Category: media

Richard Brody, on Julianne Moore in Still Alice and Jennifer Aniston in Cake: “They’re virtuosi who are here misdirected to turn ballades and fantasies into drawing-room miniatures. … They play each scene with restrained and unambiguous precision, as if filling out each moment of screen time by clicking out cinemoticons. Neither actor – and neither movie – ever comes close to letting go. I don’t blame Aniston or Moore, but, rather, the Pavlovian reward system – based on false critical values – that makes such self-denying work pay off.”

Luc: “We do everything together. The only place where there’s a slight division of labor is the screenwriting process. We structure and build the story together, and then I write. … In terms of the casting, the sets, the shoot, the editing – everything we do together.” Do they ever disagree? “No.”

“Some embellishments are harmless, especially when there’s no history to contradict. It doesn’t much matter if a movie about Elizabeth I has her sharing her bedchamber with a courtier – no one knows for sure and it’s not terribly important. But then there are elaborations that do change the story and mislead in serious ways.”

“The Valencia institution, founded by Walt Disney and his brother Roy, reported that movies directed by graduates from CalArts’ animation programs generated $1.5 billion in box-office revenue in 2014.”

“Amazon has ordered a full season of the Untitled Woody Allen Project, a half-hour series written and directed by the veteran filmmaker. Episodes will be available next year on Amazon’s Prime Instant Video service in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany.”

“Beyond lowering the prices, something movie theaters are likely loathe to do, there are other incentives that could be explored. For instance, 87% of moviegoers across all demographics were attracted to some kind of subscription plan, which would allow them to pay a set fee for an unlimited number of movies.”

“As surprising as the company’s breakthrough success with “Transparent” may be, it is also consistent with its history and identity. Amazon is the first digital streaming service to win a Golden Globe for best TV series. In other words, the company that has changed the way consumers buy everything from diapers to high-definition TVs is trying to disrupt yet another industry.”

“The problem, though, with making reality television about gay men who don’t want to be gay is that it will invariably lack empathy for the pain that likely defines those men’s lives. The failure of My Husband’s Not Gay is one of style, not substance; but the fact that it has been protested for its substance says a lot about the cultural tensions surrounding homosexuality in America.”

“Critics love them and audiences, represented by tickets sold, like them pretty well. But the Academy almost completely ignores them. Anderson’s eight feature films have received just four Oscar nominations total … [and] have lost every one. … Whether or not you like Wes Anderson movies, their failure with the Academy highlights several shortcomings of the Oscars.”

Cinematographer Chris Doyle: “We want some ongoing relationship with this generation, which is more or less frustrated, if not dissatisfied, with the financial and socioeconomic, and in the background, the political journey of this period of time. … We have certain talents, we have a certain idealism, we have a certain voice, and we’d better speak up for ourselves.”