The futuristic fall movie “Megalopolis” premiered at Cannes Film Festival with Hollywood stars and Atlanta credits plus our site’s commentary about Francis Ford Coppola’s cinematic universe:
Category Archives: 2024
Hawke Family Imaginatively Channels Feral Muse into Unconventional Storytelling “Wildcat” Triumph
The young man who came of age celebrating dead poets gracefully plumbs a tantalizing tortured prose department where a next gen Hawke memorably portrays a legendary artist as a young woman. Ethan Hawke co-writes and directs, and Maya Hawke plays iconoclast author Flannery O’Connor in the soulful conversation-starter Wildcat (A). Dutiful Catholic O’Connor’s short life in mid-century America is marked by an epic struggle between becoming a great writer and loving God sufficiently. The albatross of her perpetual quandary is exacerbated by being an increasingly isolated woman who bucks social norms and whose writing is unabashedly ahead of its time. Her drive to produce fascinating work, her grappling with physical disability and her subsequent return to provincial living are the trio of crucibles undergirding the film’s narrative. Maya Hawke is absolutely captivating in the demanding central performance and projects herself into multiple roles in her stories, so much so it becomes vexing at times to ascertain where reality ends and the fantasy of fiction begins. O’Connor doles out signature prickly quips and delves head-first into a peculiar fascination with confessional stories tracing the fault lines between faith, transgression and salvation amidst the grotesquerie of the American South. Vignettes include unsentimental encounters with terrible men including an ex-con (Levon Hawke), a nomad ne’er-do-well (Steve Zahn) and a conflicted Bible salesman (Cooper Hoffman). The standout supporting turn is by Laura Linney as the writer’s holier-than-thou mother, whose prejudices and pieties clash magnificently with her daughter’s defiant sensibilities. At times Felliniesque with its fantastical interlaced characters, each Baroque in their own way, against the gray and rust tones of the film’s Southern Gothic terrain, Ethan Hawke successfully mind melds his own fascination with life’s mystical mysteries with O’Connor’s catalogue of complexities. The film plays like a page-turning fever dream and is a testament to the ensemble and the central father-daughter talents behind this passion project. Whether you’re steeped in her lore already or the film’s smorgasbord of stories is your gateway drug, there’s loads to learn from this literary patron saint. This is truly a “star is born” cinematic high watermark moment for Maya Hawke who is mesmerizing on screen and particularly effective opposite the likes of Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, Rafael Cassal and Christine Dye. This curiosity-stoking film should prompt stampedes to the local library to unlock the pleasures of the O’Connorverse.
Summer Film Season Gets Middling Opener in “The Fall Guy”
The comedy/action remake of a classic TV series comes in roaring like a lion and devolves into a cat nap. Stunt coordinator-turned-director David Leitch’s The Fall Guy (B-) contains an abundance of awesome ingredients, including some outrageous pratfalls, fabulous soundtrack needle-drops and charismatic leads Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt as stuntman and director, respectively, with ample romantic chemistry simmering. The mysterious meta story set in the world of the production of a big-budget interplanetary blockbuster action movie involves a quest to recover a missing leading man (Aaron Taylor-Johnson as an irritating egomaniac) in time to save the production. The film’s best visual gags involve the vocabulary of cinema, as a heated conversation takes place in a “oner” filled with explosions or as the central pair contemplates the value of split-screen sequences while in one. Unfortunately the slight story rarely serves the massive talents of the leads; the production feels like it needed some reshoots made impossible by industry strikes. It’s often a fun lark; and as expected, the stunts are really good. It just doesn’t completely deliver on its promise or sustain its carefree spirit with quite the finesse it could have.
Hometown Glory: “The South Got Something to Say” a Highlight of Atlanta Film Festival
Both a venerable newspaper and a half-century of long-gestating music and cultural movement reclaim global relevance in the excellent documentary The South Got Something to Say (A), directed by The Horne Brothers as the first film created and curated by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. The film, presented this week in competition at the Atlanta Film Festival and now streaming on the newspaper’s website, has been hatched with the imprimatur and immediacy of immersive gonzo journalism. It is a testament to how news coverage can shape-shift with the times into a genre most befitting its subjects. This era-spanning oral history gives context to its story of musicians with a mission as it chronicles early days of hip hop in the 1970s through the eyes of Atlanta’s first rapper Mojo, the election of Maynard Jackson as the first Black mayor of the Southeastern city, the pall of the Atlanta Child Murders and the celebration following the apprehension of a perpetrator, the gentrification of events such as the Olympics and, most recently, protest movements in the light of a nation’s racial reckoning. Directors Ryan and Tyson Horne wisely structure and set their scene to authentically ground the family tree of music movements emerging from an unlikely place, including chart-topping earworms unleashed by eager and creative self-made mega-producers, music that emerged from unlikely places such as the projects and “dank dungeons” and pristine churches, plus crunk and trap soundscapes and innovations still evolving today. The movie’s title comes from the mic-drop moment at the 1995 Source Awards, as East and West coast factions feuding was the simmering cycle of the day, when Outkast member Andre 3000 proclaimed his part of the country the epicenter of the music movement, and his city’s creatives haven’t taken their feet off the pedal since, en route to global cultural dominance. The filmmakers blend anecdotes from artists who are lesser-known or potentially forgotten to time with some of the most renowned headliners on earth to spotlight the inspirations for their emerging sounds and how adjacent fashion, dance, lifestyle and self-expression trends all reflect deep roots in community. Speech, T.I., Dallas Austin, Princess, Killer Mike, CeeLo Green and the late Rico Wade are among the fascinating storytellers, showcasing history in interviews, archival footage, music videos, home movies and of course the enduring songs themselves. From afternoons gliding through nostalgia of skating rinks to peering at campus life at HBCUs to trialing new tracks at Magic City, plus life at concerts and cookouts, the movie expresses joy and its subjects’ will to be seen and heard. The devil comes down to Georgia in all the film’s rich details, from graphic identifiers reminiscent of old cassette tapes to a climactic event in downtown Atlanta depicted with immediacy from multiple points of view. Neither overly bossy nor glossy in its hot takes, the filmmakers stuff ample history into the movie’s shaking bounty. Shedding light and insight to creativity in constant motion, this definitive documentary is highly recommended.
Steamy Streamer “The Idea of You” a Hit of Atlanta Film Festival, Now on Prime Video
It’s time to say bye, bye, bye to myths about age gap relationships as a 40-year-old divorcee single mom embarks on a love affair with the 24-year-old frontman of a fictional hit boy band. Built on the star-powered shoulders of Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, Michael Showalter’s rom-dram The Idea of You (B) is an enjoyable if not terribly original romp. Despite the fun and fantasy of the film’s premise, the director grounds the story in its lead characters’ humanity and the real-life complications dusted up in their unexpected collision. Hathaway is plucky and authentic as an art gallery curator, and Galitzine is a natural charmer and singer in his role as a superstar. Together they make for a steamy duo. The protagonist’s impulse to keep the romance secret including from her teenage daughter presents some silly subplots, while the through-line of self-doubt and sabotage is very relatable. Many finely observed moments abound in this mostly mainstream fare, and the leads buoy its believability. This movie is pure paperback poolside reading in filmed form and promises to make a delightful date night viewing.
“Challengers” a Potent Mix of Acting Threesome with Sexy Sport and Score
It’s a love triangle with more than a touch of tennis envy as a palace intrigue story of sorts plays out court-side among the agile athletes of Luca Guadagnino’s smart, sassy guilty pleasure romantic drama Challengers (B+). Three characters are front and center in a plot that zig-zags and thirst-traps across nearly a decade and a half as two doubles tennis playing boarding school dudes find their fates as young adults en route to Grand Slam glory intertwined with a sporty force of nature played by Zendaya, who fully occupies her queen bee position in terms of fetching femininity, fitness and fashion. This is a great role for this iconic actress with much communicated in very few words. Josh O’Connor is perfection as the bad boy roustabout opposite Mike Faist’s more serene boon companion, and the chemistry on and off the court between the members of this trio is palpable. Guadagnino wisely casts his film with actors who can believably portray characters across high school, college and twentysomething years and augments the action with a fast-paced techno score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, pulling viewers deeply into a near-hypnotic trance. The twisty three-hander plot devices further reveal themselves with each escalating episode, and the film proves sexy in what it largely leaves to the imagination. This could very well become this generation’s Cruel Intentions or at the very least a double bill with Saltburn for adventurous moviegoers.
“The People’s Joker” Doesn’t Justify its Affront to IP Law
There hasn’t been a more fascinating “tied up in right’s issues” guerrilla indie since 2013’s Escape from Tomorrow, the paranoid thriller secretly filmed and set entirely in Walt Disney World. Operating under the loosest definition of parody, The People’s Joker (D+), directed by, co-written by and starring Vera Drew, premiered at 2022’s Toronto Film Festival and has been embroiled in legal challenges ever since because it leverages nearly all elements of DC’s Batman universe to craft a loosely threaded tale about transgender identity. The backstory is much more fascinating than what’s actually on-screen as Drake utilizes live action drama with occasional stop-motion and other forms of animation swirling around Drew’s transgender woman mash-up of iconic villain The Joker and sidekick/love interest Harley Quinn embodied in one protagonist. Drake’s central character is an aspiring comedienne working at a renegade theatre with Nathan Faustyn as slacker friend The Penguin to ostensibly ascend the late-night TV comedy industry. This antihero’s complex psychology isn’t served by a flimsy plot that feels like it’s being made up as it’s progressing, with the fact that it is unfunny being chalked up to the fact that the characters are making an “anti-comedy.” Kane Distler fares better than others in the ensemble as Mr. J, an emotionally manipulative trans man reminiscent of Jason Todd (a post-Dick Grayson Robin) and Jared Leto’s Joker from Suicide Squad; it’s a more fleshed out character with some showy moments, but the filmmakers drop the ball here too. Although the film’s aesthetic occasionally hits promising strides including a first date in a tunnel of love, it’s mostly a long string of misses packed into those 92 minutes. Kudos to the themes of self-acceptance embedded in the go-for-broke fantasia in which The Riddler, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, a CGI Nicole Kidman and a villainous Batman exist amidst an array of adjacent IP characters including Perry White, Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Betty Boop (perhaps Steamboat Willie was months from being available). An anti-depressant called Smylex administered at Arkham Asylum and acid-like vats of estrogen are among too many half-baked ideas in the madcap mishegoss. The filmmaking isn’t fascinating enough to justify the fuss. An actual parody could have been made from all these ideas; instead it’s more theft than deft.
Find Yourself in No Man’s Land in Powerfully Provocative “Civil War”
The discourse sure to result from the release of Alex Garland’s sobering action drama Civil War (A) is akin to the elucidating actions of his central quartet of war correspondents and photographers: simply, it’s all about the processing. Garland’s brilliant film documents several days in America’s fictional second civil war through the lens of journalists struggling to survive as the U.S. government has become a dystopian dictatorship and partisan extremist militias regularly commit war crimes. Garland is opaque about the motivations and beliefs of the two sides fighting, with few political signifiers distracting the mostly neutral press from simply chronicling the events as they see them. In addition to being an exacting and efficient war movie, it’s also an illuminating multi-generational road trip with Kirsten Dunst’s measured war photographer, Cailee Spaeny as her accidental apprentice, Wagner Moura as the gonzo chaser-dude and Stephen McKinley Henderson as the sage pragmatist thrust in the middle of a war zone together. All four actors are sensational, with Dunst earning VIP status for her grizzled and guarded portrayal of a woman who can only see clearly when brandishing her camera. The film is a stunning spectacle of shock and awe with nary a false note as the four disparate characters encounter traumatic, heartbreaking, grisly and surprising episodes along their fractured odyssey. Still-frame snapshots often punctuate profound moments within action sequences to amplify the horror and humanity. Garland also physically and metaphorically thrusts his actors into extreme settings to maximize turns and themes, and the film’s final showdown ups the intensity with an epic infiltration into familiar territory to make nearly any viewer question personal allegiance. This is a motion picture designed to stir up conversation; hopefully those who embark on the resultant discussions will be as clear-minded as this skilled filmmaker in addressing the matters at hand.
“Monkey Man” Not the Knockout Anticipated
The “tonal” eclipse arrived early. Despite early buzz comparing the film favorably to Rocky, RRR, John Wick and Die Hard, the India-set revenge thriller Monkey Man (C), directed by and starring Dev Patel, is Jai-ho-hum. Other than the intrigue intrinsic in the exotic location, there’s not much creative or new going on in this picture. Patel is unsteady as both auteur and actor, although he deserves kudos for the sportsmanlike effort. The film’s politics feel defanged and rushed while the grisly action sequences often go nowhere fast. Patel, usually such a lithe and literate presence, is a man of few words as a young man avenging a crime against his family who sets his sights on toppling the top echelon of his nation’s government. Neither of his alter egos as a prizefighter festooned in ape mask nor his street fighting dishwasher with king-fu moves are as interesting as occasional flashbacks with his mother, played by the lovely Adithi Kalkunte. The protagonist is loosely inspired by the legend of Hanuman, a Hindu deity who leads an army of monkeys against the demon king Ravana. The story from epic poetry symbolizes defiance against oppression and may remind viewers how much more effective The Green Knight was in summoning verse to exhilarating effect. I’m not sure what Jordan Peele saw in this routine revenge thriller released by his production company, as this film doesn’t strongly evolve its genre.
2024 Atlanta Film Festival Includes 27 World Premieres
The 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival + Creative Conference has revealed key programming highlights, including the full lineup of selected works from more than 7,500 submissions. The 11-day festival and creative conference will take place April 25 – May 5, 2024 at the Plaza and Tara Theatres in Atlanta and virtually. Atlanta Film Festival is the annual centerpiece of educational and enriching film programming provided year-round by its parent organization, the Atlanta Film Society.
While 118 countries are represented in the festival selections, nearly a quarter of the films have ties to Georgia filmmakers. The 142 total announced creative works from submissions will feature diverse filmmakers who continue to uplift voices and stories from around the world. Eleven Marquee screenings will combine Hollywood star power with the best of independent film.
Opening Night and Closing Night take place at the Plaza Theatre, with Michael Showalter’s buzzy The Idea of You kicking off the festival April 26. Anne Hathaway stars as a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old lead singer of a boy band, played by Nicholas Galitzine. Closing Night is director Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing May 4. The film follows Coleman Domingo as a man imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, as he finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art. Other highlights of the Marquee programming include Brief History of a Family, about a middle-class family whose fate becomes intertwined with their only son’s enigmatic new friend in post one-child policy China and I Saw the TV Glow, about a teenager who’s just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show, a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own.
Five specialty tracks will return to the 2024 festival including: New Mavericks, celebrating excellence in film from female and gender non-conforming directors and leads; ¡CineMás!, focusing on Latin American culture; Noire, uplifting Black filmmakers; Pink Peach, featuring films with LGBTQ stories and characters; and Georgia Films, highlighting productions with ties to the state of Georgia.
Within the festival, the 14th annual Creative Conference offers educational programming for upcoming filmmakers, festival goers, newcomers and the community to learn from industry experts with 40 in-person and virtual panels.
The full schedule of films and events is available at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com and through the ATLFF 2024 app. Festival passes and badges are on sale now on the site for purchase here.
“Indigo Girls” Documentary a Rollicking, Revelatory Look at Signature Duo
Pop music stardom is an uneasy fit for the idiosyncratic women of one of the State of Georgia’s most popular exports, but this steely duo’s combination of vulnerability and authenticity expresses a profound harmony powerful enough to heal an aching world. Director Alexandria Bombach’s joy-balm of a career chronicle Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All (A) derives its title from a verse of the duo’s hit song, “Closer to Fine,” recently featured on the dream car radio airwaves of the Barbie movie as characters trek between fantasy and the real world. This documentary similarly exists in a realm of crafty contradictions and sly serendipity as amplified acoustic troubadours Amy Ray and Emily Saliers reveal their starkly divergent pathways to achieve both their iconic sound and inner peace against a backdrop of changing times and minds. These two couldn’t be more different! Amy constantly tames tempestuousness, all grit and ache simmering on the surface while unleashing her inner rocker, as Emily belts lovely ballads and a bright blend of poetic melancholy while privately battling her own doubts and demons. The sound they make together is singular and sublime, and the respect they have for one another is apparent in every revealing frame. Both women are raw in their confessions, wry in their self-effacing observations and clearly having a wonderful time curating a career unlike any before or after them. The film showcases two lifelong friends coming of age without a roadmap, united in music-making as a mutual coping mechanism and antidote to growing up gay in the south, to being unconventional women in the entertainment business and to not always being particularly prepared for the role model activists they’ve become. While showcasing the origins of their welcoming brand of lyrical and sonic composition forged in the otherworldly necessity of their friendship, the movie also traces the womens’ journey to an even more pronounced consciousness about environmental and justice issues they hold so dear, outside opinions be damned. Archival footage captured on every conceivable form of media, testimonials from true believers who would follow the band anywhere and a keen directorial eye on the lovely details which define a relationship for the ages are among the poignant ways the film showcases its subjects so lovingly. For both devoted fans and newbies discovering these pioneering women in action, bearing witness to their stories both in conversation and song will be nothing short of inspiring. The film is a highly recommended glimpse at two people who by their very existence, and their talent on top of that, are changing the world and saving lives. Go, go, go!
Note: the film runs at Atlanta’s Tara theatre before appearing elsewhere.
2024 Oscars Viewing Party at Enzo in the Town at Trilith Spotlights Great Year for Films
The March 10, 2024 Academy Awards ceremony brought big wins for major Hollywood prestige pictures Oppenheimer and Poor Things plus a pop cultural celebration of comedy juggernaut Barbie with Oscar-nominated songs including an epic production number starring Ryan Gosling as “Ken.” More than 100 guests gathered for an inaugural Oscars Viewing Party in Georgia’s Town at Trilith at Enzo Steakhouse & Bar Restaurant to enjoy the restaurant’s signature foods ranging from steaks to oysters, beverages including Oscars-themed cocktails, prizes and predictions and the well-reviewed ABC broadcast hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. Enzo party guests predicted the winners in each of 23 competitive categories, and a team of intrepid ballot counters were ready with prizes and movie memorabilia for the best prognosticators, awarded at every commercial break.
Trilith is a place where makers live, create and inspire the world. Its idyllic, walkable community sits next to state-of-the-art filmmaking studios – combining world-class living and amenities with world-class stages and facilities. The town’s central thoroughfare, Trilith Parkway, is lined with bespoke shops, original attractions and one-of-a-kind restaurants including Enzo.
Enzo’s unique approach to cuisine marries Italian culinary traditions with contemporary sensibility, creating a cultural dialog between Northern Italy and the New American South. The restaurant is open seven days a week.
The “Me & Enzo” Club celebrates the power of food and its ability to bring together a community of innovators and storytellers. Every month, the Enzo restaurant offers an event in which members can come together in a relaxed setting to enjoy fantastic food and beverages. Events include a holiday bash, music, art exhibitions, theme parties, an annual event, and priority access to the chef table and private dining room.
The Oscars Viewing Party was the brainchild of Enzo Chef Andrea Montobbio, who pulled in the Silver Screen Capture team to help emcee and curate competition prizes and themed cocktails such as the Oppenheimer Old-Fashioned, Barbie and Vodka-Kenough, the Gin Holdovers and Killers of the Flower Moonshine.
The charity Two Sparrows Village is a beneficiary of a portion of proceeds from the event.
Photographer Chucky Kahng chronicled the night in photos, many of which are in this gallery. Check out red carpet looks, competitive activities and of course the scrumptious Enzo food and beverages!
