![Jang Hyuk in Volcano High (2001)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZmE2NmNmMDAtZTA0Yy00OTc3LTkyY2UtMjkwM2M4MWNkYTRmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMxMTY0OTQ@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR3,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Jang Hyuk in Volcano High (2001)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZmE2NmNmMDAtZTA0Yy00OTc3LTkyY2UtMjkwM2M4MWNkYTRmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMxMTY0OTQ@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR3,0,140,207_.jpg)
Pusan International Film Festival
BUSAN, South Korea -- Protean and prolific director Takashi Miike's latest youth actioner can be described as Volcano High with brains. Unlike Volcano, a Korean teen cult action film which delivers punch after punch of repetitive mind-numbing violence, Crows Episode 0 (Kurouzu Episoudo Zero) lucidly dissects the infrastructure of gangland in a high school, showing how it's a miniature of the yakuza pecking order. For those who prefer mind-numbing violence, there is enough protracted fist fights to give them concussions.
Crows is intended as the first of a trilogy adapted from Hiroshi Takahashi's manga series that sold some 32 million copies. Luckily, like other Miike films adapted from another media, Crows can be understood and enjoyed without any knowledge of its source. The film has Korean distribution, and like the recent, game-inspired Like a Dragon, it will be snapped up by Miike's regular fans.
The prelude before the opening credits shows yakuza mutt Ken getting shot at the docks. As he sinks into the water, he yells, "Genji, if I hadn't known you..." The ending will come full circle to this sequence giving it a new meaning.
The real action starts at Suzuran High, nicknamed School for Crows for the scum it enrolls. Miike introduces a squad of full-on characters who have different physical looks and degrees of viciousness. The arrival of transfer student Genji Takiya (Shyun Oguri) and his open dissing of Top Dog Tamao Serisawa (Takiyuku Yamada) intensify the turf war. Genji vows to conquer the school as a litmus test to outdo his yakuza dad. Ken, a middle-aged Suzuran dropout, re-enters the picture as Genji's sidekick/mentor. They start a takeover war that puts the adage "if you can't beat them, join them" into painful practice. The ensuing strategic maneuvers, alliance building and shifts in balance of power mirror corporate culture. They are fascinating even for cerebral audiences.
There is also no lack of smutty humor, like group date setup that gets very sticky in the pants. The young cast overall give a strong performance but the romantic sideline is very weak. Goro Kishitani, the psycho yakuza in Like a Dragon steals the show in a cameo as Genji's father, a calm and collected crime boss with worldly-wise philosophy to spare.
After a succession of one-to-one tussles and battle royales that remind one of moving up levels in computer games, the film slowly builds up a moral universe with values of loyalty, friendship and self-sacrifice that are conservative and echo the epic struggle between historical Genji and Heike clans, Japan's answer to The War of the Roses, which Miike reinterpreted in Sukiyaki Western Django. Unlike Django, one actually develops grudging respect for both sides.
The final show down is shot in a stylized f/x mix of slow motion and suddenly cranked up action. Except for an eye-popping car/motorbike chase, action choreography, though ferocious and graphic enough throughout, is not the most original of Miike's works. However, the ending is a cliffhanger that definitely psyches the audience up for the sequel.
The original comic is supposed to be a 1990s bible for Japanese Yankee (country pumpkin hooligans that have style affinity with the Leningrad Cowboys), but the image designer has revamped the handsome cast with slick black school uniforms and spiky gelled hair that makes them look very crow-like indeed. The dominant visual tone of moody black, grey and muddy brown adds a touch of mellowness to the rough-and-tumble.
CROWS EPISODE 0
TBS Pictures/Toho/MBS/Akita Shuten/CBC/Happinet
Credits:
Director: Takashi Miike
Screenwriter: Shogo Muto
Based on the comic by Hiroshi Takahashi
Producers: Mataichiro Yamamoto, Hidemi Satani
Director of photography: Takumi Furutani
Production designer: Yuji Hayashida
Music: Naoki Otsubo
Editor: Shuichi Kakesu
Cast:
Genji Takiya: Shyun Oguri
Tamao Serisawa: Takayuki Yamada
Ken Katagiri: Kyousuke Yabe
Ruka: Meisa Kuroka
Makise: Tsutomua Takahashi
Hideo Takiya: Goro KishitaniNo MPAA rating...
BUSAN, South Korea -- Protean and prolific director Takashi Miike's latest youth actioner can be described as Volcano High with brains. Unlike Volcano, a Korean teen cult action film which delivers punch after punch of repetitive mind-numbing violence, Crows Episode 0 (Kurouzu Episoudo Zero) lucidly dissects the infrastructure of gangland in a high school, showing how it's a miniature of the yakuza pecking order. For those who prefer mind-numbing violence, there is enough protracted fist fights to give them concussions.
Crows is intended as the first of a trilogy adapted from Hiroshi Takahashi's manga series that sold some 32 million copies. Luckily, like other Miike films adapted from another media, Crows can be understood and enjoyed without any knowledge of its source. The film has Korean distribution, and like the recent, game-inspired Like a Dragon, it will be snapped up by Miike's regular fans.
The prelude before the opening credits shows yakuza mutt Ken getting shot at the docks. As he sinks into the water, he yells, "Genji, if I hadn't known you..." The ending will come full circle to this sequence giving it a new meaning.
The real action starts at Suzuran High, nicknamed School for Crows for the scum it enrolls. Miike introduces a squad of full-on characters who have different physical looks and degrees of viciousness. The arrival of transfer student Genji Takiya (Shyun Oguri) and his open dissing of Top Dog Tamao Serisawa (Takiyuku Yamada) intensify the turf war. Genji vows to conquer the school as a litmus test to outdo his yakuza dad. Ken, a middle-aged Suzuran dropout, re-enters the picture as Genji's sidekick/mentor. They start a takeover war that puts the adage "if you can't beat them, join them" into painful practice. The ensuing strategic maneuvers, alliance building and shifts in balance of power mirror corporate culture. They are fascinating even for cerebral audiences.
There is also no lack of smutty humor, like group date setup that gets very sticky in the pants. The young cast overall give a strong performance but the romantic sideline is very weak. Goro Kishitani, the psycho yakuza in Like a Dragon steals the show in a cameo as Genji's father, a calm and collected crime boss with worldly-wise philosophy to spare.
After a succession of one-to-one tussles and battle royales that remind one of moving up levels in computer games, the film slowly builds up a moral universe with values of loyalty, friendship and self-sacrifice that are conservative and echo the epic struggle between historical Genji and Heike clans, Japan's answer to The War of the Roses, which Miike reinterpreted in Sukiyaki Western Django. Unlike Django, one actually develops grudging respect for both sides.
The final show down is shot in a stylized f/x mix of slow motion and suddenly cranked up action. Except for an eye-popping car/motorbike chase, action choreography, though ferocious and graphic enough throughout, is not the most original of Miike's works. However, the ending is a cliffhanger that definitely psyches the audience up for the sequel.
The original comic is supposed to be a 1990s bible for Japanese Yankee (country pumpkin hooligans that have style affinity with the Leningrad Cowboys), but the image designer has revamped the handsome cast with slick black school uniforms and spiky gelled hair that makes them look very crow-like indeed. The dominant visual tone of moody black, grey and muddy brown adds a touch of mellowness to the rough-and-tumble.
CROWS EPISODE 0
TBS Pictures/Toho/MBS/Akita Shuten/CBC/Happinet
Credits:
Director: Takashi Miike
Screenwriter: Shogo Muto
Based on the comic by Hiroshi Takahashi
Producers: Mataichiro Yamamoto, Hidemi Satani
Director of photography: Takumi Furutani
Production designer: Yuji Hayashida
Music: Naoki Otsubo
Editor: Shuichi Kakesu
Cast:
Genji Takiya: Shyun Oguri
Tamao Serisawa: Takayuki Yamada
Ken Katagiri: Kyousuke Yabe
Ruka: Meisa Kuroka
Makise: Tsutomua Takahashi
Hideo Takiya: Goro KishitaniNo MPAA rating...
- 10/7/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Tim Russert](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ2NzY5MDM2N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNTA1OTU1._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,2,140,207_.jpg)
![Tim Russert](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ2NzY5MDM2N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNTA1OTU1._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,2,140,207_.jpg)
NEW YORK -- Tim Russert's weekend talker is moving from CNBC to MSNBC.
The move comes as the business channel prepares to do head-to-head battle with Fox Business Network for the hearts and minds of Wall Street and Main Street. Its cable-news sibling is trying to shore up its reputation as the go-to place for politics.
Russert, who is moderator of Meet the Press and NBC's Top Dog in Washington, doesn't just interview politicians and journalists on Tim Russert. He has in the past interviewed everyone from President Bush and first lady Laura Bush to Tom Hanks, Caroline Kennedy and Derek Jeter.
Meanwhile, Press celebrated 10 straight seasons on top of the Sunday-morning ratings with wins in viewership and the adults 25-54 demographic. It averaged 3.6 million viewers, compared with CBS' Face the Nation (2.7 million), ABC's This Week (2.6 million) and Fox's Fox News Sunday (1.3 million).
Also, CNBC said Tuesday that Maria Bartiromo and Chris Matthews would co-anchor a Republican candidate debate TuesdayOct. 9 from Dearborn, Mich., to be televised live on CNBC and rebroadcast later in the day on MSNBC.
The move comes as the business channel prepares to do head-to-head battle with Fox Business Network for the hearts and minds of Wall Street and Main Street. Its cable-news sibling is trying to shore up its reputation as the go-to place for politics.
Russert, who is moderator of Meet the Press and NBC's Top Dog in Washington, doesn't just interview politicians and journalists on Tim Russert. He has in the past interviewed everyone from President Bush and first lady Laura Bush to Tom Hanks, Caroline Kennedy and Derek Jeter.
Meanwhile, Press celebrated 10 straight seasons on top of the Sunday-morning ratings with wins in viewership and the adults 25-54 demographic. It averaged 3.6 million viewers, compared with CBS' Face the Nation (2.7 million), ABC's This Week (2.6 million) and Fox's Fox News Sunday (1.3 million).
Also, CNBC said Tuesday that Maria Bartiromo and Chris Matthews would co-anchor a Republican candidate debate TuesdayOct. 9 from Dearborn, Mich., to be televised live on CNBC and rebroadcast later in the day on MSNBC.
- 10/3/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Last week's broadcast primetime viewership looked pretty paltry compared with Friday night's record-breaking 17.2 million viewers who tuned in to see "High School Musical 2" on Disney Channel.
While the ratings would make a network executive stand up and sing even on a regular-season night, "Musical 2" was extraordinary for cable. It was the most-watched basic cable telecast of all time and drew the best primetime audience for anything on cable or broadcast during the summer other than sports telecasts and the Olympics since Sept. 5, 1997.
"Hannah Montana", which followed "Musical 2" on Friday, averaged 10.7 million viewers, the top telecast for a series in cable history.
Network TV's most-watched program for the week ending Sunday, NBC's "America's Got Talent", barely cleared "Hannah" and couldn't come close to "Musical 2". "Talent" averaged 10.8 million viewers and a 3.1 rating/10 share in the adults 18-49 demographic for Tuesday's telecast, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. Monday's season finale of "Hell's Kitchen" (9.7 million, 4.5/12) was the week's Top Dog in adults 18-49. That gave Fox its 28th consecutive weekly win in the demo, the longest such streak for any network in 11 years. CBS racked up another win in viewership.
"Kitchen" ruled everything Monday, easily surpassing a boatload of repeats and ABC's "Fat March" (4.3 million, 1.6/5).
While the ratings would make a network executive stand up and sing even on a regular-season night, "Musical 2" was extraordinary for cable. It was the most-watched basic cable telecast of all time and drew the best primetime audience for anything on cable or broadcast during the summer other than sports telecasts and the Olympics since Sept. 5, 1997.
"Hannah Montana", which followed "Musical 2" on Friday, averaged 10.7 million viewers, the top telecast for a series in cable history.
Network TV's most-watched program for the week ending Sunday, NBC's "America's Got Talent", barely cleared "Hannah" and couldn't come close to "Musical 2". "Talent" averaged 10.8 million viewers and a 3.1 rating/10 share in the adults 18-49 demographic for Tuesday's telecast, Nielsen Media Research said Tuesday. Monday's season finale of "Hell's Kitchen" (9.7 million, 4.5/12) was the week's Top Dog in adults 18-49. That gave Fox its 28th consecutive weekly win in the demo, the longest such streak for any network in 11 years. CBS racked up another win in viewership.
"Kitchen" ruled everything Monday, easily surpassing a boatload of repeats and ABC's "Fat March" (4.3 million, 1.6/5).
- 8/22/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Cat Deeley, Matthew Morrison, Stephen Boss, and JoJo Siwa in So You Think You Can Dance (2005)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjRkMzM3NGQtOGE5OS00NzljLThjMGItM2NmZTU1NTA0M2M1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTEwMTQ4MzU5._V1_QL75_UY207_CR13,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Cat Deeley, Matthew Morrison, Stephen Boss, and JoJo Siwa in So You Think You Can Dance (2005)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjRkMzM3NGQtOGE5OS00NzljLThjMGItM2NmZTU1NTA0M2M1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTEwMTQ4MzU5._V1_QL75_UY207_CR13,0,140,207_.jpg)
NEW YORK -- The finale of So You Think You Can Dance brought Fox to another Thursday win in viewership and the adult 18-49 demographic. It was the 13th consecutive Thursday night win in adults 18-49, a record for the network.
Dance was the Top Dog in viewership and adults 18-49 with 9.4 million viewers and a 3.5 rating/11 share in the demo, according to preliminary estimates released Friday by Nielsen Media Research.
Dance outperformed Big Brother between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., when the two shows competed. Big Brother (7.5 million, 2.7/9) lagged behind the 8.2 million and 3.1/10 in the first hour of Dance. Dance peaked at 9:30 p.m. with 11.1 million viewers and a 4.1/12 in the demo.
CBS won at 10 p.m. with a repeat Without a Trace (9 million, 2.3/7). It was a tough night on both ABC and NBC, which ran repeats of its regular Thursday night lineup.
Thursday averages: Fox (9.4 million, 3.5/11); CBS (8.7 million, 2.5/8); ABC (3.6 million, 1.2/4); NBC (3.7 million, 1.5/5); and the CW (2 million, 0.8/3).
Dance was the Top Dog in viewership and adults 18-49 with 9.4 million viewers and a 3.5 rating/11 share in the demo, according to preliminary estimates released Friday by Nielsen Media Research.
Dance outperformed Big Brother between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., when the two shows competed. Big Brother (7.5 million, 2.7/9) lagged behind the 8.2 million and 3.1/10 in the first hour of Dance. Dance peaked at 9:30 p.m. with 11.1 million viewers and a 4.1/12 in the demo.
CBS won at 10 p.m. with a repeat Without a Trace (9 million, 2.3/7). It was a tough night on both ABC and NBC, which ran repeats of its regular Thursday night lineup.
Thursday averages: Fox (9.4 million, 3.5/11); CBS (8.7 million, 2.5/8); ABC (3.6 million, 1.2/4); NBC (3.7 million, 1.5/5); and the CW (2 million, 0.8/3).
- 8/18/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Joe Strummer in 120 Minutes (1991)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTIxMDY5NjkzN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwOTc2MDM4._V1_QL75_UY140_CR35,0,140,140_.jpg)
![Joe Strummer in 120 Minutes (1991)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTIxMDY5NjkzN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwOTc2MDM4._V1_QL75_UY140_CR35,0,140,140_.jpg)
PARK CITY -- You don't have be a fan of the 1970s British punk rock sensation the Clash to enjoy Julien Temple's "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten," a visually exciting, high-octane, rock history of the band and its charismatic frontman and songwriter, Joe Strummer. Simply said: It's terrific.
With support from critics and positive word-of-mouth, Temple's docu should have as good or better boxoffice than Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster", another behind-the-scenes music docu, which grossed about $2 million worldwide.
Driven by a propulsive energy, this brilliantly edited movie moves at warp speed, starting when Strummer, nee John Mellor, a diplomat's son and public school boy, figured out that he was a leader and a misfit. Strummer reminisces about how he went from the prison of boarding school (Temple uses clips from Michael Anderson's 1956 adaptations of George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm") into the moveable feast that was the 1960s.
Intelligent, always articulate and Top Dog in his bands, Strummer from the beginning was a force of nature onstage, a fount of relentless energy so intense it was impossible to look at anyone else when he was performing. One can see his magnetism even in grainy clips of his early gigs.
A specialist in dynamic rock 'n' roll movies, Temple uses rare archival footage, animated versions of Strummer's cartoons and drawings and voice-over cobbled together from Strummer's numerous interviews as well as his BBC radio show, "London Calling".
Friends say Strummer had no use for money but did covet fame. Yet when fabulous success arrived, Strummer was embarrassed. It went against his worldview. Eventually, drugs and petty conflicts led to the demise of the band. Strummer preached humanity and political awareness from the stage but had a nasty habit of stealing the girlfriends of his fellow band members. The hit "Should I Stay or Should I Go", co-written with guitarist Mick Jones, became an anthem for the terminally ambivalent and signaled trouble ahead for the band.
The Clash officially expired in 1985. It took Strummer a decade to recover from his wild ride. He tried acting, appeared in Jim Jarmusch's "Mystery Train", wrote a movie soundtrack, cut an ill-fated album, formed a new band. Nothing quite took.
Old friends, musicians, former band members and family, along with Bono, John Cusack, Johnny Depp and Jarmusch, share their recollections, not all of them flattering. Some of this footage was shot around a campfire, in reference to events Strummer organized after the band died.
Strummer's star burned so bright in his youth, it's a little sad to see him in his 40s, heavier and middle-aged, hawking a concert on the street or doing a benefit performance. He had a fatal heart attack in 2002. It turns out he was mortal after all.
JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN
Film4, Sony BMG, Parallel Films and HanWay Films present a Nitrate Film and Parallel Films production
Credits: Director: Julien Temple
Producer: Amanda Temple, Anna Campeau, Alan Moloney
Executive producer: Jeremy Thomas
Director of photography: Ben Cole
Music: Ian Neil
Co-producer: Orlagh Collins, Susan Mullen, Stephan Mallmann
Editor: Mark Reynolds, Tobias Zaldua, Niven Howie
Running time: 125 minutes
No MPAA rating...
With support from critics and positive word-of-mouth, Temple's docu should have as good or better boxoffice than Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster", another behind-the-scenes music docu, which grossed about $2 million worldwide.
Driven by a propulsive energy, this brilliantly edited movie moves at warp speed, starting when Strummer, nee John Mellor, a diplomat's son and public school boy, figured out that he was a leader and a misfit. Strummer reminisces about how he went from the prison of boarding school (Temple uses clips from Michael Anderson's 1956 adaptations of George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm") into the moveable feast that was the 1960s.
Intelligent, always articulate and Top Dog in his bands, Strummer from the beginning was a force of nature onstage, a fount of relentless energy so intense it was impossible to look at anyone else when he was performing. One can see his magnetism even in grainy clips of his early gigs.
A specialist in dynamic rock 'n' roll movies, Temple uses rare archival footage, animated versions of Strummer's cartoons and drawings and voice-over cobbled together from Strummer's numerous interviews as well as his BBC radio show, "London Calling".
Friends say Strummer had no use for money but did covet fame. Yet when fabulous success arrived, Strummer was embarrassed. It went against his worldview. Eventually, drugs and petty conflicts led to the demise of the band. Strummer preached humanity and political awareness from the stage but had a nasty habit of stealing the girlfriends of his fellow band members. The hit "Should I Stay or Should I Go", co-written with guitarist Mick Jones, became an anthem for the terminally ambivalent and signaled trouble ahead for the band.
The Clash officially expired in 1985. It took Strummer a decade to recover from his wild ride. He tried acting, appeared in Jim Jarmusch's "Mystery Train", wrote a movie soundtrack, cut an ill-fated album, formed a new band. Nothing quite took.
Old friends, musicians, former band members and family, along with Bono, John Cusack, Johnny Depp and Jarmusch, share their recollections, not all of them flattering. Some of this footage was shot around a campfire, in reference to events Strummer organized after the band died.
Strummer's star burned so bright in his youth, it's a little sad to see him in his 40s, heavier and middle-aged, hawking a concert on the street or doing a benefit performance. He had a fatal heart attack in 2002. It turns out he was mortal after all.
JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN
Film4, Sony BMG, Parallel Films and HanWay Films present a Nitrate Film and Parallel Films production
Credits: Director: Julien Temple
Producer: Amanda Temple, Anna Campeau, Alan Moloney
Executive producer: Jeremy Thomas
Director of photography: Ben Cole
Music: Ian Neil
Co-producer: Orlagh Collins, Susan Mullen, Stephan Mallmann
Editor: Mark Reynolds, Tobias Zaldua, Niven Howie
Running time: 125 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Hugh Jackman](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDExMzIzNjk3Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTE4NDU5OA@@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,1,140,207_.jpg)
![Hugh Jackman](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDExMzIzNjk3Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTE4NDU5OA@@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,1,140,207_.jpg)
Christopher Nolan's movies zero in on men in the throes of obsession, characters who desperately search for that one thing that will make their existence less compromised. From the great backward-moving thriller "Memento" to the sun-blinded film noir "Insomnia" and the philosophical epic "Batman Begins", Nolan has arrived quite naturally at "The Prestige", a movie totally dominated by obsession.
"Prestige" revolves around a rivalry between two magicians (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) in turn-of-the-20th century London. Each is obsessed with the other's trade secrets and boxoffice success. Obsession is like a narcotic: The more they partake, the more they crave. It's a hot subject, but for the first time, Nolan's approach might be too cool.
Audiences might enjoy this cinematic sleight of hand, but the key characters are such single-minded, calculating individuals that the real magic would be to find any heart in this tale. So the question is whether audiences find any emotional hook amid all this cleverness. If they do, there is nary a dull moment thanks to all the intrigue, eye-grabbing production values and behind-the-scenes look at magic tricks. That's a big "if," though, as the only likable character is played by Michael Caine as an ingeneur, a fellow who designs the illusions.
Nolan's screenplay, which he wrote with his brother Jonathan, derives from a novel by Christopher Priest. The movie begins in a rush, near the end of the story, but quickly backtracks to the point where the rivalry commences. Robert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale) are colleagues in the employ of an aging magician trotting out an aging act that includes Robert's lovely wife, Julia (Piper Perabo). When she tragically dies during the act, Robert, not without reason, blames Alfred.
One of the film's major flaws is to waffle on this point: Alfred claims he doesn't remember what kind of a knot he tied around Julia' wrists before her immersion into water. How can this be?
Anyway, the rivalry is on as the men build illustrious careers while they sabotage each other's stage performances and plant spies in each other's camps. Each develops a signature trick, but Alfred's emerges as Top Dog with his Transported Man, in which he is instantly transported from one part of the stage to another. Robert becomes completely obsessed with learning how to do this trick. His ingeneur Cutter (Caine) insists he knows how it's done -- with a double. He even replicates the trick for Robert with the help of a drunk actor who is Robert's look-alike. This does nothing to appease Robert's obsession.
Robert surreptitiously attains Alfred's workbook/diary, where many secrets may exist. Meanwhile, he takes off for Colorado Springs, where the eccentric Serbian scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, if you please) -- the story's one actual historical figure -- powers the entire city with electricity from his lab. Believing that Tesla built Alfred's Transporter machine, Robert hopes the wizard can build a similar contraption for him.
Just as a conjurer saws a lady in half, the movie keeps dividing its characters and relationships. Once buddies, Robert and Alfred are now rivals. Each has a wife. Robert's dies, but Alfred's, Sarah (Rebecca Hall), flourishes. Yet Sarah sees in her husband a divided soul: One days he loves her; another day he does not.
Olivia (Scarlett Johansson) becomes Robert's assistant and eventually his lover. Only Robert sends her to Alfred, ostensibly to steal his secrets, but she sells him out and becomes Alfred's lover. There are more instances of such divisions, but to reveal more would reveal the movie's twin secrets -- one of which audiences will probably guess and the other they probably won't.
So tangled are the tricks and plot lines that the story's characters are little more than sketches. Remove their obsessions, and the two magicians have little personality. The women suffer from their men's distractions but have, seemingly, little life of their own. Indeed you don't need a star such as Johansson to play Olivia, so slim is her role.
Bowie is quite wonderful as Tesla -- mysterious, exotic yet somehow the film's most reasonable man -- while Andy Serkis as his assistant brings sly comedy to an otherwise morbidly serious affair.
Production values are aces with dynamic, gritty sets; lighting that makes the movie take place in a perpetual twilight; and a lively, nerve-jangling score.
"Prestige" revolves around a rivalry between two magicians (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) in turn-of-the-20th century London. Each is obsessed with the other's trade secrets and boxoffice success. Obsession is like a narcotic: The more they partake, the more they crave. It's a hot subject, but for the first time, Nolan's approach might be too cool.
Audiences might enjoy this cinematic sleight of hand, but the key characters are such single-minded, calculating individuals that the real magic would be to find any heart in this tale. So the question is whether audiences find any emotional hook amid all this cleverness. If they do, there is nary a dull moment thanks to all the intrigue, eye-grabbing production values and behind-the-scenes look at magic tricks. That's a big "if," though, as the only likable character is played by Michael Caine as an ingeneur, a fellow who designs the illusions.
Nolan's screenplay, which he wrote with his brother Jonathan, derives from a novel by Christopher Priest. The movie begins in a rush, near the end of the story, but quickly backtracks to the point where the rivalry commences. Robert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale) are colleagues in the employ of an aging magician trotting out an aging act that includes Robert's lovely wife, Julia (Piper Perabo). When she tragically dies during the act, Robert, not without reason, blames Alfred.
One of the film's major flaws is to waffle on this point: Alfred claims he doesn't remember what kind of a knot he tied around Julia' wrists before her immersion into water. How can this be?
Anyway, the rivalry is on as the men build illustrious careers while they sabotage each other's stage performances and plant spies in each other's camps. Each develops a signature trick, but Alfred's emerges as Top Dog with his Transported Man, in which he is instantly transported from one part of the stage to another. Robert becomes completely obsessed with learning how to do this trick. His ingeneur Cutter (Caine) insists he knows how it's done -- with a double. He even replicates the trick for Robert with the help of a drunk actor who is Robert's look-alike. This does nothing to appease Robert's obsession.
Robert surreptitiously attains Alfred's workbook/diary, where many secrets may exist. Meanwhile, he takes off for Colorado Springs, where the eccentric Serbian scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, if you please) -- the story's one actual historical figure -- powers the entire city with electricity from his lab. Believing that Tesla built Alfred's Transporter machine, Robert hopes the wizard can build a similar contraption for him.
Just as a conjurer saws a lady in half, the movie keeps dividing its characters and relationships. Once buddies, Robert and Alfred are now rivals. Each has a wife. Robert's dies, but Alfred's, Sarah (Rebecca Hall), flourishes. Yet Sarah sees in her husband a divided soul: One days he loves her; another day he does not.
Olivia (Scarlett Johansson) becomes Robert's assistant and eventually his lover. Only Robert sends her to Alfred, ostensibly to steal his secrets, but she sells him out and becomes Alfred's lover. There are more instances of such divisions, but to reveal more would reveal the movie's twin secrets -- one of which audiences will probably guess and the other they probably won't.
So tangled are the tricks and plot lines that the story's characters are little more than sketches. Remove their obsessions, and the two magicians have little personality. The women suffer from their men's distractions but have, seemingly, little life of their own. Indeed you don't need a star such as Johansson to play Olivia, so slim is her role.
Bowie is quite wonderful as Tesla -- mysterious, exotic yet somehow the film's most reasonable man -- while Andy Serkis as his assistant brings sly comedy to an otherwise morbidly serious affair.
Production values are aces with dynamic, gritty sets; lighting that makes the movie take place in a perpetual twilight; and a lively, nerve-jangling score.
- 10/17/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, and Scarlett Johansson in The Prestige (2006)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM3MzQ5MjQ5OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTQ3NzMzMw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, and Scarlett Johansson in The Prestige (2006)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTM3MzQ5MjQ5OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTQ3NzMzMw@@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
Christopher Nolan's movies zero in on men in the throes of obsession, characters who desperately search for that one thing that will make their existence less compromised. From the great backward-moving thriller Memento to the sun-blinded film noir Insomnia and the philosophical epic Batman Begins, Nolan has arrived quite naturally at The Prestige, a movie totally dominated by obsession.
Prestige revolves around a rivalry between two magicians (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) in turn-of-the-20th century London. Each is obsessed with the other's trade secrets and boxoffice success. Obsession is like a narcotic: The more they partake, the more they crave. It's a hot subject, but for the first time, Nolan's approach might be too cool.
Audiences might enjoy this cinematic sleight of hand, but the key characters are such single-minded, calculating individuals that the real magic would be to find any heart in this tale. So the question is whether audiences find any emotional hook amid all this cleverness. If they do, there is nary a dull moment thanks to all the intrigue, eye-grabbing production values and behind-the-scenes look at magic tricks. That's a big "if," though, as the only likable character is played by Michael Caine as an ingeneur, a fellow who designs the illusions.
Nolan's screenplay, which he wrote with his brother Jonathan, derives from a novel by Christopher Priest. The movie begins in a rush, near the end of the story, but quickly backtracks to the point where the rivalry commences. Robert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale) are colleagues in the employ of an aging magician trotting out an aging act that includes Robert's lovely wife, Julia (Piper Perabo). When she tragically dies during the act, Robert, not without reason, blames Alfred.
One of the film's major flaws is to waffle on this point: Alfred claims he doesn't remember what kind of a knot he tied around Julia' wrists before her immersion into water. How can this be?
Anyway, the rivalry is on as the men build illustrious careers while they sabotage each other's stage performances and plant spies in each other's camps. Each develops a signature trick, but Alfred's emerges as Top Dog with his Transported Man, in which he is instantly transported from one part of the stage to another. Robert becomes completely obsessed with learning how to do this trick. His ingeneur Cutter (Caine) insists he knows how it's done -- with a double. He even replicates the trick for Robert with the help of a drunk actor who is Robert's look-alike. This does nothing to appease Robert's obsession.
Robert surreptitiously attains Alfred's workbook/diary, where many secrets may exist. Meanwhile, he takes off for Colorado Springs, where the eccentric Serbian scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, if you please) -- the story's one actual historical figure -- powers the entire city with electricity from his lab. Believing that Tesla built Alfred's Transporter machine, Robert hopes the wizard can build a similar contraption for him.
Just as a conjurer saws a lady in half, the movie keeps dividing its characters and relationships. Once buddies, Robert and Alfred are now rivals. Each has a wife. Robert's dies, but Alfred's, Sarah (Rebecca Hall), flourishes. Yet Sarah sees in her husband a divided soul: One days he loves her; another day he does not.
Olivia (Scarlett Johansson) becomes Robert's assistant and eventually his lover. Only Robert sends her to Alfred, ostensibly to steal his secrets, but she sells him out and becomes Alfred's lover. There are more instances of such divisions, but to reveal more would reveal the movie's twin secrets -- one of which audiences will probably guess and the other they probably won't.
So tangled are the tricks and plot lines that the story's characters are little more than sketches. Remove their obsessions, and the two magicians have little personality. The women suffer from their men's distractions but have, seemingly, little life of their own. Indeed you don't need a star such as Johansson to play Olivia, so slim is her role.
Bowie is quite wonderful as Tesla -- mysterious, exotic yet somehow the film's most reasonable man -- while Andy Serkis as his assistant brings sly comedy to an otherwise morbidly serious affair.
Production values are aces with dynamic, gritty sets; lighting that makes the movie take place in a perpetual twilight; and a lively, nerve-jangling score.
THE PRESTIGE
Buena Vista Pictures
Touchstone Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures present
a Newmarket Film and Syncopy production
Credits:
Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenwriters: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Based on the novel by: Christopher Priest
Producers: Emma Thomas, Aaron Ryder, Christopher Nolan
Executive producers: Charles J.D. Schlissel, Chris J. Ball, William Tyrer, Valerie Dean
Director of photography: Wally Pfister
Production designer: Nathan Crowley
Music: David Julyan
Costume designer: Joan Bergin
Editor: Lee Smith
Cast:
Robert Angier: Hugh Jackman
Alfred Borden: Christian Bale
Cutter: Michael Caine
Julia: Piper Perabo
Sarah: Rebecca Hall
Olivia: Scarlett Johansson
Mr. Alley: Andy Serkis
Nikola Tesla: David Bowie
Running time -- 131 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Prestige revolves around a rivalry between two magicians (Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) in turn-of-the-20th century London. Each is obsessed with the other's trade secrets and boxoffice success. Obsession is like a narcotic: The more they partake, the more they crave. It's a hot subject, but for the first time, Nolan's approach might be too cool.
Audiences might enjoy this cinematic sleight of hand, but the key characters are such single-minded, calculating individuals that the real magic would be to find any heart in this tale. So the question is whether audiences find any emotional hook amid all this cleverness. If they do, there is nary a dull moment thanks to all the intrigue, eye-grabbing production values and behind-the-scenes look at magic tricks. That's a big "if," though, as the only likable character is played by Michael Caine as an ingeneur, a fellow who designs the illusions.
Nolan's screenplay, which he wrote with his brother Jonathan, derives from a novel by Christopher Priest. The movie begins in a rush, near the end of the story, but quickly backtracks to the point where the rivalry commences. Robert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale) are colleagues in the employ of an aging magician trotting out an aging act that includes Robert's lovely wife, Julia (Piper Perabo). When she tragically dies during the act, Robert, not without reason, blames Alfred.
One of the film's major flaws is to waffle on this point: Alfred claims he doesn't remember what kind of a knot he tied around Julia' wrists before her immersion into water. How can this be?
Anyway, the rivalry is on as the men build illustrious careers while they sabotage each other's stage performances and plant spies in each other's camps. Each develops a signature trick, but Alfred's emerges as Top Dog with his Transported Man, in which he is instantly transported from one part of the stage to another. Robert becomes completely obsessed with learning how to do this trick. His ingeneur Cutter (Caine) insists he knows how it's done -- with a double. He even replicates the trick for Robert with the help of a drunk actor who is Robert's look-alike. This does nothing to appease Robert's obsession.
Robert surreptitiously attains Alfred's workbook/diary, where many secrets may exist. Meanwhile, he takes off for Colorado Springs, where the eccentric Serbian scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, if you please) -- the story's one actual historical figure -- powers the entire city with electricity from his lab. Believing that Tesla built Alfred's Transporter machine, Robert hopes the wizard can build a similar contraption for him.
Just as a conjurer saws a lady in half, the movie keeps dividing its characters and relationships. Once buddies, Robert and Alfred are now rivals. Each has a wife. Robert's dies, but Alfred's, Sarah (Rebecca Hall), flourishes. Yet Sarah sees in her husband a divided soul: One days he loves her; another day he does not.
Olivia (Scarlett Johansson) becomes Robert's assistant and eventually his lover. Only Robert sends her to Alfred, ostensibly to steal his secrets, but she sells him out and becomes Alfred's lover. There are more instances of such divisions, but to reveal more would reveal the movie's twin secrets -- one of which audiences will probably guess and the other they probably won't.
So tangled are the tricks and plot lines that the story's characters are little more than sketches. Remove their obsessions, and the two magicians have little personality. The women suffer from their men's distractions but have, seemingly, little life of their own. Indeed you don't need a star such as Johansson to play Olivia, so slim is her role.
Bowie is quite wonderful as Tesla -- mysterious, exotic yet somehow the film's most reasonable man -- while Andy Serkis as his assistant brings sly comedy to an otherwise morbidly serious affair.
Production values are aces with dynamic, gritty sets; lighting that makes the movie take place in a perpetual twilight; and a lively, nerve-jangling score.
THE PRESTIGE
Buena Vista Pictures
Touchstone Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures present
a Newmarket Film and Syncopy production
Credits:
Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenwriters: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Based on the novel by: Christopher Priest
Producers: Emma Thomas, Aaron Ryder, Christopher Nolan
Executive producers: Charles J.D. Schlissel, Chris J. Ball, William Tyrer, Valerie Dean
Director of photography: Wally Pfister
Production designer: Nathan Crowley
Music: David Julyan
Costume designer: Joan Bergin
Editor: Lee Smith
Cast:
Robert Angier: Hugh Jackman
Alfred Borden: Christian Bale
Cutter: Michael Caine
Julia: Piper Perabo
Sarah: Rebecca Hall
Olivia: Scarlett Johansson
Mr. Alley: Andy Serkis
Nikola Tesla: David Bowie
Running time -- 131 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 10/16/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
![Stacy Peralta at an event for Lords of Dogtown (2005)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzA3NDA3OTEzOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNTc1NjY0._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Stacy Peralta at an event for Lords of Dogtown (2005)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzA3NDA3OTEzOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNTc1NjY0._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
Screened
Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY -- For its first-ever opening night in Park City, the Sundance Film Festival chose to premiere "Riding Giants", the first documentary to open the festival. It was an understandable though curious choice.
Understandable because Sundance is not only proud of the large role it has played in showcasing documentaries from its very beginnings, but the festival also loves to celebrate its alumni. "Riding Giants" director Stacy Peralta won the audience and director awards at the 2001 Sundance for his docu "Dogtown and Z-Boys". Curious because this film about surfing fails to thoroughly investigate the subculture and all too easily settles for an admiring promotional film, albeit one with lively moments, a good sense of humor and colorful real-life figures who will captivate even nonsurfers.
At the moment, however, the film is unlikely to play to many nonsurfers. "Riding Giants" is at least 15 minutes too long. Repetitive shots of giant waves and wipeouts diminish rather than enhance one's appreciation of the courage of today's surfers. "Riding Giants" seems intent on selling the sport rather than examining why people are willing to risk their necks to challenge nature at her most volatile.
While the film begins with a brief historical overview of the sport, the focus swiftly shifts to one subject: the lure of riding "big waves," swells that can reach up to 70 feet. While this is a bit like making a documentary on boxing that focuses only on heavyweights while ignoring all other weight divisions, there is no doubt this is the most exciting and dangerous aspect of the sport.
In an often tongue-in-cheek manner, Peralta and co-writer Sam George trace the evolution of big-wave riding from the conquest of Hawaii's Waimea Bay in the 1950s, following the introduction of lighter boards made of balsa and fiber glass, to today's tow-in surfing that allows surfers to ride giants.
Three figures emerge: Greg Noll, who, with his muscular build and striped trunks, led the charge in the '50s and '60s
Jeff Clark, who discovered but kept secret for a while the treacherous Mavericks surfing area in Northern California
and Laird Hamilton, today's blond god of contemporary Hawaiian surfing.
The movie has fun with the Gidget movies that, while popularizing the sport around the world, were treated with contempt by real surfers. It also has solemn moments, showing the drowning death of top Hawaiian surfer Mark Foo at Mavericks in 1994.
Peralta, who made his mark with skateboarding movies, is new to surfing films. He is either unaware of or unwilling to utilize the advanced techniques and surf-cam operators employed by filmmakers like Dana Brown, whose "Step Into Liquid", released last year, let viewers get up close and personal with big-wave riders while inside those watery tubes.
As waves pound endlessly at the audience and big questions about the surfing lifestyle and lure of risk-taking never get asked, the movie shamelessly exposes its own promotional side. For a film exec produced by Laird Hamilton to call Laird Hamilton the best big-wave surfer ever is not only disingenuous but ignores the controversy of that statement in the surfing world. Hamilton may well be Top Dog, but he tends to shun championship competitions, where it might be put to a test.
The use of archival footage, much of which is probably home movies, is quite good, and Peralta's interviews often produce sharp, revealing comments. But he and his cohorts let salesmanship triumph over filmmaking.
RIDING GIANTS
Forever Films and Studio Canal
in association with Quicksilver
Credits:
Director: Stacy Peralta
Screenwriters: Stacy Peralta, Sam George
Producer: Agi Orsi, Stacy Peralta, Jane Kachmer
Executive producers: Nathalie Delest, Franck Marty, Laird Hamilton
Director of photography: Peter Pilafian
Music: Matter
Editor/co-producer: Paul Crowder
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY -- For its first-ever opening night in Park City, the Sundance Film Festival chose to premiere "Riding Giants", the first documentary to open the festival. It was an understandable though curious choice.
Understandable because Sundance is not only proud of the large role it has played in showcasing documentaries from its very beginnings, but the festival also loves to celebrate its alumni. "Riding Giants" director Stacy Peralta won the audience and director awards at the 2001 Sundance for his docu "Dogtown and Z-Boys". Curious because this film about surfing fails to thoroughly investigate the subculture and all too easily settles for an admiring promotional film, albeit one with lively moments, a good sense of humor and colorful real-life figures who will captivate even nonsurfers.
At the moment, however, the film is unlikely to play to many nonsurfers. "Riding Giants" is at least 15 minutes too long. Repetitive shots of giant waves and wipeouts diminish rather than enhance one's appreciation of the courage of today's surfers. "Riding Giants" seems intent on selling the sport rather than examining why people are willing to risk their necks to challenge nature at her most volatile.
While the film begins with a brief historical overview of the sport, the focus swiftly shifts to one subject: the lure of riding "big waves," swells that can reach up to 70 feet. While this is a bit like making a documentary on boxing that focuses only on heavyweights while ignoring all other weight divisions, there is no doubt this is the most exciting and dangerous aspect of the sport.
In an often tongue-in-cheek manner, Peralta and co-writer Sam George trace the evolution of big-wave riding from the conquest of Hawaii's Waimea Bay in the 1950s, following the introduction of lighter boards made of balsa and fiber glass, to today's tow-in surfing that allows surfers to ride giants.
Three figures emerge: Greg Noll, who, with his muscular build and striped trunks, led the charge in the '50s and '60s
Jeff Clark, who discovered but kept secret for a while the treacherous Mavericks surfing area in Northern California
and Laird Hamilton, today's blond god of contemporary Hawaiian surfing.
The movie has fun with the Gidget movies that, while popularizing the sport around the world, were treated with contempt by real surfers. It also has solemn moments, showing the drowning death of top Hawaiian surfer Mark Foo at Mavericks in 1994.
Peralta, who made his mark with skateboarding movies, is new to surfing films. He is either unaware of or unwilling to utilize the advanced techniques and surf-cam operators employed by filmmakers like Dana Brown, whose "Step Into Liquid", released last year, let viewers get up close and personal with big-wave riders while inside those watery tubes.
As waves pound endlessly at the audience and big questions about the surfing lifestyle and lure of risk-taking never get asked, the movie shamelessly exposes its own promotional side. For a film exec produced by Laird Hamilton to call Laird Hamilton the best big-wave surfer ever is not only disingenuous but ignores the controversy of that statement in the surfing world. Hamilton may well be Top Dog, but he tends to shun championship competitions, where it might be put to a test.
The use of archival footage, much of which is probably home movies, is quite good, and Peralta's interviews often produce sharp, revealing comments. But he and his cohorts let salesmanship triumph over filmmaking.
RIDING GIANTS
Forever Films and Studio Canal
in association with Quicksilver
Credits:
Director: Stacy Peralta
Screenwriters: Stacy Peralta, Sam George
Producer: Agi Orsi, Stacy Peralta, Jane Kachmer
Executive producers: Nathalie Delest, Franck Marty, Laird Hamilton
Director of photography: Peter Pilafian
Music: Matter
Editor/co-producer: Paul Crowder
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
![Stacy Peralta at an event for Lords of Dogtown (2005)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzA3NDA3OTEzOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNTc1NjY0._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Stacy Peralta at an event for Lords of Dogtown (2005)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzA3NDA3OTEzOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNTc1NjY0._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
Screened
Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY -- For its first-ever opening night in Park City, the Sundance Film Festival chose to premiere "Riding Giants", the first documentary to open the festival. It was an understandable though curious choice.
Understandable because Sundance is not only proud of the large role it has played in showcasing documentaries from its very beginnings, but the festival also loves to celebrate its alumni. "Riding Giants" director Stacy Peralta won the audience and director awards at the 2001 Sundance for his docu "Dogtown and Z-Boys". Curious because this film about surfing fails to thoroughly investigate the subculture and all too easily settles for an admiring promotional film, albeit one with lively moments, a good sense of humor and colorful real-life figures who will captivate even nonsurfers.
At the moment, however, the film is unlikely to play to many nonsurfers. "Riding Giants" is at least 15 minutes too long. Repetitive shots of giant waves and wipeouts diminish rather than enhance one's appreciation of the courage of today's surfers. "Riding Giants" seems intent on selling the sport rather than examining why people are willing to risk their necks to challenge nature at her most volatile.
While the film begins with a brief historical overview of the sport, the focus swiftly shifts to one subject: the lure of riding "big waves," swells that can reach up to 70 feet. While this is a bit like making a documentary on boxing that focuses only on heavyweights while ignoring all other weight divisions, there is no doubt this is the most exciting and dangerous aspect of the sport.
In an often tongue-in-cheek manner, Peralta and co-writer Sam George trace the evolution of big-wave riding from the conquest of Hawaii's Waimea Bay in the 1950s, following the introduction of lighter boards made of balsa and fiber glass, to today's tow-in surfing that allows surfers to ride giants.
Three figures emerge: Greg Noll, who, with his muscular build and striped trunks, led the charge in the '50s and '60s
Jeff Clark, who discovered but kept secret for a while the treacherous Mavericks surfing area in Northern California
and Laird Hamilton, today's blond god of contemporary Hawaiian surfing.
The movie has fun with the Gidget movies that, while popularizing the sport around the world, were treated with contempt by real surfers. It also has solemn moments, showing the drowning death of top Hawaiian surfer Mark Foo at Mavericks in 1994.
Peralta, who made his mark with skateboarding movies, is new to surfing films. He is either unaware of or unwilling to utilize the advanced techniques and surf-cam operators employed by filmmakers like Dana Brown, whose "Step Into Liquid", released last year, let viewers get up close and personal with big-wave riders while inside those watery tubes.
As waves pound endlessly at the audience and big questions about the surfing lifestyle and lure of risk-taking never get asked, the movie shamelessly exposes its own promotional side. For a film exec produced by Laird Hamilton to call Laird Hamilton the best big-wave surfer ever is not only disingenuous but ignores the controversy of that statement in the surfing world. Hamilton may well be Top Dog, but he tends to shun championship competitions, where it might be put to a test.
The use of archival footage, much of which is probably home movies, is quite good, and Peralta's interviews often produce sharp, revealing comments. But he and his cohorts let salesmanship triumph over filmmaking.
RIDING GIANTS
Forever Films and Studio Canal
in association with Quicksilver
Credits:
Director: Stacy Peralta
Screenwriters: Stacy Peralta, Sam George
Producer: Agi Orsi, Stacy Peralta, Jane Kachmer
Executive producers: Nathalie Delest, Franck Marty, Laird Hamilton
Director of photography: Peter Pilafian
Music: Matter
Editor/co-producer: Paul Crowder
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY -- For its first-ever opening night in Park City, the Sundance Film Festival chose to premiere "Riding Giants", the first documentary to open the festival. It was an understandable though curious choice.
Understandable because Sundance is not only proud of the large role it has played in showcasing documentaries from its very beginnings, but the festival also loves to celebrate its alumni. "Riding Giants" director Stacy Peralta won the audience and director awards at the 2001 Sundance for his docu "Dogtown and Z-Boys". Curious because this film about surfing fails to thoroughly investigate the subculture and all too easily settles for an admiring promotional film, albeit one with lively moments, a good sense of humor and colorful real-life figures who will captivate even nonsurfers.
At the moment, however, the film is unlikely to play to many nonsurfers. "Riding Giants" is at least 15 minutes too long. Repetitive shots of giant waves and wipeouts diminish rather than enhance one's appreciation of the courage of today's surfers. "Riding Giants" seems intent on selling the sport rather than examining why people are willing to risk their necks to challenge nature at her most volatile.
While the film begins with a brief historical overview of the sport, the focus swiftly shifts to one subject: the lure of riding "big waves," swells that can reach up to 70 feet. While this is a bit like making a documentary on boxing that focuses only on heavyweights while ignoring all other weight divisions, there is no doubt this is the most exciting and dangerous aspect of the sport.
In an often tongue-in-cheek manner, Peralta and co-writer Sam George trace the evolution of big-wave riding from the conquest of Hawaii's Waimea Bay in the 1950s, following the introduction of lighter boards made of balsa and fiber glass, to today's tow-in surfing that allows surfers to ride giants.
Three figures emerge: Greg Noll, who, with his muscular build and striped trunks, led the charge in the '50s and '60s
Jeff Clark, who discovered but kept secret for a while the treacherous Mavericks surfing area in Northern California
and Laird Hamilton, today's blond god of contemporary Hawaiian surfing.
The movie has fun with the Gidget movies that, while popularizing the sport around the world, were treated with contempt by real surfers. It also has solemn moments, showing the drowning death of top Hawaiian surfer Mark Foo at Mavericks in 1994.
Peralta, who made his mark with skateboarding movies, is new to surfing films. He is either unaware of or unwilling to utilize the advanced techniques and surf-cam operators employed by filmmakers like Dana Brown, whose "Step Into Liquid", released last year, let viewers get up close and personal with big-wave riders while inside those watery tubes.
As waves pound endlessly at the audience and big questions about the surfing lifestyle and lure of risk-taking never get asked, the movie shamelessly exposes its own promotional side. For a film exec produced by Laird Hamilton to call Laird Hamilton the best big-wave surfer ever is not only disingenuous but ignores the controversy of that statement in the surfing world. Hamilton may well be Top Dog, but he tends to shun championship competitions, where it might be put to a test.
The use of archival footage, much of which is probably home movies, is quite good, and Peralta's interviews often produce sharp, revealing comments. But he and his cohorts let salesmanship triumph over filmmaking.
RIDING GIANTS
Forever Films and Studio Canal
in association with Quicksilver
Credits:
Director: Stacy Peralta
Screenwriters: Stacy Peralta, Sam George
Producer: Agi Orsi, Stacy Peralta, Jane Kachmer
Executive producers: Nathalie Delest, Franck Marty, Laird Hamilton
Director of photography: Peter Pilafian
Music: Matter
Editor/co-producer: Paul Crowder
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
![John Cusack in Utopia (2020)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODQ4ZjU4NWItM2RlMS00OWY3LWJhZjAtYmQ3NjRiMzA5YjdjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTAyMDgxODQ@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
![John Cusack in Utopia (2020)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODQ4ZjU4NWItM2RlMS00OWY3LWJhZjAtYmQ3NjRiMzA5YjdjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTAyMDgxODQ@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,140_.jpg)
Responsible for 7,000 flights a day, coming up with dozens of quick decisions and never making a major mistake -- they are air traffic controllers, the FAA's defenders against "chaos in the sky." In "Pushing Tin", John Cusack's aggressive, controlling, competitive lead character marks another solid outing for the actor, and co-star Billy Bob Thornton is commanding as his rival in the tower.
But pushing middle-of-the-road material, director Mike Newell ("Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Donnie Brasco") brings no special flair to the storytelling, and the 20th Century Fox release will have trouble filling planes in its theatrical flight schedules.
Younger moviegoers will probably book trips elsewhere, but the cast may attract adult women and couples, and the film should wing into friendly ancillary skies.
Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett is a bit tentative but otherwise successful as Cusack's contemporary American wife. Rising star Angelina Jolie exudes sex appeal but has little else to do. Like two gunslingers with an audience, Cusack and Thornton dominate the movie, based on Darcy Frey's 1996 New York Times Magazine article. The talky, jargony screenplay is credited to "Cheers" co-creators and TV veterans Glen and Les Charles.
Nick Falzone (Cusack), Top Dog at New York's Terminal Radar Approach Control Center, is a fast driver and fast talker with an art student wife, Connie (Blanchett). One day, motorcycle-riding loner Russell Bell (Thornton) reports for duty, and Nick starts a rivalry that eventually includes infidelity and crazy, death-defying antics on the runway.
With a mysterious past and loose-cannon reputation, Russell is married to sultry, bored Mary (Jolie). From showing up Nick on the basketball court to handling job pressure with a shrug, Russell is a quiet, meditative guy but too macho to let serious challenges go unanswered.
Nick's losing control of his life because of his irresponsible actions, and his obsessive behavior gets potentially ugly when he sleeps with Mary and breaks up with Connie. He loses his cool and his job, while Russell is the hero when a bomb threat clears the building and he leaves town with Mary to diffuse the tension.
A climactic moment of bonding between Nick and Russell on the tarmac is the blustery payoff that finally takes the edge off the former, but for long stretches, the film is more a glorified sitcom than engaging cinema. Numerous special effects shots of jetliners seem oddly out of joint with the visually ho-hum movie.
PUSHING TIN
20th Century Fox
Fox 2000 and Regency Enterprises present
a Linson Films production
Director: Mike Newell
Producer: Art Linson
Screenwriters: Glen Charles, Les Charles
Executive producers: Alan Greenspan, Michael Flynn
Director of photography: Gale Tattersall
Production designer: Bruno Rubeo
Editor: Jon Gregory
Costume designer: Marie-Sylvie Deveau
Music: Anne Dudley
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nick Falzone: John Cusack
Russell Bell: Billy Bob Thornton
Connie Falzone: Cate Blanchett
Mary Bell: Angelina Jolie
Barry Plotkin: Jake Weber
Vicki Lewis: Tina Leary
Running time -- 123 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
But pushing middle-of-the-road material, director Mike Newell ("Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Donnie Brasco") brings no special flair to the storytelling, and the 20th Century Fox release will have trouble filling planes in its theatrical flight schedules.
Younger moviegoers will probably book trips elsewhere, but the cast may attract adult women and couples, and the film should wing into friendly ancillary skies.
Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett is a bit tentative but otherwise successful as Cusack's contemporary American wife. Rising star Angelina Jolie exudes sex appeal but has little else to do. Like two gunslingers with an audience, Cusack and Thornton dominate the movie, based on Darcy Frey's 1996 New York Times Magazine article. The talky, jargony screenplay is credited to "Cheers" co-creators and TV veterans Glen and Les Charles.
Nick Falzone (Cusack), Top Dog at New York's Terminal Radar Approach Control Center, is a fast driver and fast talker with an art student wife, Connie (Blanchett). One day, motorcycle-riding loner Russell Bell (Thornton) reports for duty, and Nick starts a rivalry that eventually includes infidelity and crazy, death-defying antics on the runway.
With a mysterious past and loose-cannon reputation, Russell is married to sultry, bored Mary (Jolie). From showing up Nick on the basketball court to handling job pressure with a shrug, Russell is a quiet, meditative guy but too macho to let serious challenges go unanswered.
Nick's losing control of his life because of his irresponsible actions, and his obsessive behavior gets potentially ugly when he sleeps with Mary and breaks up with Connie. He loses his cool and his job, while Russell is the hero when a bomb threat clears the building and he leaves town with Mary to diffuse the tension.
A climactic moment of bonding between Nick and Russell on the tarmac is the blustery payoff that finally takes the edge off the former, but for long stretches, the film is more a glorified sitcom than engaging cinema. Numerous special effects shots of jetliners seem oddly out of joint with the visually ho-hum movie.
PUSHING TIN
20th Century Fox
Fox 2000 and Regency Enterprises present
a Linson Films production
Director: Mike Newell
Producer: Art Linson
Screenwriters: Glen Charles, Les Charles
Executive producers: Alan Greenspan, Michael Flynn
Director of photography: Gale Tattersall
Production designer: Bruno Rubeo
Editor: Jon Gregory
Costume designer: Marie-Sylvie Deveau
Music: Anne Dudley
Color/stereo
Cast:
Nick Falzone: John Cusack
Russell Bell: Billy Bob Thornton
Connie Falzone: Cate Blanchett
Mary Bell: Angelina Jolie
Barry Plotkin: Jake Weber
Vicki Lewis: Tina Leary
Running time -- 123 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 4/19/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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