JURASSIC PARK has a secret weapon, and it's not dinosaurs
by Fiona Underhill, Staff Writer
Even more than the sense of spectacle and the warmth of the nostalgic glow - it’s the sharply funny and endlessly quotable dialogue.
McCabe & Mrs Miller at 50 (and why Robert Altman is the best director of the 1970s)
by Fiona Underhill, Contributor
Robert Altman is my director of the 70s and now that I’ve seen ten of his films from that decade, there really is no contest for me.
THE NEON DEMON as neon noir turns five
by Fiona Underhill, Contributor
2016 saw the release of two divisive and controversial LA neo-noirs which would provoke extreme love-hate reactions from audiences.
PEARL HARBOR at 20: Still not your dad's World War 2 movie
by Fiona Underhill, Contributor
There are two main reasons I love this film – the romance (and the fact that I was a university student with a HUGE crush on the film’s two male leads at the time Pearl Harbor was released) and because I love disaster movies.
Split Decision: A Dance With Dragons
In honor of Raya and the Last Dragon, who/what is your favorite on screen dragon?
Read MoreSpotlight on: 22 Black Directors to Watch
by Fiona Underhill, Contributor
Here are 22 Black directors to watch out for, and where to start.
MJ's Top Ten of 2020
by Benjamin Leonard, Best Boy
A couple weeks before the end of the year (and what a year it’s been), I asked everybody to list their top five movies that they’d seen so far. This is always a tough chore because people are trying to cram in the films they’d heard about but missed throughout the year and then there’s the Christmas Day releases that only a few people have seen by that point. This means that people will always look back at their list in a year or two and find things that they wish they would've included, but just hadn’t seen yet. I feel like this year has exacerbated that situation because everyone has had to settle into finding films through different avenues.
Here, I’ve compiled everyone’s rankings and responses to give the MovieJawn Top Ten for 2020.
Read MoreRunning Away to Join The Circus
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and Circus of Horrors (1960)
by Fiona Underhill
“The circus is a massive machine whose very life depends on discipline, motion and speed
— that meets calamity again and again, but always comes up smiling
— a place where disaster and tragedy stalk the Big Top and ride the circus train
— where Death is constantly watching for one frayed rope, one weak link, or one trace of fear.”
-from the start of Greatest Show on Earth
The notion of ‘running away to join the circus’ has been around for as long as circuses have. Leaving your troubles behind, perhaps assuming a new identity and starting with a fresh life certainly has its appeal. Especially in the 1950s, when the societal pressure to have the perfect job, house, family and consumer goods was high. Two films of this era feature medical doctors who make ‘mistakes’ – driven by either compassion or hubris – and assume new identities in traveling circuses. Doctors have one of the most respected positions in society and obviously one of enormous faith and trust, especially at this time, when it was much more common for doctors to make house calls. The idea of doctors betraying that trust would have been shocking, leading to shame and being ostracized from society. And who are a group of people already living on the fringes, as outcasts? Traveling groups of entertainers – theatrical troupes, circuses or those working for carnivals and fairs.
Read MoreWomen Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema (TCM Documentary)
Written and directed by Mark Cousins (in case there were any doubt)
Featuring Tilda Swinton, Adjoa Andoh, Jane Fonda and many others
Running time: nearly 7 hours for this first half and about 14 hours in total
Recap of Episodes 1-7
by Fiona Underhill
So - Mark Cousins’s 2011 15-part documentary The Story of Film (shown on TCM in 2013) took us through the entire history of cinema … and barely mentioned women directors… unless they were Leni Riefenstahl. Now he’s back again, to rectify that with a 14-part documentary with the unwieldy title of Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema, in which Cousins has the nerve to start by saying “film history has been sexist by omission.” Surely the little ladies can’t possibly complain this time? Well.
Read MoreThe Burnt Orange Heresy
Directed by Giuseppe Capotondi
Starring Elizabeth Debicki, Donald Sutherland and Claes Bang
Running time: 1 hour and 39 minutes
MPAA rating: R for some sexual content/nudity, language, drug use and violence
by Fiona Underhill
When watching the new art forgery flick The Burnt Orange Heresy, I guess the first alarm bells start ringing when you realize that the wonderfully tall and talented 30 year old Elizabeth Debicki’s male co-stars are Claes Bang (aged 53), Mick Jagger (aged 77) and Donald Sutherland (aged 85). All three of them flirt with her (at minimum) or have a sexual relationship with her (in the case of Bang). Things become worse when it dawns on you that everyone except Sutherland are miscast, in some cases to a severe degree.
Read MoreNow Presenting: Moviejawn's Summer 2020 Issue
by Benjamin Leonard, Best Boy
Greetings movie friends! As I’m sure most of you know, in addition to our website which mostly covers new movie reviews, we also make a quarterly print zine. I thought it’d be fun to give everyone a quick glance at all the films that are covered in our most recent issue (which focuses on circuses, carnivals and fairs) and where you can find them. Step right up! to follow the links for the titles and it’ll take you to a listing of where it can be found (mostly powered by JustWatch.com).
Read MoreThe Shadow of Violence
Directed by Nick Rowland
Starring Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan and Liam Carney
Running time: 1 hour and 40 minutes
MPAA rating: R for some strong violence, pervasive language, drug use and brief nudity
by Fiona Underhill
“Don’t go thinking that all violence is the work of hateful men, sometimes it’s just the way a fella makes sense of his world.”
Having already gone through a fairly extensive festival run under the name Calm with Horses, this Irish independent film has had a name change for US release. The two titles are interesting because they reflect both sides of the coin that make up protagonist Arm’s life. There is his family life, made up of his estranged partner Ursula (Niamh Algar) and autistic son Jack (Kiljan Moroney), who does horse therapy sessions with Rob (Anthony Welsh). But ex-boxer Arm (Cosmo Jarvis) lives under the constant shadow of violence because of his best friend Dympna (Barry Keoghan) and his whole family of Devers, including uncles Paudi (Ned Dennehy) and Hector (David Wilmot), who form some kind of drug-dealing Irish mafia. Arm is the ‘arm of the law’ for the Devers family, a ‘heavy’ who is content with roughing up a few wrong’uns in return for cash. But when they want him to go further, it inevitably leads to problems.
Read MoreHelmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful
Directed by Gero von Boehm
Featuring Grace Jones, Charlotte Rampling, Isabella Rossellini and Catherine Deneuve
Running time: 1 hour and 33 minutes
by Fiona Underhill
Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful is the latest documentary to come to the Kino Marquee platform, which has been a wonderful way to access arthouse cinema and support independent theaters during lockdown. Some narrative highlights have included Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You, Bacurau, Beanpole, Abel Ferrara’s Tommaso, House of Hummingbird and Atom Egoyan’s Guest of Honour. Some documentary highlights have included The Woman who Loves Giraffes, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint and Denise Ho: Becoming the Song.
Read MoreFisherman's Friends
Written by Piers Ashworth, Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft
Directed by Chris Foggin
Starring James Purefoy, Meadow Nobrega and David Hayman
Running time: 1 hour and 52 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13 for some strong language, and suggestive references.
by Fiona Underhill
The UK has a fine tradition of heart-warming ensemble comedy-dramas based on true stories. They come in two main categories – The first category is groups of people who are struggling or dissatisfied with life come together to do something good for themselves and others; The Full Monty (1997), Calendar Girls (2003), Kinky Boots (2005), Swimming with Men (2018) and Military Wives (2019). The other category is more political and therefore usually has a bit more bite; Brassed Off (1996), Made in Dagenham (2010), Pride (2014) and Misbehaviour (2020). At least five of these have also been adapted into West-End musicals. As you can see, there has been something of a resurgence of this genre in recent years, perhaps because we currently need heart-warming underdog stories.
Read MoreGreyhound
Written by Tom Hanks, based on the novel by C.S. Forester
Directed by Aaron Schneider
Starring Tom Hanks, Stephen Graham and Michael Benz
Running time: 1 hour and 31 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13 for war-related action/violence and brief strong language
by Fiona Underhill
We are currently living in a strange world where the latest action blockbusters starring Chris Hemsworth or Charlize Theron debut on Netflix and a big-budget World War II movie starring America’s Dad, Tom Hanks, is squirreled away on…Apple TV. Although these may appear to be symptoms of the coronavirus, something tells me this is where we are headed anyway. While I’m not one to particularly espouse that the theatrical experience is essential for every film, there is something slightly disquieting about watching stunts and explosions on a small screen or laptop, knowing that they’ve never seen the inside of a cinema. I am thankful that, while we’ve been in this suspended state of animation, we have had plenty of newly released content to keep us going. It’s been a really strong year for cinema, if you know where to find the good stuff.
Read MoreHamilton
by Fiona Underhill
“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman…”
Already one of the most iconic opening lines in musical history (and also not how you would expect a Disney movie to start). As soon as it was announced that a filmed version of smash-hit musical Hamilton was coming to new streaming service Disney Plus, there was immediately some concern that it might be censored beyond belief. Fortunately, the opening line is intact, as are most of the rest of the lyrics, although it’s been slapped with a PG-13 rating.
Read MoreMr. Jones
Written by Andrea Chalupa
Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Starring James Norton, Vanessa Kirby and Peter Sarsgaard
Running time: 2 hours and 21 minutes
by Fiona Underhill
The pre-war period of the 1930s is one of the most fascinating of the twentieth century and, in terms of film, has perhaps most famously been explored through Hitchcock’s espionage thrillers eg. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), The Secret Agent (1936) and Sabotage (1937). After WWI, nationalism and fascism rose in Germany, Spain and Italy in the 20s and 30s, at roughly the same time as the rise of communism in Soviet Russia, meaning that, like the Cold War period that followed WWII, it was an era of distrust and uncertainty. While news of the Holocaust emerged after WWII, other horrors which occurred outside of ‘war’ time are less well known. Such is the case with the Holodomor – a Ukrainian famine that occurred in 1932-1933 and was man-made (deliberately inflicted by Soviet Russia), in which the death toll is estimated to be between 3 and 7.5 million.
Read MoreBeyond the Visible - Hilma af Klint
Directed by Halina Dryschka
Featuring Josiah McElheny and Julia Voss
Running time: 1 hour and 34 minutes
by Fiona Underhill
While not an art expert by any means, I know my way around art from the first half of the twentieth century more than the average person, I would say. It’s a keen interest of mine; I own many books on the subject and have visited art galleries in many European and North American cities, including the Scandinavian cities of Oslo and Copenhagen. Two of my favorite artists are the abstract painters Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky. So, in 2018, when I heard about a new exhibition at the Guggenheim in New York by an artist named Hilma af Klint and then saw the paintings online, my jaw dropped to the floor. I had never heard of this Swedish artist, who was a contemporary of both Klee and Kandinsky. When I saw her paintings, I fell immediately in love. The geometric designs in bright rainbow colours are vividly beautiful. My emotions started with guilt and shame that I had never heard of this artist before, but this fairly quickly turned to anger – why had I never heard of her?
Read MorePortrayals of Working Class British Gay Men
Weekend (Andrew Haigh, 2011) and God’s Own Country (Francis Lee, 2017)
by Fiona Underhill.
The English class system pervades every aspect of the popular culture that comes from there, including gay representation on film. The popular image of the gay man in British culture is the upper-class fop – probably because the most famous gay man for at least a century was Oscar Wilde (the fact that he was actually Irish, not English doesn’t affect the image of him as a cut-glass toff). Wilde has been portrayed by two English celebrities who are openly gay – Stephen Fry in 1997’s Wilde and Rupert Everett in 2018’s The Happy Prince. The 1970s and 80s perpetuated this image of the dandy gentleman – first with the raconteur Quentin Crisp (played by John Hurt in The Naked Civil Servant 1975), Kenneth Williams (known for affecting an overtly camp and posh persona in the Carry On films) and then through the period works Brideshead Revisited (TV series, 1981), Another Country (1984) and Maurice (1984). It was, however, the 1980s that also introduced the first real representation of working-class gay men on screen (and an inter-racial romance, no less), in 1985’s My Beautiful Laundrette (directed by Stephen Frears and starring Daniel Day Lewis).
Read MoreTrue History of the Kelly Gang
Written by Shaun Grant and based on the novel by Peter Carey
Directed by Justin Kurzel
Starring George MacKay, Essie Davis and Nicholas Hoult
MPAA rating: R for strong violence throughout, bloody images, pervasive language and sexual content
Running time: 2 hours and 4 minutes
by Fiona Underhill
Australian director Justin Kurzel is best known for his work with Michael Fassbender (Macbeth and Assassin’s Creed), after making his feature-debut with a film about Australia’s most famous serial killings – The Snowtown Murders (2011). Kurzel now returns to reckoning with the uncomfortable corners of Australia’s past as he takes on perhaps the country’s most famous name – the Outlaw Ned Kelly. The author of the novel – Peter Carey – was very much trying to provoke with the word “true” in the title and this is something the filmmakers absolutely lean into. This film is about the mythologizing of a man who tried to take ownership of his own narrative during his life, only to have it spiral out of control. Ned Kelly has controversial legend status in Australia, with some viewing him as a folk hero and others as a violent thug. Many attempts have been made to make biopics about him, but none have really succeeded. Perhaps this one – which acknowledges the fact that it is impossible to make a “true story,” with everyone agreeing on the facts and being happy with the outcome – is the only version that is now possible. The film starts with: “nothing you’re about to see is true.”
Read More