Eleanor Rigby's conceit—I'm tempted to say "gimmick"—is that it shows their two stories back to back rather than interweaving or cutting between them. Thus it becomes both a Rashomon story and a meditation on how we make and preserve memories. The films are designed to be played in either order, with one screening at TIFF flip-flopping to give us Her and Him.
Who says hope can't be grounded in truth?
Shaft is still a ladies man, but the promiscuity that was a staple of the 70s film has given way to a flirting almost, dare I say it, indifference. It seems as though the AIDS epidemic has helped turn pop culture epitomes of masculinity towards the stylish object of desire and away from the prowling sexual agent.
A heartbreaking work of super-duper-staggering genius.
Birdman, Boyhood, Whiplash, and The Grand Budapest Hotel led the list of nominees from the North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA) earlier this week.
"The arts steer the culture, and it's time for the people of God to put their hand on the wheel."
Whatever Scorsese's expectations during filming—it's worth remembering that at least one studio backed away from even making the film—he reportedly did not attend its premiere. That event, replete with security concerns so new and alien at the time but so depressingly normal today, is another reminder of the ways America has changed in the last quarter century.
I have voting privileges for four groups this year. First up: the Online Film Critics Society.
At first the film looks like it might turn into a standard taking sides/issue film, with proponents of dams touting the wonders of hydroelectric power and critics lamenting their effect on wildlife.
I wouldn't begrudge anyone who thinks the films Snowpiercer and The Giver have as much in common as an elephant and a plum, but I have been thinking about the two in conjunction recently.
