There was nothing that “The Catcher in the Rye” protagonist Holden Caulfield despised more than phonies, from his own family, to strangers on the street, to silly old Sally Hayes. He might feel the same about Danny Strong’s J.D. Salinger biopic “Rebel in the Rye,” which frequently suffers from shallow observations about the author’s astounding life.
Based in part on Kenneth Slawenski’s Salinger biography “J.D. Salinger: A Life,” “Rebel in the Rye” is mostly occupied with Salinger’s early years, specifically the period when which he conceived of Holden Caulfield and finally completed “The Catcher in the Rye.” Despite the focus on such a fertile period, it suffers from a meandering narrative and a jarring pace, particularly as it pushes on into his later years without bothering to age star Nicholas Hoult in the slightest.
Read More: The 2017 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview, And News...
Based in part on Kenneth Slawenski’s Salinger biography “J.D. Salinger: A Life,” “Rebel in the Rye” is mostly occupied with Salinger’s early years, specifically the period when which he conceived of Holden Caulfield and finally completed “The Catcher in the Rye.” Despite the focus on such a fertile period, it suffers from a meandering narrative and a jarring pace, particularly as it pushes on into his later years without bothering to age star Nicholas Hoult in the slightest.
Read More: The 2017 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview, And News...
- 1/26/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Danny Strong is recognizable from numerous noteworthy projects: Jonathan on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Paris’ paramour Doyle on Gilmore Girls, Albert Fekus on Justified, and Danny Siegel, the guy who punched Roger Sterling in the crotch on Mad Men. But all that time on camera also motivated his prolific pursuit of screenwriting: “I just write things because I spent so many years as an actor trying to get any job I could get,” he explains. “Literally anything to pay my bills and to get my health insurance. So when I started writing, I made a decision really early on: ‘I’m just going to do things I think are cool.’” His writing resumé now possibly surpasses his acting one, including his Emmy-award-winning Sarah Palin campaign movie Game Change, the also politically themed Recount, and two Hunger Games: Mockingjay movies. He also co-created Lee Daniels’ Empire, where he’s scripted and...
- 1/24/2017
- by Gwen Ihnat
- avclub.com
A review of tonight's "Mad Men" coming up just as soon as I get you a map to the powder room... "I had a plan, which was no plans!" -Richard Early in "The Forecast," Don gets into an argument with his realtor Melanie, who can't be bothered to conceal her disgust with her client. As they study the barren living room tableau created by Marie Calvet's thievery, Don insists that it's a selling point, because potential buyers can more easily imagine their own furniture in the space. Melanie dismissively wonders if he's ever sold an apartment, and in a later conversation suggests, "this place reeks of failure." Don again shrugs off her contempt and says, "I have a good feeling about things." In a way, Don is proven right, since Melanie winds up selling the place at the asking price. But that empty apartment — and Don's reaction to realizing...
- 4/20/2015
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
As Mad Men's final episodes approach, it's natural to wonder where the show's performers might show up next. Elisabeth Moss is currently on Broadway, January Jones is on The Last Man on Earth, and John Slattery apparently could have been on Empire. Recall that Danny Strong, Empire's co-creator and executive producer, plays Roger Sterling's cousin-in-law Danny Siegel on Mad Men. Slattery tells The Daily Beast, "[Strong] actually asked me if I wanted to be on Empire, and I think I let that ship sail. I don't know who I would've played … some white dude." Please, Lord, don't let it be too late. We would all love to see John Slattery play some white dude on Empire.
- 3/26/2015
- by Margaret Lyons
- Vulture
How would you pump yourself up to craft the twists and turns of hip-hop soap Empire? How about if you don't work in the music business? How about if you're a white guy? Danny Strong knows — he has to, as the show's co-creator. (He's also a part-time that guy, playing Elijah's ex on Girls, Danny Siegel on Mad Men, Jonathan on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Doyle on Gilmore Girls). Here's how, as he told Kcrw:“I was in my car in L.A., and I was driving around, and I heard a news story about Puffy, and I just thought, ‘Hip-hop is so cool. That’s what I should do next, something in hip-hop.’ And I immediately began thinking King Lear and The Lion in Winter, and that’s how I work. I go to classical archetypes.” And how else do you, a white guy, write that patented Empire drama?...
- 3/23/2015
- by Lindsey Weber
- Vulture
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