The year is 1969 and Hollywood is changing. Fading star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) has been forced to the sidelines as new stars like Sharon Tate are stepping into the limelight. Joined by his faithful stuntman who is closer than a brother but not as close as a wife, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), Dalton tries… [Read More]
Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood – A Tarantino Fairy Tale
When I first heard that Quenton Tarantino was going to be making a movie that involved the Manson Family killings, I assumed the violence and blood would be overwhelming. But Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood turns out to be his least violent film. All of Tarantino’s films have an aspect of… [Read More]
Before the Flood – Is It Too Late to Deal with Climate Change?
Before the Flood opens with a Heironomus Bosch triptych, “The Garden of Earthly Delight”, which Leonardo DiCaprio tells us is one of his earliest memories because a print of these paintings hung over his bed as a child. On the right, the painting is a scene of Eden, on the left a depiction of Hell…. [Read More]
Remembering The Revenant (Oscar Spotlight: Best Picture)
In The Revenant, Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his son are scouts for a team of fur trappings in the late nineteenth Century. After a chance encounter with a bear, Glass is left bloodied and (almost) dead. As the team struggles to carry him along, they decide to leave him until he passes on. However, after… [Read More]
And the Nominees are… Important?
The announcement of this year’s Academy Awards nominations always brings with it the usual debates. Who surprised? (Straight Outta Compton!) Who got snubbed? (Ridley Scott!) Momentum. Controversy. Favourite. Underdog. Every year, all of these words are used to argue about the Academy’s picks. In fact, I’m even sure that I’ll address these issues as time draws nearer to… [Read More]
The Revenant: Humanity’s Best & Worst
The Revenant cleaned up at the Golden Globes – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Film Not in Matt Damon’s category. [Okay, I made that last category up… sort of.] But the truth is that while director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s latest film (he’s the artistic mind behind Birdman) dances gracefully, bloodily, across the fallen snow, the… [Read More]
Trotting on the (Golden) Globes
Upon the conclusion of last night’s Golden Globes, Oscar season has officially begun. Run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (or HFPA), the Globes have become one of Hollywood’s biggest parties. Alcohol flows freely. A-Listers hang out and have some laughs. Big name hosts like Ricky Gervais or Fey and Poehler run an evening more… [Read More]
The Revenant: Return to the living
Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant fits all the qualifications of a big film: star-caliber acting from Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, and others; astounding cinematography in gorgeous settings; and a story that seems to be larger than life.
