With Oscar bait season heating up, I'm sure all you movie buffs are feasting on fall movie previews. Still, 30 oscar contenders are a bit much to write about, so I focused on three that capture my fancy for whatever reason. Some may be better, but none have gotten me setting aside dates just yet like these have.
1. Rules Don’t Apply: A romantic dramedy about sexual puritanism in 50s Hollywood and crazy Howard Hughes seems quaintly odd in our oh so serious era of 40 different flavors of gender. Which is why, for better or worse, I’m attracted to it. That, and it’s the legendary passion project of Warren Beatty, the most beguiling star-artist of the last fifty years. He’s been trying to make since it 1975. Let that sink in. He hasn’t made a movie in nearly twenty years, and this may be the capper on an infuriatingly brilliant career. The guy basically kicked off the New Hollywood Era of sex and violence with Bonnie and Clyde, and rather than make hit after hit, he used his clout and seduction to spend years developing idiosyncratic projects. Some were hits, (Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait) others lost mountains of money (Reds, Ishtar) yet, like Sinatra, he did it his way. Like his legions of female admirers, the hollywood suits swooned, disregarding the corporate cookie cutter approach whenever they came under his spell. No matter what, that deserves a tribute.
2. Hacksaw Ridge: Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson! As recently as my early movie going days, Mel Gibson was one of the big institutional stars, right with Tom Hanks and Cruise. Then, well, we all know what happened. Despite his, uh, quirks, Mel’s an old fashion star, whose agitated screen presence perfectly counterbalanced his unreal handsomeness, even as the hooch and cigs took their toll. He’s also a gifted filmmaker, especially of violent epics. Hacksaw Ridge is the story of a devout WWII soldier who never fired a shot, and instead devoted his duty to saving his brothers. It’s got the hallmark of a Gibson extravaganza: the quest for transcendence through bloody struggle. Another quaint feeling in a cynical and atheistic age. And this cynical atheist is stoked! Go figure.
3. The Birth of Nation: What was insane hype just a year ago has been tempered by allegations of rape against director and star Nate Parker resurfacing recently. Also, the trailer is very heavy handed and some reviews say the film is as well. Still, I’ve always wanted to see a film of Nat Turner’s rebellion. Hollywood’s race movies are usually timid and include at least one white savior. The black heros are usually simplistically, condescendingly decent and in need of benevolent whiteness to advance their struggle. A morally complex, yet heroic figure like Turner, who took up arms and waited for no one’s charity, is the kind of Romantic hero we need to confront.
