Elsewhere Review: Whiplash

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Denise

Nutshell: I’d give Whiplash an A-. Emotionally difficult to watch at times, but worth it. This film grabs you by your collar and drags you into it’s world headfirst, no quarter given. Simmons and Teller give Master Class performances, and director Chazelle paints a picture of musicians butting heads and striving for perfection…perfectly.

As always, clicky on the hyperlink for the original piece!

Movie Review: Whiplash

whiplash

Twitview: A fever dream of a film that sucks you into the lives of those that would do anything for their art.  Riveting performances by Simmons and Teller. A-

Who hasn’t taken some sort of music class?  Whether you shook a tambourine in kindergarten, or headed out for piano classes every Saturday for 13 years (just me?), we all have that moment where we’ve tried to coax beauty out of an instrument.  Most of us walk away, choosing other paths, but those that decide to stick with it and strive for greatness?  Gotta give ‘em credit; talent and dedication is tough to come by.  And it’s tough to live with, if Whiplash is any indication.  Director Damien Chazelle takes his Sundance-award winning short film to full-length and it’s a helluva watch.

Young Andrew (Miles Teller) is a first year drummer at a prestigious NYC conservatory, when he gets tapped for a position in “studio band” in the school. (Think Glee, but with more instruments and less buffoonery.)  But conductor/professor Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) isn’t anywhere near the touchy-feely type.  Unless your idea of touchy-feely is a teacher that wings chairs at your head and hurls emotional abuse that would make Joan Crawford blush.  Soon, Andrew must ask himself, is all of the blood, sweat and tears worth it?  Are moments of transcendental bliss on the part of your listeners worth your pain as a musician?  Or is he too far gone to decide?
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Interstellar at the Hazy

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Denise

Great fun, and the Interstellar Experience was freaking amazing. I wanted to reach out and grab some of the things floating around in the virtual reality Endurance spaceship, but the nice people said raising my hand would mean I wanted the Experience to stop, and that wasn’t gonna happen.

Is it worth the trip? It’s $15 per car to get into the center (at least til 4 pm; the Experience runs til 11pm though, so maybe it’s free to get in after the museum itself is closed?), and then you’re good to go. So load up a few pals, and you’re golden. If you’re into virtual reality, and seeing bigass movie props.

The kids at the Chantilly High Robotics Club seemed to dig it too, so I’m hoping it’s not just me flipping over anything I don’t understand. Though that’s been known to happen.

The Interstellar Experience runs at the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space from 11/6 through 11/20.

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Movie Review: Interstellar

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Denise

interstellar

Nutshell: I’d give Interstellar a B+.  It’s a study in contrasts; gritty and sterile, violent and peaceful, walking the edge of death and celebrating life.   Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain are fantastic, even when the storyline veers off to weirdsville at the existential nail-biter of a climax.

Though I was more an anatomy & phys gal rather than physics queen — hey, facehuggers are in outer space, I know better — when the Interstellar pre-release machine geared up, I was hooked.  Hey, I love Batman in general, as well as Christopher Nolan’s darkly insane vision of Gotham. And though there’s not a facehugger to be seen, Interstellar brings plenty of science fiction, fantasy and even a touch of horror to the future of Earth and how we live on it.  It’s also one of the most realistic feeling films about being in space that I’ve ever seen. No, I haven’t been in space.  But Interstellar’s picture-perfect realism kinda makes me feel like I popped in for a quick visit.

It’s somewhere in the near/distant/who knows future.  Human beings have gakked up the world as only we know how, and now the earth is dying.  Plants are failing, and that means nothing to eat.  (I’m assuming animal life has long since ceased to be, as there’s not another type of mammal to be seen.)  Cooper (McConaughey), a farmer that has just watched his wheat field die, realizes that corn is the only thing we’ll all be able to eat now.  But he’s stoic, and keeps much to himself to spare scaring his son and daughter.  But when his daughter Murph thinks “ghosts” are in her room, she and Cooper find out there’s more going on than our planet’s decline.  Cue space mission scenes from the trailer as the space gang piles into the Endurance; ready for liftoff!  I’d get deeper into the film, but that would Unleash the Spoilers.  Suffice it to say that yes, Interstellar pings man for being jerks about Mother Earth.  And it goes boldly where no man has gone before, except maybe Captain Kirk.  Seriously, that man’ll shag anything.

"They say it's the last season for okra. Ever." Somewhere, out there, Louisiana is screaming.

“They say it’s the last season for okra. Ever.”
Somewhere, out there, Louisiana is screaming.

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The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death poster hits the interwebs!

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Denise

Woman In Black 2 poster1

I enjoyed The Woman In Black.  So now that it’s sequel, The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death is coming soon, I’m intrigued but cautious.  Am I concerned that Daniel Radcliffe isn’t making an appearance?  And that it’s a whole new director, screenwriter and cinematographer?  You betcha.  And dang if the poster doesn’t look exactly like an Insidious knockoff.  Hmm.

Well, hope for horror springs eternal around here.  So here’s the synopsis from IMDb, as the official press kit hasn’t landed yet:

40 years after the first haunting at Eel Marsh House, a group of children evacuated from WWII London arrive, awakening the house’s darkest inhabitant.

The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death visits us all January 2nd, 2015.

Woman in black 2 poster imdb

Image: IMDb

(BTW, I like the IMDb poster much better; it’s much more in keeping with the original film’s vibe, and less of a rip-off of other series….)

 

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Horror film Matthew 18 coming to theaters 11/14: check out the trailer and stills!

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Denise

Matthew 18 - T-shirt layout

Remember this summer’s news about Matthew 18, a horror movie that takes comedic actors and plays it straight up scary?  Well, there’s more news; it’s about to open in limited release, just in time for a chill in the air and longer, darker nights.  Hopefully that will include the Baltimore area, but we’ll have to wait and see…

So, are you ready for some post-Halloween horror?  Y’all know I am.  Check out the new trailer, and a few stills from the film (click for the full high-res shot!)

Don Benjamin
Faison Love
Luenell & Jennifer Jayleen Martinez

Read on for the full, updated press release!

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Free opera at Cinemark Towson! This time: Carmen!

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Denise

carmen at the Met

More freebies? Why not? It’s my birthday month, and I’m makin’ it rain y’all!

Like opera? Amazed at the glorious voices? Just like to see hot people sing really loud? Hello, this one’s for you.

Bizet’s Carmen

(Wednesday, November 5th at 6:30 p.m. ET – ENCORE)

Richard Eyre’s mesmerizing production of Bizet’s steamy melodrama returns with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili singing her signature role of the ill-fated gypsy temptress. Aleksandrs Antonenko plays her desperate lover, the soldier Don José, and Ildar Abdrazakov is the swaggering bullfighter, Escamillo, who comes between them. Pablo Heras-Casado conducts the irresistible score, which features one beloved and instantly recognizable melody after another.

More info: http://www.fathomevents.com/event/met1415-carmen-live

Special Fathom Features: Go behind the scenes with the Met’s stars! During intermission, interviews with cast, crew, and production teams give an unprecedented look at what goes into the staging of an opera.

 

These passes will be for  CINEMARK TOWSON, and the 11/5 encore presentation is the one-and-only showing.  FYI, yada yada.

As this will be a quick turnaround, let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?  Email me (editor@atomicfangirl.com) with the subject line CARMEN ROCKS!  The first five folks that send an e-mail — AND INCLUDE A SNAIL-MAIL/”POSTAL SERVICE” ADDRESS — will nab passes.  Simple, right? Right.

For folks who can’t make it/don’t win this g0-round, Fathom has graciously given me the ability to pass out more passes for their Opera series, so keep an eye out….

Good luck, everyone!

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Baltimore: wanna see Interstellar in theaters? For free?

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Denise

interstellar

UPDATE: THE PASSES AND SWAG HAVE ALL FOUND HOMES.  THANK YOU TO ALL THE FOLKS WHO ENTERED!

Okay y’all.  So maybe we didn’t get a chance to screen Interstellar here in B’more.  But that’s okay, y’know why?  Because the studio — by way of our lovely and talented PR folks — snagged us a batch o’ passes for the actual “Run Of Engagement” for the film!

What does that mean, you ask?  Well, that means that if you snag an Admit Two pass in this giveaway, you get to pick the time and day that works for you.  No waiting in lines (well, beyond the usual at the multiplex).  No worrying if your pass will get you in (as long as you’re at an AMC theater in the Baltimore area).  Nice, right?

Nicer still, they sent along a bag o’ swag, which includes a t-shirt, “Endurance Space Exploration” patch, hat, sweatshirt and travel blanket.  So a few of you may just wind up with one of these in your mailbox along with your pass.  How’s that for some cool freebies?

Yes, I spread it out on the guest bed. Art!

Yes, I spread it out on the guest bed. Art!

Soooo, how to score? Right this way…
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Interstellar at the Udvar-Hazy Center: check out a spaceship!

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Denise

interstellar

Interstellar may have been under wraps, but now that it’s hitting theaters next Friday things are starting to loosen up.  In fact, you can drive on down to Chantilly, VA and take a gander at the “Ranger” Spacecraft.  Also there’s the “Oculus Rift Development Kit 2 Experience”, which I’m sure will be the Cool New Thing for all us museum nerds.  (Hello new thing to take visiting fam to see!)

Wonder if it’ll be worth the schlep and the funds?  No worries; I’ll be headed down November 5th to check it out during the press rollout.  Pics and general 411 to follow….

Read on for the full deets in the official press release!

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Elsewhere Review: Birdman

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Denise

Nutshell: I’d give Birdman a B+. This film razzes it’s subject, cinematic and theatrical cliches, and occasionally the audience. But if you can get past the posturing and navel-gazing of it’s characters, it’s an arresting look at how fame can warp and woof a person over time. Hitting this flick after a few shots of tequila wouldn’t hurt either. Oh, and Keaton deserves all the praise coming his way.

[Cross-posted from Geek for e — hit up the hyperlink for the original piece!]

Movie Review: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

birdman_ver2_xlg

Twitview: A beautiful mess, with unanswered questions and characters in all the shades of grey. But Keaton is magnetic. B+

Michael Keaton was a heckuva great Batman.  And then he kind of dropped off the face of the blockbuster earth.  So of course the synopsis of Birdman — actor who played a famous superhero tries for relevancy in his senior years — got folks talking when Keaton signed on.  And though I have to admit that was a prime reason for me signing up for this screening, once the film started rolling, I was sucked into the life of Keaton’s Riggan Thompson, washed-up Hollywood trivia tidbit turned Broadway wannabe.  Most of that is thanks to Keaton’s amazing performance that ditches every scrap of dignity, but director Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams) deserves praise as well.

Riggan Thompson is a washed-up former superhero superstar, but perhaps there’s more to that portrayal than anyone realized.  When he’s alone he levitates, moves things with his mind, and even soars through the air.  But is that real, or in his heartbroken, world-weary imagination?  I love that Birdman flipped my expectations not once, but several times throughout the story.  I thought I’d had the ending nailed down early on, but things sway and melt away under Iñárritu’s gentle guidance.  Something else that also changes throughout the film is New York City itself; it’s a glorious greasepaint wonderland, then it’s a gritty, ugly, bleak wasteland.  It’s a small shop filled with fairy lights, and then it’s a cold world where nobody wants to do anything but look at it through the lens of their Instagram account.  Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Oscar winner for last year’s Gravity) manages to show all the sides of The City That Never Sleeps, and they don’t all add up to a picture postcard.  It’s the most “real” cinematic interpretation I’ve ever seen of that city, and I’m betting Lubezki will get another nod come Academy time.

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Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: Beyond the Lights

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Denise

beyond the lights onesheet

There’s a screening on November 12th.  That’s my birthday. So?  FREE PASSES Y’ALL!

It’s for the film Beyond the Lights, and though at first blush it seems like a re-do of The Bodyguard, it stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, whom I adored in Belle.  So at least the acting will be pretty darn good, and maybe the entire film too?  Here’s the synopsis for Beyond the Lights:

Beyond the Lights is the story of Noni, the music world’s latest superstar. But not all is what it seems, and the pressures of fame have Noni on the edge  – until she meets Kaz Nicol, a young cop and aspiring politician who’s been assigned to her detail. Drawn to each other, Noni and Kaz fall fast and hard, despite the protests of those around them who urge them to put their career ambitions ahead of their romance.  But it is ultimately Kaz’s love that gives Noni the courage to find her own voice and break free to become the artist she was meant to be.

And here’s how you can nab yourself a pair o’ passes.  Cupcakes and candles not included.  Because I will be eating all of them.  Even the candles.  I’m me.

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