Elijah Wood stars in ‘Open Windows’ (Photo Courtesy of Cinedigm)
Nacho Vigalondo’s ambitious cyber thriller Open Windows starts off strong but ultimately adds in so many layers that the story becomes indecipherable. The ‘windows’ of the title refers to windows opened on a computer screen, and as happens when too many are opened at the same time on an actual computer, the film slogs down with the additional windows involved in the story. By the time the end does come and there’s a semblance of a resolution as to who did what to whom, you’re left wanting to do a hard reboot to clean things up and start over.
Visually, the production design and cinematography perfectly capture this seedy, voyeuristic world of internet hacking and spying. It’s not much of a stretch to accept the idea of hidden cameras and live streaming of the victimization of a sexy celebrity, but where Open Windows falters is in trying to take the story too many different directions and by adding in assorted players who dilute the impact the film could have had on viewers.
The Story:
Elijah Wood plays Nick Chambers, the webmaster of a fan site for celebrity Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey…yes, that Sasha Grey). He’s been promised a date with Jill as part of a prize package he won, but unfortunately for superfan Nick, she backs out of the dinner, something he’s informed of by Chord (Neil Maskell) who offers him the opportunity to spy on her as a consolation prize of sorts since he won’t actually have the chance to be with her face-to-face. That offer sets off a chain of events that leads to Nick becoming a pawn in a much larger game in which he’s alternately being manipulated and acting as the manipulator.
The Bottom Line:
Wood’s in nearly every frame, and he does a fine job of feeding out information to the audience, a difficult task as the rules and players constantly change, and an actual list of the players and their intentions becomes necessary. Casting adult film star Grey as the female being manipulated by sexually aroused males actually makes sense, and Grey does handle her part – and her few lines of dialogue – well. There’s a genuine vulnerability to her performance as she’s being forced to reveal herself to strangers on the internet that’s actually kind of touching.
But Vigalondo’s Open Windows wastes Wood and Grey’s performances in an unnecessarily convoluted story. Strip the tale down to its bare essence and Open Windows would have been a timely moral tale of celebrity worship and internet hacking. Instead, in attempting to do too much, it neutralizes the impact of the film and lessens its entertainment value.
Downton Abbey has more upstairs and downstairs stories to tell, with Masterpiece on PBS renewing the series for a sixth season. The critically acclaimed drama will start shooting in 2015, with series creator Julian Fellowes once again writing the scripts.
Season five will finish up in the UK on November 9, however, audiences in the US have to wait until January 4, 2015 for the premiere of the fifth season.
“Good news! Just as our audience settles in for the beloved Crawley family drama, we can announce that Season 6 will arrive a year later. How lucky can you get?” said Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton.
“At its heart, television is about storytelling, and Downton Abbey is certainly storytelling,” said Paula Kerger, PBS President and CEO. “Downton Abbey and the Crawley family have kept us on the edge of our seats as they navigate through some of the biggest moments of the 20th century. Along with our member stations, PBS can’t wait to share the next season of Downton drama with our audiences.”
Casey Wilson as Annie and Ken Marino as Jake in ‘Marry Me’ (Photo by: Jeff Lipsky / NBC)
NBC’s new comedy series Marry Me teams up Ken Marino (Burning Love, Party Down) and Casey Wilson (Happy Endings) as a couple who’ve been dating for six years and are finally…after many, many missteps, misadventures, and misunderstandings…engaged to be married. The half-hour comedy airs on Tuesday nights at 9pm ET/PT and in support of the hit series, Wilson and Marino took part in a conference call to chat about the show, their characters, and the scripts.
Ken Marino and Casey Wilson Interview:
What do you think about describing the show as ‘cute’? Is that an appropriate term?
Casey Wilson: “I mean I think it is cute. I think it’s also kind of subversive and has some heart. But I guess maybe if you combine those, we get cute. I’ll take it.”
Ken Marino: “That’s right. If subversive and heart ran into each other, they would make a cute baby.”
Casey Wilson: “At the end of the day we’re hoping it’s funny. I think Ken and I and the rest of the cast, I think everyone really does have really great chemistry, which I think is probably why you’re feeling that way. So I think it’s good, yes. I think it has to be the right chemistry and I think we did get lucky on the show.”
Casey, how much of Casey is in Annie, and how much of Annie’s in Casey? When you go to work is it like you’re slipping into a costume or are you already that character when you go to work?
Casey Wilson: “I think Annie is a little more upbeat and probably friendlier than I am. No, I think there are definite similarities and I think I’m pretty emotional and I get big ideas and I want to see things through and they’re often wrong-headed ideas. But I feel as though I’m playing a character, but you never know. Maybe I’m not. You’ll never know. Ken, do you want to tell them about your character process?”
Ken Marino: “Sure. I mean I have a whole process. You know, there’s a big difference between me and Jake. I am actually six foot one. I’m 6′ 1″ and Jake is six foot. So every day I have to act an inch shorter on set.”
Casey Wilson: “It’s very expensive to dig those trenches.”
Ken Marino: “Yes. Well sometimes if I act too hard, they’ll get the dailies back and I’ll be 5′ 8″. And then we have to do a whole re-shoot where I have to act less. But, you know, the key to acting is less acting and just reacting. So when I get to the reacting part, I’m usually coming in at six foot.”
Casey Wilson: “And I’ll tell you, these are the kind of pearls that I get showered with all day on set. And it’s really scintillating as everyone on the line can hear.”
What stories from your real-life relationships are making it on screen or what can we expect to see?
Casey Wilson: “Well, I’ll tell one on you Ken.”
Ken Marino: “Go ahead.”
Casey Wilson: “Which is that I think it’s more of a runner right now but I’ve heard news that it might turn into more of a full-fledged intervention between Annie and Jacob about Jake’s karaoke problem. And that is a problem Ken struggles with.”
Ken Marino: “It’s not a problem.”
Casey Wilson: “You can see that’s the thing. He’s in denial right now.”
Ken Marino: “There’s no problem whatsoever. I enjoy karaoke. I can do it when I want.”
Casey Wilson: “Who does it hurt? Who does it hurt?”
Ken Marino: “It doesn’t [affect the rest of] my life.”
Casey Wilson: “That’s what he thinks. He thinks it doesn’t hurt anyone. But I know a lot of artists who have been hurt be hearing his renditions.”
Ken Marino: “As a matter of fact I just went last night. I’m a little hoarse.”
Casey Wilson: “See? He can’t get up in the morning. He can barely talk the next day. He can’t go to work. It’s a problem.”
Ken Marino: “Look, I’m not going to deny I don’t enjoy a good karaoke like a good four or five-hour karaoke session. But who doesn’t?”
Casey, is there anything from your relationships that made it into the show?
Casey Wilson: “I’m trying to think. Well, we did have a few episodes ago where my character, or actually Ken’s character, tried to get me to do this thing called the open-eye cuddle, which is an intimacy exercise that I learned in acting school that I tried to get my husband to do where you stare about two inches from each other’s face and just stare into each other’s eyes. My husband thought I was insane and refused to do it. It did not go well. It went on about eight seconds. I don’t even think that much. And, if anything, we are less close from that experience.”
Given that you’re both writers and both very funny, how much of this is actually scripted and how much are lines that you come up with?
Ken Marino: “Well I mean David [Caspe] and the room full of writers are amazing and they write great scripts. David will encourage us to improvise off of that a little bit. But I mean a lot of it – probably 95% of it – is scripted I would say. Right, Casey?”
Casey Wilson: “Yes. It’s definitely, you know, collaborative in a sense of if there’s something we want to do, we definitely do it and have fun with it. But the scripts are pretty tight. Ken and I have initiated our own writer’s room with just the two of us that…”
Ken Marino: “We go off…”
Casey Wilson: “I wouldn’t say it’s gone over well.”
Ken Marino: “No, no. They’re not big fans of it. But we mostly use stuff from Bazooka Joe bubblegum wrappers and just kind of try to reinvent those jokes because those are classics and, you know, I think America wants to kind of enjoy the classics. You can’t get enough of it.”
Casey Wilson: “It’s caused, I guess, a rift is the word but it’s okay. We think that the writers [will move] our way by the end.”
Ken Marino: “I mean, who wants to talk to the writers of the show anyway?”
Casey Wilson: “That’s why they’re not on this call. They’ll never be on this call.”
Casey, current female comedians are showing that women don’t have to be perfect to be considered funny or sexy or smart. They’re breaking down barriers, which you are doing as well. That said, do you think your character Annie feels the same way and why do you think she’s so relatable to women?
Casey Wilson: “Well, thank you. I don’t know if Annie feels exactly the same way. I think Annie’s a little more high-strung and kind of self-conscious about how her life should look, and it obviously never works out the way she’s planned. But, you know, I’ve seen a little bit of criticism about especially our opening episode because Annie really wants to get married.
But I actually think there’s something a little bit more like [relatable] about it in the sense that this couple’s been together for six years and for a woman who works and kind of does it all, sometimes getting engaged is the one thing you don’t have any control over, which I think can be kind of frustrating. I think it is actually relatable that – and I know a lot of women like this – you want to be in control of the one thing you kind of can’t be in control of in a way. I don’t know if that answers your question but I think Annie is a little bit less so in thinking that everything needs to be perfect. I think she’s does think everything needs to be perfect.”
Will your characters have as long an engagement as you did a courtship?
Ken Marino: “I think the idea is that we’re going to marry sooner than later. Right, Casey? No?”
Casey Wilson: “Yes. I think we’re probably going to get married at the end of the season because I don’t think the show’s going to be about will they, won’t they, really. That’s kind of a spoiler alert. I think we will get married. And the show’s more following this couple and their friendships and I think it’s more about what happens when you are committed to someone than when you are on the fence.”
Ken Marino: “Yes. But then we’ll probably get divorced a number of times and get back together throughout the seasons.”
Casey Wilson: “It’ll be funny though.”
The fourth episode dealt with curses. Do you think that some situations are just cursed or do you think that you after a while things just go wrong because some situations are just like that?
Ken Marino: “I personally don’t believe in curses.”
Casey Wilson: “Some people are cursed.”
Ken Marino: “Yes. I’m going to have to agree with Casey on that. I think some people are really cursed.”
Casey Wilson: “And a lot of animals are cursed too.”
Have you ever gotten a script and there’s some humor in there that isn’t necessarily inappropriate but maybe we haven’t seen on network TV before and that leaves you wondering how you’re going to get away with it on TV?
Ken Marino: “You know, I think that it’s always nice to read a script and see something that you haven’t seen before or something that’s pushing the envelope a little bit. That’s always exciting for me to kind of go in and do that. And then whether or not it’s going to work on TV is kind of out of hands. It’s just an exciting thing to approach and do and then you hope, especially if it’s funny, you hope that it gets on the air. I don’t know if we’ve been pushing the envelope or anything but we’re doing what we want to do on the show and then that stuff is getting out there. I think that’s what makes the show special.”
Casey Wilson: “Yes. There’s obviously so much programming and so many great cable shows that people love and gravitate to to some degree that I think in some way we’re trying to do a show that exists on the line as much as we can, just because I think there’s a reason people love something a little bit edgier. I think in one episode…Ken, I’m thinking of the fertility episode… there was a scene that I think the network had the show [air it] like halfway through the season instead of earlier because it was a little too much. But I think ultimately it’s better to try that and see where we land.”
There have been two recent cancellations of new comedies. Do you feel like comedies have a harder road to success than dramas? How have you felt about the reception that Marry Me has received so far?
Casey Wilson: “I think it’s very hard these days to make any television show, and anyone who’s trying to do anything should be applauded. It’s really hard. I don’t think shows are given enough of a chance. And it’s a bummer because whenever I see anything on TV, and not to be too dramatic, but I think those people worked really hard on that show no matter how you feel about it. So I was bummed.”
Ken Marino: “I think it’s been nice the reception that Marry Me‘s been getting. I feel like people have been responding mostly positive to it and both critically and they’re just fans and people I run up to us on the street – and certainly my mom.”
Casey Wilson: “Ken’s mom loves it.”
Ken Marino: “My mom really loves it and so that’s good. You know, so does my dad. And so it’s nice to see that people are enjoying the show as much as we are enjoying making it.”
Paramount Pictures has debuted the first trailer for the dramatic film Selma starring David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The biopic is directed by Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere) and in addition to Oyelowo the cast includes Tom Wilkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr, Alessandro Nivola, Giovanni Ribisi, Common, Carmen Ejogo, Lorraine Toussaint, and Tim Roth.
Selma will open in limited release on Christmas and will expand to other theaters on January 9, 2015.
The Plot:
Selma is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s Selma tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.
The official poster for the dramatic movie Black Sea has been released featuring Jude Law in profile. Directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland) and written by Dennis Kelly, the Black Sea cast includes Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, and David Threlfall.
Black Sea will open in theaters on January 23, 2015.
The Plot:
A suspenseful adventure thriller directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald, centering on a rogue submarine captain (two-time Academy Award nominee Jude Law) who pulls together a misfit crew to go after a sunken treasure rumored to be lost in the depths of the Black Sea. As greed and desperation take control onboard their claustrophobic vessel, the increasing uncertainty of the mission causes the men to turn on each other to fight for their own survival.
If you were expecting the official music video for Lorde’s “Yellow Flicker Beat” to feature footage, actors, or the sets of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, then you’ll be sadly disappointed. The video has nothing to do with The Hunger Games and instead features Lorde in a couple of different rather sedate costumes and hairstyles doing a few dance moves but basically just singing the song in a variety of locations.
“Yellow Flicker Beat” is the first single off of the Mockingjay soundtrack and right after its release it hit the #1 spot on the Soundtrack Top Songs Chart. Lorde curated the soundtrack and contributed four songs to the track list.
Here’s the complete list of songs from the Mockingjay soundtrack:
1. Meltdown – Stromae ft. Lorde, Pusha T, Q-Tip & Haim
2. Dead Air – CHVRCHES
3. Scream My Name – Tove Lo
4. Kingdom – Charli XCX ft. Simon Le Bon
5. All My Love – Major Lazer ft. Ariana Grande
6. Lost Souls – Raury
7. Yellow Flicker Beat – Lorde
8. The Leap – Tinashe
9. Plan The Escape (Son Lux Cover) – Bat For Lashes
10. Original Beast – Grace Jones
11. Flicker (Kanye West Rework) – Lorde
12. Animal – XOV
13. This Is Not A Game – The Chemical Brothers ft. Miguel
14. Ladder Song – Lorde
This is not a really early April Fool’s Day joke or any other kind of a prank. Disney and Pixar are in fact planning a Toy Story 4 and the director of 1 and 2 will be back to helm this fourth film of the series which supposedly ended with the third offering. John Lasseter will direct and came up with the story along with Lee Unkrich, Pete Docter, and Andrew Stanton. Now, with all four of these Pixar filmmakers working on the story there’s a possibility Toy Story 4 isn’t just a cash grab and will actually be a film worthy of being a part of Pixar’s best franchise.
Announcing Toy Story 4, Lasseter said, “We love these characters so much; they are like family to us. We don’t want to do anything with them unless it lives up to or surpasses what’s gone before. Toy Story 3 ended Woody and Buzz’s story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another Toy Story movie. But when Andrew, Pete, Lee and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it. It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie—and I wanted to direct it myself.”
Toy Story 3 seemed to have been the perfect way to end the saga as it was emotionally engaging and heartfelt, and it appealed to all generations of fans. Toy Story 4 is going to have an extremely difficult time living up to its predecessors.
Disney and Pixar are anticipating a June 16, 2017 theatrical release of Toy Story 4.
If recent Hollywood history has taught us anything, it’s that the majority of movies aimed at adults who want more than pure escapism in their theater-going experience are the kinds of movies one might find at an art house “theatre” or get a cushy late-year release date so as to up their chances of winning some sort of award. One of the few filmmakers in this span to consistently make intelligent and entertaining movies that don’t seem to fit this mold has been Christopher Nolan.
While Memento was his breakout, it was his resurrection of the Batman franchise and movies like Inception that solidified his name in both the critical and public circles. To no surprise, his latest movie, Interstellar, has been one of the most anticipated of 2014 and it’s finally here for everyone to digest. But does it live up to his track record? Here’s a fun answer: Well, sort of.
This being a Christopher Nolan movie, you can expect it to be long. And at 2 hours and 49 minutes, I’d say this qualifies. To its credit, I’d say it feels more like 2 hours and 15 minutes but the point here is to make sure you have a comfy seat and an empty bladder if you’re going to watch it.
As per usual, Nolan, who penned the screenplay with his brother Jonathan, is attempting to tackle more cerebral material while still packaging it in an accessible and interesting manner. If you’ve seen the trailer, you know too much. And if you haven’t, I warn you there will be some spoiler-like material to follow so if you’re just looking for a grade, skip to the bottom.
The basic premise is that the Earth’s resources are drying up and it won’t be too many decades before mankind needs a new home if they want to survive. In order to find that new home, NASA must come to our rescue and they enlist Matthew McConaughey as the pilot of their last ditch effort. To do so, he must leave his family behind and hope that a planet capable of sustaining life can be found and that he can be reunited with his children. The relativity of time, black holes, wormholes, and crazy smart robots will all join in the discussion at some point.
Let’s start with the movie’s good points. Like most of his movies, it’s ambitious. This is a big subject to tackle, as the relatable family dynamics help give context to larger questions like what humanity is doing to its own planet and what it will take to relocate or repopulate on another world. The visuals are gorgeous and well shot, both on Earth and out in space. Add to that some very excellent sound design and Interstellar becomes one of the only films this year really benefiting from the big screen experience.
McConaughey delivers yet another excellent performance and his relationship with his daughter (Mackenzie Foy) is the touchstone of the movie. While Michael Caine does a nice job, it’s a pretty standard role of a mentor figure so that comes as no surprise. Casey Affleck and Jessica Chastain play the older versions of McConaughey’s kids and do decent work, though really it’s the actors playing their younger selves that felt the most sincere.
We now head into the problem areas. First, why was Anne Hathaway cast? Don’t get me wrong, I like her and, in general, I like her acting. But she’s not good in this and the script didn’t do her any favors (though Nolan typically doesn’t do a good job with female characters so this wasn’t a huge surprise). Then there’s the inclusion of Matt Damon. Sure, he’s a fine actor and I am a big fan but he simply had no chance. Gary Oldman wouldn’t have fared much better because the biggest issue is the film’s attempt to resolve the story as a whole through formulaic and unnecessary plot additions.
The Nolans’ started with this great concept and were providing shades of movies as iconic and groundbreaking as 2001. And then they appeared to have succumbed to finishing their screenplay by following rules you’d find in a book entitled Screenwriting 101: How to Write Your First Script. Rather than simply continuing with the trajectory of the movie as it had been laid out, they feel the need to introduce a villain and to shoehorn a love story into the final hour of the picture.
The result of this trite and predictable formula erases all of the tension and destroys the potential and promise evident in the first half of the movie. It’s not a full deal-breaker as 2014 has been so starved for decent fare that even this misstep doesn’t make the experience wholly unpleasant. However, what I would recommend to all of you Nolan fans out there who have had Interstellar penciled into your calendars for quite some time now, is to temper your expectations. You won’t be mentioning this in the same breath as Memento ten years down the line and with the spectacular visual effects of Gravity, there’s nothing earth-shattering about the visuals here to keep that alive as a talking point very long either.
In the end, I think this is worth seeing on the big screen if you’ve enjoyed Nolan’s work but this is far more like The Dark Knight Rises than The Dark Knight. Hopefully sometime before Nolan finishes his next script, or rewrites whatever is already on the slate, he’ll have burned that Screenwriting 101 book and regained his ability to trust that adults can stomach a complex notion without needing predictable, feel-good subplots to go along with it. I’m hopeful but now having two movies in a row with rather glaring resolution issues is the start of a pattern I’d rather someone with Nolan’s talent manage to avoid.
GRADE: C, after initially earning a B – UPDATE: Visual effects, sound design, and a director’s ambition are all important elements of film making. Telling a coherent story, even more so. That’s why after having more time to think about what Christopher Nolan and company put up on screen, I’m lowering the rating on this one by a full letter grade. The last 90 minutes are just so bad and non-sensical that my conscience simply cannot take the idea that I gave the film as much credit as I did initially.
Interstellar is rated PG-13 for some intense perilous action and brief strong language.
Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Studios have finally announced the actual, permanent title for what we’ve been referring to for the past few years as Star Wars: Episode VII. The title drops the episode number and is simply: Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will open in theaters on December 18, 2015.
The cast of the upcoming Star Wars film includes John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow, Gwendoline Christie, Warwick Davis, and Lupita Nyong’o.
“Prepare for the defining moment of the Middle-Earth Legend”…Warner Bros has unveiled the official trailer for the final final of The Hobbit series, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies directed by Peter Jackson and starring Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, and Ian McKellen. The new trailer is more about the characters saying important things rather than the action, but it does show off footage Jackson and the studio hadn’t yet revealed.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies will open in theaters on December 17, 2014. The cast also includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom, and Stephen Fry.
Tapestry art for ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’
The Plot:
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves. Having reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug, the Company has unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world. Enraged, Smaug rains his fiery wrath down upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town.
Obsessed above all else with his reclaimed treasure, Thorin sacrifices friendship and honor to hoard it as Bilbo’s frantic attempts to make him see reason drive the Hobbit towards a desperate and dangerous choice. But there are even greater dangers ahead. Unseen by any but the Wizard Gandalf, the great enemy Sauron has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain.
As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide – unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends in the epic Battle of the Five Armies, as the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.
