Talking with Dev Patel, Janelle Monáe, and the Rest of the 2017 Virtuosos Award Recipients [WATCH]
One of our favorite nights of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is the presentation of the Virtuosos Award, which recognizes a select group of talent who have distinguished themselves by breakthrough performances in film this past year.
On the red carpet, we chat with the eight award recipients, who include Oscar-nominees and some of Hollywood's biggest and brightest stars. This year, we celebrate Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals), Dev Patel (Lion), Janelle Monáe (Hidden Figures, Moonlight), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Ruth Negga (Loving), Simon Helberg (Florence Foster Jenkins), and Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences). An amazing line up of stellar performances indeed!
‘Lion' Review: A Destiny is Discovered In This Heartwarming Film
LION (2017)
Starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara
Directed by Garth Davis
Distributed by The Weinstein Company. 118 minutes. Rated PG-13
As its name implies, Lion is a dramatic and extraordinarily powerful film, now having been nominated for six Academy Awards. Directed by Garth Davis, Lion tells the incredible true story of five-year-old Saroo (Sunny Pawar) who, after being accidentally separated from his family in one of the world's busiest cities, Kolkata, India, ends up over 1,000 miles away from where he is later adopted by a loving couple in Australia. Two decades later and without even a last name to base his search on, his adulthood quest to discover his identity fuels an emotionally urgent and spiritual search for his true home.
Based on the story A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley, the film immediately tugs at our heartstrings by introducing us to young Saroo, played by newcomer Sunny Pawar, whose innocence and curiosity of the world bursts out of his large doe eyes and small frame. After falling asleep on a moving train and traveling for an undocumented amount of time and distance, Saroo becomes a little boy lost in translation and environment who must survive in the threatening adult world amidst his confusion and isolation.
Saroo's fate is changed when he falls into the care of an orphanage and is quickly adopted by Sue (Nicole Kidman) and John Brierley (David Wenham). Years pass and Saroo, now in his late twenties (Dev Patel), is fully settled into life in Australia, taking college courses and in a steady relationship with Lucy (Rooney Mara). One night, sparked by a sudden and vivid flashback, Saroo decides that, with the help of Google Earth and only a handful of memories, he is ready to give all he has to find his childhood home and birth mother, some twenty-five years later.
Dev Patel's Best Supporting Actor nomination is fully deserved in this role, as he brings the emotional crossroads that Saroo faces to life in an extraordinarily measured performance. The complex emotions he balances of desperately wanting to find his birth family without wanting to hurt the feelings of his adoptive parents' tip over when he can no longer hide his longing for answers to the life he once lived. Patel's portrayal of battling this personally felt and complex family dynamic is resilient, industrious, and confident – his story is a true hero's journey.
The world from five-year-old Saroo's perspective is a big, scary place, and cinematographer Greig Fraser knows how to portray the feeling of being a small person in a big, overwhelming world, and in a very intimate way. Fraser, who had been working on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story simultaneous to Lion, uses his experience in the Star Wars universe to epically convey the feeling of a (no pun intended) "force" bigger than oneself. In the first half of the film, five-year-old Saroo is physically lost among the colorful and crowded streets of India. Yet in the second half, a now older Saroo is emotionally lost, facing an identity-less and hopeless future that becomes the bleaker part of the film. In both instances, we feel the fevered and urgent energy pulsing from Saroo and the environments themselves, leading to a gripping climax and heart-filling ending.
Lion has all of the things that make up a great film: a phenomenal cast coupled with an impactful true story that leaves one with an optimistic outlook on life. While it’s emotional yearning can play a bit heavy-handed at times, Lion is an electrifying journey that creates a vast emotional scope on screen and undoubtedly, an abundance of tears that will be hard to hide from your neighbor. Yes, I admit, I'm speaking from experience.
"Lion" is rated PG-13 for thematic material and some sensuality. 118 minutes. Now playing in theaters.
Drake Doremus, Matthew Gray Gubler talk 'Newness' [WATCH]
The day we landed in Park City, Ryan and I had only a few hours to get from the airport, to our accommodations in Deer Valley, to the Eccles Center, where we were set to interview the cast and crew of "Newness," just minutes before the film's World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
What started as a hectic day quickly turned into one of the most fun conversations I've had as I chatted with director Drake Doremus, Matthew Gray Gubler, Laia Costa, and screenwriter Ben York Jones. They shared in our excitement about what lay ahead that night and also the memory of Anton Yelchin (Doremus), our previous interview history (Gubler), filmmaking similarities of past films (Costa), and our common Alma Mater, Chapman University (Jones).
'Person to Person' Review: Dry Humor Fuels This Eccentric Ensemble Comedy
This year, Defa returned to Sundance to have his second directorial feature film, the simple yet simmering ensemble comedy – also titled "Person to Person" – once again embraced by audiences for its sophisticated story of smart hearts and wits between an eclectic bunch of New York City-dwellers.
When Salt Lake City native Dustin Guy Defa brought his short film "Person to Person" to the Sundance Film Festival back in 2014, it was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize in its category. This year, Defa returned to Sundance to have his second directorial feature film, the simple yet simmering ensemble comedy – also titled "Person to Person" – once again embraced by audiences for its sophisticated story of smart hearts and wits between an eclectic bunch of New York City-dwellers. Playing in the Next category of the festival, "Person to Person" (the feature) is series of inter-cut stories involving a mostly pair of persons in which subtly eccentric characters deliver hilariously dry deadpan-on-arrival humor about any of the mundane things that occur in daily life, revealing an insightful take on modern day human connections.
Standing apart from its more dynamic and showy festival-playing peers, this observational comedy is a gentle slice of life flick which follows various characters. And though its storylines do not intersect or have any connection to each other, together they amplify the normally mundane lives lived by today's young adults. Over the period of 24 hours, we are introduced to a collection of odd ducks, including Bene (Bene Coopersmith), a vinyl collector seeking revenge on the dumb deadbeat who sold him a fake record; Ray (George Sample III), who is facing the repercussions of posting nude pictures of his ex-girlfriend on the internet; angsty feminist teen Wendy (Tavi Gevinson), who suffers through the politics of high school, dating, and life itself; and Phil (Michael Cera), a reporter at a daily newspaper who takes it upon himself to train the company's new hire Claire (Abbi Jacobson) in investigating a hot lead and her first story – the (alleged) murder of a wife's (Michaela Watkins) husband.
Standing apart from its more dynamic and showy festival-playing peers, this observational comedy is a gentle slice of life flick which follows various characters.
This mashup-movie of comedic forces delivers not only a wholly funny and complete film but in the characters' wistful performances, also oozes an overall nostalgia itself. Shot on 16mm film, the old-school look is a warm and self-deprecating nod to the simpler days of yester-year's troubles, like the love child of Woody Allen and Charlie Brown. Defa constructs these surface-complicated personal relationships with a sense of uplift that conveys the struggle for connection as the thematic thread that ties the film's characters together.
Music also plays a large role as the thematic guideline to the characters feelings. Offbeat jazz tempos accompany a frantic Bene, who is as impulsively scattered as the music itself. Heavy metal – particularly of the headache-inducing variety – becomes another quirk of Cera’s Phil (a crucial dimension to his character as he addresses the music at face value when he finally gets Claire to join him in a head-banging session). This scene is perhaps the funniest in the film, largely due to Jacobson's ability to humor Cera, all the while remaining skeptical of his shenanigans.
"Person to Person" is a wonderfully compartmentalized comedy, whose story about the minutiae of everyday life will take a restrained yet worth it view to appreciate. Those looking for the immediate laughs that might more easily jump off the screen may grow tired of the film's tonal pacing and cadence, but its lovely brand of intelligentsia comedy will certainly find devoted audiences past its festival circuit.
'The Incredible Jessica James' Review: Jessica Williams' Star Burns Bright
"The Incredible Jessica James" is quite – dare I say it, incredible – for a number of reasons, an obvious one being that a strong and independent woman of color takes the helm, quirks and all, and we love her for it.
The closing-night film of the Sundance Film Festival has the pressure of being the last thing that audiences will remember after ten days of non-stop movie-hopping. And while that pressure may be too intense for some, the joyously crowd-pleasing "The Incredible Jessica James" is a film that's more than game to take on that challenge and honor. Writer/director Jim Strouse's ('People, Places, Things') comedy-vehicle stars Jessica Williams as a young aspiring New York City playwright struggling to let go of the past and embrace the uncertainty of her future (and all while dancing her way through it) is exactly the type of light-fared yet empowering film that will delight all who see it.
Opening with a hilariously on-point awkward Tinder date, Jessica James (Williams) shakes it off in the film's following title sequence, oozing charisma and spirit as she marches –but in this case, dances– to the beat of her own drum. Her upbeat energy gets her through receiving rejection letters for her original playwriting from every major theater company and carries over to her job as a non-profit theater teacher, educating and inspiring youths in Hell's Kitchen (which barely pays the bills of her "deep, deep, deep Bushwick apartment"). All this, while trying to regroup after a breakup with an ex (Lakeith Stanfield) which leads to a date set up by her pal (Noël Wells) with the recently-divorced app designer Boone (Chris O'Dowd). A connection sets in, forcing each other to navigate a confusing new world where their exes loom large in memory and professional frustrations set in.
A woman of color standing at six feet tall, Jessica Williams is a commanding on-screen presence displaying confidence to the bone with her "woke" millennial attitudes and values about gender, race, and cultural identity issues that sing and soar with her cool-chick attitude and vibe.
A woman of color standing at six feet tall, Jessica Williams is a commanding on-screen presence displaying confidence to the bone with her "woke" millennial attitudes and values about gender, race, and cultural identity issues that sing and soar with her cool-chick attitude and vibe. A former correspondent on the Jon Stewart-era "The Daily Show," she cut her teeth delivering comedic lines, which here, draw non-stop laughs from the audience throughout the film. Williams, who might draw a pop-culture comparison as the next Lena Dunham (but don't compare the two) for being a young actress and activist who doesn't only check all the boxes of what American independent film needs right now, but creates them.
Funnyman Chris O'Dowd plays a great comedic partner, whose sincerity and comedic sensibilities perfectly match Williams' (in height as well). As a fool in love who doesn't hide the messy reality of emotions that getting over an ex-lover entails, some of the film's strongest moments come from the honesty of modern-day dating rituals like Instagram stalking, "booty calls," and relationship labeling. As strong as these themes and central characters are, the supporting characters in Wells and Stanfield also add to the film's charming strengths.
"The Incredible Jessica James" is quite – dare I say it, incredible – for a number of reasons, an obvious one being that a strong and independent woman of color takes the helm, quirks and all, and we love her for it. It's a breakout role for Williams, who will no doubt find herself catapulting to bigger success. Since premiering at the festival, Netflix has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the film for just over a reportedly $3 million dollars and will start streaming as a Netflix Original later this year.
'Tell Them We Are Rising' Review: The History of America's Black Universities
The special environment that these colleges and universities provide is an unapologetic space where these young black adults can finally experience the feeling of being in the educational majority.
There is no doubt that we are living in a very politically stirring time right now– its reflection is not only seen on the streets but also on the screens at the Sundance Film Festival. Documentaries especially have seemed to take on a larger cultural importance, one of which is the film "Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities." Renowned director and recipient of the National Humanities Medal from former President Barack Obama, Stanley Nelson takes the audience on an educational journey through the genesis of black colleges in America and how they hold up today.
Unlike other social commentaries on the oppression of African-Americans throughout history, "Rising" directs its attention on how, after the Civil War and end of slavery, formerly imprisoned blacks were able to self-sufficiently create schools and a pathway to higher learning. While we are familiar with the physical abuse that was associated with slavery, the prevention of learning and stunted intellectual knowledge was another often overlooked mistreatment. It was, in fact, illegal for white slave owners to "teach" their slaves how to read or write, therefore making those two skills extremely valuable once they were finally freed.
Unlike other social commentaries on the oppression of African-Americans throughout history, "Rising" directs its attention on how, after the Civil War and end of slavery, formerly imprisoned blacks were able to self-sufficiently create schools and a pathway to higher learning.
From its origin, Nelson leads us through time as we see an abundance of archival footage of former slaves, both men and women, reading books for the very first time. From children's school photos and tiny shacks they called a classroom, to pictures of the very first African-American graduates, the rise and accessibility of getting an education slowly lifted the community out of poverty– and essentially creating the black middle class. Of course, this road to success wasn't without segregated roadblocks and racist attacks which resulted in death for both black people and the white people who supported them.
"Separate but Equal," one of the clauses of The Fourteenth Amendment, is cast in an interesting light as the film points out that there can never be a situation in which separate can really be equal; while the creation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) may sound like another way of enacting an overturned law, we see just how important and valued these campuses were for students back then and still are for those who continue to enroll today. The special environment that these colleges and universities provide is an unapologetic space where these young black adults can finally experience the feeling of being in the educational majority. Some interviewees admit to never even having a black teacher until they enrolled in an HBCU. In turn, the faculty has a greater understanding of the struggle and a commitment to each students' success. Understanding how far they have come as a whole, many educators and students feel a strong sense of responsibility to keep HBCUs going, using the past as building blocks for a stronger future.
'The Salesman' Director Asghar Farhadi on Rushing Childhood and Past Regrets
I meet Iranian director Asghar Farhadi at the Cohen Media Group's conference center, located in the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, last week. Our previously scheduled interview had been delayed due to visa issues, but the timing couldn't have worked out better. His latest feature film, "The Salesman," had just been nominated for a Golden Globe and is now Iran's submission for Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards. Farhadi, who is not fluent in English, sits next to his translator as we begin the interview and from the very moment he speaks, he seems to transcend language altogether and tap into a higher consciousness. His wisdom and enlightenment are not solely focused on film, Farhadi also shares his thoughts on the loneliness despite modern-day technology, the connection he has to Death of a Salesman, and his personal regret of rushing his own childhood. We begin:
Where did you get the idea for this film?
For many years, I've had the idea of a couple who would rent [an apartment] whose previous tenant was a prostitute. But the story was never complete enough for me to decide to make it, until one day, I came to the realization of what it was [the couple] did in life; I thought if they were theater actors, it would help me a great dealt to help me find the part that was missing in my story. For them to be actors, what that means is they are individuals who know how to put themselves in the shoes of another and to have empathy... but in reality, how well do they succeed in putting themselves in another's shoes?
A major theme in the film is dealing with guilt, which then turns into feelings of revenge. How do you describe the revenge in the film?
We need to look at what revenge means. When someone does us harm and we pronounce judgment, and sentence, and execute that sentence against that person, this is what we call revenge.
Women, as a whole, tend to be forgiving than men. In my previous film, "The Past," I also point to this. Because women are capable of child-bearing, their gaze is pointed toward the future more. Men, perhaps because they worked the land, are more rooted to where they are and are looking [at the past] more. In "The Salesman," the woman is saying I am the one who has undergone harm and she wants to have a part in the judgment against the old man.
Another point that is significant is that a man has intruded on the couple's private space and attacked their honor. She's upset that her husband now wishes to act in the same way toward [the old man]. She doesn't want to force her husband to forgive the old man, but she says the way he's going about it is action that is not moral.
Can she achieve closure?
This is something that will remain with her life a lifelong wound. But she, at the same time, appears to have the capacity to understand the situation.
"I'm now coming to discover that cinema is not the most important thing in the world. Childhood and living are much more important things."
What was the first job you ever had, and if it wasn't film-related, when was the moment you knew you wanted to get into filmmaking?
I had no time to have another job, I was 13 when I made my first film and then made a short film each year [after]. The I quickly went on to University where I studied theater. Now, I regret it. I entered cinema too early. I started to ponder these serious questions too soon. I feel like my childhood was diminished. I wish I could go back and start these things a little later. I'm now coming to discover that cinema is not the most important thing in the world. Childhood and living are much more important things.
From "A Separation" to this film, this theme of communication feels very strong.
It is very important to me. In today's world, where language, the networks for communication have all expanded so much, it seems to me that we have so much more tools and devices for communicating. Why, then, are we so alone? And those who are not alone, are pretending not to be alone. People have become very alone. It seems to me, the more progress we make and the more we expand the language, the less we are communicating.
Relative to the past, humans have become more complicated. Like an object that has hundreds of facets, another individual would be the same. For these two to meet, to be joined, there's a very limited surface where they can meet. I'm not trying to say that the modern world is a bad world– it's a much more comfortable world– but misunderstandings are much more frequent in it than in the "old world."
"He thinks even if he's gone and dead, it's going to be ok– this family is going to carry on the same. Truly, when I think about this, I want to cry."
What was the significance of Death of a Salesman in the film?
It's a very well-loved play in my country. I like that play a great deal for a number of reasons. In the play, Arthur Miller empathizes with all of his main characters. It's not easy to say whether it's Willy Lohman or his son that's responsible for the crisis. A significant theme in that play is humiliation. Willy Lohman commits suicide because his son, co-workers, and neighbors, humiliate him. The tragedy of that play is that that individual feels completely useless in his family; he feels like he is nobody.
Do you know why Willy Lohman's job is traveling to different towns? When he goes away, no one feels he's gone in that house. He thinks even if he's gone and dead, it's going to be ok– this family is going to carry on the same. Truly, when I think about this, I want to cry. It's the most difficult situation for a father to be in. In my film, that old man is the Iranian Willy Lohman. Maybe it's what he's missing that caused him to establish a relationship with the prostitute.
In Death of a Salesman, the series of events is caused by the demolition of a building which sends the protagonist on a downward spiral. It also ends there. What significance does that have on "The Salesman?"
I see it as a prologue, a sort of foreshadowing of the way in which the relationships between people are undermined at the foundation– as if the more the film advances, the greater the cracks in the relationship become apparent.
"The Salesman" opens in theaters Friday, January 27th.
Morgan's Top 10 Films of 2016
What we consider to be the best of this year represents a combination of the movies that had the greatest emotional impact on us, matched with movies that felt innovative or groundbreaking. Here are the films I consider to be this year’s best:
10. Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru
From Academy Award-winning director Joe Berlinger comes “Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru,” a documentary about the larger-than-life motivational speaker and communicator: Tony Robbins. Berlinger trades in his darker, more investigative documentary exposé for something unapologetically hopeful, choosing to show the more uplifting side of Robbins’ work rather than a take-down approach. It's fun, funny, and flat-out inspiring.
9. Swiss Army Man
The writer/director duo Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as The Daniels, have a reputation for unique and highly entertaining work, and "Swiss Army Man" represents a conglomerate of numerous ideas that, while may sound far-reaching and absurd, somehow all work. This A24 title generated the most vocal reaction amongst 2016 Sundance festival-goers for it’s ridiculous, and now infamous, farting dead body played by Daniel Radcliffe and is perhaps the wildest film of the year.
8. The Fits
In 2015, director Anna Rose Holmer was declared one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” and after watching her feature directorial debut, “The Fits,” it’s obvious to see why. Holmer doesn’t only manage to capture the entire world of her story in a brisk 70-minute running time, she has the ability to evoke palpable emotion without the use of much dialogue, which culminates in a chills-inducing final scene. “The Fits” is equal parts dramatic and surreal, and on a larger scale, proves that creativity in the film industry is not dead.
7. Louder Than Bombs
Director Joachim Trier made his English-language debut with the drama "Louder Than Bombs," an intimate portrayal of one family’s relationship and the struggles they must overcome in the face of death. The film made its debut at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and, coupled with Trier’s reputation as an acclaimed filmmaker and visionary, is sure to make waves in the indie/art house film scene. The title- "Louder Than Bombs"– suggests an epic, grandiose drama, but instead, what Trier creates is a meditative and restrained film that is not at all loud or brash. It is a psychological trip that leads back to the celebration of one’s own uniqueness coming together to fulfill the family dynamic.
6. Other People
Waterworks await in writer/director Chris Kelly's semi-autobiographical indie drama "Other People.' Jesse Plemons plays a struggling comedy writer who moves back in with his family in Sacramento to help take care of his terminally ill mother, played by the phenomenal Molly Shannon. Full of heart and humor, this was one of the only films of the year where my emotions bounced around all over the place, and not for the obvious reasons of death. "Other People" is a breakout, original work that may have flown under the radar this Fall, but stands as a rich contribution to the year's filmography.
5. Paterson
This self-meditative film from director Jim Jarmusch focuses on the quietly mundane life of its protagonist over the course of one week, which, at face value, may sound like a total bore, but is anything but boring. Adam Driver takes on the titular role of Paterson, a bus driver by profession and poet by passion. His relationships with his girlfriend, her dog, strangers, and friends all serve as inspiration for his poetry, as he can find beauty in the smallest of things. "Paterson" is a film that pushes its audience to actively follow along and the payoff is a poetically enrichening experience than a traditional film would offer.
4. Moonlight
"Moonlight" has topped many a film critics 'Best of' lists, and it's easy to see why. The powerhouse performances from all characters spanning over three succinct acts, with subject matter that stares tradition and stereotypes in the face to create emotionally-charged visual art, are just some of what makes this such a standout film. At a time when racially diverse films in Hollywood feel so scarce, director Barry Jenkins takes on this sensitive and personal subject matter and transforms it into a delicate new work. We can all only hope to see more films like this in 2017.
3. The Handmaiden
In director Park Chan-wook’s film "The Handmaiden," the 2.5-hour runtime leads us through a tangled web of sexually-charged tension made even more complicated by the layers of lies and deceit, while remaining a shocking and, at its core, beautiful piece of cinema. Essentially, this is a film where predicting what will happen next is utterly pointless, so it’s best to just sit back and let Chan-wook be your guide throughout this multidimensional journey. "The Handmaiden" should serve as an example of masterfully executed cinema from both sides of the camera. Despite its lengthy runtime with both Japanese and Korean subtitles, this is the rare occurrence where I am actually looking forward to rewatching the film again, knowing that when I do, I’ll walk away with an even deeper appreciation of Park Chan-wook’s unique style.
2. La La Land
This isn’t the first time thirty-six-year-old Ryan Gosling and twenty-eight-year-old Emma Stone have played on-screen lovers (“Gangster Squad,” “Crazy Stupid Love”), nor is it the first time thirty-one-year-old Damien Chazelle wrote and directed an electrifying feature film about an artist’s drive to perform onstage (Academy Award-winning “Whiplash”). Put them all together, and here we have one of the most feverishly loved films of the year– “La La Land,” an infectiously romantic modern-day musical that will sing and dance its way into your heart. “La La Land” is a throwback film that celebrates the way movies were made and the feelings that came with them, while simultaneously infusing that nostalgia into a glamorized modern Hollywood romance. For all these reasons, “La La Land” is pure magic and one of the year’s best.
1. The Lobster
Yorgos Lanthimos should be on your radar. The 42-year-old director, born in Athens, Greece, is a visionary unlike any other in modern cinema. Bringing strange and surreal worlds to the big screen with such confidence, his past feature films “Dogtooth” and “Alps” have won numerous awards (as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film). In the ambiguously titled film “The Lobster,” Lanthimos sends up this idea to make a darkly absurd, yet hilarious and thoughtful look at the amount of similarly programmed, artificialized, confining rules and structures that humans have put into place to connect with others. This is his third feature film, first in English, and in true Yorgos fashion, he finds the perfect balance between sharp-edged satire and romantic fable in such a way that is such to make “The Lobster,” in my opinion, the best film of 2016.