrid as an office assistant and is soon enthralled by the younger girl. Like so much art, however, the true nature of Sigrid’s relationship with Helena is open to interpretation.

Maria Enders (Juliette Binoche), a prominent but aging French actress, played Sigrid in her youth and struggles to reconcile her own middle-age with her original, Lolita-esque take on “Maloja Snake.” Enders finds that her interpretation of Melchior’s play meets with resistance from Valentine (Kristen Stewart), her wisecracking, punkish personal assistant.

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Kristen Stewart in “Clouds of Sils Maria.” Photo courtesy of IFC Films.

Assayas deftly explores the concept of life imitating art — or is it vice versa? When Enders is called on to act, again, in “Maloja Snake,” this time as Helena, it seems as though her own worst fears have been brought to the fore. A younger, lesser-known actress is cast to play Sigrid. In an actress’s eternal battle to stay relevant, young and appealing in the eyes of her public, Enders has taught herself to ward off any intimations of age.

As Enders, Binoche strikes a careful balance between world-weary cynicism and youthful outrage. In recalling her former co-star’s interpretation of Helena, Enders fumes: “I remember Susan Rosenberg and the disgust she inspired in me by putting herself in the shoes of this defeated woman.” Defeat — giving up, growing old. There’s a sense of art mirroring life too closely for comfort. Enders, recognizing this, shies away from the role.

Valentine is quick to point out that Helena’s apparent weakness should be understood as a source of artistic honesty — her vulnerability becomes more apparent with time. Enders disagrees, and the dueling interpretations of “Maloja” blossom into a more personal conflict.

Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche in "Clouds of Sils Maria." Photo courtesy of IFC Films.
Kristen Stewart and Juliette Binoche in “Clouds of Sils Maria.” Photo courtesy of IFC Films.

As with most of “Sils Maria,” Assayas treats every interaction as a performance in its own right. What’s real? What’s playacting? The tension between Enders and Valentine unfolds through their read-throughs of the script, which Assayas blends seamlessly into their day-to-day conversation. Valentine hints that she’s more than Enders’ personal assistant — though Enders is admittedly straight, Assayas maintains a kind of electricity between the two, as when they strip to go for a swim in a mountain lake. During a hike in the mountains, Valentine threatens to leave her post as an assistant. There’s a brief moment of panic before we realize, with some relief, that we’re only hearing Valentine-as-Sigrid, who levels the threat at her employer, Helena, in the parallel world of “Maloja Snake.”

Each moment of absolute distinction between real and play is satisfying, to Assayas’ credit. The nebulous in-between is just as wonderful to watch, though. Like the hauntingly beautiful landscape of Sils Maria, the action of the film seems to be an island of dream-like characters and conflicts in the midst of a burgeoning movie industry.

Jo-Ann (Chloe Grace Moretz), who’s been cast to play the Sigrid to Enders’ Helena, is Enders’ rude awakening. The young, rash actress with a reputation for hard partying and bad press amuses Enders, who dismisses her antics from afar. There’s a significant build-up to Jo-Ann’s appearance that seems to fall a bit short (she’s around long enough to cause a paparazzi firestorm and insult Enders before opening night), but there’s also catharsis in Enders’ eventual recognition of herself in Jo-Ann.

Assayas begs us to consider the proximity of art to life, the transience of time and celebrity.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Ranking film and television streaming services https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/10/ranking-streaming-services/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/10/ranking-streaming-services/#respond Fri, 10 Apr 2015 07:18:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1098645 In a matter of decades, we’ve gone from vast movie palaces, towering screens and drive-in movie theaters to minute electronic displays — those belonging to the cellphones, tablets and laptops, which stream the latest in cinema and television with a few quick keystrokes. And what’s the small screen without a streaming service to match? We selected and evaluated eight online […]

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Amazon Prime users have access to Amazon's Instant Video collection. Photo courtesy of Rahim Ullah.
Amazon Prime users have access to Amazon’s Instant Video collection. Photo courtesy of Rahim Ullah.

In a matter of decades, we’ve gone from vast movie palaces, towering screens and drive-in movie theaters to minute electronic displays — those belonging to the cellphones, tablets and laptops, which stream the latest in cinema and television with a few quick keystrokes. And what’s the small screen without a streaming service to match? We selected and evaluated eight online entertainment platforms for the quality of their film libraries, pricing and overall usability.

  1. Netflix

A time-tested favorite, Netflix got into the subscription-service game early, and it’s got the expansive library to show for it. For $8.99 a month (upped recently from $7.99), you’ll have access to thousands of feature-length films and TV shows, many of them in Super HD 1080p. Netflix does a fairly good job of keeping abreast of recent indie films and will occasionally offer a new blockbuster film ahead of its competitors (e.g. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”).

Each Netflix account can host multiple user profiles, and each user can view personalized movie and TV recommendations as determined by viewing habits. Furthermore, Netflix is compatible with most devices — your Xbox, Tivo, Kindle and more. Netflix gets high marks for the quality of its content and user-friendliness.

  1. Amazon Prime Instant Video

The company that had its beginnings in the bookselling business has since expanded to encompass other forms of media. Amazon Prime Instant Video comes part and parcel with purchase of Amazon Prime, which is currently $50 per year for students compared to $108 per year from Netflix.

Instant Video streams on most devices, though mobile users must have Wi-Fi to watch — a hassle for those users who have limited access to Wi-Fi and cellular data. Furthermore, its user interface isn’t as navigable as Netflix’s.

In addition to its subscription service, Instant Video also offers 30-day rentals for $2.99 a pop. If you’d like a la carte film selections in addition to your bread-and-butter offerings, Prime’s got the goods.

  1. iTunes

iTunes has all the selection of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video without the monthly subscription fee to match. If you’re an infrequent filmgoer, or if your tastes run to the slightly more eccentric, you’ll find an ideal streaming service in iTunes Movies. The Apple-hosted service fills in the cracks left by more popular services, but the pay-per-film model might be a hassle for the more avid movie-watcher.

iTunes tends to be a bit finicky about its compatibility — make sure you’ve got the latest version of Mac OS or Windows installed, with the most recent version of iTunes to boot.

  1. Google Play

In the style of Apple’s iTunes, Google Play offers pay-per-selection services for film and television. Prices for film rentals range from free to $6.99; purchase is typically $10.99-$14.99. While iTunes outstrips Play in terms of size of selection, Google Play has the upper hand in the comprehensibility of its user interface.

  1. Fandor

A purveyor of cult, classic and indie films, Fandor offers subscription services starting from $7.50 per month. The streaming service gets top marks for its selection of international films (check out its world map of offerings, ranging from Azerbaijan to Yemen) as well as its Criterion Classics collection.

Fandor also fosters a tighter viewer community than other larger-scale subscriptions services; Fandor fans can write their own reviews of films on the site, which are then rated by other users.

  1. Hulu

Although not the film buff’s ideal streaming service, Hulu’s a go-to for its library of TV shows; its film catalog is far more limited. Though Hulu does offer a limited selection of free films and shows, you’ll likely want to upgrade to Hulu Plus ($7.99 a month, or $95.88 a year) for more options. Opt for a Netflix/Hulu Plus combo if you’d like a mix of quality films and up-to-date TV offerings. A perk of the Plus package, additionally, is the Criterion Collection library, a treasure trove of 900-plus classic films.

  1. Mubi

The self-proclaimed hub for “cult, classic, independent and award-winning films from around the world,” Mubi provides a limited, curated selection of lesser-known films for $4.99 a month. The Mubi staff selects one new film every day for inclusion on the site; the selection is available for 30 days before it disappears.

It’s small, underground and indie. Mubi caters to a niche, and admittedly hipsterish, audience even as it adopts Netflix’s tried-and-true business model.

  1. Vudu

Registration and membership are free, but films are pay-per-rental or purchase. Vudu is newer than Netflix and has a more limited selection of films, but almost all of its films are in HD or HDX.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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‘The Room’ director talks new sitcom project, directorial influences https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/07/interview-with-tommy-wiseau/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/04/07/interview-with-tommy-wiseau/#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2015 06:02:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1098472 It’s been called the “Casablanca” of horrible movies. Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room,” a romantic drama/black comedy, is internationally renowned for its off-kilter dialogue, continuity errors and melodramatic delivery. Since its release in 2003, the film has garnered a cult following, with monthly midnight screenings in San Francisco. Wiseau, the film’s producer, director, writer and star, […]

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Tommy Wiseau in “The Room.” Courtesy of Wiseau-Films.

It’s been called the “Casablanca” of horrible movies. Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room,” a romantic drama/black comedy, is internationally renowned for its off-kilter dialogue, continuity errors and melodramatic delivery. Since its release in 2003, the film has garnered a cult following, with monthly midnight screenings in San Francisco. Wiseau, the film’s producer, director, writer and star, discussed “The Room” and his current sitcom project, “The Neighbors,” in concert with a showing of the former in San Francisco on April 11 and 12 at the Clay Theatre, at which Wiseau is set to make a special appearance.

The Stanford Daily: “The Room” has really gotten a cult following in recent years—did you expect this kind of reception to your film when it was originally released?

Tommy Wiseau: No, I thought I’d just make a movie and move on to [the] next project. It didn’t come out right. Maybe the next one would be better. We’ve got the twelfth anniversary of “The Room” this coming June.

TSD: What provided you with the inspiration for the film’s premise?

TW: Well, originally, it was supposed to be a play, and I wrote the book — 800 pages — then I condensed it to the script. So I wrote a 100-page script. People say that script didn’t exist, but it did exist. To respond to your question: I gathered stuff from real life—different characters, some of my friends, actually, etc., etc. I studied film for quite a few years.

TSD: So you attended film school?

TW: Yeah, and I remember the first time I did my little project, I got an A-. We used a splicer, but I didn’t splice the right way and I couldn’t go backwards, so I got an A- for it.

TSD: For “The Room,” you took responsibility for the entire process of writing, acting, producing, [and] directing from start to finish. How was that experience?

The cast of Tommy Wiseau's "The Room." Courtesy of Wiseau-Films.
The cast of Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room.” Courtesy of Wiseau-Films.

TW: It was a roller coaster ride — I used two cameras, the HD and the 35mm. Also, people tried to tamper with the script. I had a script, and people tried to tamper [with it] because I had a different vision of what a regular movie should be — even right now, the sitcom that I’m doing is slightly different. So I changed the crew, I changed the actors. We’re very happy about what happened… people relate to it. I’ve never called it a cult, a cult phenomenon or whatever, but it’s a film where people really enjoy it, interact and have fun with it. You can laugh, you can cry, you can express yourself, but please don’t hurt each other.

TSD: “The Room” was originally billed as a romantic drama, but, in recent years, you’ve started calling it a black comedy. What precipitated the change?

Tommy Wiseau in "The Room." Courtesy of Wiseau-Films.
Tommy Wiseau in “The Room.” Courtesy of Wiseau-Films.

TW: Actually, I did not change at all. From the beginning, we marketed it as a comedy/black comedy. People don’t realize that the black comedy is leading to melodrama, which is not melodrama. Melodrama is something you cannot relate to because of exaggeration. So when Johnny says, “You’re tearing me apart, Lisa!” — people don’t talk like that, but where I grew up, people actually exaggerated their relationships themselves in real life. So usage of the football and all the elements of “The Room” was, in my mind, like I wanted to put American culture to the movie. So this is the gray area, that people don’t realize how “The Room” has succeeded for so many years — because “The Room” has foundations, like a building has strong foundations. You may push it, but, at the end of the day, the audience laughs.

In the beginning, when we had the premiere of the movie twelve years ago, people said, “What is this? What are we watching?” If I did everything how I learned in school, with a formula like in Hollywood, we would not have a conversation today. So I’m very proud of this project. Everything was done intentionally; I was involved from beginning to end. Some of the quirky things with the sound, I say to hell with it, let’s just do it. Let’s just leave it alone.

TSD: The process of filming the movie was quite expensive — how did you source the funding for the film?

TW: To respond to your question, I have two words: hard work. That’s basically, you know, I used to have a retail store and I design stuff. Right now, I design underwear. So I’m back to design. I create clothing. So that’s where some of the money comes from. Some of it comes from hard work. Buildings in the Bay Area, being involved with small businesses. Some people don’t understand that in America, if you work hard, you can accomplish something.

TSD: Who are your directorial influences?

TW: Oh, I influence myself, but… James Dean, Orson Welles, “Casablanca,” James Dean in “Giant” and Clint Eastwood. These people did acting and producing. I always believe in original material and these people created original material, like Shakespeare.

TSD: How have you found the transition from film projects to a sitcom project (“The Neighbors”)?

TW: It is different—you’re shooting differently, number one. It’s not easy, to be honest with you. It’s challenging. The reason I’m doing a sitcom now is because I like something different. But I’m leaning towards movies, feature movies. I don’t like so much reality shows, to be honest, because, right now, reality shows are mostly scripted. It’s like a cheap thrill. So I don’t like to cheat the public. I like to be real.

“The Room” screens at midnight on April 10-11 at the Clay Theatre in San Francisco. Director and star Tommy Wiseau will make special appearances. For more information about tickets, visit  http://www.landmarktheatres.com/san-francisco/clay-theatre/Film-Info/the-room.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

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CAAMFest: An inside look at this year’s festival https://stanforddaily.com/2015/03/11/caamfest-an-inside-look/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/03/11/caamfest-an-inside-look/#respond Wed, 11 Mar 2015 08:46:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1097463 The Center for Asian American Media will host CAAMFest from March 12 to 22 this year in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. Now in its 33rd year, the festival brings food, film and art from Asian and Asian-American artists to the fore. Each year, the festival endeavors to speak to an oft-overlooked demand for Asian-American […]

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Teo Yoo, Justin Chon and Esteban Ahn in "Seoul Searching." Photo courtesy of Daniel Katz.
Teo Yoo, Justin Chon and Esteban Ahn in “Seoul Searching.” Photo courtesy of Daniel Katz.

The Center for Asian American Media will host CAAMFest from March 12 to 22 this year in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. Now in its 33rd year, the festival brings food, film and art from Asian and Asian-American artists to the fore.

Each year, the festival endeavors to speak to an oft-overlooked demand for Asian-American representation at the movies. A study conducted by the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at USC found that only 4.4% of speaking roles in 2013’s 100 top-grossing films were given to Asian actors. Though Asians are one of the United States’ fastest-growing demographics, the percentage of Asian actors and directors in Hollywood has been in decline since 2008.

CAAMFest, formerly known as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Fest, seeks to reverse this downwards trend. The festival’s roster is a multimedia palette of film screenings, live performances, food samplings and workshops for children in celebration of Asian and Asian-American culture. In keeping with its message of inclusivity and diversity in the entertainment industry, CAAMFest’s schedule is chock-full of appearances from historically underrepresented groups: a forum and series of screenings from LGBTQIA filmmakers and characters, a documentary on the survivors of Khmer Rouge.

The festival will open with “Seoul Searching,” a Korean tribute to John Hughes’ feel-good teen flicks, and close with “Lucky Chow,” a documentary about a cross-country journey in search of Asian eats. In addition, among the festival’s variegated genres, artists and titles is “Hollow,” a horror film from Vietnamese director Ham Tran. We took a look at these three selections in preparation for the festival’s kickoff this Thursday.

“Seoul Searching”

Korean-American director Benson Lee’s newest film has been called “The Bibambap Breakfast Club,” and with good reason. “Seoul Searching” is a professed tribute to John Hughes’ 80s teen movies (think: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Sixteen Candles”). Here, we have all the requisite tropes for any teen film worth its salt: the basketcase, the prep, the square, the punk and a compromising situation for the whole gang.

Benson Lee, the director of "Seoul Searching." Photo courtesy of Hyunwoo Nam.
Benson Lee, director of “Seoul Searching.” Photo courtesy of Hyunwoo Nam.

Lee puts an interesting spin on these stock characters — in “Seoul Searching,” ethnically Korean students from every corner of the world come together for a summer camp in Seoul. The camp’s intent: to teach the rowdy youngsters the value of their Korean heritage. At the start of the film, we’re told that the government-funded camp was discontinued because “they simply could not control these kids.” Though the action is exaggerated, the camp was real.

“Seoul Searching” relies on a cast of caricatures to make its point — Sergio from Mexico, who speaks in an exaggerated, rollicking accent, can get along just fine with Sid, the leather-studded punk from California. The parents of Klaus, a student from Germany, own a bratwurst company. Sarah, an English student, is from Wimbledon and wears a pastel-pink sweater around her shoulders.

The action is endearing but predictable. Everyone has a heart-rending backstory, it seems, including the students’ straitlaced teacher and mentor, Mr. Kim. Excess sap comes part and parcel with any tribute to a Hughes film, but “Seoul Searching” frames this motley assemblage of freaks and geeks in the context of cultural awareness — at the end of the day, Lee seems to say, a shared appreciation for Korean culture can quash any amount of stereotyping and exaggerated accents.

“Hollow”

Director Ham Tran’s newest horror flick is dark, nuanced and stylish. The film opens on a woman, her face blood-streaked. Tran plays with perspective so that it’s impossible to tell if she’s sprawled horizontally or standing upright. When we finally get our bearings — she’s standing with her back to a bridge’s guardrails — she jumps into the murky water below.

Thanh Mỹ as Ái in "Hollow." Courtesy of CAAM.
Thanh Mỹ as Ái in “Hollow.” Courtesy of CAAM.

“Hollow” leans on a few horror movie tropes to move plot forward. At its foundation is a broken Vietnamese family — there’s a stepfather and an older daughter from her mother’s previous marriage who don’t get along. A younger daughter is caught in the crossfire. She becomes the devil-child, a favorite device of horror flicks since “Rosemary’s Baby.” The daughter, Ai, becomes the focal point of the film’s action.

While many of the plot elements are reminiscent of past horror films, Tran incorporates masterful commentary on sex trafficking in Vietnam into “Hollow.” The distraught spirit of a young girl, wronged by the sadistic male owner of a brothel, possesses the female family members in an attempt to get closer to her killer — his identity, hinted at over the course of the film, receives a reveal in the film’s final moments. “Hollow” provides a healthy helping of cultural commentary with its scares.

“Lucky Chow”

In the Silicon Valley installment of “Lucky Chow,” foodie Danielle Chang explores the Bay Area’s culinary offerings. She visits a community garden at Google’s Mountain View campus, Hodo Soy and Ecopia Farms. The tech giant’s gardens produce herbs and vegetables; though the output of these gardens can’t fully supply the company’s myriad cafes and restaurants, they provide a useful lesson in sustainable farming practices. Hodo Soy mass produces artisanal firm tofu, an age-old process given the digital treatment. Ecopia Farms, founded by a retired computer scientist and aerospace engineer, employs vertical farming techniques to maximize its output of organic produce while reducing water consumption.

"Lucky Chow" takes viewers on a cross-country journey in search of Asian eats. Photo courtesy of CAAM.
“Lucky Chow” takes viewers on a cross-country journey in search of Asian eats. Photo courtesy of CAAM.

“Lucky Chow” provides a fascinating perspective on the latest in organic food fads. The highly technologized atmosphere of Silicon Valley is communicated in this episode — tech informs the Ecopia farmers’ every decision. Our current predilection for artisanal, organic, back-to-earth food is visible in Hodo Soy’s stone-ground, locally-sourced soy beans.

In the span of about twenty minutes, the documentary successfully highlights Asian business owners while making a case for healthy, sustainable food. And, with this episode’s focus on Silicon Valley, “Lucky Chow”’s points are especially salient.

CAAMFest will be held from March 12-22 in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley. For information about the festival, visit http://caamfest.com/2015.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Trouble in Belfast: Yann Demange’s ‘ ’71’ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/03/04/trouble-in-belfast-yann-demanges-71/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/03/04/trouble-in-belfast-yann-demanges-71/#respond Thu, 05 Mar 2015 07:32:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1096999 There’s a fine line between friend and foe in the midst of a revolution. First-time director Yann Demange’s “’71” explores this tenuous boundary in the time of the Troubles — a period of ethno-nationalist unrest in Northern Ireland.

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Jack O'Connell as Gary Hook in "'71." Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
Jack O’Connell as Gary Hook in Yann Demange’s ”71.’ Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

There’s a fine line between friend and foe in the midst of a revolution. First-time director Yann Demange’s “’71” explores this tenuous boundary in the time of the Troubles — a period of ethno-nationalist unrest in Northern Ireland.

It’s 1971, a year before Bloody Sunday, when Gary Hook (Jack O’Connell, “Unbroken”) joins the Parachute Regiment of the English army. His unit is assigned to patrol in Belfast, a veritable hornet’s nest of IRA activity and paramilitary unrest.

Hook, green in the ways of revolution, is separated from the rest of his regiment when a house-to-house search in Belfast goes awry. The ostensibly peaceful routine operation devolves into an all-out riot: Townspeople lob rocks at the troops, women bang trash can lids together in an attempt to drive the English from the streets, children, even, do their part — small sacks of human waste first disgust, then infuriate, the regiment.

Jack O'Connell as Gary Hook in "'71." Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
Jack O’Connell as Gary Hook in “’71.” Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

Lost behind enemy lines, Hook is at the mercy of the townspeople who happen upon him. He’s handed from hostile resistance forces to informers to a kindly doctor and back again. The uncertainty of identity — friend or foe? Informant or militant? — keeps Hook on the run. Along the way, he’s bruised and beaten to a pulp (O’Connell spends the majority of the film with a painful limp). The confusion of his back-and-forth culminates in a shootout between army and resistance forces. By the end of “’71,” the unseasoned soldier of the film’s opening moments is hardened, bloodied, a single night in Belfast his trial by fire.

“’71” is a beautiful film for its shadows, colors and dramatic angles. By night, Demange’s Belfast is a landscape of lurid greens, browns and yellows. After a bomb blast flattens a local bar, Hook, silhouetted, staggers away from the scene. He’s backgrounded by smoke and the unsettling yellow light of flames, and the camera doesn’t leave his darkened face for a moment. Demange settles on a low angle shot so that Hook looms ominously in the frame as he falters down a flight of stairs. He’s so heavily shadowed that it’s unclear how far or near he is from the camera — as the audience sees him, he’s a bobbing, spectral presence. When Hook is finally illuminated, his face is vacant, his cheeks blood-strewn, and the audience’s disorientation is complete — the back alleys of Belfast might very well be the stomping grounds of Frankenstein’s monster.

Jack O'Connell as Gary Hook in "'71." Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
Jack O’Connell as Gary Hook in “’71.” Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

It’s with these kinds of waking nightmares that Demange creates a mood that’s at once surreal and urgent — too urgent, at times. For the first half of “’71,” the film’s pacing establishes an atmosphere of muted chaos. The confusion of the daytime riot is well-paced, as is Hook’s odyssey through the streets of Belfast. As Demange prepares us for the film’s climactic shootout, however, there’s a sense of action hustled to its logical end. There’s a confusion of gunfire as the British military clashes with Irish resistance forces. Demange lingers for a moment, on a young civilian’s hesitation to execute Hook. The boy’s delay results in his own demise — the audience feels the pang of his loss. Otherwise, however, it’s a rushed and unsatisfying ending.

The rushed climax is redeemed by Hook’s reunion with his younger brother, Darren (Harry Verity). O’Connell, who performs in the capacity of an action star for the majority of “’71,” is finally allowed to halt the chase and emote.

O’Connell’s performance is the lynchpin of “’71”. Even as Hook limps through the streets of Belfast, he communicates by way of a pained look or the list of his stride. Here’s the lost look of a young soldier deep within enemy lines, of a Brit who feels duty-bound to loathe his Irish counterparts despite the ministrations of a kindly Irish doctor. O’Connell’s fine-tuning adds depth and color to a taut, fast-paced film. For all the chaos of the Troubles, O’Connell provides “’71” with a moving, reliable emotional center.

“‘71” opens March 13 in San Francisco, Berkeley and Marin.  

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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John Boorman’s ‘Queen and Country’ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/27/john-boormans-queen-and-country/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/27/john-boormans-queen-and-country/#respond Fri, 27 Feb 2015 14:00:06 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1096602 The men of “Queen and Country” never make it to the frontlines of battle. Instead, they’re waist-deep in the small skirmishes of army base politicking and their own love lives. The film follows the trials and tribulations of 18-year-old Bill Rohan (Callum Turner), a sergeant in the English army during the Korean War. Director John […]

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Tamsin Egerton as Ophelia in John Boorman's "Queen and Country." Courtesy of Sophie Mutevelian.
Tamsin Egerton as Ophelia in John Boorman’s “Queen and Country.” Courtesy of Sophie Mutevelian.

The men of “Queen and Country” never make it to the frontlines of battle. Instead, they’re waist-deep in the small skirmishes of army base politicking and their own love lives.

The film follows the trials and tribulations of 18-year-old Bill Rohan (Callum Turner), a sergeant in the English army during the Korean War. Director John Boorman introduced a very young Rohan in his 1987 film “Hope and Glory,” which was nominated for five Academy Awards; in “Queen and Country,” Boorman finds his protagonist nine years older and none the wiser.

Rohan’s may be a classic case of guilt by association. As friendships go, Rohan’s are limited and eccentric. His partner-in-crime is Percy Hapgood (Caleb Landry Jones), a red-headed sergeant with a penchant for pranks and emotional outbursts. At a concert, Rohan falls for a mysterious, unnamed woman in the seat in front of him, Ophelia (his own name for her), who sets him up and breaks him down in the weakest of the film’s multiple subplots.

Rohan’s frequent conflicts with his superiors are likewise peculiar. His back-and-forth with Sergeant Major Bradley (David Thewlis) harkens back to Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22.” After all, what’s an army story without a laughably inflexible superior officer? Bradley brings Rohan and Hapgood before Major Cross (Richard Grant) in turn, each time citing some petty violation — the top button of a uniform jacket undone, “dumb insolence” (Cross: “That hasn’t been invoked since the first World War!”).

Caleb Landry Jones (Percy), David Thewlis (Sgt. Major Bradley) and Callum Turner (Bill Rohan) in "Queen and Country." Courtesy of Sophie Mutevelian.
Caleb Landry Jones (Percy), David Thewlis (Sgt. Major Bradley) and Callum Turner (Bill Rohan) in “Queen and Country.” Courtesy of Sophie Mutevelian.

There’s a constant tension between Rohan’s fraught friendships and his tenuous relationship with top brass. Hapgood’s antics are usually harmless, but the petty takes a turn for the more serious when a new recruit refuses to go to the front lines, citing Rohan’s antiwar sentiments as his reason. In an attempt to ward off a public relations gaffe, Cross suspends Rohan from duty. Hapgood decides to steal the company clock in response. The missing timepiece turns the base on its head and reshuffles the official structure. Boorman’s manipulation of this otherwise overused dynamic — friends versus enemies — is refreshing and masterful.

“Queen and Country” is also funny — surprisingly so, at times. But the film’s moments of levity are never without their more sober counterparts. Boorman allows his audience their satisfaction when Sergeant Major Bradley is caught reprimanding Rohan in the presence of a private — a punishable offense. In a moment of incredible irony, Bradley is brought before Cross, found guilty and discharged for psychological evaluation. It seems as though the villain is finally getting his just deserts. But a remorseful Rohan discovers, later, that Bradley was still suffering from the trauma of his Normandy landing during World War II; his obsessive compliance with army law kept his crumbling psyche intact. The audience shares in the sucker punch of Rohan’s realization. After the revelation of Bradley’s illness, his previous actions are understandable, saddening and far from funny.

Boorman is most successful in his exploration of on-base relationships. Off-base, in town, “Queen and Country” is hit-or-miss. Ophelia (Tamsin Egerton), Rohan’s love interest, communicates in clichés. “I’m going to marry a sweet, dull man who will never overexcite me,” she says, teary-eyed, when Rohan visits her. She insists upon calling him “William,” wishes she were “a free spirit, spontaneous.” She’s an Oxford student, a beautiful intellectual with a murky (but possibly royal) lineage and an unspeakably sad back story  — yawn. She dumps him without ceremony and the film moves forward without a hitch.

Tamsin Egerton and Callum Turner in John Boorman's "Queen and Country." Courtesy of BBC Worldwide.
Tamsin Egerton and Callum Turner in John Boorman’s “Queen and Country.” Courtesy of BBC Worldwide.

In the end, Ophelia seems inconsequential to the men and extraneous to the reality of the Korean War. Though there are no bloody scenes from the front lines, Boorman ensures the specter of battle is a constant presence — even as Rohan and Hapgood grapple with their latest tiff with Bradley, new recruits beg to be left off rosters for the next deployment to Korea. In a brilliant, surreal sequence, Rohan dreams that Korean troops are moving silently between the cots of sleeping British recruits on base. For a moment, the battlefield encroaches on the homefront. Ophelia’s tryst with Rohan is a strange, unnecessary diversion in comparison.

Even if “Queen and Country” falters in its depiction of love during wartime, it paints a sophisticated portrait of friendships and interpersonal conflicts within ranks—a microcosm of the war raging half a world away.

“Queen and Country” opens this Friday, Feb. 27, at Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinemas in San Francisco (Director John Boorman will be available for a Q & A at the 7 p.m. screening), Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley and Rialto Cinemas in Sebastopol. Opens March 6, 2015, at Camera Cinemas in San Jose. 

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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‘The Interview’ and persistent orientalism in film https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/13/the-interview-and-persistent-orientalism-in-film/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/13/the-interview-and-persistent-orientalism-in-film/#respond Fri, 13 Feb 2015 17:00:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1095577 Fu Manchu was the original cinematic East Asian — scheming and mysterious, he was a force of overwhelming evil. He shunned traditional weaponry for his own exotic arsenal: charms, snakes and strange elixirs. He was the originator of the Fu Manchu mustache and, unfortunately, a longstanding Western tradition of portraying Asian characters as villainous and […]

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Randall Park as Kim Jong-un in "The Interview." Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
Randall Park as Kim Jong-un in “The Interview.” Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.

Fu Manchu was the original cinematic East Asian — scheming and mysterious, he was a force of overwhelming evil. He shunned traditional weaponry for his own exotic arsenal: charms, snakes and strange elixirs. He was the originator of the Fu Manchu mustache and, unfortunately, a longstanding Western tradition of portraying Asian characters as villainous and backwards. Manchu was also played by non-Asian actors for the whole of his onscreen life. Australian, English and American performers all played this tired archetype with the help of racial makeup, or yellowface.

Manchu’s is a legacy with lasting repercussions. Actors since have donned queues, drawn on pencil-thin mustaches and tinted their faces. Whereas blackface — the use of stage makeup to darken the complexion — is now taboo, yellowface is still accepted and even commonplace in contemporary cinema — in “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” and “Balls of Fury,” among others. Yellowface isn’t as exaggerated as it was in the 1950s, say, but racist portrayals of Asian characters are still prevalent.

Orientalism — the representation of Asian cultures and characters through gross generalizations and stereotypes — isn’t a good-faith attempt at understanding another culture. Frankly, it’s lazy. Case in point: “The Interview,” a film of more recent mint, camouflages its orientalism as politics — Kim Jung-un’s nuclear trigger-happiness stands in for all of Korean culture. The esteemed leader of North Korea receives no sympathy in the United States, so there’s no defending him, or his country, from caricature in the film.

Sook (Diana Bang) with Aaron (Seth Rogen) and Dave (James Franco) in Columbia Pictures' THE INTERVIEW. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
Diana Bang with Seth Rogen and James Franco in Columbia Pictures’ “The Interview.” Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.

That’s not to say that I’m defending his image or his leadership. Neither is especially deserving of approbation, but the Kim of “The Interview” is bumbling, repressed and arrogant, a child-emperor with a nuclear arsenal and a cortège of fawning party officials at his behest. The film adds little in the way of depth or humor to (let’s be honest) current depictions of Kim. Rather, it plays on a collection of assumptions — an accent, a hairdo, a hidden predilection for western entertainment — and attempts to sanction its stereotypical imagery under the guise of politics.

Worse still is his right hand (wo)man, Sook Yung Park. As a one-dimensionally obedient, impassive character, she’s a stock orientalist archetype, albeit of a different stripe than Manchu. In “The Interview,” Park is a propagandist whose sole role is that of the attractive distractor. She’s also the typical stalwart party official. When we meet her, she’s starchy and sexless, but as the plot progresses, she sheds her party loyalty and uniform in tandem. The parallel between her decline in party affiliation and her impassivity is intentional — as Park moves away from her role as an essentially “Korean” character, she gains color and depth, becoming dynamic and interesting.

Dave Skylark (James Franco) and Kim Jong-un (Randall Park) in Columbia Pictures' "The Interview." Sook (Diana Bang) with Aaron (Seth Rogen) and Dave (James Franco) in Columbia Pictures' THE INTERVIEW. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
Dave Skylark (James Franco) and Kim Jong-un (Randall Park) in Columbia Pictures’ “The Interview.” Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.

“The Interview” is still subtle compared to the yellowface productions of decades past. Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan are easy targets, but the more nuanced orientalism of contemporary cinema is, in some ways, more harmful than the blatant stereotyping of its predecessors. “Chuck and Larry” gave the half-Filipino actor Rob Schneider a bowl cut and bad eye make-up. “Eat Pray Love” paints a rose-hued portrait of the Middle East as a land of enlightened souls — a prime vacation destination for 40-something women in search of self. The latter isn’t explicitly insulting — some might even call it flattering — but the simplicity of the depiction fails to do justice to a multi-faceted culture. The apparent harmlessness of this brand of orientalism allows its subconscious impacts to persist.

“Eat Pray Love” and “Chuck and Larry” are instances of a more deeply-rooted cultural phenomenon that has historically relegated Asian characters to the role of mystic, sidekick, villain, or clownish next door neighbor (see: Mickey Rooney, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”). In the case of “The Interview,” politics and cultural stereotyping are intertwined, each perpetuating the other. “It’s all for the sake of comedy,” some argue. But where’s the humor in overt racism?

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Short but sweet: A look at this year’s Oscar nominated short films https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/06/oscar-nominated-short-films/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/06/oscar-nominated-short-films/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2015 08:14:00 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1095058 With the Academy Awards only a little over two weeks away, Oscar pundits have already begun to make their picks for “the big four” awards categories: best film, best director, best actor and best actress. Yet, while these critics cobble together their Oscar predictions, we at The Stanford Daily wanted to take the time to highlight the less-recognized — though equally deserving — short film category.

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A family of Tibetan nomads poses in front of a portrait of the Great Wall in Hu Wei’s “Butter Lamp.” Courtesy of ShortsHD.

With the Academy Awards only a little over two weeks away, Oscar pundits have already begun to make their picks for “the big four” awards categories: best film, best director, best actor and best actress.

Divided into documentary, animation and live action categories, the entries are an ode to the power of brevity. To celebrate this oft-overlooked art form, we picked a few of our favorites from this year’s nominee pool.

Documentary Shorts

“La Parka”

La Parka” (“The Reaper”) invites us to meet our meat. The otherwise gruesome process of bringing beef cattle to slaughter receives the artistic treatment in director Gabriel Serra’s new short. Serra, the first Nicaraguan to be nominated for an Academy Award, leaves much to the power of suggestion and stagnant images. The film’s opening scenes are of the slaughterhouse’s rusted and caked equipment. The location is vaguely defined. Then come the men, smocked and gloved like surgeons, trails of brownish blood decorating their clothes. Among them is Efraín Jiménez García, la parka, the man responsible for making the kill. Serra lingers on his face, tired, hollow and world-weary. “La Parka” is a fascinating exposé of the meatpacking industry and the men who work its chains, pulleys and chopping blocks. Though our meat is often faceless, factory butchers are even more easily forgotten. With “La Parka,” Serrra seeks to alter that regrettable truth.

“Our Curse”

“Our Curse” places emphasis on the plural “our.” In this short film from director Tomasz Śliwiński, a young couple seeks to accept their newborn son’s diagnosis of congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) —  known colloquially as Ondine’s curse — in which sufferers run the risk of losing control of their breathing during sleep. Śliwiński also happens to be the boy’s father and, with his wife Magda, he confronts the difficult questions of his son’s life.  How will Leo react when he eventually discovers his own illness? How will he understand that he might die every time he falls asleep? “Our Curse” is heart-wrenching though, in the end, “Our Curse” would rather spend its time celebrating the unity of Śliwiński’s family.

Oscar Animated Shorts

“Feast”

Winston, the canine protagonist of "Feast," is offered a French fry by his soon-to-be owner. Courtesy of ShortsHD.
Courtesy of ShortsHD.

Patrick Osborne’s “Feast,” Disney’s entry for this year’s Oscars, is one dog’s gastronomical biography. In the film, Winston grows from puppyhood to maturity through a progression of meals: French fries, popcorn, bacon, spaghetti, peanut butter, pizza — animation has never looked so appetizing. Meanwhile, Winston’s owner’s love life develops in the background, and Osborne expertly weaves the two threads together. True to its name, “Feast” is deeply satisfying, a story of man, man’s best friend and the love shared between the two.

“Footprints”

Watch “Footprints” once. Then again. And again. And again. You’ll pick up on intriguing new details with each viewing. The short begins with a shot heard in the night. Our protagonist wakes from a sound sleep and inspects a shattered glass pane in his door. The ensuing hunt takes him through tall grass, over an ocean and back to his front door. The beauty of the short’s concept is paralleled only by the surrealism of its animation. Is “Footprints” a commentary on the state of the environment? Could be. You might just have to watch it a few times to figure it out.

“The Dam Keeper”

“The job of a dam keeper is to keep the darkness away.” So begins Robert Kondo and Daisuke Tsutsumi’s new film, “The Dam Keeper.” A young pig goes about the daily task of maintaining the clockwork intricacies of a windmill, whose function it is to keep out a suffocating quantity of ash. Where does the ash come from? Why is this pig apparently orphaned and friendless? The short doesn’t stop to wonder. “The Dam Keeper” is a surprisingly dark tale, for the pig leads a secluded, reclusive existence in his windmill.  Fortunately, at his lowest moment, a friend passes through and “The Dam Keeper” ends on a light note. 

Oscar Live Action Shorts

“Boogaloo and Graham”’

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The eponymous “Boogaloo and Graham” are frequently seen perched on the shoulders of the two brothers. Courtesy of ShortsHD.

Human-animal friendships remain an Oscar favorite. It’s 1978 — in the thick of the Troubles — and a father in Belfast brings home two fuzzy yellow chicks for his two sons. Boogaloo and Graham, as the two newest members of the family are named, quickly become fixtures of the family, eternally perched atop the boys’ shoulders or  in their arms. The boys’ mother, however, has her reservations about the birds, and finding her sons covered in bird droppings doesn’t help matters much. When the boys learn that their mother is pregnant, it seems as though the birds’ demise is inevitable. Funny, tragic and everything in between, “Boogaloo and Graham” is a rollicking good time.

“La Lampe au Beurre de Yak”

“Butter Lamp” is a series of snapshots — literally. Director Hu Wei’s short film is a sequence of those revealing, self-aware moments prior to the click of a shutter. A photographer shuffles Tibetan nomads back and forth  in front of a series of backdrops. Still clad in their traditional garb, they pose in front of Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Stadium, among others. In some cases, they’re asked to remove their jackets; in one shot, an old man dons a white suit jacket à la Tom Wolfe, all the while gripping a prayer stick. In the end, “La Lampe au Beurre de Yak” is a subtle commentary on the strained relationship between Tibet and China and the conflict between tradition and modernity.

Oscar-nominated Live Action and Animated Shorts are now playing at Embarcadero Center and Opera Plaza Cinemas in San Francisco and will begin screening at the Guild Theatre in Menlo Park on Feb. 6. Documentary shorts are currently screening at Camera 3 in San Jose.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Berlin and Beyond comes to Palo Alto tonight: ‘The King’s Surrender’ is a brooding study of brotherhood https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/02/the-kings-surrender-is-a-brooding-study-of-brotherhood/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/02/02/the-kings-surrender-is-a-brooding-study-of-brotherhood/#respond Mon, 02 Feb 2015 20:50:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1094791 Stimmung: “mood,” in German. “The Kings Surrender,” a feature of the Bay Area’s Berlin and Beyond Film Festival, has stimmung in spades. Philipp Leinemann’s second film blurs the boundaries between pursuer and pursued, cop and criminal. In its opening moments, the film follows a SEK (the German equivalent of SWAT) team’s botched drug bust. The […]

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Scene from "The King's Surrender." Courtesy of Berlin and Beyond Film Festival.
Scene from “The King’s Surrender.” Courtesy of Berlin and Beyond Film Festival.

Stimmung: “mood,” in German. “The Kings Surrender,” a feature of the Bay Area’s Berlin and Beyond Film Festival, has stimmung in spades.

Philipp Leinemann’s second film blurs the boundaries between pursuer and pursued, cop and criminal. In its opening moments, the film follows a SEK (the German equivalent of SWAT) team’s botched drug bust. The stimmung comes into play as the men enter the dimly-lit building. The darkness of the scene is punctuated by gunfire and expletives. It’s confusing viewing because it’s confusing action. As an audience, we’re aware of the inherent danger and a sense of things gone seriously awry. When the dust settles, we realize that our hunch wasn’t groundless: A SEK policeman has been shot and one of the dealer’s accomplices managed to escape amidst the chaos.

The messiness of the entire operation foreshadows the plot to follow. “Surrender” is no clean-cut, good-trumps-evil cop drama. It’s too difficult to distinguish between good and bad here. The film’s opening gambit later broadens into an exploration of a teenage gang’s dynamics, police corruption and the intersection of these seemingly unrelated subjects.

At the center of it all is Nassim (Mohamed Issa) — the 13-year-old son of a grocer, who inadvertently orchestrates the crossing of narrative threads —and Mendes (Misel Maticevic) and Kevin (Ronald Zehrfeld), the leaders of a SEK special unit. The policemen turn on one another; the gang begins to disintegrate. At one point, a confrontation between SEK policemen at a hospital turns violent; a startled nurse calls for the police. “We are the police,” a cop says, his voice weary.

Through it all, Leinemann places heavy emphasis on stimmung. A birthday party is filmed in lurid reds and yellows. A stripper entertains the gang members and alcohol flows freely, but there’s a sinister tinge to the debauchery. Even their celebration is coarsely violent. How fine is the line between drunken reverie and all-out conflict? How many of these men will survive the course of “Surrender”?

The film is saturated with testosterone. There’s only one significant female role (a cop), and the film is otherwise a study in brotherhood, its deterioration or lack thereof. The strength of “The Kings Surrender” lies in its colors and tones, but it risks wallowing in these mood portraits — too many shots of near-darkness and confused dialogue that drain the power from the power of suggestion.

“The Kings Surrender” screens at the Aquarius Theatre in Palo Alto today (‘Feb.’ 2) as a part of the Berlin and Beyond Film Festival. Tickets may be purchased at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/profile/98451.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Breaking the celluloid ceiling at the Sundance Film Festival https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/30/breaking-the-celluloid-ceiling-sundance/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/30/breaking-the-celluloid-ceiling-sundance/#respond Fri, 30 Jan 2015 10:55:32 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1094633 The director’s chair is too often a man’s domain, . This year, the Academy Awards  chose not to recognize any female directors, though many critics considered Ava DuVernay (“Selma”) and Angelina Jolie (“Unbroken”) to be favorites prior to the nominations announcement. More jarringly, in the past decade, only 4.4% of top-grossing films have been helmed […]

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PARK CITY, UT - JANUARY 26:  (L-R) Keri Putnam, Tracy Droz Tragos, Elisabeth Holm, Cristina Ibarra, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Kat Candler, Su Kim, and Sydney Freeland attend the Woman at Sundance Brunch during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2015 in Park City, Utah.  (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Sundance)
PARK CITY, UT – JANUARY 26: (L-R) Keri Putnam, Tracy Droz Tragos, Elisabeth Holm, Cristina Ibarra, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Kat Candler, Su Kim, and Sydney Freeland attend the Woman at Sundance Brunch during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2015 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Sundance)

The director’s chair is too often a man’s domain, . This year, the Academy Awards  chose not to recognize any female directors, though many critics considered Ava DuVernay (“Selma”) and Angelina Jolie (“Unbroken”) to be favorites prior to the nominations announcement. More jarringly, in the past decade, only 4.4% of top-grossing films have been helmed by women directors. These are the shocking realities of the contemporary cinema and ones that aren’t apt to change anytime soon. Fortunately, the Sundance Film Festival has firmly acknowledged the existence of the so-called “celluloid ceiling” and has, in recent years, made serious strides to fix this ever-worsening problem.

Held each year in Park City, Utah, The Sundance Film Festival is currently endeavoring to become a proverbial “safe space” for female directors. This year, 36% of selected films are directed by women, up 7% from 2014. The Daily has interviewed Stanford Alumni Jennifer Siebel Newsom ’96 about her documentary “The Mask You Live In,” which premiered in Park City, and has reviewed several other female-helmed films.

In addition to the festival’s acceptance of more female-driven pieces, Sundance has also established ongoing programs to combat gender disparities in the film industry. The Sundance Women’s Initiative, the festival’s flagship program, aims to foment mentorship, financing programs, network building, collective impact, and heightened awareness for emerging female filmmakers. Moreover, the initiative provides continued guidance for the procurement of funding for film projects and for the marketing of completed films.

The results have been promising. Female and male directors have been shown to have near-identical rates of completion on film projects — about 40% for both genders.

Regardless of the festival’s efforts, however, there is still room for ample growth. Although research from Sundance and Women in Film (WIF) has shown a steady female presence at the festival, in some categories, the situation is still deplorable.  Female directors, for example, have continually had a strong showing at Sundance’s Documentary competition (over 40% this year and in 2013), but constituted only 22.2% of independent narrative film directors. Even more troublesome: Only one out of 10 films in this year’s Sundance NEXT designation (for experimental films) was directed by a woman.

All in all, Sundance is far ahead of its mainstream counterparts in creating gender parity. Nonetheless, even in a receptive environment, like the atmosphere fostered by the annual Park City festival, women still face an uphill climb. With any luck, however, Sundance will continue to combat the “celluloid ceiling” with the same tenacity it has so furiously demonstrated in its recent efforts to bring an end to egregious inequalities in the film business.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

 

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‘Still Alice,’ a moving portrait of an Alzheimer’s patient https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/16/still-alice-a-moving-portrait-of-an-alzheimers-patient/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/16/still-alice-a-moving-portrait-of-an-alzheimers-patient/#respond Fri, 16 Jan 2015 08:01:16 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1093648 “Still Alice,” the film adaptation of the novel by Lisa Genova, details Howland’s mental decline following her diagnosis with early onset Alzheimer’s.

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Julianne Moore as Alice Photo by Linda Kallerus, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Julianne Moore as Alice. Photo by Linda Kallerus, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

At 50, Alice Howland (Julianne Moore, who won a Golden Globe for the role) is beautiful, articulate, accomplished — a professor of linguistics at Columbia University and the mother of three children. She’s giving a presentation on cognitive theory at UCLA when she stops, mid-sentence, her train of thought cut short. There’s an excruciating moment as she grapples with her own silence. “Word stock,” she says, finally. Circumlocution. Only later does she remember the word that’d ironically slipped her mind: “lexicon.”

“Still Alice,” the film adaptation of the novel by Lisa Genova, details Howland’s mental decline following her diagnosis with early onset Alzheimer’s. As with so many diagnosed with the disease, Howland at first manifests the symptoms of the disease in subtle ways — a slipped word, a missed dinner appointment. Missteps that’d pass for everyday forgetfulness.

Directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland explore the woman affected by the illness — far from being purely clinical, the camera never regards Howland as a patient. Instead, it allows Moore to react: we’re acutely aware of Howland’s pain as she finds herself lost on a routine morning jog. The camera blurs, Howland’s breathing becomes ragged, a violin whines discordantly in the distance. The familiar is made unfamiliar. We’re afforded the opportunity to share in her panic and disorientation.

Howland’s illness touches the lives of her children and husband (Alec Baldwin) , and “Still Alice” provides a nuanced palette of reactions to the scourge of Alzheimer’s. Even as Lydia Howland (Kristen Stewart) is careful to grant her mother her customary autonomy, we’re aware of a tragic role reversal — Alice has become the child to her own daughter. Meanwhile, Alice’s other children grapple with the logistics of taking care of their ailing mother.

Through it all, Moore portrays Howland with a kind of steely resistance to the disease’s decline. She rifles through Lydia’s notes in an attempt to familiarize herself with her daughter’s passion for theatre. We see the plays: “Angels in America,” “Waiting for Godot,” the latter’s forgetful protagonist, Estragon, an allusion to the transience of memory.

In exploring disparate reactions to Alzheimer’s and allowing a gradual, unhurried study in character development, Glatzer and Westmoreland do justice to the Howland family. The decline of a human mind is made at once tragic and beautiful, a eulogy for remembrance. “Still Alice,” true to its name, pays tribute to the persistence of the human spirit in the face of insurmountable hardship.

“Still Alice” opens at the Clay Theatre in San Francisco on Friday, Jan. 16. It will open in Palo Alto at the Aquarius Theatre on Jan. 23 or later.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

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Xiao’s top five films of 2014 https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/09/the-top-5-films-of-2014-madelyne-xiao/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/09/the-top-5-films-of-2014-madelyne-xiao/#respond Fri, 09 Jan 2015 08:03:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1093357 Although last year was headlined by “Boyhood” and “Birdman” — both films will likely dominate the Academy Awards — I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight some quieter successes. In general, I appreciated those films that actively engaged me, that prompted thought and reflection in the course of, or after, viewing.

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Although last year was headlined by “Boyhood” and “Birdman” — both films will likely dominate the Academy Awards — I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight some quieter successes. This year’s top five selection includes an animated short, a documentary and a healthy helping of feature-length films. In general, I appreciated those films that actively engaged me, that prompted thought and reflection in the course of, or after, viewing.

1) “Boyhood”

Ellar Coltrane as Mason in "Boyhood". Courtesy of Matt Lankes.
Ellar Coltrane as Mason in “Boyhood”. Courtesy of Matt Lankes.

Talk about timing. I watched Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” in the week before the first quarter of my freshman year. In three hours, I relived the past 12 or so years of my life. The genius of the film, much lauded for its impressive production process (shot over 12 years! With the same cast!), lies in its presentation of life’s moments.

While the standard Hollywood feature tells the story of an incredible character or event, in “Boyhood,” Linklater gives himself permission to do the opposite. Even as I watched Mason (Ellar Coltrane) grow into young adulthood, I found myself expecting a cinematic Kodak moment at any point — a sudden turn in plot and character for better or worse. This point never came. Instead, the film moves matter-of-factly through time and space — here, Mason discovering a passion for photography; there, his mother remarrying — and makes each moment the end rather than the means.

“Boyhood” will screen at Stanford Flicks on Sunday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. in Cubberley Auditorium. It is also available on demand on iTunes, Amazon and others, as well as on DVD and Blu-ray.

2) “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Tony Revolori as “Zero” and Ralph Fiennes as “M. Gustave” in THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL. courtesy of fox searchlight pictures
Tony Revolori as “Zero” and Ralph Fiennes as “M. Gustave” in THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL. Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” the newest addition to the Wes Anderson multiverse, is every bit an Andersonian production with its deadpan-quaint quips and wedding cake-intricate sets.

World War II encroaches upon hotel concierge Gustave H’s (Ralph Fiennes) rose-hued paradise in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka. When a wealthy female guest (Tilda Swinton) is murdered, everyone is suspect, leading Gustave H and his favorite lobby boy, Zero (Tony Revolori), to team up to recover their inheritance from the deceased woman.

Anderson creates a story within a story within a story — the events of the film are drawn from a young girl’s reading of a text drawn from an interview with the elderly Zero, who narrates the story to an unnamed author. The film moves fluidly through these narrative frames. Like so many fairy tales, certain elements of plot and character are comfortably assumed — why is Zero a favorite of Gustave’s? How, eventually, is Gustave’s name cleared? The latter would seem important in a murder mystery (it’s only hinted at), but Anderson somehow ensures that you’re comfortable with the ambiguity, happy to simply linger, for a moment, in the rooms and corridors of the Grand Budapest Hotel.

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” is available on Blu-ray and DVD at Green Library’s Media and Microtext Collection.

3) “Yearbook”

courtesy of Sundance London Film & Music Festival
Courtesy of Sundance London Film & Music Festival

Who knew that so much could be said in the space of six minutes? Bernardo Britto’s animated short won the Short Film Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014. It’s a short about everything, literally — with a missile from an alien civilization en route to Earth, a man is given 17 years to create a record of human history. Assuming that “history was made by individuals, rather than dates and events,” the film’s unassuming protagonist goes about the herculean task of picking faces from a crowd.

I found myself wondering along with the film’s monotone narration. What makes a memory memorable? How do we define a legacy, or lack thereof? Britto intersperses otherwise heavy subject matter with moments of deadpan humor — at one point, our hero considers Cat Stevens for inclusion — and encourages us to examine our own lives, the moments and people who’ll mean infinitely more to us than any long-dead historical figure.

4) “Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

Michael Keaton as “Riggan” in BIRDMAN. Courtesy of fox searchlight pictures
Michael Keaton as “Riggan” in “Birdman.”
Courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

The washed-up star is a favorite Hollywood trope, with good reason. Even as we’re inclined to scoff at yesteryear’s celebrities, we’re reminded of the transience of time, fame, fortune. Such is the premise of “Birdman.”

Michael Keaton’s turn as Riggan Thomson, a former movie superhero (the Birdman), adds another dimension to the also-ran. When Thomson attempts to stage a Broadway play to revive his career, he’s forced to reckon with a host of colorful characters (himself included) who seek to help or hinder him.

While a theatre critic (Lindsay Duncan) eventually dubs Thomson’s performance an incredible act of “super-realism,” I found myself appreciating the magic realistic qualities of “Birdman.” Thomson levitates and flies when he’s alone; he occasionally hears the voice of his own character, Birdman, in his ear. There’s something surreal about Thomson’s unsurprised acceptance of his own abilities — in the magic realist style, the spark of the strange is frankly expressed, is made all the more fantastic for this unadorned presentation. “Birdman” elevates the flight of fancy to an art form.

“Birdman” is now playing at Palo Alto Square Cinema in Palo Alto.

5) “National Gallery”

Courtesy of Sundance London Film & Music Festiva
Courtesy of The BFI London Film Festival

Prior to “National Gallery,” I’d only seen hold-your-hand documentaries — those heavily-edited productions with tons of talking heads and heavy-handed propaganda that are the stuff of high school history classes. With Wiseman’s “National Gallery,” I found myself suddenly, unnervingly free to explore the London art museum on my own terms.

Wiseman grants us access to the museum’s little-seen spaces, the restoration rooms and marketing meetings that keep the landmark institution in operation. To do this, he allows himself to disappear from the production — he offers up shot after shot of Rembrandt and da Vinci without comment.

This kind of hands-off approach to documentary requires a greater effort on the part of the audience, who must be willing to follow the thread of a docent’s lecture and, equally, the agenda of a marketing meeting. I was flattered by and appreciative of Wiseman’s assumption that his viewers would rise to the occasion.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

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Best books of 2014 https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/08/best-books-of-2014/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/08/best-books-of-2014/#respond Fri, 09 Jan 2015 01:09:23 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1093358 A biological/anthropological perspective of human life. A powerful examination of race relations in America. The male-dominated arts establishment. All are fair game for The Daily’s top five books of 2014.

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A biological/anthropological perspective of human life. A powerful examination of race relations in America. The male-dominated arts establishment. All are fair game for The Daily’s top five books of 2014. I evaluated my selections for the freshness of their approach to difficult topics.

1) “The Sixth Extinction” by Elizabeth Kolbert

Kolbert, an environmental writer for The New Yorker, brings an elegant narrative spin to the biological history of mankind. “The Sixth Extinction” details humanity’s impact on Planet Earth by examining the extinctions of thirteen animals.

Far from a purely paleontological treatise, however, “The Sixth Extinction” vividly describes the present-day towns that have sprung up around the sites of archaeological digs. Kolbert devotes the second half of the book to modern extinctions, those directly impacted by human activity. Most intriguing, to me, is her narration of scientists’ lives — the men and women whose findings so often remain anonymous. As Kolbert tells it, we’re simply characters in a massive, as of yet incomplete drama.

2) “The Blazing World” by Siri Hustvedt

Siri Hustvedt’s Harriet Burden is the feminine anti-hero — middle-aged, un-beautiful, unappreciated. Harriet — or, Harry — seeks the art world’s approval through indirect means when she’s passed over for (as she assumes) her age and gender. In an act of calculated self-effacement, she attributes her work to three unknown young men. They exhibit Harry’s work, claim her artistry as their own and bask in the limelight of critical acclaim. At the height of their apparent fame, Harry plans to reclaim what’s rightfully her own. Or so she thinks.

Hustvedt’s brilliant examination of the arts establishment has no perfect characters. Even as we cheer Harry on, we’re well aware of her flawed approach to fame. The world of “Blazing World” is more colorful for this roundness  —  populated with interesting characters and cultural allusions, the novel is content-rich but never dense, feminist but never dogmatic in its examination of a woman’s work.

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Courtesy of Coffee House Press.

3) “Prelude to Bruise” by Saeed Jones

In his collection of poems, Jones explores the realities and surrealities of sexuality, race and racism. The time was ripe for “Bruise”: in the wake of Ferguson, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice, Jones’s poems provide a quiet respite and calm examination of the African-American experience in America.

Despite their mute delivery, however, Jones’s words pack a punch. “I like my black boys broke, or broken. / I like to break my black boys in,” reads “Prelude to Bruise,” the poem from which the collection draws its title. I read the line twice: the first time, to enjoy consonance and alliteration. The second, to absorb the fullness of its meaning.

4) “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr

In the midst of World War II, Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind French girl, crosses paths with Werner Pfennig, a German orphan with a genius for circuitry and mechanics. The former, as a part of the French Resistance, ferries encoded messages to her uncle for translation; the latter, as a radio operator, keeps constant watch on the airwaves.

The metaphor — transmitting and receiving — risks triteness, but Doerr’s narration of both children’s lives is lively and refreshing. Werner enjoys a French radio station’s broadcast about scientific developments. Marie-Laure wanders the collections of the Museum of Natural History in Paris.

These innocent meanderings are soon colored by the external world. Big Science turns its efforts towards the atomic bomb. The Sea of Flame, a diamond in the museum’s collection, is hunted by the Nazis. In the midst of it all, Doerr’s protagonists shine.

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Courtesy of Random House, Inc.

5) “Leaving the Sea: Stories” by Ben Marcus

Even Ben Marcus’s most unpleasant characters in “Leaving the Sea” deserve empathy. The first story in the collection, “What Have You Done,” follows a man’s reluctant return home to Cleveland. He narrates in the first-person, and his voice is at once caustic and aware.

Therein lies Marcus’s talent: Beneath the conversational, cynical quips of his ill-at-ease protagonist, Marcus weaves in nuances in emotion and observation that make the man worthy of sympathy. Across 15 short stories, Marcus manages this. The stories that compose the second half of the collection are more difficult reading — “Leaving the Sea” spans six pages and consists of a single, unbroken sentence — but Marcus keeps us interested, keeps us caring.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

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Revisiting five great films from the National Film Registry’s 25th class of inductees https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/06/revisiting-five-great-films-from-the-national-film-registrys-25th-class-of-inductees/ https://stanforddaily.com/2015/01/06/revisiting-five-great-films-from-the-national-film-registrys-25th-class-of-inductees/#respond Tue, 06 Jan 2015 18:06:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1093229 Each year, the National Film Registry, a program of the Library of Congress, selects 25 new films to preserve in its archives. The inductees are chosen for their historical, creative and cinematic value, and these span decades, genres and styles. The inaugural class of Registry inductees in 1989 included such stalwarts as “Casablanca,” “Citizen Kane” and “Gone […]

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Each year, the National Film Registry, a program of the Library of Congress, selects 25 new films to preserve in its archives. The inductees are chosen for their historical, creative and cinematic value, and these span decades, genres and styles. The inaugural class of Registry inductees in 1989 included such stalwarts as “Casablanca,” “Citizen Kane” and “Gone With the Wind.” The National Film Registry’s 25th crop of inductees includes “The Big Lebowski,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” The Daily revisited five of this year’s selections, from more well-known selections to more obscure titles — an animated film, a documentary, and a relic from 1913.

The precocious offspring of an animated desk lamp, “Luxo Jr.” Courtesy of Pixar.
The precocious offspring of an animated desk lamp, “Luxo Jr.” Courtesy of Pixar.

“Luxo, Jr.” (1986)

So much of Pixar’s history can be found in this two-minute animated short from 1986, the brainchild of current chief creative officer John Lasseter. We’re introduced to the perky lamp (Luxo, Jr) that stamps out the letter “I” in Pixar’s logo at the beginning of every Pixar Studios production. We also get a first glimpse of the Luxo Ball, the blue and yellow rubber ball with a prominent red star that’s made cameo appearances in “Toy Story,” “Up” and “WALL-E.”

“Luxo, Jr.” received an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. The film was technologically revolutionary — the first CGI production to receive an Oscar — but was also novel for its non-human characters. Lasseter, studying the proportions of a human baby, noted its comical top-heaviness and applied these observations to a miniaturization of his desk lamp. The result is a carefully nuanced study in body language — even of the non-living variety — and humor.

“Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport”

Still from" Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport." Courtesy Warner Home Video.
Still from” Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport.” Courtesy Warner Home Video.

In 1938, on the eve of the war, British leaders agreed to transport over 10,000 Jewish children from Germany, Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia to Britain. They were placed with foster families, in hostels or on farms — scattered to the four winds.

“Into the Arms of Strangers” documents this mass movement of innocents to England. Narrated by Judi Dench, the film is a patchwork of grainy footage from the time and interviews with the surviving children of the transports. In the midst of a world war, the heroics of the few were often overlooked, only to resurface after the dust had cleared. “Schindler’s List” was one such recovery; “Into the Arms of Strangers” is another.

The survivors’ accounts of events are particularly striking. Now men and women in their sixties and seventies, the children of the kindertransport recall with the brutal frankness of childhood the separation from their parents and subsequent placement with foster families. Most were never reunited with their families. Many were the sole surviving members of their families, who were killed in Nazi death camps in the east. The children of the kindertransport are in a rare position — just old enough to register the chaos of pre-World War II Europe and reflect upon their experiences far into adulthood.

“Lime Kiln Field Day” (1913)

Vaudevillian Bert Williams and cast of "Lime Kiln Walk" demonstrate “The Cake Walk.” Courtesy Museum of Modern Art.
Vaudevillian Bert Williams and the cast of “Lime Kiln Field Day” demonstrate “The Cake Walk.” Courtesy Museum of Modern Art.

The oldest film inducted this year, “Lime Kiln Field Day” was the first film in American history to feature African-American actors. The lead, Bert Williams, donned blackface in keeping with contemporary custom.

Unlike other films of that era, which frequently featured African-Americans in less than savory roles, “Lime Kiln Field Day” was a benign, comedic snapshot of a black community at play. The revelers compete in a watermelon-eating contest, wrestle for a greased pig, and run a 100-yard dash. There’s even romance, another rarity for black characters at a time when intimacy between African-Americans was a taboo topic at the movies.

By simply giving due import to the leisure activities of a black community, “Lime Kiln Field Day” was revolutionary for its time. Today, it’s a testament to the power of film to quash stereotypes.

Lime Kiln Field Day is currently under preservation at the Museum of Modern Art.

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”

Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) crashes a local parade and regales the crowd with his lip-synched rendition of "Danke Schoen" in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Courtesy Paramount Pictures.
Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) crashes a local parade and regales the crowd with his lip-synched rendition of “Danke Schoen” in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Courtesy Paramount Pictures.

Infinitely quotable and self-aware, John Hughes’s romp through Chicago nonetheless had a good message. Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), as the mouthpiece for ‘80s adolescence, made light of everything — friends, relationships, school — and took us all along for the ride.

The film itself is an ode to youth and Chicago. Ferris feigns illness, dupes his oblivious parents and scores a free day (his ninth, we learn) from school. His friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) is the basket case to Ferris’s free spirit. With Ferris’ girlfriend, Sloane (Mia Sara), they explore the Sears Tower and the Art Institute of Chicago, among other places. They’re all the while pursued by Ferris’ high school principal, who’s got it in for them (mostly Ferris).

The joyride is a tribute to wide-eyed curiosity, pure happiness and friendship. We like to think that there’s a bit of Ferris in us — something unfettered by the norm. We like to think that we’d be able to do the same.

“Saving Private Ryan”

Still from "Saving Private Ryan": Tom Hanks shows a little ingenuity as he commands his men on D-Day in Steven Spielberg’s World War II drama. Courtesy DreamWorks.
Still from “Saving Private Ryan”:
Tom Hanks shows a little ingenuity as he commands his men on D-Day in Steven Spielberg’s World War II drama. Courtesy DreamWorks.

We’ll never forget the uber-realism of that landing on Omaha Beach — red-washed sand, maimed bodies, artillery scattered like matches on the coast. And we’ll never forget the small cast of characters in Captain John Miller’s (Tom Hanks) group of Army Rangers. They’re dispatched to find the last of four sons fighting on the front lines. With three Ryan boys killed in action, the remaining son is the target of a public relations mission from top brass.

Miller and his men are all too aware of this — there’s temporary disgruntlement as the men wonder why one man’s life is worth the effort of six — but Miller pulls them together, finds Ryan, and delivers him safely from the front lines.

We learn that each man in the group represents some facet of the war experience. There’s cowardice, valiance, sorrow and brutality in equal measure. As much as we’d like to identify with one over the others, “Saving Private Ryan” unifies disparate personalities into a single, cohesive whole: a bittersweet, jarring wartime experience. Spielberg’s classic humanizes the war we read about in books and makes history all too real.

Below is the full list of films inducted into the National Film Registry for 2014. All films available at Green Library have been marked with an asterisk (*):

“13 Lakes”
“Bert Williams Lime Kiln Club Field Day”
* “The Big Lebowski”
* “Down Argentine Way”
* “The Dragon Painter”
“Felicia”
* “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”
* “The Gang’s All Here”
* “House of Wax”
* “Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport”
* “Little Big Man”
* “Luxo Jr.”
“Moon Breath Beat”
* “Please Don’t Bury Me Alive!”
“The Power and the Glory”
* “Rio Bravo”
* “Rosemary’s Baby”
* “Ruggles of Red Gap”
* “Saving Private Ryan”
“Shoes”
* “State Fair”
“Unmasked”
“V-E + 1”
“The Way of Peace”
* “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Wiseman’s new documentary ‘National Gallery’ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/30/wisemans-new-documentary-national-gallery/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/30/wisemans-new-documentary-national-gallery/#respond Mon, 01 Dec 2014 00:23:24 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1092758 The opening images of Frederick Wiseman’s new documentary “National Gallery” pay quiet homage to the titular London location. They’re long, generous shots of the art museum’s sweeping spaces and silent tenants. As Wiseman moves from one high-ceilinged room to the next, stopping to fixate on some detail in an Old Master’s painting, there’s a distinct […]

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Wiseman's new documentary 'National Gallery'
An exhibit with dance from “National Gallery.” Photo courtesy of Zipporah Films.

The opening images of Frederick Wiseman’s new documentary “National Gallery” pay quiet homage to the titular London location. They’re long, generous shots of the art museum’s sweeping spaces and silent tenants. As Wiseman moves from one high-ceilinged room to the next, stopping to fixate on some detail in an Old Master’s painting, there’s a distinct sensation of still-life, a moment frozen in time: portraiture.

“National Gallery” luxuriates over its still shots — it’s a movie of moments, with no identifiable hitch in plot or pacing. It’s minimal, as well, in the sense that Wiseman has done away with the pervasive talking head and didactic asides. He’s stripped the museum down to its bare bones: the artistic, intellectual and logistical conversations that inform the Gallery’s day-to-day operations. The gallery speaks for itself by way of public relations meetings, exhibit design consultations and guided docent tours. Wiseman moves fluidly from a marketing meeting (“We want the right type of publicity!”) to an unnamed (everyone’s anonymous, barring the artists themselves) docent’s explanation of a memento mori in a painting by Hans Holbein.

A restoration in progress from "National Gallery." Photo courtesy of Zipporah Films.
A restoration in progress from “National Gallery.” Photo courtesy of Zipporah Films.

We, the audience, become acutely aware of the museum as a complex, multi-layered organism. The lighting fixtures in an exhibit and its priceless contents are given equal screen time; the mechanics of restoration are gone over again and again. We appreciate the artistry of Rembrandt and Velázquez even more when we understand the care that’s been taken to maintain the masters’ original brushstrokes in restoration.

Taken in whole, we’re granted a view of the museum’s public and private lives. “Paintings create an ideal world,” a docent explains to a rapt crowd. And, indeed, the gallery itself feels like an ivory tower of breathtaking dimensions. If Wiseman presents the museum as a kind of artistic utopia — all gleaming floors, hushed halls, and eager docents — the city outside the Gallery’s doors is an apt foil.

Case in point: midway through the film, a banner is hoisted across the National Gallery’s façade. “It’s no oil painting,” it proclaims as it unfurls. There’s a rare moment of uncertainty on the audience’s part — the film, however intellectually dense, is always baldly so — as we consider the implications of the signage. Advertisement for a new exhibit, possibly? We realize, after a beat, that we’re watching a Greenpeace protest in progress — an unsightly black slick decorates the word “oil” — and the Londoners in the street below alternately cheer and click their tongues in approval/disapproval. The external world intrudes, however briefly, on the idyll of an art museum.

The National Gallery. Photo courtesy of Zipporah Films.
The National Gallery. Photo courtesy of Zipporah Films.

Wiseman asks a good deal of his audience. In-depth information about the gallery’s artistic and logistical workings is free for the taking, should an audience member actively follow each thread of conversation, every tour guide’s spiel. For three hours, “National Gallery” proffers but does not press, shows but does not tell — it’s up to the audience to extract gems of information from the conversation Wiseman has captured on film. Like the paintings on the museum’s walls, “National Gallery” richly rewards the patient viewer with an eye to artistry.

“National Gallery” opens in San Francisco on December 19. It will air on PBS in early 2015.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

 

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Eddie Redmayne and screenwriter Anthony McCarten on ‘The Theory of Everything’ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/13/eddie-redmayne-and-screenwriter-anthony-mccarten-on-the-theory-of-everything/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/11/13/eddie-redmayne-and-screenwriter-anthony-mccarten-on-the-theory-of-everything/#respond Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:41:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1092012 So much has been said of Stephen Hawking – physicist, author, explainer-of-space-time and the universe – that it’s occasionally difficult to disentangle the man from the icon. “The Theory of Everything,” starring Eddie Redmayne (fresh off Tom Hooper’s “Les Misérables”) and written by Anthony McCarten, gives its audience some grounding in Hawking’s personal life – […]

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 Eddie Redmayne stars as Stephen Hawking in Academy Award winner James Marsh’s "The Theory of Everything." Photo Credit:  Liam Daniel / Focus Features
Eddie Redmayne stars as Stephen Hawking in Academy Award winner James Marsh’s “The Theory of Everything.” Photo Credit: Liam Daniel / Focus Features

So much has been said of Stephen Hawking – physicist, author, explainer-of-space-time and the universe – that it’s occasionally difficult to disentangle the man from the icon. “The Theory of Everything,” starring Eddie Redmayne (fresh off Tom Hooper’s “Les Misérables”) and written by Anthony McCarten, gives its audience some grounding in Hawking’s personal life – in particular, his relationship with his first wife, Jane Hawking. The Daily spoke with both Redmayne and McCarten about their work on the film, which opens today in Palo Alto.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): How did you mentally and physically prepare to take on such a complicated role?

Eddie Redmayne (ER): When I got cast, I had about four months before filming started. I tried to educate myself about the science, in the one sense, but also, really learning about ALS was incredibly important. So I went to a neurology clinic in London, and I would go every week or two over that period, and I would meet with a specialist there. And she would introduce me to people suffering from this really very brutal disease. Some of them would invite me to their homes, so you could see not only the physical effect [of the disease], but also the extraordinary humor and amazing passion for life many people suffering from this disease have.

Finally, it was meeting Stephen and Jane and Jonathan right before filming. I really tried to approach [the film] in a three-dimensional way.

TSD: What was your thought process when you were offered the role?

ER: I had chased the film pretty hard – I had been at university at Cambridge, and he was a rock star there. When I was sent the script, I thought it was going to be a biopic of his life, and it transpired that it was this extraordinary and quite complex love story. So it subverted all my expectations. From that moment, I knew it’d be the most amazing privilege to play him. When I got cast, I had been pursuing [the role] – the moment when I got called up and told that I got the part was a sort of sucker punch of fear.

TSD: How has studying and portraying Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything” influenced your Theory of Everything?

ER: The amazing thing about spending time with Stephen is how he describes every day and moment as a gift for him – how he pulls himself out of a melancholia and has managed to live every second of every minute of his life as passionately and fully as possible. I feel like I certainly get caught up in the day-to-day banalities of life, and we forget that [we] only have one shot at this. So, really, trying to live fully is what I’ve taken away from this.

TSD: What was the most surprising thing you learned about Stephen Hawking?

ER: When I met him, it was his humor – I knew he had a sort of self-deprecating sense of humor through having done “The Simpsons” and “The Big Bang Theory,” but this sort of wit – it was an extraordinarily incisive wit and sense of timing. There was also this mischievous glint that he had. That was the thing I took away. Even though it’s difficult for him to communicate, he has a very special, powerful feel to him, when you spend time with him.

TSD: In what ways, in your creation of this film, did you feel that you were proving or disproving a theory, or a message?

Anthony McCarten (AM): I didn’t start with a thesis. I started with an image: The closest I came to disproving an original ambition was that I started at the end. My first image was that Stephen Hawking spent a lot of his early career wanting to wind back the clock of time to the beginning of the universe, and in making the film, I knew I wanted to end the film with the film winding back to the beginning.

Stephen Hawking then spent the second half of his career disproving what he set out to [do]. And I think that’s the definition of a first-rate mind – that he isn’t wedded to a dogma or just looking for evidence to support his position but is open to anything and is prepared to completely flip and argue the opposite case if the evidence suggests that it’s the right thing to do. The message there is intellectual honesty, and that’s what I tried to bring to the script.

TSD: There are some subtle references to God and religion throughout the story. Can you elaborate on your intentions in including these?

AM: It was absolutely incumbent upon me to include the question of the existence of God, mainly because of its impact upon the marriage: Jane was definitely a God-fearing, church-going Anglican, and religion is important to her. Stephen is either an atheist or an agnostic, depending on the day of the week. He’s very mischievous. It’s hard to pin him down on the God question. And within their marriage, they carried on the debate that’s going on in society. So this was something which was part of their discourse on society.

Secondly, Stephen’s ideas almost took us to the threshold of this question. He doesn’t really want to get into the God debate, but when he started coming up with theories that the universe had no beginning, people jumped in and said, “So, there is no God.” And his position was, “No, I’m just talking about the equations don’t require a God to balance.” During his whole professional career, he’s been dragged into the God argument.

TSD: When you initially met Jane Hawking about turning her book into her screenplay, how was receptive of the idea was she?

AM: No, she was cautious. She viewed me with the correct level of circumspection you should have for anybody showing up at your door saying, “I want to make a movie of your life.” But she invited me in, and I sat in her living room and pitched this movie to her. This was in 2004…at the end of the conversation, she didn’t give me what I wanted, which was permission to option her book, but she did say, “look. Go away, write your script, I’ll read it, and then we’ll talk again.” We built trust, and Jane, her children, and Stephen were finally able to grow into the idea of a film made about this sensitive and delicate material.

TSD: There was surprisingly little physics in this film. Could you explain this decision?

AM: I had three threads to this story that I had to serve in equal measure: One was the physics, and I absolutely didn’t ignore his achievements in physics, and I covered all the main breakthroughs that he had. But there’s also this incredible love story, which I don’t think has a precedent in film. And I felt that I was serving this story as well. So when I presented the concept of this movie to Jane in 2004, I gathered the image of a triple helix, of these three threads being wound around each other. It was a public life, but also the private life, and I tried to get a balance between all three.

TSD: What’s the one thing the audience should take away from the film?

AM: If you keep an active, curious mind, an open mind and a sense of humor, then you can overcome just about anything life throws at you.

“The Theory of Everything” opens at Palo Alto Square on Friday, Nov. 14.

Contact Madelyne Xiao at madelyne ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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“Anita: Speaking Truth to Power” screened at Title IX conference https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/23/anita-speaking-truth-to-power-screened-at-title-ix-conference/ https://stanforddaily.com/2014/10/23/anita-speaking-truth-to-power-screened-at-title-ix-conference/#respond Fri, 24 Oct 2014 03:00:40 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1090396 As a nod, it seems, to the anniversary of Hill’s hearing and recent controversy surrounding Title IX rights on campus, Stanford University sponsored a two-day conference from October 16th to 17th with Professor Anita Hill. The conference featured a new documentary and workshops on Hill’s hearing and sexual harassment in the workplace.

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Scene from "Anita: Speaking Truth to Power." Courtesy of American Film Foundation.
Scene from “Anita: Speaking Truth to Power.” Courtesy of American Film Foundation.

Like many political events of the past few decades, Anita Hill’s 1991 testimony before the Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary can be recognized from a few token soundbites. Hill, then an attorney-advisor to Clarence Thomas, accused Thomas of sexual harassment preceding confirmation hearings for his nomination as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Hill passed a polygraph test; Thomas declined, calling it a “high-tech lynching for uppity blacks.” According to the film “Anita: Speaking Truth to Power,” this phrase is a grossly misleading caricature of a difficult case.

The original hearing was televised on October 12. As a nod, it seems, both to the anniversary of Hill’s hearing and the recent controversy surrounding Title IX rights on campus, Stanford University sponsored a two-day conference from October 16 to 17 with Hill, now a professor at Brandeis University. The conference featured a new documentary and workshops on Hill’s hearing and sexual harassment in the workplace. “Anita: Speaking Truth to Power” was screened on October 16 at Paul Brest Hall, with a Q&A with Professor Hill afterwards.

Director Freida Mock’s documentary is a compilation of interviews with Hill and her colleagues and footage from the original hearing. Throughout the film, the audience is granted glimpses of a woman who remained remarkably poised while under attack from members of Congress.

In the course of the film’s commentary, Hill’s friends point out the imbalance of demographics at the trial’s outset. The Senate Judiciary Committee was homogeneously white and male (a much younger Joe Biden presided over the proceedings). Gender and race were hot-button topics that received only a cursory evaluation – the film commits a number of blundering inquiries to memory.

In an interview, John Carr, a friend of Hill’s, underscored the invisible consequences of the trial. “She paid the price,” said Carr. “She could’ve been a judicial nominee.” The film highlighted the committee’s bouts of targeted questioning, most of which required that Hill reiterate embarrassing details of her encounters with Thomas, seemed designed to make her sound absurd.

Hill’s quiet resilience provided a foil for Thomas’s fiery rebuttals. “I think that this today is a travesty,” said Thomas during his testimony, in reference to the hearing in whole. He proceeded to categorically reject every accusation against him – the phrase “high-tech lynching” was used during this opening salvo.

“He played the race card,” said Carr of Thomas’s phrasing. The focus of the trial promptly turned away from sexual harassment and towards race. For this reason, perhaps, Thomas was cleared for his hearing and confirmed as a justice by a vote of 52-48, the narrowest margin to date.

Hill returned to her teaching position at the University of Oklahoma soon after the trial. Today, Hill speaks on sexual harassment, using her experiences as a vehicle. She engaged the audience in a Q&A session following the film screening.

One female audience member expressed her shock at the blatant rudeness of committee members’ questions: “Has anyone apologized?”

Hill’s response was at once illuminating, disappointing, and inspiring. “No, no apologies,” she said. “[In] Washington, apologies are easy – they don’t mean anything. What I want is action.” She described her faith in the younger generation of female leaders and politicians, young women who could use her experience to move forward.

Hill voiced her hope for a more gender- and ethnically-diverse Congress. “How different would everything have been with the right deliberative body?” asked Hill. A governing body, she said, that would have been “willing to challenge conventional thinking.”

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