As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!

show

Cinecast (Andrew, Halfyard and Gamble show)
After the Credits (Marina and Co.)
Mamo! (Matt and Matt)
ALL the RowThree Podcasts on one feed
All posts and discussions from RowThree

show

show

 
 
Full video version and complete show notes are under the seats…

OPENING QUOTE:
Leonardo DiCaprio
in
Revolutionary Road

CLOSING BUMPER MUSIC:
“Bright Lights”
by
30 Seconds to Mars

– season 3, episode 7 & 8
– music provided by MrSolidSnake745 using eight floppy hard drives

– Leonardo DiCaprio question from Antho42

Email: Kurt | Andrew

Voice Mail: 612-367-ROW3

We’ll call you!:

Andrew
– The Great Gatsby
– Jack Reacher
– [rec]3

Kurt
– Catch Me if You Can
– Zodiac
– Red

– Fast and Furious 6
– Frances Ha
– The Iceman

Andrew: about.me
Kurt: Twitter | G+ | Letterboxd
Matt: Twitter | LetterBoxd | Where the Long Tail Ends
RowThree: Twitter | G+ | Letterboxd | Pinterest

feedback@rowthree.com (general)
andrew.james@rowthree.com
kurt@rowthree.com

Although it’s just an opening sequence and probably not what the rest of the film’s ideas will encompass, I like the idea of the sci-fi nod from Braff. A futuristic looking knight with some sort of space suit armor, a Conan sword and a floating droid. I dunno, looks somewhat intriguing so far. If anything else new comes along, I’ll be keeping track and will let you know. Oh, and the cast is as follows: Zach Braff (me), Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Anna Kendrick, Jim Parsons and Donald Faison.

I missed this very talked about documentary from Joshua Oppenheimer when it was on the festival circuit (and it’s brief Toronto run at Lightbox) but those who did see it came away devastated from the experience. This should come as no surprise when you have both Werner Herzog and Errol Morris offering their names to the project (which it should be added was conceived in Denmark, land of crazy doc experiments. It looks to be, all in all, barking mad.

This chilling and inventive documentary examines a country where death squad leaders are celebrated as heroes, challenging them to reenact their real-life mass killings in the style of the American movies they love. The hallucinatory result is an unsettling journey deep into the imaginations of mass murderers and the shockingly banal regime of corruption and impunity they inhabit.

It’s up at Apple.com, we’ll embed one when it is availble in that form but until then, go here to have a look.

As one would expect, this is going out in very limited release, and Drafthouse Films has the dates here.

Are you one of those assholes complaining that Joseph Gordon-Levitt doesn’t have any range as an actor? Well, quit being a fucking asshole and check out this trailer. Written, directed by, and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Don Jon tells the story of the sexy, suave, and porn-addicted Jon Martello and how he deals with a disillusioned rom-com addicted new girlfriend.

It’s a pretty stellar trailer, which not only demonstrates Gordon-Levitt’s chops, but shows off the pretty spectacular cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly and Brie Larson. Also, and maybe more hilariously, it includes a movie-within-a-movie which stars Channing Tatum in a faux-film not unlike many of which he has starred in.

Really though, if you’re one of those assclowns complaining about JGL, you probably never saw Manic, Mysterious Skin, Brick, Hesher, or Looper. And you probably should see those, because this guy is the real deal (and this isn’t new news).

Yep. I can think of few other moves that I’m looking forward to as much as this one.

The film opens in theaters nationwide on October 18, 2013.

Faring far fairer than the editing and tone of previous international teaser, comes the US trailer for Edgar Wright’s The World’s End. Where Shaun of the Dead went poked friendly towards George Romero’s Zombie cinema, and Hot Fuzz wickedly skewered Michael Bay’s big city cops by mashing it with awe-shucks rural Britain-isms (and a few classic horror pictures, naturally) it appears that the Philip Kaufman 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the genre film of choice for this, the trilogy capping film starring Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. Some of the jokes still fall flat, but the presentation and premise are better articulated here..

In case you have not heard, J.J. Abrams’ second installment in his version of the Star Trek universe is now in theaters. There seems to be some disagreement in the amount of enjoyment to be had. We parse it out. But we all agree on something much more fulfilling that allows and the audience to breathe (even godforbid, think) a bit. Mike Jeff Nichols’ (Take Shelter, Shotgun Stories) new film, Mud, featuring the ever-on-a-roll, Matthew McConaughey as well as fine supporting work from Michael Shannon and Sam Sheppard. We discuss all plot and character points in both titles (that is your *SPOILER ALERT* folks) Thus, if you want to remain in the dark, please just stop by later this week (Thursday night) as Andrew and Kurt get back to doing the live video version of the show with a double helping of “Game of Thrones” recaps as well as the Watch List that will include [rec]3, Jack Reacher, Great Gatsby and Catch Me if You Can.

As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!

show

Cinecast (Andrew, Halfyard and Gamble show)
After the Credits (Marina and Co.)
Mamo! (Matt and Matt)
ALL the RowThree Podcasts on one feed
All posts and discussions from RowThree

show

show

 
 
Full show notes are under the seats…

– New Cabin in the Woods episode (Teeth)
– Kurt appearance on The MatineeCast

OPENING QUOTE:
Matthew McConaughey
in
Magic Mike

CLOSING BUMPER MUSIC:
“Real”
by
William Shatner

– Star Trek: Into Darkness
– Mud

– The Great Gatsby review
– The Watch List

– Fast and Furious 6
– Frances Ha
– The Iceman

feedback@rowthree.com (general)
andrew.james@rowthree.com
kurt@rowthree.com

It’s been over 20 years since Alejandro Jodorowsky has made a film. Famous for surrealist midnight movie fare (to the point where he is credited with ‘inventing’ the midnight movie with his first feature, El Topo in 1970) that piles images and provocations one top of each other with only the barest brush up against typical genres, things looks to be no different with La Danza de la Realidad (aka The Reality Dance)

It looks like it is going to be a good year for Jodorowsky because the documentary on his infamous aborted attempt to film Dune (before it was handed over to another surrealist, David Lynch) played at Cannes is playing right alongside his latest. Have a look at the trailer for Jodorowsky’s return to the big screen below.

The first prequel-sequel in the Star Trek reborquel lands with a wet thud and Team Mamo assembles to discuss what went wrong with Star Trek Into Darkness…

To download this episode, use this URL: http://rowthree.com/audio/mamo/mamo304.mp3

I’m not the God; I’m a god.

Nothing but Lando

Larry? Is that you?

The Great Gatsby poster in India

“The Sims” career ladder

Trippy and hard to look away

“Call the Po-lice!”

Chinese newspaper’s new HEADquarters (via)

I first learned about the original film from Mark Hartley’s documentary Not Quite Hollywood. Appropriately enough, Hartley is the director behind this remake.

After killing his mother and her lover some years before, Patrick is the comatose patient in room 15 of a remote, private psychiatric clinic run by the secretive Dr Roget who treats him as guinea pig in his bizarre studies of life and death. When Kathy, a nurse who has recently separated from her boyfriend, begins working at the clinic, she is instructed to care for him. She is disturbed by Roget’s treatment of him and somehow feels that Patrick is trying to make a connection with her. When Kathy realized that the lifeless murderer can communicate, she is shocked but compelled to prove her theory. Patrick has psychokinetic powers, which he uses to talk to Kathy by transferring his thoughts to her computer. As Patrick’s communication becomes stronger, strange and terrifying events begin to occur. Patrick has feelings for Kathy and his affection is about to manifest itself as a deadly, bloody obsession.

I gotta say I’m not all that excited about the movie and probably wouldn’t have given it a second glance, but two words caught my attention: CHARLES and DANCE (aka Sardo Numpsa aka Tywin Lannister). Now two fucks are given. The film also stars a bunch of hot nurses and Jackson Gallagher as Patrick.

We posted about Europa Report(IMDb) way back when there wasn’t much information about it. We had a trailer knew the cast and that it took place on Jupiter’s moon of Europa.

At the time, the promise of hard science fiction and the discovery of new life was intriguing, but the teaser didn’t totally pay off. Now it seems we’re gonna be closer to the Alien side of story telling. In other words, horror in space. It also looks like that despite the lower budget, it may actually look pretty nice as well. All this is fine and good but I was hoping for something more than just a nice looking horror (aka creature feature) movie. I guess we can always hope and time will tell.

Take a look at the new, FULL trailer below…

I’m also a big fan of Love Actually. Which this director (Richard Curtis) was also behind the camera for. He also wrote Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral. That’s two more points. So yes, after seeing the trailer below you might see annoying whimsy, but I see a fun time travel picture by the guy who did three really great romantic comedies.

At the age of 21, Tim is told an incredible family secret by his father – that all the men in his family have the ability to travel in time. He can relive any moment in his life to try things differently until he gets them perfectly right.

Oh, and of course there is the Bill Nighy factor. Take a look and see what you think.

but now he comes along with something new (finally) and I have to say that it looks like it’s full of Jeunet’s signature style and it seems he’s decided to stick with warm charm and delight again (Amélie, Micmacs) rather than dark and brooding (City of Lost Children, Alien 4).

A 12-year-old cartographer secretly leaves his family’s ranch in Montana where he lives with his cowboy father and scientist mother and travels across the country on board a freight train to receive an award at the Smithsonian Institute.

It’s so rare we get any output from Jeunet that I’m always turned on by whatever he’s churning out. I have to admit that I haven’t checked up on him in some time so this trailer came as a bit of a shock that we’re getting a film already. Though it might be some time til it actually hits The States; likely not until early 2014 actually.

The Young and Prodigious Spivet stars Kyle Catlett, Helena Bonham Carter, Kathy Bates, Judy Davis, Callum Keith Rennie and of course, Dominique Pinon.

Matthew Price sits down with Justin Szlasa, producer of the new documentary Side By Side, to discuss the generational transition from celluloid to digital cinematography, and all the things it means. Meanwhile, Matt Brown eats popcorn.

To download this episode, use this URL: http://rowthree.com/audio/mamo/mamo303.mp3

Mondo Tee’s highly varied series of posters on P.T. Anderson are certainly worth a look. Above is the design for Hard Eight, aka Sydney, which flirts with the connections at play in the film, from the iconic opening shot of Phillip Baker Hall walking to the road-side diner. Mondo Tees has made quite the cottage industry out of issuing boutique posters to collectors and fans, and they give an eclectic assortment of designs all of them already sold out, at their online shop.

[There are more than a few *Spoilers* in here, so beware of both the following text, as well as the comment section if you are concerned about such things]

I have been falling off the summer movie blockbuster for some years now, there are fewer reviews of such in these pages, and the discussion revolves more around the box office and cultural acceptance of these things than the films. Prometheus excepted. So this is not a review as such of Star Trek: Into Darkness, but rather what the Rebooted Trek universe, hereafter, NuTrek, is about. The writers and creative team wrote themselves out of a continuity corner with the first entry by using (creatively) the old time-travel saw to offer themselves a tangent universe. Now all of a sudden, there is a bright open canvas to paint new Star Trek movies, with a different tone and different versions of the lead characters. So come back and play shadow puppets with Star Trek II? The line of prequel, sequel, sidequel, reboot has never been more blurry than it is here.

I certainly had my nits to pick with a planetary organization such as Star Fleet show-building an aggressive preemptive strike military branch without any seeming public debate, but that is the state of the nation with NuTrek. Things just happen, and they happen very quickly. As best as I can determine the bulk of the films plot happens here within a 48-72 hour span. That’s two ships heading out to the neutral zone, a significant portion of the Starfleet brass executed, and a goodly portion of San Francisco destroyed. This is not to mention the understanding of arming and timing a host of bleeding edge experimental proton torpedoes and figuring out a curious side effect of a blood sample. Don’t get me wrong, Karl Urban’s portrayal of Dr. ‘Bones’ McCoy is once again a high-light of the film, he sells his throw-back lines with gusto, and offers an avenue towards the film suspending disbelief on the actions of the executive officers on the Enterprise, and somehow goes a long way to shielding his own tough-ideas-to-swallow. Bravo. But really, everything was said in the 2009 version of Star Trek about J.J. Abram’s ability to keep the plot moving so fast that it doesn’t allow the audience to over think what is actually happening. It’s not so much the ‘not opening the Mystery Box,’ but rather juggling five different boxes and asking you to guess which one to not open. Part of me is saddened that NuTrek is not about an optimistic future and a co-operative human spirit, but rather a bit of a short-con game in one-upping the moive-plot surprises – to seek out new gasps and new sleight of hand. To boldly re-create and mirror-image things shot before. The audience seems quite satisfied with the slick reboot and glossy high-budget look, and that there is the greatest trick the director ever pulled.

In spite of all of the running around and explosions, the actors continue to do the lions-share towards making NuTrek better than their pair of screenplays. Embodying the much prettier, leaner, aspects of the original cast, they are, at this point on the verge of actually making the beloved (and overly familiar ) characters their own. Bruce Greenwood once again brings a real touch of class to the proceedings as Kirk’s mentor and father figure. John Cho, Simon Pegg and Anton Yelchin all get their moment or two to contribute, but function here in a more reduced capacity from the previous film. This makes way for the addition of Alice Eve as wild-card science officer Dr. Carol Marcus, exist as a cipher and more than a bit fan-service (the character was mom to Kirk’s kid) more than as an actual realized character. Much like blonde Marcus and her connection to doing much of anything (in a previous life, she was chief scientist behind the Genesis project, also delivered by experimental proton torpedo, beyond being just Kirk’s main squeeze), so too does the entire Klingon race just kind of sit there because the plot needs it. The NuCrew personality and character development are actually quite stagnant in terms of character arc – James T. is back in the bar drinking and flirting when the fall out from his rule-breaking prime directive stint stings his career – with the exception of Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto who get enough screen time together to build on their chemistry from first film. Spock and Uhura’s romantic squabbles are certainly a new addition to the character dynamics of this crew, and it certainly works onscreen, but it further underscores that these films are no longer science fiction films, but are now fully Space Operas in the Star Wars tradition. Han and Leia have been down this road before.

So, this brings us to the elephant in the room: Benedict Cumberbatch…

While I do indeed like the actor, his take on Sherlock Holmes in particular is quite inspired, but other than exist as a pale shadow (literally and figuratively) of the original series most popular villain, what does he really get to do? Glower, is all. Lots of glowering and offering of exposition which really makes him a monologue spouting villain, and not the super genius, super soldier that I am guessing the writers intended? It’s really hard to top the scenery chewing, leather and bare-chested Ricardo Montalbán and Cumberbatch falls into a long line of unmemorable villains which have diluted the urgency and overall chance of making any of the next generation (or previous generation) films from memorable. The last great villain was Christopher Plummer in The Undiscovered Country. Even in that film which exposed a bit of a rot in Star Fleet command, and a potential war with the Klingons, things felt a bit more organic and a lot lest rushed.

No doubt there is an entertaining 130 minutes on display with the NuTrek II; the film breezes by like so many empty calories, but other than the final five minutes which offer the promise to getting back to science fiction roots the film is a place holder. Like so many franchises that have gone before it, particularly in the Aughts, each chapter feels like a trailer for the next serialized installment. This insidiousness of each chapter acting like marketing materials for the next one (see also Marvel’s post-credit sequence teasers, or final moments of Casino Royale redux) is sort of the con game alluded both in the marketing of this film prior to its release – that is to say toying with geek fertilization of universe details and canon – over delivering a film that is actually about anything beyond its own franchise navel gazing, is the ultimate albatross around the neck of NuTrek.

The real mystery here is for me, however, is why does the film open with Raider’s South American Native Chase, and close with the ‘dangerous artifact’ being warehoused in a large storage facility?

Where we offer you Row Three programming if we owned a Rep Cinema

She Ain’t Pretty She Just Looks That Way.

Drop Dead Gorgeous – 2:00pm
The Queen of Versailles – 5:00pm
Tabloid – 8:00pm

With the internet still abuzz with the train-wreck of cluelessness, the boat-load of petty narcissism and the full blown crazy of chef Amy Bouzaglo, owner of Amy’s Baking Company as featured on Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, we offer you a new triple bill at the Row Three Rep. Now Amy, to the best of my knowledge was no former beauty queen, but she seems to exhibit many of the foibles offered in these three films screening today. They involve some pretty, but nutty gals and the crazy hermetically sealed bubbles they build inside their own minds. To further drive home the ‘reality’ of the Bouzaglo imbroglio, the three films are in documentary format. The first one, stretches the notion a bit, being in a faux documentary with the aim satirical goofery, but the other two are shockingly real folks who are still walking the earth involved their curious little lives.



Drop Dead Gorgeous
 
A game female ensemble and a first time director very nearly pull off this Christopher Guest meets Fargo satire of American beauty contests, and the cut throat politics involved therein. There is a definite charm in Kirsten Dunst’s tap-dancing mortician’s assistant, Amber who dreams blowing the opportunity dry town of Mount Rose, Minnesota by winning the local beauty pageant and she is top billed. But really you come to a film like this for the true crazy, and that is the the over-privileged mother daughter team of Gladys and Becky Leeman. Mom (Kirstie Alley) is an ex-beauty queen who is the chief sponsor of the competition and is completely oblivious to that particular conflict of interest, of putting her Gun totin’ Jesus lovin’ daughter (Denise Richards) into the competition. When accidents start to pile up leaving a number of other contestants dead or injured, the townsfolk starts to suspect that Gladys may not be on the up and up.

While the film plays things a little broader than your Guest styled mock-doc and kind of peters out after events leaves Mount Rose for bigger contests, that doesn’t negate all the kooky characters, including the film debut of Amy Adams as a sweet but slightly sleazy cheerleader, essayed by the film. Welcome support from the always great Alison Janney, as well as Ellen Barkin and Brittany Murphy insure that things are never boring, but ultimately, this is Kirstie Alley’s show and ex-barmaid, ex-Vulcan owns every minute of her screen time as a colourful crazy person.



The Queen of Versailles
 
Meet Jackie Siegel, ex-computer engineer, ex-beauty queen and now mother of 8 with time-share Magnate David Siegel. Because their 26,000 square foot home is ‘bursting at the seams’ with all the ‘stuff’ that they have, Jackie and David are in the process of building a 90,000 square foot home. This new home would be the largest personal domicile in the United States, being about 10,000 times the size of your average urban apartment unit. Modeled on the famous French palace of Versailles, and to have it’s hundreds of rooms furnished with the best that money can buy, and a staff of over 20 people to help out Jackie, who is a ‘stay at home mom,’ in the middle of all of this, the Great Recession of 2008 hits the United States. Being located in the heart of the hurt, Orlando Florida, David’s business dries up and even more critically, he cannot get the credit to handle all of his resort building projects, let alone the families personal Xanadu which still has millions of dollars in construction to go. What’s an ex-billionaire to do when he is mortgaged up the wazoo with no rainy-day fund? Credit was cheap until it wasn’t and the sky was the limit until it was falling…

Proving that even the rich were strongly affected by the Recession, and more importantly, that husbands should let their wives in on the financial picture to, you know, stop spending when times are tough. But Queen of Versailles goes even further in documenting the Siegel family, who without their staff of 20 house keepers, are incapable of caring for the multitude of pets (may die) or even keeping the place in a state of the barest hygiene. This documentary paints a very scary picture of this particular family and their disconnect from reality (and realty) that walks the line between sympathy and schadenfreude, but certainly leans healthily towards the latter.



Tabloid
 
Bondage, Beauty Queens, Kidnapping, Mormons and Dog Cloning! Dubbed “A Love Story” by documentary master Errol Morris, it is the strange tale as told Joyce McKinney, the former Miss Wyoming with a way above average I.Q. and a streak of unabashed romantic delusion. She was also the biggest tabloid story in England in 1977 when she tracked down her former lover, escorted him from his Mormon mission to a small secluded cottage and allegedly shackled him to the bed (as one excited Mirror reporter exclaims, “Spread Eagled!”) and had three days of sex to get him free of the hooks and mind control of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints. The story gets stranger, and Morris has nearly all of the original players recount those events of the late 1970s directly to the camera, while he splashes sensational text headlines on the screen and tries to unpack the headspace of McKinney who is still fully in love with her Mormon, even as he has a wife and kids and wants nothing to do with her (or this film.)

Morris gives Joyce enough rope to hang herself, while thematically he dives into themes on the ambiguity and duality of the factual and anecdotal evidence. McKinney remains endearing at a distance. Things meander into the ridiculous with corn-pone expressions such as “You can’t stuff a marshmallow into a parking meter!” Joyce’s particular way of describing non-consensual male sex. The film is righteously entertaining, but has a fair bit of depth. It was woefully ignored at the box office, and critically was often sloughed off as lightweight mocking on the part of the filmmaker. But there is something magnetic at the center of McKinney’s performance, the film grows on, and as the same Mirror Journo exclaims, “There is something in this story for everyone!”

]]> http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/16/row-three-rep-beauty-queens/feed/ 2 http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/trailer-riddick/ http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/trailer-riddick/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 01:51:46 +0000 Jonathan http://www.rowthree.com/?p=68602

After the less-than-impressive box office and critical reception for 2004′s The Chronicles of Riddick, it’s fair to say that very few expected that there would ever be a third outing. Heck, even though the first film with Riddick (2000′s Pitch Black) wasn’t a critical darling either, it at least doubled its budget at the box office.

Yet, as the years have passed, the character of Riddick has become something of a sci-fi nerd favorite. To say that there has become a cult following which provided a newfound appreciation for Riddick’s film universe wouldn’t be inaccurate. From video games to animated movies, the legend of Riddick has found a way to live on. He became so beloved that a third film was finally greenlit a couple of years ago by Universal Pictures – although this time with a $38 million budget rather than the reported $120 million of the second film.

This time, David Twohy – who wrote and directed the first two films – is scaling back on the epic and looks to have made something more in line with the sci-fi thriller that was Pitch Black. And really, it looks pretty good. While I don’t have any sort of passionate love for the first two films, I enjoyed them for what they were. As far as I can tell from the trailer, this looks to be similarly enjoyable, particularly for a genre that is still grossly underrepresented in Hollywood.

Riddick hits theaters on September 6, 2013.

What are your thoughts on this latest trailer?

]]> http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/trailer-riddick/feed/ 0 http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/cinecast-episode-classic-were-calling-it-53/ http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/cinecast-episode-classic-were-calling-it-53/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 00:05:09 +0000 Cinecast http://www.rowthree.com/?p=68586

 
Minnesota has been cold and dismal for almost the past 8 months. We finally got a hint of good weather (literally, it went from 35 to 90 degrees (Fahrenheit) overnight) and we love you – we really do, but sorry, Andrew needed his patio and beer evening. On top of that there has been a very slight domestic issue that needed attending to and we weren’t able to catch Gatsby. Also Mud hasn’t worked it’s mojo in the Toronto/Minneapolis markets very well either; so there’s that. We’ll be back next week though, with an explanation about this small hiatus and a likely a very long conversation about Cumber-khan.

In the meantime, here’s something to keep you occupied if you really need your Cinecast fix: a classic episode in which I think Andrew and Kurt really started to feel comfortable with each other and became heterosexual life mates. We talk a bit about Angelina Jolie’s first (and only?) really impressive performance in A Mighty Heart, John Cusack tackles horror in 1408, more awesome Japanime with Paprika and the musical that kept audiences in their chairs when it was all over, Once.

If you need more show notes, they’re over here. Oh, and apparently we’re available on MySpace

As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!


show

Cinecast (Andrew, Halfyard and Gamble show)
After the Credits (Marina and Co.)
Mamo! (Matt and Matt)
ALL the RowThree Podcasts on one feed
All posts and discussions from RowThree



show

Andrew:
about.me

Kurt:
Twitter | G+ | Letterboxd

Matt:
Twitter | LetterBoxd | Where the Long Tail Ends

RowThree:
Twitter | G+ | Letterboxd | Pinterest

email:
gerneral
Andrew
Kurt

voice mail:
612-367-ROW3


show

Intro Music (A.R. Rahman):		0:00 – 3:49
Opening Remarks/Announcements:		0:45 – 3:17
A Mighty Heart::		3:18 – 25:28
1408:		25:29 – 43:55
Paprika:		43:56 – 1:08:09
Listener feedback:		1:08:10 – 1:14:16
Once (SPOILERS!):		1:14:17 – 1:25:33
DVD Picks:		1:25:43 – 1:44:18
Random tangent on a bunch of stuff:		1:44:20 – 1:56:38
Closing remarks:		1:56:38 – 1:58:16
Outro Music (”Ambulance LTD,” “Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová” and “The Autumns”):		1:45:09 – 2:00:03

 

---

 

Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!


DOWNLOAD mp3
if player is not working, try alternate player at bottom of this post

 


 
 
Contact information under the seats…


 

---

 

~ COMMENTS or QUESTIONS? ~

feedback@rowthree.com (general)
andrew.james@rowthree.com
kurt@rowthree.com

 

]]> http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/cinecast-episode-classic-were-calling-it-53/feed/ 0 0:18:33 Classic episode from several years ago. Reviewing A MIGHTY HEART, 1408, PAPRIKA and ONCE. Thanks for listening to this very old episode. Cheers! Minnesota has been cold and dismal for almost the past 8 months. We finally got a hint of good weather (literally, it went from 35 to 90 degrees (Fahrenheit) overnight) and we love you – we really do, but sorry, Andrew needed his patio and beer evening. On top of that there has been a very slight domestic issue that needed attending to and we weren’t able to catch Gatsby. Also Mud hasn’t worked it’s mojo in the Toronto/Minneapolis markets very well either; so there’s that. We’ll be back next week though, with an explanation about this small hiatus and a likely a very long conversation about Cumberkhan. In the meantime, here’s something to keep you occupied if you really need your Cinecast fix: a classic episode in which I think Andrew and Kurt really started to feel comfortable with each other and became heterosexual life mates. We talk a bit about Angelina Jolie’s first (and only?) really impressive performance in A Mighty Heart, John Cusack tackles horror in 1408, more awesome Japanime with Paprika and the musical that kept audiences in their chairs when it was all over, Once. Oh, and apparently we’re available on MySpace As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening! Cinecast, Podcast RowThree.com yes no http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/blu-raydvd-review-cria-cuervos/ http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/blu-raydvd-review-cria-cuervos/#comments Wed, 15 May 2013 19:52:17 +0000 David Brook http://www.rowthree.com/?p=68580

Director: Carlos Saura
Screenplay: Carlos Saura
Starring: Ana Torrent, Geraldine Chaplin, Mónica Randall, Florinda Chico
Producer: Elías Querejeta
Country: Spain
Running Time: 110 min
Year: 1976
BBFC Certificate: 12


***** (5/5)


One thing I love about writing about films and getting sent screeners to review, is discovering great films I’ve never heard of. I still have to request the titles and don’t have time to ask for all that get offered, so I tend to do a little research beforehand to pick and choose. This entails looking up a few reviews from trusted sources, so for films I don’t know much about I do develop a certain level of expectation based on the critical response to them. However this can be a help and a hindrance. Living up to hype is always difficult and some classic films may be admirable or groundbreaking but not necessarily have the same impact they once had within a film landscape that perhaps they helped shape. Once in a while I get a film like Cria Cuervos sent over though. I must admit I hadn’t heard of the film, but on looking up a couple of reviews and noticing it had been added to the Criterion Collection I figured it would be worth a watch. And it certainly was.

Cria Cuervos (translated ‘Raise Ravens’), directed by Carlos Saura, is set in Madrid in a mansion seemingly cut off from the rest of the city, despite being set in the heart of it. As the film opens we see eight-year-old Ana (Ana Torrent) creep downstairs in the middle of the night to hear her army general father die during a sexual liaison with his friend’s wife. Later we learn that Ana believes she killed him using ‘poison’ (actually baking soda) that she had promised her (also dead) mother to throw away long ago. As an orphan, Ana has to grow up with her two sisters under the care of their aunt Paulina (Mónica Randall). Ana doesn’t get on with her aunt, who is more strict and cold than her mother was, and she develops a desire to ‘kill’ her too. The only solace she gets is in her visions of her mother she conjures up in her imagination and memory.

It’s a peculiar film which is hard to pin down. A number of critics describe it as an allegorical piece hitting out against the Franco regime, of which Saura was an outspoken opponent. To me however, having little knowledge of Spanish politics and history, the film worked in other ways. In particular, as a look at life and death through the eyes of a child the film is incredibly powerful.



We experience everything from Ana’s perspective, viewing adult situations and tragedy from an angle that skews them without losing their impact. She’s old enough to know what is going on around her, but doesn’t always fully understand it. She gets lost in her own little world, often ignored by adults and occasionally by her sisters (she is the ‘middle child’). Much of the film is spent following Ana simply playing with them or by herself as she listens to her favourite song (‘Porque te vas’, translated ‘because you are leaving’). She likes to spend time with her mute grandmother too who is also ignored and pushed aside by the rest of the family.

These scenes are all played out beautifully and very naturally, but where the film becomes most poignant is in its scenes with Ana and her mother. Scenes seamlessly shift into fantasy or flashback as Ana remembers time spent with her or ‘brings her back’ to help get through present day troubles. Playing both Ana’s mother and the adult Ana (the film breaks out into an interview with the character occasionally), Geraldine Chaplin is luminescent. The actress, who was in a relationship with Saura for many years, perfectly captures the warmth, tenderness and fragility of the mother character, who had sacrificed a lot to be with her husband and family, yet got little in return. A scene where she lies in agony, close to death, and tells Ana that after death there is nothing is brutally devastating and, simultaneously, simple scenes where she helps Ana get to sleep are truly touching.

Ana Torrent is equally as effective in the lead role. Having a child actor carry a film is always an incredibly difficult task, but after watching The Spirit of the Beehive (which I still haven’t seen) Saura found the perfect girl for the job. Her face alone is magnetic to watch, carrying a certain sadness within her deep, dark eyes. It’s one of the finest child performances I’ve seen for such an age.

The whole film has an odd mix of innocent beauty alongside darkness and pain. It’s a remarkable look at childhood that doesn’t sentimentalise or glamorise that period of life. In its own very soft and subdued way it is quietly devastating. It may be too short on plot for some, but I found it utterly captivating from start to finish and I’m not ashamed to say it had me in tears on several occasions. Cria Cuervos is a true masterpiece of naturalistic fantasy which deserves to be wider known.

Cria Cuervos is out on 27th May on dual format Blu-Ray and DVD in the UK, released by the BFI. I watched the Blu-Ray version of the film and the picture quality was fantastic. Free of damage, but without overdoing the cleaning process. Audio was strong too.

Beyond the standard trailers you get two special features. First up is a 23 minute on-stage interview with Saura, which is very informative and the director is in good humour. On top of this, you get an hour long documentary on Saura and his work. This is brilliant, bringing in a large number of his colleagues, offering a great insight into what made him tick as well as the troubles he came across during Franco’s regime and beyond. It also looks at his photography which seems equally as impressive as his film output.

As is standard with BFI releases you also get a booklet of essays, reviews and biographies and as usual this is a rich and informative collection of writing on the film, its background and production.

]]> http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/blu-raydvd-review-cria-cuervos/feed/ 4 http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/terrence-malicks-knight-of-cups/ http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/terrence-malicks-knight-of-cups/#comments Wed, 15 May 2013 15:05:02 +0000 Kurt Halfyard http://www.rowthree.com/?p=68575

With Cannes off and running, there are going to be dribs and drabs of trailers, posters and film stills as things are hawked in the large film marketplace that dominates the festival (and remains more or less outside of the bulk of press coverage.) Leading the charge is this first still from Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups Christian Bale in his third outing with the director stars alongside with Natalie Portman, who will be possibly following in the (bare) footsteps of Jessica Chastain and Olga Kurylenko. will be starring with Imoogen Poots, Cate Blanchett and Antonio Banderas supporting. The film still itself is about as typical an image from a 21st century Malick movie as one can gets: A couple on a beach, maybe frolicking, maybe twirling.

I’d give you the plot, but would it really matter? You watch a Malick film for the cinematic vitality, not the plot points. Am I excited for this and hope it finds the proper investments to get a bigger release than the woefully neglected To The Wonder? Hell yes.

]]> http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/15/terrence-malicks-knight-of-cups/feed/ 0 http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/14/trailer-agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d/ http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/14/trailer-agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 23:41:56 +0000 Jonathan http://www.rowthree.com/?p=68569

Disney continues its conquering of the world with its Marvel licensing, this time, hitting the small screen with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – and for those of you who saw The Avengers and wondered… yep, Clark Gregg is back. ABC has picked up the pilot, which was developed and directed by Joss Whedon. As of yet, there is no announced release date.

Here’s the description from Marvel:

Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).

If I were 13 years old, this would be the greatest time ever in the history of movies and TV. Superheros everywhere! Better yet, they’re no longer considered nerdy. Unfortunately, I’m turning into one of those old and cranky men who I used to despise. I saw The Avengers twice and both times I was left meh-ing. I mean it was fine… but so is playing Bingo at 7 PM on a Tuesday night. It doesn’t mean it’s particularly inspiring or even that enjoyable.

As for the others in the new Marvel movie canon, they didn’t do much for me, although they were all mostly fine also. Just fine. I enjoyed the first two Iron Man movies (I’m one of the few left who hasn’t seen the third), but that was mostly because I’d watch Robert Downey Jr. do Pilates for two hours and I’d be crying for him to get an Oscar.

I guess this is growing up. I guess this is adulthood. I guess this is my life now.


]]> http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/14/trailer-agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d/feed/ 3 http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/14/trailer-the-congress/ http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/14/trailer-the-congress/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 13:15:53 +0000 Kurt Halfyard http://www.rowthree.com/?p=68562

And now, I am instantly excited for the prospect of Ari Folman’s science fiction feature, The Congress, an idea driven hybrid of live action and animation. After the phenomenal success of his rotoscoped war-drama Waltz with Bashir, it appears that identity and consciousness (two themes that were very much at play in that film) are still on his mind. Here Robin Wright, playing a fictional version of herself who has been retired to raise her son (The Road‘s Kodi Smit-McPhee) for some time – this curious timing considering her astounding turn in the recent House of Cards. Nevertheless, she is convinced by Harvey Keitel and Danny Huston, neither playing fictional versions of themselves, to have her ‘entire self’ digitized into an algorithm. Now in the digital world, there are several versions of her running around yearning to find out their true identity. The animation and the story seem to evoke everything from Cool World to Paprika to Sim0ne, and the modern classic science fiction tones please me greatly. Also noteworthy is that The Congress is all based on Novel from the great Stanislaw Lem (Solaris). The film will make its initial bow quite soon at Cannes and I cannot wait for it to cross the pond.

]]> http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/14/trailer-the-congress/feed/ 4 http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/13/dvd-review-of-two-minds/ http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/13/dvd-review-of-two-minds/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 22:15:30 +0000 Marina Antunes http://www.rowthree.com/?p=68559

Director: Douglas Blush, Lisa J. Klein (What A Ball, Cult Culture: The Poseidon Adventure)
Producers: Kristin Chambers, Lisa Klein
MPAA Rating: NR
Running time: 89 min.

---

Illness is never easy to deal with but mental illness is particularly difficult. Here’s an illness that has no easy fix. It doesn’t manifest as a rash you can treat and there’s no little pill that will make a sufferer feel better but often it can manifest in very physical ways. Douglas Blush and Lisa J. Klein’s Of Two Minds sets off to explore the tricky rollercoaster world of bipolar disorder.

Focusing on a handful of individuals, Klein and Bush delve into the manic highs and suicidal lows of the disorder one that, for many of the individuals interviewed, was not diagnosed until later in their adult lives. Cheri Keating explains how she was diagnosed at a free clinic in LA and her experience living her youth as a sufferer and not knowing what she was suffering from. Journalist Liz Spikol and architect and artist Michael Peterson share similar stories of rollercoaster emotional highs and lows that often brought them to the brink of death.

Of Two Minds follows these individuals as they share their stories. They recount their lowest moments and also the highs, the manic energy that makes you feel invincible and alive and capable of doing anything and how those moments of high energy can also be the most dangerous. While in this state the mind loses reservations and people will do things that they generally wouldn’t, causing them to end up in compromising situations that they sometimes don’t remember or would rather not remember when they finally come down. It’s interesting and heartbreaking that the sufferers, all of whom hail from different walks of life, share such similar experiences.





They all speak of the loss of control during those manic moments and the oppressive lows of depression and though each of them is dealing with their illness in their own way, the symptoms and effects are the same across the board. They speak of troubled relationships, questionable situations with strangers, strained relationships with family and friends and perhaps most heartbreaking is their shared feeling that every day is a struggle and fight to stay alive. Hearing Spikol speak of how she can’t wait for both of her parents to be gone so she can end her life and end the constant pain and suffering is heart breaking.

Blush and Klein set out to shine a light on bipolar disorder and they do. By sharing the stories of individuals suffering from the illness they put a face to it and make it a tangible thing that we can associate with. These are real people with a very real illness that can afflict anyone but in the process, they also stumble a little. All of their subjects are artists of some sort, individuals who channel much of the positive and negative energy in some sort of creative endeavour but Of Two Minds would have been more successful with a wider array of subjects. Where are the mothers and the children suffering with the disorder? Their interviews with leading members of advocacy groups also seem a bit out of place. They’re unnecessary and feel out of place sidbe by side with the personal stories and suggest that the filmmaker’s initial intent may not be the documentary that they ended up with.

Still, it’s impossible to watch Of One Mind and not feel compassion towards people suffering from mental illness, be it bipolar disorder or something else and though it doesn’t really offer up anything new, it certainly provides an introduction to the difficulties of living with mental illness.

OF Two Minds is available on DVD on May 14th.

DVD Extras: The Mad Parade short film, interviews with advocates and experts, additional interviews and the theatrical trailer.


Trailer:


Links:
IMDb Profile
Official Website
Flixster Profile
]]> http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/13/dvd-review-of-two-minds/feed/ 0 http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/13/trailer-as-i-lay-dying/ http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/13/trailer-as-i-lay-dying/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 20:54:31 +0000 Jonathan http://www.rowthree.com/?p=68545

William Faulkner was no stranger to Hollywood. Just scour his IMDb and you’ll see that during his life he had his pen in numerous Hollywood and television productions. This was, of course, large in part due to his need for what he considered to be easy money. It also led to his highly publicized friendship with Howard Hawks.

Still, as far as adaptations of Faulkner’s works goes, it seems modern Hollywood is either too intimidated or, at the very least, simply more interested in adapting comic books. Faulkner’s stories have been adapted in the past (Paul Newman’s The Long, Hot Summer is a personal favorite), but its been quite some time since a Faulkner story was adapted with any sort of fanfare surrounding it.

But hey, maybe James Franco is just the man to do it. He seems to be doing everything else, after all.

Both in front of the camera as an actor and behind it as a director and writer, Franco has brought to life As I Lay Dying, one of Faulkner’s most renowned novels. The classic book follows “the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her family’s quest and motivations – noble or selfish – to honor her wish to be buried in the town of Jefferson.”

The trailer is interesting. As someone who enjoyed the book immensely, I’m not sure how well it will transition to the screen. With that said, the cast which includes Franco, Richard Jenkins, Danny McBride, Tim Blake Nelson, Beth Grant, and Logan Marshall-Green does inspire confidence.

Interestingly, Franco also has Child of God in post-production, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s even more brutal and cynical novel. McCarthy, as most lit lovers know, is an author who frequently compared to Faulkner both in style and storytelling.

As I Lay Dying premieres at the Cannes Film Festival later in May. One can assume if all goes as Franco hopes, a fall Oscar-season release will be set shortly after.

]]> http://www.rowthree.com/2013/05/13/trailer-as-i-lay-dying/feed/ 1