Movie of the Week – The New World

This week’s movie is The New World (2005).

The drama is about the first English settlers, including John Smith, arriving in Virginia in the 17^th century, and their clash with the natives. It is also a love story between Smith and Pocahontas, and later Pocahontas and John Rolfe. Directed and written by Terrence Malick, the film is more an emotional experience than a true narrative piece (like all his films). I would also contend that it is not only his most underrated work, but also one of his best films. From the stark reality that the natives face with the arrival of the English and all that means to the future of their civilization (poignantly shown in a scene in which Opechancanough stares at a stain-glass window, realizing that his and his people’s whole way of life is over) to the beautiful photography (the juxtaposition between Virginia and London is quite striking). It is the first collaboration between Malick and director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki, garnering some of greatest work of the decade. The pair worked together so well that Lubezki has shot and is shooting Malick’s next four films (The Tree of Life, and the upcoming To the Wonder, Lawless and Knight of Cups). James Horner provides a great score, and long-time Malick collaborator Jack Fisk provides excellent production design. Malick’s cast is also very good with Colin Farrell, Q’orianka Kilcher and Christian Bale starring, and support from Christopher Plummer, August Schellenberg, Wes Studi, David Thewlis, and Yorick van Wageningen. Malick’s film is powerful, exploring the wonder, beauty and naivety of the New World, but also tragic and sad as the viewer sees both the birth of America and the death of the native civilization. The romantic story is also well done. Historically, John Smith’s story has been called into question, but the film is not so much about the facts, rather the experience. It is a must-see for fans of Malick and those looking for an engulfing emotional and visual experience. Check out the trailer.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Streaming

Christian Bale – Movies Spotlight – July 2012

Christian Bale, 38, is one of the most prolific and talented actors working today. He is probably best known for his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. This month he stars in the last chapter of the trilogy: The Dark Knight Rises. The film also stars Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Marion Cotillard (making up one of the best casts of the year). It tells the story of Batman’s return to Gotham to save the city from the grip of the terrorist Bane. The Dark Knight Rises has the potential to be the summer’s biggest and best film (make sure to see it in IMAX).

Early Career:

Bale got his start in 1986 taking a supporting role in the TV movie Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. A year later, his first breakthrough came when Steven Spielberg cast him as the lead in Empire of the Sun – the story of a young English boy who struggles to survive when the Japanese occupy China during WWII. Bale’s performance won him recognition from many critics. He next took a small supporting role in Kenneth Branagh’s excellent Shakespeare adaptation Henry V. Bale next started to take on more family oriented films starting with the 1990 TV movie Treasure Island – playing the lead Jim Hawkins. He followed that with the Disney live-action musical Newsies in 1992. Working again with Disney, Bale took a supporting voice-role in Pocahontas (funny enough, ten years later he would again star in a Pocahontas related narrative). In 1998, Bale decided to return to more provocative material taking one of the three principal roles in Todd Haynes’s glam rock drama Velvet Goldmine – which chronicles (using pseudonyms) the careers of David Bowie and Iggy Pop during the 1970s. Bale plays a reporter investigating the intertwining careers of Brian Slade and Curt Wild (Bowie and Iggy Pop respectively).

American Psycho – Breakthrough:

Bale’s big breakthrough came in 2000 with American Psycho, but it almost did not happen. Lionsgate wanted Leonardo DiCaprio, but writer-director Mary Harron wanted Bale. Lionsgate made an offer to DiCaprio and he accepted and Harron left the project. Oliver Stone signed on to directed, but the project fell apart when DiCaprio left to make The Beach and Stone’s budget got out of hand. Thus, Lionsgate rehired Harron and Bale was again cast as Patrick Bateman. However, Lionsgate wanted Harron to cast two known stars in supporting roles, and so she obliged with Willem Dafoe and Reese Witherspoon. Bateman is brilliantly played by Bale, capturing the sadness and madness wonderfully – he reportedly based his performance on Tom Cruise, seeing him on the Late Show with David Letterman and thinking that he looked dead behind the eyes. Bale had always been a fantastic character and method actor, but American Psycho made him a leading man in Hollywood and showcased his ability to become characters (something he would continually showcase over the next decade). Bale coming off the success of American Psycho made a number of mediocre Hollywood and independent films: Shaft, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Laurel Canyon, and Reign of Fire. His next critically acclaimed hit came with Kurt Wimmer’s highly stylized action sci-fi drama Equilibrium (a must-see for fans of The Matrix-like action films). Bale then completely altered his body to take the lead in Brad Anderson’s The Machinist about an industrial worker who has not slept in a year and doubts his own sanity. It is a profound performance. Bale also voiced Howl in the English dub of Howl’s Moving Castle in 2004.

Batman – Stardom:

In 2005, Bale became a bona fide star with the release of Batman Begins. Along with Sam Raimi’s first two Spider-Man films, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Alfonso Cuaron’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Batman Begins cemented that a new generation of auteur filmmakers had taken over and were making genre films that were not just box office successes but also among the best films of their respective years. Bale and director Nolan also brought a new much more serious and grounded approach to the character completely changing the expectations of what a Batman film could and should be. In short, they changed the game. With the success of Batman (both box office and especially critically), Bale had his pick of projects – and he made some great films starting with David Ayer’s cop drama Harsh Times. Next he starred in (his second Pocahontas narrative) The New World, written and directed by Terrence Malick. It is an absolutely beautiful and powerful film. Continuing his string of working with great directors and giving brilliant performances, Bale starred in Werner Herzog’s Vietnam prisoner of war drama Rescue Dawn. He again needed to alter is body to become his character. Working again with Nolan in 2006, Bale starred in The Prestige – a wonderful film about rival magicians. In 2007, Bale starred in the action western (remake) 3:10 to Yuma and Todd Haynes’s Bob Dylan biography I’m Not There. Then, in 2008, he returned to the Batman franchise and director Nolan for The Dark Knight – a genre film so good that the Oscars changed their rules (from five Best Picture nominees to ten) after the embarrassment of not nominating it (the best film of the year). Along with being probably the most critically acclaimed comic-book film, it also played to the third best US box office of all-time (now fourth, as The Avengers has surged to number two). Finishing up the decade, Bale starred as John Connor in Terminator Salvation and Melvin Purvis (the FBI agent who lead the team that killed John Dillinger) in Michael Mann’s fantastic (and highly underrated) Public Enemies.

The Fighter – Elite Actor:

Bale has shown his ability to completely and utterly inhabit his characters, usually staying in character throughout the duration of filming. He even did all his press for Batman Begins with the American accent that he had developed for the film (he is Welch). In 2010, Bale finally got his recognition winning an Oscar for his work in David O. Russell’s The Fighter. As with many of his performances, Bale the man is unrecognizable leaving only Dicky Eklund the character. Earlier this year, Bale starred in the Chinese film The Flowers of War, directed by (China’s Steven Spielberg) Yimou Zhang. Praised in China, the film was not as heralded in the States.

Upcoming Projects:

Following The Dark Knight Rises, Bale has three films with scheduled 2013 releases. Up first, he stars with Zoe Saldana, Willem Dafoe, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, and Sam Shepard in Scott Cooper’s Out of the Furnace – a revenge thriller about an ex-con who tries to blend into his new surroundings (in the form of a small Indiana town), but is haunted by a figure from his past. After that, Bale has two films with Terrence Malick. The first, still untitled, is about two intersecting love triangles ripe with obsession and betrayal set against the music scene in Austin, Texas. Boasting a great cast, it co-stars Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Haley Bennett, and maybe Wes Bentley. The second, which also stars Portman, Blanchett and Bentley in addition to Bale, called Knight of Cups is about a man in search of love and truth (like all Malick films). It also co-stars Freida Pinto, Teresa Palmer, Isabel Lucas, Imogen Poots, and Justin Wheelon. This is just a guess, but I think these films are probably related and share the same characters. I am really looking forward to these two Malick films, and Bale’s work in them.

Career Highlights:

1)      Empire of the Sun (1987) – lead (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

2)      Henry V (1989) – supporting (DVD)

3)      Velvet Goldmine (1998) – supporting (Blu-ray, DVD)

4)      American Psycho (2000)* – lead (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

5)      Equilibrium (2002) – lead (Blu-ray, DVD)

6)      The Machinist (2004) – lead (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

7)      Batman Begins (2005)* – lead (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

8)      Harsh Times (2005) – lead (Blu-ray, DVD)

9)      The New World (2005)* – lead (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

10)   Rescue Dawn (2006) – lead (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

11)   The Prestige (2006)* – lead (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

12)   3:10 to Yuma (2007) – lead (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

13)   The Dark Knight (2008)* – lead (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

14)   Public Enemies (2009) – supporting (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

15)   The Fighter (2010) – supporting (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

*Editor’s picks

Terrence Malick – Movies Spotlight – May 2011

Auteur writer-director Terrence Malick is known for making atmospheric existential films that incorporate beauty and nature into the story and feel of the narrative (even more so than character or plot is some cases). His films are always amazing to behold – meditations on their subject matter. Malick is interested in the artistry and emotional resonance of his visuals and characters. His new film The Tree of Life looks at a young boy in the 1950s who losses his innocence as he comes to terms with the world around him, his relationship with his father and growing up. Malick’s films are about meaning, each viewer deriving their own from the experience of watching them, and thus are polarizing. But regardless, it is undeniable that he is one of the master filmmakers working today.

Early Career:

Malick started his filmmaking career as a student, receiving his MFA from the AFI Conservatory in 1969. While attending the program, he made his first film – a short called Lanton Mills. He also met and made contacts in the program with the likes of Jack Nicholson and agent Mike Medavoy, who got Malick freelance writing work (he revised scripts, wrote an early draft of Dirt Harry and the produced script for Pocket Money). Malick continued to write, producing the screenplay for Deadhead Mills for Paramount Pictures, but the studio felt that it was an unreleaseable film. This experience changed Malick’s focus from purely a writer to wanting to direct his own scripts.

Badlands and Days of Heaven:

Malick’s feature debut came in 1973 with the film Badlands, about a young couple that goes on a crime spree in the 1950s starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek (it is sort of like an existential Bonnie and Clyde). The film was made independently for little money and had a troubled production, but when it finally was screened for critics it received wonderful reviews prompting Warner Bros. Pictures to buy the distribution rights for three times the film’s budget. It is a brilliant film that is beautiful in its photography, but terrifying as it peers into the souls of it characters – a jovial amoral young man and apathetic young woman. Next in 1978, Malick wrote and directed Days of Heaven, a story about a hot-tempered farm laborer running away from his past who convinces his love to marry their rich but dying boss so they can claim his fortune, but becomes jealous when she beings to love him. It stars Richard Gere, Sam Shepard and Brooke Adams. The story, much like Badlands, is poetic and more concerned with the feelings and emotional experience of the characters than plot, but here the story and characters seem to take a backseat to the truly amazing aesthetics (specifically the cinematography). Malick and D.P. Nestor Almendros shot almost the entire film during the “magic hour” – the hours between day and night early in the morning and late in the evening. It is magnificent (Ennio Morricone provides a good score as well).

The Vanishing:

After Days of Heaven’s success both at the Academy Awards and at Cannes, Malick began work on a new film for Paramount Pictures entitled Q, about the origins of life on Earth. But, during pre-production he suddenly left the project and moved to Paris, disappearing from public view (though, he has always been considered shy when it comes to the media). During his twenty year absence from Hollywood, he worked on a number of unproduced scripts and produced a few films.

Back After Twenty Years:

Malick finally returned to Hollywood in 1998 with The Thin Red Line, a war film focusing around the Pacific Theatre of WWII, specifically the conflict at Guadalcanal. The film boasts a fantastic cast (here is the full list) and Malick’s typical brilliant aesthetics (this time working with cinematographer John Toll). Malick shot over a million feet of film, and his original cut was barely under six hours (the theatrical cut runtime is 170 minutes). The film was critically praised and accompanied Steve Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan as a nominee for Best Picture at the 1999 Oscars (while both are WWII films, tonally they are almost 100% different, and initially I liked Spielberg’s more but now I favor Malick’s). He next began work on an article about Che Guevara, which incited Steven Soderbergh to offer Malick the chance to write and direct a film about Guevara that Soderbergh had been wanting to make with Benicio del Toro (though Soderbergh ultimately ended up writing and directing it). Malick accepted, but after a year-and-a-half the financing had not come through and Malick moved onto a project he was just as excited about – The New World. The film is a poetic and romantic interpretation of the story of John Smith and Pocahontas, with John Rolfe playing a major role as well. The cast is brilliant with tons of wonderful actors; it stars Colin Farrell, Q’orianka Kilcher and Christian Bale. Again like his other films, it is beautiful and atmospheric. Malick’s collaboration with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki garnered maybe the best visual work to date (and Malick is again working with Lubezki on The Tree of Life and his next project). The film deals with many themes including the corruption of nature by civilized man, colonialism – the stark juxtaposition of the Americas to England is crushing. The film received a very mixed reaction upon its release in 2005, but since then has come to be regarded as one of the best films of the decade (making a number of critic’s lists, including Mick LaSalle’s).

Producer:

Malick has also served as a producer on a number of independent films, most of which he worked on during his twenty year break from directing. The highlights include Yimou Zhang’s Happy Times, David Gordon Green’s Undertow, Michael Apted’s Amazing Grace, Hans Petter Moland’s The Beautiful Country, and the documentaries The Endurance and The Unforeseen.

Future Projects:

In 2012, Malick has a yet untitled film that he wrote and directed scheduled for release. It is a love story starring Rachel McAdams and Ben Affleck, while featuring Javier Barden, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Chastain, Olga Kurylenko, Amanda Peet, and Barry Pepper in supporting roles (making for a great cast). And Emmanuel Lubezki is shooting the film and Jack Fisk is doing the production design (which is awesome for those that enjoy amazing aesthetics; Fisk has worked on all of Malick’s films, production design on The Thin Red Line and on, and as art director on his first two).

Terrence Malick’s Career Highlights:

1.)    Badlands (1973) – Director* [DVD/Rent]

2.)    Days of Heaven (1978) – Director* [Blu-ray/DVD/Rent]

3.)    The Thin Red Line (1998) – Director* [Blu-ray/DVD/Rent]

4.)    The New World (2005) – Director* [Blu-ray/DVD/Rent]

*Editor’s Picks