Did you know Jimmy Fallon and Oprah Winfrey once played husband and wife on a soap opera titled Midnight Meadows? No, well apparently you really missed out on something special. Fortunately, footage has been found and while Oprah was visiting The Tonight Show, Fallon unveiled clips that featured weird vocal effects.
Watch the video:
Scene-stealer Denis O’Hare’s character Stanley in FX’s American Horror Story: Freak Show is disturbing, charming, and above all in it for himself. This is O’Hare’s third season on the horror anthology series created by Ryan Murphy and, hopefully, he’ll be back next year tackling another bizarre role. And in our conference call in support of Freak Show which airs on Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT, O’Hare talked about being involved in this strange and fascinating world of AHS and offered up an analysis of his characters thus far.
Will you be coming back for the next season of American Horror Story? If so, are you hoping to play maybe a somewhat normal character for a change, or would you hope Ryan Murphy pushes the envelope even farther and gets more outrageous and disturbing?
Denis O’Hare: “While watching last week’s episode while I was standing in the road basically doing obscene things to Michael Chiklis I thought, ‘Can we push the envelope further? How much envelope is left? ‘ But we never know what’s going to happen. It’s Ryan’s world and we just wait for word.
He would love for me to be in next season, but that’s an informal invitation. When I joined last year I signed a two-year contract, so the idea is that I would come back for this year. But until he comes up with the idea and until he finds parts for us, we really have to wait. Last year I got a call, I think, about mid-January, where he offered me Stanley, so this year if it all follows the same pattern I should be hearing from him sometime in January or February.
In terms of what I want to play again, I trust him. He’s got really good taste when it comes to fitting us to our roles. I feel really happy with what I’ve been able to do so far. I loved Spalding. I thought he was such an unusual character and a great technical challenge. But I really do love Stanley – and Stanley’s kind of normal. He’s not disfigured in any way, I mean, really. And he’s charming in a way. So, I’ll take another Stanley.”
How this role made you think about the gay community and how it’s changed?
Denis O’Hare: “Yes, definitely. I think what’s so great about Ryan and Brad and the team of writers is that they’re never content to simply write about one thing. They’re always using the occasion to raise awareness or consciousness. And certainly this series this year seems to be about physical abnormalities and what we consider to be a freak, or normal, but there are subtler applications.
And one of the subtler applications, of course, is the way that gay people were thought of and treated. It’s really interesting to see Dell as one expression of that, somebody who’s so deeply closeted that he actually considers hanging himself in the last episode, to someone like Stanley, who just seems to roll with it. It seems to be part of his lifestyle, which is admittedly not a healthy lifestyle; he’s a professional liar, but there is a sense in which he’s a lot more, I guess, at ease with it.
But he’s hiring hustlers to basically fulfill himself, so that’s certainly not healthy. And he doesn’t seem to be in any kind of healthy relationship, so I think it is pretty amazing to have that snapshot of what it was like to be a gay person in the 1950s. I think it’s really cool.”
How do you bring yourself to bring alive these characters onscreen, and how do you bring yourself out of them after you’re done with them?
Denis O’Hare: “It’s funny, on any given day we’re shooting, and the days can be fairly technical, meaning sometimes we’re doing big, complicated shoots. For instance, we just did a shoot in an upcoming episode, you’ve got that opportunity that involves almost the entire cast and a dinner table and food and wine. It’s just one of those endless days where you don’t really feel like you’re acting.
You feel like what you’re doing is sitting in place and minding, literally, your peas on the plate. Did I shift around five, or did I shift around four? So, when you get an occasion to actually full out just act, it’s really a joy and we do get a lot of those occasions. Mine happened to be a lot with Jessica [Lange], because we tend to have scenes that are just two-person scenes and heavy dialogue, and we both just go for it on any given occasion.
But in terms of exploring the characters, there was a scene we did, as I said, I referenced it already, with Michael Chiklis, where I’m on the road with him and sort of seducing/abusing him. And the way that I’ve done that scene that was simply just Stanley being kind of sinister, evil, and I decided to go somewhere different, to make him incredibly vulnerable. They didn’t use the take where I was most vulnerable, in which I was just about weeping, but there’s a case in which he’s revealing himself as much as he’s doing something to Michael Chiklis’ character.
I love exploring those other aspects of characters, and we’re given a lot of latitude to do that. But you also have to challenge yourself. You can, at any given point, decide how deep you want to go into a certain take, and I, and most of the cast, we tend to go for the darkest possible reading, or the most challenging reading. That doesn’t mean they always use it.
But there’s an upcoming scene, and Michael Goi, our cinematographer, directed, and in the scene I’m with Jimmy, I think I can say that. It’s an incredibly weird scene because of what the subject matter is, and the way in which we play it is incredibly, I think, kind of heartbreaking. It’s one of those great things that happens in American Horror Story, mixed in with the horror and sometimes even the camp, are moments of real bathos and real tragedy. And I think that’s what keeps me coming back, at least.”
How much would you say you are like Stanley, and how much are definitely not like Stanley?
Denis O’Hare: “You know what? I’m not very much like Stanley. I have to say, I hate to admit it, but I’m a rather conventional person. I’m afraid of breaking the law. I do have a huge rebellious streak in me, which is manifested by a kind of really immature anti-authoritarianism; it’s very hard to obey rules. It’s a contradiction. I tend to be afraid of breaking rules, but I’m also somebody who likes to break rules. But I’m not a liar, and I’m not a cheat. And Stanley is a liar and a cheat.
What I love about him is that he’s ultimately an optimistic person. He believes in the fact that in any given day he can make things better, and I do share that with him. I tend to be an optimist. I tend to believe that every day’s a new day, and today I’m going to get things right. And today I’m going to actually be able to make a difference.
And Stanley does the same thing. He’s looking to better his own personal world, and he’s very sunny in that way. He represents a strange strain of American optimism that sort of gets married to that can-do spirit, and that American entrepreneurial spirit, and he’s all of those things wrapped into one. I share a little bit of that, but I don’t share the more twisted aspects, I think.
As an actor it’s always our job to advocate for our characters, and there’s a lot I can advocate for Stanley. Everyone keeps yelling at me for killing Ma Petite, and I’m like, ‘I didn’t touch her. I didn’t kill her!’ ‘Yes, but you encouraged Dell.’ I’m like, ‘I didn’t tell him specifically to kill Ma Petite.’ So, I don’t understand. I am misunderstood.”
For each of these characters in American Horror Story are you given much of a back story, or is it something that you have to come up with and create?
Denis O’Hare: “Oh wow! No, we’re given almost nothing, really. It’s really crazy. I think part of Ryan’s brilliance is his trust in who he hires, and I think he hires us because he knows we’re all creative, inventive people and game.
When I first got this part there was a notion that he might be based on Tod Browning, and so I ran around and got all of his movies and we watched Freaks and we watched some Dracula movies, and I got a great biography called Dark Carnival, and absorbed that. Then as we got closer to shooting I realized that that wasn’t going to happen, because the time frame was wrong. We had to change the time frame.
But what I took away from that was the idea that I think all con men, all grifters, all hustlers, have dabbled in many things, and so I made up the story that he was a vaudevillian, that Stanley, somewhere in his background was a song and dance man. So, I tried to always have him a little bit light on his feet, a little bit whistling and singing, and having music always in his fingers and his head, and that really informed something about the character for me.
In the service of back story at one point I was told that Maggie and I were probably going to be father and daughter, and then that sort of shifted to no, they sometimes pretend to be father and daughter, and then that shifted to be no, they’re just equals. So, we never quite know what’s happening.
I did know that I wanted a mustache. I feel very strongly about that. And I remember I came in when Ryan was shooting and I was on set for approval, and my one conversation with him after we had first talked, I came in and he didn’t like the mustache I first had, it was too fat, and he wanted something more Errol Flynn-like, and so we did two more versions. And it was mine, by the way, that I grew, we were trimming my own mustache. And he finally liked one. Before I left I said, ‘So, I think Stanley’s a whistler.’ And Ryan said, ‘Whistle away.’ That was our last note and I took it from there.”
If you were to return next season, is there any type of theme or type of character that you would like to explore?
Denis O’Hare: “You know, I’ve been racking my brains about this and thank God it’s not in my hands, because I feel like they’ve covered so much territory so well. They really have touched on ghosts pretty extensively in Murder House; I felt that was a lot about ghosts. Asylum, obviously was brilliant, and Asylum had the alien abduction theme, which if anything I’m going to say I would expand upon that – a body snatcher type thing, or something to do with aliens among us, or transformation. That feels like it’s right. But they did, as I say, touch upon that a little bit. Coven, obviously covered all of witches. And Freak Show is a brilliant idea that covers the grotesqueries of life. So, outside of satanic cults and torture porn, I’m not quite sure what’s left. As I say, I’m glad it’s up to them, because I guess my mind doesn’t work this way well enough. But I’m excited and anxious to see what they’re going to come up with, and I will say yes to whatever I’m told to do.”
Every season your characters have always had some sort of physical abnormality. This season it’s not necessarily a “deformity,” but it’s something. Why do you think that Ryan likes to do that to you?
Denis O’Hare: “It’s funny, there are a lot of resonances or uber themes that come back from season to season. Kathy Bates lost her head in two seasons, which I think is pretty funny, this season and then last season. There was a weird thing between Jessica and I, we always were in some sort of symbiotic relationship, never healthy. In year one I was her lover but being used by her. And in year three I was her servant/wanna be lover. This year I’m definitely not a romantic interest in her, but I’m in an unhealthy symbiotic partnership of sorts. But I love the fact that he creates these large uber themes.
As far as making me be deformed, he likes me this year. I didn’t have to sit in the makeup chair very long. I think the first year it was three and a half hours. Last year it was only about an hour and a half. And this year it was really easy. I got some mustache grooming, and I got some bad Florida age spots put on my face, and then I got my lovely toupee on and that was it. I love, by the way, makeup. I really am a fan of transformative makeup. I feel like it goes halfway to getting you to the character, so I’m always happy about it. We’ll see what happens next year.”
Speaking of this year’s deformity, it’s one that 99% of men wouldn’t mind having. Would you say that he dispels the rumor that size doesn’t matter?
Denis O’Hare: “Ryan and I have chatted about this a little bit and we’ve talked about the limits of what one can show on FX, a different cable maybe, HBO, watch out. But in a way I love the fact that we actually don’t get to lay our hands on Mr. Snake, or whatever we call him, because it’s great in an old-fashioned way to see everybody else’s reaction to it, and I’ve actually wondered, ‘What’s down there? What is that? Is it double-headed? Is it like—does it explode? What is it?’
And I think there’s a size issue. I think there’s also an angry issue, as he said last week. I don’t think it’s really attractive. Actually, if people were to look at it and were given the chance they wouldn’t go, ‘Oh sure, I’ll take that.’ ‘Oh, wait a minute I’m not sure where I’d find a willing partner for that.’ But I think it’s a great play on a joke amongst men. Size does matter to them. Please, nothing is too big. And I think it’s hilarious that Ryan’s playing it as a joke that well, I guess there is an outer limit.”
What you think is the one thing that your AHS characters all have in common?
Denis O’Hare: “That’s interesting. I do feel like all the characters are always yearning for something. I love finding out new characters. And these, it seems obvious to me that they’re all yearning for some way of transcending their life into something bigger. It was most obvious I think in the case of Larry, who was, in a way, wanting to escape the hell that he was bound in by his actions and by the consequences of his actions, his wife and kids being burned up in a fire. And what Larry wanted was release.
I felt like Spalding was in many ways the same way. I joked with Ryan, I said, ‘I think Spalding’s ultimate dream is to become a doll,’ this is before we got to the end, and I thought wouldn’t it be cool if at the end we saw Spalding on the shelves and he finally had achieved his dream.
For Stanley, oddly enough, we have those glimpses of him at the morbidity museum while they’re doing a toast, and he’s sort of assuming he’s going to be fêted, he’s going to be the one who is called out for recognition. And what Stanley wants is to be respected. He wants to be accepted into larger culture. I think that has to do with a lot of the characters I’ve played, is they’re yearning for some sort of transcendence. They want to arrive somewhere, a place of peace, or a place of recognition. And I think it’s really cool.”
What’s the major difference between all of them?
Denis O’Hare: “Well, they all have very different personalities that I still love. I especially love Spalding because he’s the most unlike me in terms of metabolism. Larry is probably the closest to my personality, scarily enough. I thought Larry actually was the sweetest of them all, in a strange way. He was actually a sweetheart. He was a guy who was just sort of buffeted around by the world, and he reduced himself to this cartoon.
Spalding is actually not that sweet. Spalding, there’s a lot going on beyond that head that was not admirable. That being said, I do believe that he had an interesting serenity, and that was very different than Larry’s frenetic energy.
Stanley’s the most confident. He’s the most on top of his game. He’s the most aggressive, shooting forward in a way, which I really love. He really is the instigator. He’s sort of the engine in many ways, the engine of the season, because what he’s doing is setting everything into motion, his attempts to co-opt, murder, corral, and change, and weaving this spell around different people, is the billiard ball that scatters the other balls. And I think it’s a fantastic energy to have. I guess that’s what I would say.”
Ryan Murphy said all of the seasons of American Horror Story are connected somehow. Did that surprise you?
Denis O’Hare: “It didn’t surprise me, because he’s an awfully clever guy. I know that they put a lot of thinking into the resonances, as I said. The biggest, obvious resonance this year was Pepper being in both Asylum and in our season. But there are actually two other ones coming up that are very, very strong resonances which are fascinating, I think.
As far as what he will do for the fifth season, now that he knows that that’s his game plan I think it makes it a little easier in terms of figuring out who the characters are and what the setting is. The biggest challenge, of course, is the setting. That dictates some of this. If you set it too far in the past you actually make it difficult to make connections. This Asylum and Freak Show being so close together, only 10 years or so, made that a lot easier. I’m just as excited as you are to see what he’ll do.”
Since American Horror Story is so into fear, is there a fear that you haven’t seen explored that you would like to see explored?
Denis O’Hare: “What I think is so brilliant about what Ryan first said when he set upon this course is that they were going to explore the different genres of horror, and I love that notion of that there are different kinds of horror. […]There are different kinds of fear. I don’t feel like we’ve really…well we did claustrophobia because Kathy Bates was buried alive last year. But I don’t feel like we’ve really, really explored the idea of things closing in on people. That’s a real big fear.
I think it’s really hard to do agoraphobia, fear of open spaces. That’s kind of a hard one. But we haven’t explored animal fears, like fears of dogs and fears of spiders, and icky things like that. We had snakes, but really, really icky insects we haven’t really explored that a whole lot.
And as I said about the alien thing, we haven’t really explored the whole fear of extraterrestrial monsters. And if you think about all of the movies in the ’50s where part of the thing was whether it was Godzilla or some sort of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, actual creatures who are actually fearful, the minotaur from Coven certainly comes to mind, but that was more to do with witchcraft than to do with the actual monster itself. I guess monsters would be an interesting fear to explore.”
How much of American Horror Story, the dynamic, is set by the cast as much as the story? Losing people or gaining people is part of what makes American Horror Story so great, and even though it’s an anthology we do get to see many of the same cast members over and over again in different characters.
Denis O’Hare: “Yes, I think the cast is a really big element. As I said before, I think Ryan’s got really good taste in people. I think bringing more people like Danny Huston, who is such a great actor, and I mean, come on getting Patti LaBelle to show up is an amazing idea, as well as Adam Levine in season 2. And so I think that the cast brings a certain energy, but it’s the recurring cast, people who return, who I think really make this thing solid.
Seeing Franny Conroy every year, such a splendid actor, and Franny brings an incredible intelligence to everything she does. She’s not just going to walk in and say the lines. She’s going to debate you about is this appropriate, debate you about the storyline, in a very good way, and then she’s going to bring all of her ferocity and devotion to that.
I felt like finding…I know Finn Wittrock this year was quite a discovery, and it would be great to have him back. It was great to see Gaby Sidibe come back again. Year after year that sort of familiarity, we have a familiarity with how Ryan works, we have a familiarity with what to expect, and so we are able to bring our A game. It’s a demanding set and it’s a really crazy world we have to descend into.
I love Michael Chiklis’ reactions when he first started filming this year. He was like, ‘Oh, wow, what have I gotten myself into?’ We were filming this scene on a road which we just filmed last week, the one I keep referring to, and after one take he just looked at me and shook his head, and went, ‘Dude, that was sick.'”
FXX is celebrating the holidays with plenty of The Simpsons along with a sprinkling of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. The holiday programming will kick off its “Christmas-themed mini-marathons” of The Simpsons beginning on December 22nd. The Christmas holiday programming will continue with 24 hours of A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas starting on December 24th at 8pm ET/PT.
To celebrate 2015, FXX has planned a marathon of The Simpsons goodies featuring the premiere and final episodes of the animated comedy series’ 25 seasons (shown in date order). The Simpsons Movie will air on December 31st at 7pm ET/PT following by The Simpsons marathon.
Here’s FXX’s holiday schedule:
MONDAY, DECEMBER 22
The Simpsons Christmas-themed mini-marathon featuring the following episodes (8 p.m. – 12 a.m.):
“Marge Be Not Proud” (Season 7)
“Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” (Season 9)
“Grift of the Magi” (Season 11)
“Skinner’s Sense of Snow” (Season 12)
“She of Little Faith” (Season 13)
“Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” (Season 1)
“Dude, Where’s My Ranch?” (Season 14)
“Mypods and Boomsticks” (Season 20)
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23
The Simpsons Christmas-themed mini-marathon featuring the following episodes (8 p.m. – 12 a.m.):
“She of Little Faith” (Season 13)
“Tis the Fifteenth Season” (Season 15)
“Simpsons Christmas Stories” (Season 17)
“Kill Gil, Volumes I & II” (Season 18)
“The Fight Before Christmas” (Season 22)
“Holidays of Future Passed” (Season 23)
“Pranks and Greens” (Season 21)
“The Changing of the Guardian” (Season 24)
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24
The Simpsons Christmas-themed mini-marathon featuring the following episodes (5 p.m. – 8 p.m.):
“Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” (Season 9)
“Grift of the Magi” (Season 11)
“Skinner’s Sense of Snow” (Season 12)
“Kill Gil, Volumes I & II” (Season 18)
“The Fight Before Christmas” (Season 22)
“White Christmas Blues” (Season 25)
24 Hours of: A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas – Following years of growing apart, Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) have replaced each other with new friends and are preparing for their respective Yuletide celebrations. But when a mysterious package mistakenly arrive at Kumar’s door on Christmas Eve, his attempts to redirect it to Harold’s house ends with the “high grade” contents – and Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree – going up in smoke. With his in-laws out of the house for the day, Harold decides to cover his tracks, rather than come clean. Reluctantly embarking on another ill-advised journey with Kumar, through New York City, their search for the perfect replacement tree takes them through party heaven – and almost blows Christmas Eve sky high.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25
The Simpsons Christmas-themed mini-marathon featuring the following episodes (8 p.m. – 12 a.m.):
“Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” (Season 1)
“Marge Be Not Proud” (Season 7)
“Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” (Season 9)
“Grift of the Magi” (Season 11)
“Skinner’s Sense of Snow” (Season 12)
“She of Little Faith” (Season 13)
“Tis the Fifteenth Season” (Season 15)
“Simpsons Christmas Stories” (Season 17)
“Kill Gil, Volumes I & II” (Season 18)
“The Fight Before Christmas” (Season 22)
“Holidays of Future Passed” (Season 23)
“White Christmas Blues” (Season 25)
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31
The Simpsons Movie – Homer Simpson must save his loved ones from an environmental catastrophe he himself created. (7 p.m.)
The Simpsons 25-hour marathon featuring the premiere and finale episodes from 25 seasons in chronological order (Marathon begins at 9:00 p.m.)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 1
The Simpsons Movie (encore) – (10 p.m.)
Whatever Merle Haggard and his pals did or didn’t smoke long ago in Muskogee, Oklahoma, one couple there managed to raise Colton and Zach Swon on a diet of strong values and good music. As toddlers, the brothers debuted with Exodus, the Swon family’s band. Zach was just 9 or 10 when he took over its drum chair, with Colton already entertaining up front and in the spotlight.
After they cut down on touring and concentrated on building a residency at Wagoner, Oklahoma’s Civic Center, the band broadened beyond its Southern gospel style. They covered everyone from Michael Jackson to Elvis to Frank Sinatra, complete with appropriate stage costumes. Their typically sold-out shows soon propelled Colt and Zach into a duo career. They moved to Nashville, began writing their own songs and won national exposure as members of Team Blake on NBC’s The Voice.
With the Oct. 14 release of their self-titled debut album on Arista Nashville, produced by Mark Bright and The Swon Brothers, their momentum accelerated. Whether riding a dance beat prickled by banjo and a few well-placed turntable scratches on “95” (written by Ryan Hurd, Frank Rogers and Brad Tursi) or surfing surging dynamics on the ballad “Breaking” (Derek Southerland and Jamie Moore), their voices trade solo spots and twine in tight synchronicity, often free of vibrato but always rich in expression. This “Swon song” augurs a bright future.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
ACTOR WHO’D PORTRAY YOU IN A BIOPIC
COLTON: “Paul Rudd or Owen Wilson.”
ZACH: “Jack Black.”
WHAT YOU’D BE IF NOT A MUSICAL ARTIST
COLTON: “Coach in the NFL.”
ZACH: “”Football player in the NFL.”
MOMENT YOU’D LOVE TO RELIVE
COLTON: “Suiting up to play football.”
ZACH: “Singing with Bob Seger.”
SOMETHING WE’D NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOU
“Zach gets pedicures and Colton hates velvet.”
On the Web: www.SwonBrothers.com
– By Bob Doerschuk
© 2014 CMA Close Up® News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
The 2015 Palm Springs International Film Festival will run January 2nd through January 12th, and today, the festival announced the films that will be kicking off and closing the festival. Also revealed were the films that will be featured as part of the special Eastern Promises program, a program that focuses on films from Eastern Europe.
Opening the 2015 festival will be Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay and starring David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The dramatic film will screen on Friday, January 2nd. Boychoir by director François Girard and starring Dustin Hoffman has been selected to close the festival, making its US premiere on January 11th.
“We are thrilled to launch this year’s festival with Selma, Ava DuVernay’s deeply moving civil rights drama, featuring an Oscar-worthy performance by David Oyelowo in the role of Dr. Martin Luther King” said Helen du Toit, Artistic Director. “The timing could hardly be better with the upcoming 50-year anniversary of the historical voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery. On a personal note, it is heartening that for the second consecutive year, our Opening Night film is directed by a black woman. That, surely, is a sign of progress and a reason for hope.”
“The opportunity to close this year’s Festival with a rapturous new work by acclaimed master of music on film François Girard (32 Short Films About Glenn Gould, The Red Violin) provides the perfect capper to a 10-day symphony of superb cinematic treats,” said Darryl Macdonald, Festival Director. “Bookending this year’s exceptionally diverse lineup with these two remarkable American films makes for strong and quintessentially satisfying viewing from start to finish.”
· Afterlife (Hungary) – Tender, funny and surprising, Afterlife is a sweetly absurdist coming-of-age tale that explores the relationship between an anxious twenty-something and his controlling father, a village Pastor — not only while the older man is alive, but also after his death. Director: Virág Zomborácz
· Corn Island (Georgia) – A fable-like drama capturing the cycle of life along the border between Georgia and Abkhazia. An old farmer sows corn on one of the tiny islands that form in the Inguri River each spring, but cultivating no-man’s land is dangerous business. Director: George Ovashvili
· Cowboys (Croatia) – A nifty blend of social drama and absurdist comedy, about a bunch of small town no-hopers who stage an American Western as a musical. Director: Tomislav Mršić
· Fair Play (Czech Republic/Slovakia/Germany) – In Czechoslovakia circa 1983, a talented young sprinter risks her career by resisting the “special care” program designed to boost her competition times in this involving drama. Director: Andrea Sedláčková
· Ida (Poland) – A moving and intimate drama set in 1960s Poland, about a young novitiate on the verge of taking her vows who discovers a dark family secret dating from the Nazi occupation. The film received Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress at the Polish Film Awards. Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
· In the Crosswind (Estonia) – An art film in every sense of the word, this black-and-white slice of history mixes live-action with tableaux vivants to provide a requiem for inhabitants of the Baltics deported to Siberia or killed on Stalin’s orders. Director: Martti Helde
· The Guide (Ukraine) – A boy on the run is rescued by a blind folk minstrel in this tale of love, loyalty, betrayal and infamy, set during the suppression of rural “kulaks” — wealthy farmers — and the Soviet-engineered Ukraine famine that left as many as 10 million peasants dead from starvation. Director: Oles Sanin
· The Japanese Dog (Romania) – This moving tale centers on a bereaved 80-year-old reconnecting with his estranged son, who returns to Romania with a Japanese wife and child. Director: Tudor Christian Jurgiu
· Kebab & Horoscope (Poland) – A former kebab-shop employee and an out-of-work horoscope writer declare themselves marketing experts and are hired to help a struggling carpet emporium in this droll shaggy-dog story. Director: Grzegorz Jaroszuk
· The Lesson (Bulgaria/Greece) – An honest, hard-working schoolteacher in a small Bulgarian town is driven to desperate measures to avoid financial ruin and must grapple with the moral consequences of her actions. Directors: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov
· Mirage (Hungary/Slovakia) – An African footballer on the lam (Isaach de Bankolé) in the desolate and lawless plains of Hungary becomes an avenging angel in Szabolcs Hajdu’s Eastern European western. A beautiful, mysterious work, it’s graced with fantastic camerawork and a superb soundtrack. Director: Szabolcs Hajdu
· No One’s Child (Serbia/Croatia) – In the spring of 1988, hunters capture a wild boy among the wolves deep in the Bosnian mountains and send him to a Belgrade orphanage. But his “education” is interrupted by war. Director: Vuk Ršumović
· The Reaper (Croatia/Slovenia) – With a superb, seasoned cast and stellar camerawork, three intertwined stories unfold over a single night in an isolated Croatian village. This tense, nuanced drama makes for grim but compelling viewing. Director: Zvonimir Juric
· Rocks in My Pockets (Latvia) – A modern milestone in animated storytelling, stuffed with irony, humor and tales within tales, this imaginative memoir merges director Signe Baumane’s own story with a mini-history of 20th century Latvia. Director: Signe Baumane
· See you in Montevideo (Serbia) – This exciting sequel to Montevideo, Taste of a Dream (PSIFF, 2013) continues the tale of how the Yugoslav football team took part in the first official World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930 and made sports history. Director: Dragan Bjelogrlic
· Tangerines (Estonia) – 1992. An Estonian village in Abkhazia. The approaching war scares off all but two villagers who remain to harvest the tangerines. This deeply pacifist chamber drama is as tense as a thriller. Director: Zaza Urushadze
· These Are the Rules (Croatia/France/Serbia) – Based on a true story, this is a painstaking and painful account of the official indifference and injustice that confronts the law-abiding parents of a teenage boy badly beaten up by a high school bully. Director: Ognjen Svilicic
· Three Windows and a Hanging (Kosovo) – When a woman from a traditional Kosovar village anonymously reveals to an international journalist that she and others were raped during the war with Serbia, the fallout from this once-repressed secret threatens to tear apart the fabric of village life. Director: Isa Qosja
· The Tribe (Ukraine) – One of the most original, audacious and talked about films of 2014, The Tribe takes place in a boarding school for the deaf where the students participate in an underground criminal network. Performed entirely in sign language without subtitles. DirectorL Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
· White God (Hungary) – A new city law taxing mixed breed mutts leads many owners to dump their dogs on the streets – including 13-year-old Lili’s beloved pet Hagen. While she tries to find him, Hagen fights for survival. But every dog has his day. Director: Kornél Mundruczó
20th Century Fox is sending out some holiday cheer Taken style with a special video montage from Taken 3. Set to the “12 Days of Christmas” but with new lyrics to fit Taken 3 and renamed the “12 Skills of Christmas,” the new holiday video gleefully counts up assorted beatings by Liam Neeson’s character, Bryan Mills.
Taken 3 arrives in theaters on January 9, 2015. Directed by Olivier Megaton, the cast of Taken 3 is led by Neeson and features Forest Whitaker, Famke Janssen, and Maggie Grace. Also starring Dogray Scott, Sam Spruell, and Leland Orser.
The Plot:
Liam Neeson returns as ex-covert operative Bryan Mills, whose reconciliation with his ex-wife is tragically cut short when she is brutally murdered. Consumed with rage, and framed for the crime, he goes on the run to evade the relentless pursuit of the CIA, FBI and the police. For one last time, Mills must use his “particular set of skills,” to track down the real killers, exact his unique brand of justice, and protect the only thing that matters to him now – his daughter.
Watch the video:
Director Steven Spielberg has found the young actress who’ll lead the cast of The BFG set up at DreamWorks Studios. Spielberg has tapped newcomer Ruby Barnhill to play Sophie in the big screen adaptation of the classic Roald Dahl story published in 1982.
Barnhill will play the central character, a young girl who is introduced to the “beauty and peril of Giant Country” by a big friendly giant. Mark Rylance is set to play the giant who befriends Sophie and takes her on a fantastic adventure.
“I feel incredibly lucky and I’m so happy,” said Ruby Barnhill. “Sophie gets to go on this wonderful adventure and I’m so excited that I get to play her.”
“After a lengthy search, I feel Roald Dahl himself would have found Ruby every bit as marvelous as we do,” stated Spielberg. “We have discovered a wonderful Sophie in Ruby Barnhill.”
“The character of Sophie is one of the most endearing young heroes in Roald Dahl’s stories,” added Roald Dahl’s grandson Luke Kelly. “She is as brave as she is curious and has an innate sense of wonder. Many congratulations to Ruby on landing the role. We hope that making The BFG proves an utterly magical adventure for her.”
Melissa Mathison adapted the book for the screen and Spielberg, Frank Marshall and Sam Mercer are producing The BFG. Kathleen Kennedy, John Madden and Michael Siegel are on board as executive producers.
Filming’s expected to get underway early next year, with the Walt Disney Company setting a July 1, 2016 theatrical release date.
Details on Ruby Barnhill, courtesy of DreamWorks: “The BFG will be 10-year-old Ruby Barnhill’s first feature film role. She has been acting for two years and will appear in the upcoming BBC BAFTA award-winning children’s drama Four O’Clock Club. Ruby lives in Cheshire with her parents, younger sister and Tom the cat and is a member of her local youth theatre.”
-By Rebecca Murray
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Writer/director Terrence Malick’s new dramatic film Knight of Cups will premiere in the Competition Programme at the Berlin Film Festival and in support of the world premiere news, FilmNation has unveiled the first trailer for the movie. As with all Malick films, it’s nearly impossible to tell what the movie’s about from the trailer. However, we do know that Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett lead the cast which includes Natalie Portman, Brian Dennehy, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Wes Bentley, Isabel Lucas, Teresa Palmer, Imogen Poots, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Ben Kingsley.
The Plot:
Once there was a young prince whose father, the king of the East, sent him down into Egypt to find a pearl. But when the prince arrived, the people poured him a cup. Drinking it, he forgot he was the son of a king, forgot about the pearl and fell into a deep sleep.
Rick’s (Christian Bale) father used to read this story to him as a boy.
The road to the East stretches out before him. Will he set forth?
Watch the trailer:
-By Rebecca Murray
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Christina Hendricks has joined the cast of Showtime’s Roadies from writer/director/executive producer Cameron Crowe. The comedy pilot is set to shoot in early 2015, with Luke Wilson, Imogen Poots, Rafe Spall, Peter Cambor, and Keisha Castle-Hughes already announced to star.
Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life) will executive produce and serve as showrunner. J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk are also on board as executive producers.
The Plot:
Roadies follows a hot-ticket tour, but with a simple twist: the band is in the background and the roadies take the spotlight. It’s an inside look at the reckless, romantic, funny and often poignant lives of a committed group of characters who live for music and the de facto family they’ve formed along the way.
Christina Hendricks will portray “Shelli,” the band’s production manager – Bill’s (Luke Wilson) ingenious work partner, tough but privately emotional, married to her job… and scary-good at it.
The Once Upon a Time season four midseason finale, which aired on December 14, 2014, finished up one storyline while introducing another. The folks from Arendelle bid goodbye to their new friends in Storybrooke, heading back home so that Anna (Elizabeth Lail) and Kristoff could begin their happily ever after together.
Meanwhile, Rumple (Robert Carlyle) found out he’d messed with the wrong beauty when Belle (Emilie de Ravin) took charge of her destiny and protected the citizens of Storybrooke. And as episode 11 of season four titled “Heroes and Villains” drew to a close, Rumple (who’s back in full-on villain mode now) began to build a new team of baddies to assist him in his evil ways.
Here’s a look back at “Heroes and Villains:”
The episode kicks off with Elsa announcing it’s time to bring down the wall of ice that surrounds the town. Unfortunately, the Snow Queen’s curse is still in place and no one will be able to leave the town unless they don’t plan on ever returning. Anna is desperate to leave but Elsa (Georgina Haig) cautions her to be patient as Arendelle will still be there waiting for them and they don’t need to rush. Seems Anna and Kristoff (Scott Michael Foster) forgot to mention Hans and his 12 brothers have taken over ruling Arendelle…a fact that when brought up prompts Elsa to turn into the one impatient to return home.
Heartless Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) visits Rumple to tell him the town line is still holding people in and that Elsa and Anna haven’t left Storybrooke yet. Rumple’s holding his heart and causing him pain as Hook gasps and groans, barely able to say that once Rumple leaves, there’s no coming back. Hook also says the folks from Arendelle are still looking for a way out, which is a major problem for Rumple since Anna knows he’s trying to cleave himself from the dagger in order to leave with his power. Rumple tells Hook to watch Anna and make sure she doesn’t come near the shop or near Belle. Hook has a few more hours to live since Rumple still needs him.
Back in time, Belle explores Rumplestiltskin’s house and picks up a sword. Rumple scolds her for not cleaning but Belle’s not affected by his anger and wants to know all about his travels. Rumple calls her mouthy and foolishly brave, but she’s undeterred and continues to ask questions. She asks about his travels and he even tells her about a gauntlet he has in his possession that can find any person’s greatest weakness.
Flash forward and Rumple wakes Belle with breakfast in bed. He says they’re going away on a honeymoon to New York and that it’s time for her to see the world.
Robin and Regina (Lana Parrilla) visit Marion in her mausoleum where she lays waiting to be awakened. Regina gives her back her heart (now that the Snow Queen’s gone she’s free of the spell) and Marion wakes up and hugs Robin.
Shortly thereafter, Regina’s sitting at the counter of the diner when Marion shows up and sits behind her. Regina would rather be alone, but Marion needs to thank her for saving her life and that she understands the way Regina and Robin look at each other. She knows his heart has moved on.
Regina believes it doesn’t matter because Robin’s a man of honor and will keep his word. Marion doesn’t want him that way and knows it’s been years since she and Robin were actually together, even though to her it feels like just yesterday. Marion wants to be chosen or not with Robin at all and reveals that she’s willing to step out of the way.
Back to Rumple and Hook: The broom walks in front of them as they make their way into the house where Rumple was staying. Hook asks whose house it is and Rumple says it was a powerful sorcerer who brought the Snow Queen to this world, which means his magic can move between both worlds. Rumple needs a portal and the broom makes it appear.
Henry (Jared Gilmore) puts in an appearance, asking Belle if she’s taking a trip and Belle explains she’s going to NY. Henry says that’s impossible as the Snow Queen’s spell means if you leave you can’t return, and Belle thinks Rumple must have a way around that. Henry shows her the book that started it all, and Belle says it doesn’t mean things will always happen that way for Regina.
As she’s packing, Belle figures out she needs another suitcase, and the two search the room where they discover the gauntlet Belle remembered from Rumple’s house years before.
Back in time, Belle has figured out that Rumple has a hole in his heart and that’s why he collects objects. He sends her out to do the laundry where she spots a Dalmatian puppy. It’s adorable and she follows it into the woods where someone grabs her.
Anna, Elsa, Emma (Jennifer Morrison), and Kristoff are at a table at the diner. Hook comes in and tells Swan they need to celebrate. “While I might not be the savior, I’ve just saved the day,” says Hook. She asks what they’re celebrating and he tells her he found the portal to Arendelle, but it’s actually Rumple using Hook’s heart to make him say things. He says all Elsa and Anna have to do is walk through the portal to return home.
Emma knows there’s something wrong, they kiss, and Hook tells her it’s nothing. He grabs her arm hard with a shaking hand, and Emma knows there’s something up even though he’s not talking.
Rumple goes in search of Belle, finds a sand dollar, and Belle magically appears as a hologram (think Princess Leia’s message to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars) with a message to bring the gauntlet he took from Camelot to the base of Demon’s Bluff at midnight or she’ll be killed
Robin and Regina watch Marion play with Robin’s son, Roland, and Robin lets Regina know he chooses her over Marion, even with Roland. He can’t live a lie with Marion and he pulls out pages from the Once Upon a Time book that show Regina kissing Robin. Just then, Marion suffers a relapse of the Snow Queen’s spell. Regina can’t save her again but says if Marion leaves Storybrooke the magic spell will be broken. Without magic, her heart could mend but that would mean Marion would have to cross the town line and she’d never be able to return. It would also mean someone would have to go with her or else she’d be stranded in an unknown world all alone. Robin has to go and once he leaves, that’s it.
Regina parks at the town line and watches Robin, Marion, Will Scarlet (Michael Socha), and the dwarves through the window. Rumple appears and Regina tells him not to gloat. Rumple informs her he’s taking off with Belle and Regina asks him if he knows about the curse that won’t let people back in. Rumple knows that and asks her to pass along a message to Henry that he’ll miss him. Regina says Henry was looking for her happy ending and wanted to find the author of the book, but Rumple doesn’t know who wrote it.
Regina wants to know how he managed to get a happy ending and he says he just took it, and tells her if Marion died all would be well with her. Regina says that’s just not her and she thought Rumple changed. He says he evolved and no one is the author of his fate.
Regina says goodbye to Robin and Marion who are shivering and near death. She crosses the line with her son and is instantly cured. They look back waiting for Robin but he stops to kiss Regina one last time. He’s torn up about having to leave her but does, slipping over the town line and into the outside world. Regina takes the page from the book out of her pocket and tears it into little pieces.
Rumple discovers Belle’s being held by Maleficent (Kristin Bauer van Straten), Cruella de Vil (Victoria Smurfit), and Ursula the Sea Witch (Merrin Dungey) who wraps her tentacles around Belle and starts squeezing. Rumple’s surprised but not frightened by the threesome and wants his maid back, while the three evil ladies want the gauntlet in exchange for Belle’s release. The women want the gauntlet to reveal their enemies’ weaknesses. As Ursula crushes Belle’s heart, Rumple gives in and gives back the gauntlet. Belle wonders why Rumple would make a deal and why he would care that she’s killed.
Rumple prepares for the final part of the spell that will end the dagger’s control over his actions, taking Hook up to the clock tower where when the stars on the hat align with those in the sky the final element of the spell will begin. Hook knows that means his death is near and Rumple’s impressed Hook isn’t crumbling in fear. Rumple prepares to crush his heart…
Henry, Snow, Emma, Elsa, David, Anna, and Kristoff arrive at the portal and Anna is anxious to go home, but takes the time to thank Emma and the group for taking such good care of her sister. Anna’s ready to knock Hans off the throne, and Kristoff’s ready to get married. Emma opens the portal door and Elsa and Kristoff step through, but Anna stops and says she wishes she could have met Mr. Gold (they haven’t called him Rumple).
She thinks he must have been a fairy godfather in the other world, but David says, “Not exactly. He was an evil sorcerer you’re lucky you never met: Rumplestiltskin.” Anna is shocked because she actually knows him, but Emma says Gold told them he didn’t know Anna. Anna’s not surprised and tells them all he does is lie so she’s not surprised he said that. Emma figures out Rumple was playing them the whole time. But why?
The hat starts working and Hook is preparing for his death. Rumple sets down the dagger, the hat rises to the roof and the stars spread out. Emma and Snow rush in and try to stop him but he freezes them before they can act. Rumple begins crushing Hook’s heart but it doesn’t work. Rumple doesn’t understand why and Belle appears over his shoulder saying, “Because I commanded you not to.” She has the dagger and won’t let him kill Hook. Belle makes him drop the heart and release everyone. She then commands him to take them to the town line because she wants them to be alone for what comes next.
Rumple magically transports himself and Belle to the town line where she says she’s finally facing the truth. He wants her to put the dagger down so he can explain, but she says it’s her turn to talk. She asks him if he remembers the first time he saved her life. He traded for her and she thought he was good, but after she found the gauntlet today she realized all the signs she’d been seeing are correct. She knows he wouldn’t give up power for her now and never will. She used the gauntlet to find out Rumple’s weakness – the thing he loved the most – and it led her to the real dagger. His true love is his power. He admits he loves it but thinks there’s nothing wrong with that. She wanted to be everything for him, and she lost her way trying to find herself.
He swears he can change because he has before, but she says he’s never changed. “Once I saw the man behind the beast, now there’s only a beast,” says Belle, crying. She commands him over the town line. He says he won’t be able to come back and that he doesn’t want to lose her, but she says he already has. On opposite sides of the town line, both break down crying. He begs her, but it’s no use.
In Arendelle, Elsa looks at a painting of the three sisters Anna found in the East Wing before turning around and gazing with love at Anna’s stunning wedding dress. Anna is ready to get married but Elsa wants to know why she postponed her whole wedding just to find out the truth. Anna says she couldn’t walk down the aisle unless she was as happy as she is. They hug and then they both smell chocolate and giggle. The door opens, Anna and Elsa grasp hands, and Anna walks down the aisle.
Emma is holding Hook’s heart and as he’s asking her to be gentle, she slams it back into his chest. They kiss and share a private moment.
Regina’s back at the diner, depressed and sitting by herself at the counter. Emma sits down and Regina tells her she’s not in the mood for a “hope” speech. Emma says she doesn’t need a speech, she needs a drinking buddy. They order shots and Emma tells her she did the right thing, but Regina says she doesn’t need her validation and she knows she did the right thing because she’s miserable. Emma says, “Well, if it makes you feel any better, so is Gold.”
They clink glasses and Regina replies, “It does.” Henry rushes in and says he found something big. He’s found a secret room at the house with the portal and in the huge library are hundreds of books like Once Upon a Time. All the books in the library are blank and they figure out that maybe this is the author’s house. Regina has a huge smile and is so proud of Henry for figuring it out. They let Emma in on their secret mission, and Emma likes the idea of Operation Mongoose. “Everyone deserves their happy ending,” says Emma.
Six weeks later in New York, Rumple steps off a bus using a cane. He’s remembering back to the day he saved Belle and when, after she was gone, he told the three women he wanted his gauntlet back. They said he made a deal but he said demanding ransom from the Dark One is not a deal, it’s a death wish. Even without their permission, he got his gauntlet back. Cruella tells him no matter what he’s up to, he won’t win; villains never win. He tells her they’ve severely underestimated him. “I always win, and I win alone,” replies Rumple. He doesn’t need to join them. But in NYC, he catches up with Ursula who’s working at an aquarium. He wants to tell her a story about heroes and villains, and that villains always lose. He wants them to go see the author to change the rules, and he tells her they’ve got two more stops to make.
The Bottom Line:
Once Upon a Time finished the first half of season four strong, and the second half looks to be just as engaging – judging solely by the final minutes of episode 11. Hopefully, the writers won’t forget that Once Upon a Time works best when Emma, Hook, Belle, Regina, David, and Mary Margaret are featured and that it’s not all about the new bad guys introduced to throw the Storybrooke folks into a tizzy.
With Rumple teaming up with Cruella, Maleficent, and Ursula, our favorite townsfolk might get lost in the mix. However, the Once Upon a Time team of Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz didn’t let us down with the first half of the season, wrapping up the Frozen storyline in a timely manner and not dragging it out so long that the Arendelle characters had worn out their welcome.
GRADE: B+
