Your Movie Buddy

I've Moved!

2013-08-06T21:42:00.001-04:00

Hey all! Thanks for visiting Your Movie Buddy.

To check out my latest work, including reviews, interviews, and features for outlets like Slant, IndieWire, DETAILS, Filmmaker, Esquire, and South Philly Review, please visit my new home on Tumblr.

CLICK HERE!

Zzzzzzzz...

2012-09-18T08:39:00.003-04:00

It's been a little sleepy around these parts lately...

...and that's largely because I've been busy working elsewhere, at places that can actually line my pockets. But no worries--the blog will remain (intermittently) active, and in the meantime, you can see what I've been up to at:

SLANT
THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR
SOUTH PHILLY REVIEW
and
FILMMAKER MAGAZINE

'To Rome With Love' Review

2012-07-11T17:20:00.001-04:00

First the Woody Allen feature, and now a review of his latest. Perhaps my palate needs some sharpening, but I found much to adore in "Rome", despite its sure status as a lesser Allen effort.

Read my full review, now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

'Brave' Review

2012-06-28T08:56:00.000-04:00

Pixar's "Brave" doesn't deserve some of the icy ink it's getting, but it isn't exactly a triumph, either. Still, those ruby red locks are a wonder to watch, and it's nice to see a rare mother-daughter tale in the animation landscape.

My full review of "Brave" is now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

Woody Allen Feature

2012-06-28T08:51:00.001-04:00

I had a blast at the press conference for "To Rome With Love," a charming film too many are dismissing as merely "minor Woody Allen." The dais included Allen, Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Greta Gerwig, and Ellen Page. Naturally, much of the conversation came back to Woody, who's a fascinating person to share a room with, to say the least.

My feature, of which I'm particularly proud, is now online at Slant Magazine. To read it, CLICK HERE.

'Rock of Ages' Review

2012-06-28T08:40:00.001-04:00

Tom Cruise is a hoot as a steretotypical glam-rock god, and Catherine Zeta-Jones knows just how to camp up her uber-conservative character, but Adam Shankman's hectic "Rock of Ages" is otherwise an overlong slice of hectic hackery.

My full review of "Rock of Ages" is online at SouthPhillyReview.com. To read it, CLICK HERE.

Dustin Lance Black Interview

2012-06-19T10:47:00.000-04:00

Over at Slant Magazine, I talked politics and film with Dustin Lance Black, the world's youngest-looking 37-year-old, and an increasingly vital figure in gay culture.

Read the full interview HERE.

'Prometheus' Review

2012-06-19T10:42:00.000-04:00

At long last, my most anticipated movie of the summer. Did it deliver?

My full review is now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

Revisiting Hollywood Gems

2012-06-19T10:39:00.002-04:00

Last month, I whipped a piece for South Philly Review on films that are celebrating anniversaries this year, and are worth a second (or third, or fourth) look. Among them is the great "Black Narcissus."

For the full article, CLICK HERE.

Angelina Jolie as MALEFICENT

2012-06-19T10:12:00.000-04:00

Yes! Here's the first still of Ms. Jolie as Maleficent in Disney's new live-action film:

According to a press release that just went out, production commenced on June 13th. Here's the official release info:

Directed by two-time Oscar®-winning production designer Robert Stromberg (“Avatar,” “Alice in Wonderland”), in his directorial debut, and produced by Joe Roth, “Maleficent” is written by Linda Woolverton (“The Lion King,” “Beauty and the Beast”) and executive produced by Angelina Jolie, Don Hahn, Matt Smith and Palak Patel. Co-starring in the film are Sharlto Copley (“District 9”), Elle Fanning (“Super 8”), Sam Riley (“On the Road”), Imelda Staunton (“Vera Drake”), Miranda Richardson (“The Hours”), Juno Temple (“Atonement”) and Lesley Manville (“Secrets & Lies”).
This is the untold story of Disney’s most beloved villain, Maleficent, from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” The film reveals the events that hardened her heart and drove her to curse the baby, Aurora. Behind-the-scenes talent includes Academy Award®–winning cinematographer Dean Semler (“Dances with Wolves,” “In the Land of Blood and Honey”), production designer Gary Freeman (“Saving Private Ryan,” “The Bourne Supremacy”), two-time Oscar® nominated costume designer Anna B. Sheppard (“Schindler’s List,” “The Pianist”) and seven-time Academy Award–winning makeup artist Rick Baker (“Planet of the Apes,” “Men in Black”).
“Maleficent” is scheduled for a March 14, 2014 release in 3D.

'The Avengers' Review

2012-05-10T17:08:00.000-04:00

It's here. The film that definitively shattered first-weekend box-office records. Is it all it's cracked up to be?

Of course not. Haha. read my full review of "The Avengers," now online at SouthPhilly Review.com. CLICK HERE.

'The Raven' Review

2012-04-26T01:23:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry to say that James McTeigue's "The Raven" is a dreadful film, overwrought and over-the-top and shrill and procedural. Poor Edgar Allen Poe. And Poor John Cusack, who deserved a better vehicle and director.

Read my full review of "The Raven," now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

James Franco Interview

2012-04-26T01:11:00.001-04:00

Far more interesting than much of what he puts on the market, James Franco is an interview subject to kill for. Timed to the release of his NYU thesis film "The Broken Tower," I give you my piece on the actor/director/author/artist, an article I'm very proud of.

CLICK HERE to read the interview over at Slant Magazine.

'The Cabin in the Woods' Review

2012-04-26T01:06:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure "The Cabin in the Woods" is the lasting phenomenon so many people want it to be, but I know I largely had a fine time watching it. Whedon and Goddard know how to serve up a pop-geek smorgasbord.

My full review of "The Cabin in the Woods" is now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. To read it, CLICK HERE.

Willem Dafoe Interview

2012-04-16T13:13:00.002-04:00

The Chameleon Sheds His Skin

One of the greatest character actors in the business, Willem Dafoe is riding high this season with roles in three very different, yet thematically similar, movies, two of which give him the rare opportunity to take the lead.

By R. Kurt Osenlund

Willem Dafoe

As Willem Dafoe approaches, the drumroll has already started. It's a Wednesday afternoon at Manhattan's Loews Regency Hotel, and not far from the interview suite, a big, noisy renovation project is underway. The rumbling and rattling of power tools all but shake the room. Outside the window, a massive scrim that's hanging down the length of a workman's scaffold is taken by the wind, wrapping itself around the building like a giant mesh snake. It's all so...cinematic.

“Well this is pretty wild,” Dafoe says as he eyes up the black, waving serpent. “I feel like I have to kill it.”

It's interesting that Dafoe's first impulse is one of knightly heroism. For many of today's filmgoers, this remarkably individual actor is a player of rogues, be them comic book villains (Spider-Man), seemingly demonic silent stars (Shadow of the Vampire), or duplicitous cops (The Boondock Saints). But with a staggering number of films under his belt (he'll tell you how many), Dafoe has in fact been the good guy, the bad guy, and just about every guy in between. For Martin Scorsese, he played Jesus Christ (The Last Temptation of Christ). For David Cronenberg, he played a twisted, black market video game technician (eXistenZ). For Lars von Trier, he played a gangster (Manderlay) and a one half of a deteriorating couple (Antichrist). For Pixar maestro Andrew Stanton, he voiced a hard-scaled, mentoring fish (Finding Nemo).

As Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ

Dafoe recently teamed with Stanton again for John Carter, Disney's mega-budget sci-fi spectacle that saw the actor take on his first motion-capture gig (he brings to life a green, six-limbed Martian). It's one of three movies Dafoe appears in this season. The other two are the Australian nature drama The Hunter and Abel Ferrara's intimate apocalypse tale, 4:44 Last Day on Earth, both of which cast Dafoe as the lead. In The Hunter, the 56-year-old star plays a mercenary hired to trek to Tasmania and kill a near-extinct animal. A conflicted drifter surrounded by moral and environmental stressors, the titular gunman requires the instincts and introspection Dafoe is wholly prepared to give. In 4:44, Dafoe is an extension of himself—an actor counting down our planet's last hours in an apartment with his younger artist girlfriend. Again, Dafoe is tasked to project a churning internal struggle, and again, he delivers.

For a man in his fifties, Dafoe is in remarkable shape, though he never seems aware of it. Dressed all in black, he takes a seat, kicks out one foot, stretches one arm over his head and grips it with his other hand, like he's doing a morning stretch. He slumps in his chair a bit, as if he's meeting with someone he's known for ages.

“So, let's begin,” he says.

R. Kurt Osenlund: This is a big month/year/season for you. You've got three movies: John Carter, The Hunter, and 4:44. Do you see a common thread among them? Because I see a planetary theme.

Willem Dafoe: You know, I'm kind of literal – I'm in all of them. The connection? You know, because I've been doing interviews, I get a little self-conscious and wonder if I'm full of shit, like I'm forcing an agenda, but they're all passion projects for the director. They're all special in how they were shot. I'd say with John Carter, it was motion capture, and the sheer scale of it was huge. On The Hunter, it was the fact that it was an Australian movie shot in Tasmania, with a director I didn't really know, but had a lot of faith in because of how he pitched it. And 4:44 was special in the way that we shot it—kind of loose, with people we knew, working with a scenario and a script in a very fluid way. So I guess they each have their specific process that's specific to them.

RKO: The Hunter and 4:44 are fundamentally human stories, but they also possess these eco-themes that seem to provide more legitimate dramatic stakes these days, seeing as audiences at large, not just select groups, are finally starting to take these issues seriously. Do you see it that way?

WD: I don't disagree with you. But as I'm approaching it, as I'm playing the characters, you can't play ideas, and you can't play situations. You play actions. So I didn't think so much about the eco themes. With 4:44, the fact that the earth is ending, and that there's some sort of disaster—that's a convention. That's really a convention so we can turn up the heat on two people in an apartment trying to find out how to live and trying to see what's important in their lives. For The Hunter, someone called it an eco-noir. So there are definitely issues and themes about ecology, and a responsibility or relationship to nature, but as I'm inhabiting the character, this is not really a concern of his. He sees it in much more human terms. When I'm working on something, I'm concentrating on the doing. The frame is so specific and so based on the doing that I don't have that kind of reflection or that kind of consciousness of the themes. I'm putting myself into a place where I'm trying to be responsive in a fictional setting, and find truthful behavior for me and for the character. I'm not thinking about what it means because I don't have to. If I think of what it means, then I start to interpret, or I start making choices that point to things. I don't want to be outside of it like that. I want to be the thing. I don't want to say what the thing is.

RKO: I think it's safe to say that you have one of the most unique and fascinating faces in film. It's led you to playing everyone from Jesus Christ to Max Schreck. Was there ever a time when you were dissuaded from pursuing acting because you didn't have a typical leading-man look?

WD: Um, depends who you talk to. [Laughs] Well...does Clark Gable have typical leading man looks? No. Nah, I don't think about that, you know? Because I never thought of acting as a career. I was lucky. I just followed situations, and people. I didn't think about what would and what wouldn't work. I was just dealing with one situation at a time.

RKO: You've made more than 60 films...

WD: Oh, more than that. More like 80.

RKO: Oh, wow. I stand corrected.

WD: Some small things, of course. But still, it's a lot. I look at the number and I think, how did that happen?

RKO: Was there ever, or is there still, a roster of roles you'd like to play?

WD: Nope. Not at all. There are some things, you know, that were fantasies that I could invest in because, for whatever reason, it'd be attractive to play certain characters. But I never know what a character is until I do it, and even then I sometimes don't know. It's really about the proposal for an adventure, a proposal for an investigation. If I know what the character is, it's finished and I'm not so attracted to it. I'm attracted to things when there's something there, something interesting, but I'm not sure exactly what it is. Inventing the character is chasing that thing and finding out what that thing is.

RKO: So it sounds like it's much more about the interior for you.

WD: I don't know. In a way, yes, in a way, no. I look at a script and I say, what is this person doing? Am I interested in doing those things? I never ask myself what they mean. Occasionally I'll say, “Am I the right guy to do this? Am I up to this?” Sometimes I'll do that. Because you want to be careful and you don't want to get this fantasy that you can do everything. There are lots of limitations, and sometimes I'm not the right guy. A couple of times I've said I'm not the right guy to the director, and he's said, “No, you're not the right guy, but I thought you were an actor, come on! I like the fact that you're not him, and I know you'll do something that will make you him. That distance right now will be fuel for you becoming him.” It's like—and this is paraphrasing, so if I fall on my face just forget it—but I love the idea Jackson Pollock had with his drip paintings. He said, “the painting's already there.” He just had to give himself to the impulse and the painting would...become. I feel like that a little bit. I don't see it before, but I have some instinct of what it could be. It's really the doing that makes it what it is.

Dafoe in The Hunter

RKO: Speaking of directors, you've pretty much always been an auteur's actor. How does that typically work at this point? Are you pursuing them or are they pursuing you?

WD: I mostly pursue them.

RKO: And, for you, how important in the process is the director?

WD: It's maybe the most important thing. Even more important than the script, because scripts have to be put on their feet. My favorite movies are not often due to the script or the literature or the psychology, but something else. It's the kind of poetry of cinema that only auteurs seem to get. And I'm really taken by this idea of attaching myself to someone who has a very personal vision. And it may not be mine. I attach myself to them and part of my job is to go toward their vision, and realize it. And that's the making of something. That's the transformation. That's the becoming that I love so much. Because you learn things along the way, and you have a little shift of perspective. So you don't quite feel like yourself. You let go of what you're holding onto as an identity and it opens you up to apply yourself to other considerations. I think an actor has to be in that state of mind. Flexible and ever-ready. And those opportunities are happening most often with people who are making personal work.

RKO: Is there anything that scares you? Because you're quite a bold actor.

WD: Well the boldness comes because I'm scared of things! I'm scared of corruption, I'm scared of boredom, I'm scared of being silly, I'm scared of being pretentious. But at the same time, I think you've got to reach, so you've got to be bold with risking to be pretentious. Because if you're too afraid of being pretentious, then you'll be safe. So yeah, I'm scared of a lot of things.

In Abel Ferarra's 4:44 Last Day on Earth

RKO: Looking at The Hunter, you shot of outdoor scenes in Tasmania. You've done some outdoor films before, like Platoon. How was this experience different?

WD: It's great, because there's no reference to another life. Nature is a partner that's stronger than you, more complicated than you, more connected than you. It's perfect. It guides you, and you play with it. The weather, for example, was a huge factor. It shapes so much, and it had a profound effect on how we made the movie and how we told the story. It's also easier to be neutral, and to start from a “zero place,” because Hollywood, filmmaking, career, banks, good food, all that stuff feels millions of miles away. You're just kind of stuck with the task at hand. So it gives you this kind of concentration you're not often afforded in this information-heavy, comfort-heavy, modern technological world. Strip that all away and there's a part of you that's kind of bare-assed and more naked with the task.

RKO: I imagine every film leaves a little piece with you. What did The Hunter and 4:44 leave with you?

WD: Well, The Hunter was a real adventure. It was a three-month period in my life where I was living in a very rural area, in Tasmania, at the edge of the world. Very remote. The making of the film is always so much stronger than the film itself. And it was quite a memorable shoot. So that's what stays with me. For 4:44, it continues, because I still see Abel, I intend to work with him some more, I have worked with him before. So, I don't know, because that's not finished yet. I feel like it's continuing.

RKO: Last question. It's the last day on Earth. What do you do?

WD: What I do in the movie, pretty much. Except I don't visit my drug dealer because I don't have one! And I never have had one, okay!? [Laughs] You know, that character could be me in another life. I mean, it's Abel's idea, but I collaborated on some of the activities, and I think it's pretty practical and pretty understandable that we'd all pretty much do the same thing. And that is, try to find some pleasure, try to find some solace. I think there's a tendency to wrap up and say your goodbyes to people. Make amends. Try to cleanse yourself. Because you're going away. You clean up and you get your house in order. It's a weird impulse, but I think it's pretty human. You either destroy your house or clean up your house. And that's really what it comes down to.

*This article was previously published in the April 2012 issue of ICON Magazine. It has been republished with permission.

'The Deep Blue Sea' Review

2012-04-16T12:29:00.001-04:00

Terence Davies's beautifully melancholy rendering of Terence Ratigan's acclaimed play sees Rachel Weisz give what might be her most alluring performance, alongside fantastic rising star Tom Hiddleston. I fell hard for "The Deep Blue Sea," a lovely, intimate little film that triumphs in words, perfs, and technique.

My full review of "The Deep Blue Sea" is now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

'Bully' Conversation

2012-04-16T11:18:00.000-04:00

Miffed by Lee Hirsch's missed-oppotunity doc "Bully," as well as the disheartening critical embrace of it, fellow critic Simon Abrams and I had convo about the film over at IndieWire's Press Play, skewering it in ways no one else seemed ready to. Call it Bully Catharsis.

To read the full conversation, CLICK HERE. For more from Simon Abrams, check out his blog, Extended Cut.

'Wrath of the Titans' Review

2012-04-06T15:08:00.001-04:00

Yeah, it's as bad as it looks.

Read my review of "Wrath of the Titans," now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

Summer Movie Sleepers article

2012-04-06T15:05:00.001-04:00

Which films will draw box office attention away from the heavy hitters?

To find out, read my new article at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

New Column! 'Trailer Mix' at Press Play

2012-03-25T16:29:00.000-04:00

I'm thrilled to say that I'm working with the guys over at Press Play, putting together a weekly column that we're calling "Trailer Mix," which digs into a new movie trailer every week.

The first installment takes a look at the earlier trailers for Ridley Scott's Prometheus, which, at the risk of sounding overexcited, can't come fast enough for this Alien fan. Please read the column, and check back each week for more! CLICK HERE.

Rebirth Cinema to Ring in Spring

2012-03-25T16:14:00.001-04:00

For South Philly Review, I cooked up a list piece with 10 films that celebrate, or at least prominently feature, rebirth. It's an offbeat filmic approach to ushering in the spring season.

*Photo collage courtesy of SouthPhillyReview.com.
Check out my article on Rebirth Cinema, now online at South Philly Review.com. CLICK HERE.

Elizabeth Olsen Interview

2012-03-09T01:28:00.000-05:00

Elizabeth Olsen is so pretty. And so damned talented. Meeting her in person, and having those two attributes collide, makes one feel a bit off-kilter. And also thrilled.

Read my piece on Elizabeth Olsen, whom I adore, now online at Slant Magazine. CLICK HERE.

'Silent House' Review

2012-03-09T01:22:00.000-05:00

This horror remake is quite a taut and scary ride...until everything falls apart.

Read my full review of "Silent House," now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

'The Lorax' Review

2012-03-03T22:59:00.000-05:00

I truly adored Illumination Entertainment's rendition of Dr. Seuss's "The Lorax," easily the best film adaptation yet of the timeless author's work.

The review is now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE.

New List Feature at The House: '15 Famous'

2012-03-03T22:55:00.001-05:00

I hope you'll check out the new feature I've introduced at Slant Magazine's The House Next Door: Unofficially, we're calling it "15 Famous." Each week, I compile a list of 15 Famous filmic things themed around a new movie in release.

So far, we've had:

15 FAMOUS MOVIE MUSTACHES
15 FAMOUS MISSING PERSONS
15 FAMOUS MOVIE LOVE TRIANGLES
15 FAMOUS BAD MOVIE COPS
15 FAMOUS WOMEN IN BLACK
15 FAMOUS MOVIE LEDGES