So's Reel Thoughts: July 2014

Year: 2014
Director: James Franco
Cast: Scott Haze, Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco
Country of Origin: U.S.
Rating: R
Time: 104 mins

To Hollywood, James Franco is known to be one of the hardest working man in the industry and to the rest of gen-y kids, he is an actor and the king of selfies. Not only is he an actor but a director, producer, author (Palo Alto), walking performance-art piece, and not to mention a teacher as written in his Wikipedia page. What the rest of America doesn't really know is that Franco has been a prolific and avid filmmaker for the past 9 years with about 24 film credits to his name as a Director!

And he's at it again folks with Child of God, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name that is about the life of a violent young outcast Lester Ballard (Scott Haze) living in the 1960s Tennessee. Scott Haze is a relative unknown actor at this point with only previously seen in Franco's adaptation of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and is also starring in an upcoming Franco projects like The Sound and the Fury and a Charles Bukowski biopic. It is safe to say that Franco has found his muse (freaking diamond in the rough!) and it's no question why given Haze's ability to absolutely lose himself in a character as seen in this film.

Ballard is described by the Sheriff Fate (Tim Blake Nelson) as a "child of God" even though clearly, he is a menace to society and an outcast. The film is not an easy film to watch nor is Ballard a character worth rooting for. But Haze's commitment in portraying the grotesque and barbaric Ballard is remarkable and mesmerizing as he mentally, physically, and emotionally descends into maddening crime and degradation. He speaks in driveling, incoherent gibberish and fiendishly stalks with his maniacal eyes will surely send you in a frenzy of paranoia because most likely, Ballard will jolt you with simply his sinister presence. In one of the beginning scenes, we see a shot of Ballard's excrements streaming out of his butt and wiped by a long stick in full view. This scene only sets the bar of the derangement that ensues the rest of the film that entails murder, masturbation and oh yeah, necrophilia! Wait, did I mention necrophilia?!

I haven't seen any of Franco's previous works but if I were to just judge his directing and story constructing skills from this film alone, I would say he has potential but it's not clearly displayed in this film. The storyline is rushed and it's shoddy form that utilizes in a superfluous amount of fade-ins and fade-outs creates such unrelentingly lethargic tone that it's near impossible not to get restless with the story. The camera work is intended to be ugly but it's dreadful and junky mold only creates unnecessary uneasiness on top of the repelling content on screen. While I may have not liked the form for personal reasons, it is Haze's rugged and praise-worthy performance that holds Child of God's mushy pieces together. It's a performance not to be missed even if you will probably feel a bit haggard and queasy at the end of the film.

It's here! The insanely riveting and action packed trailer of George Miller's fourth Mad Max film, Mad Max: Fury Road has arrived! Miller has said way back when that "He's a rebooted Mad Max, but it's a new interpretation." about Tom Hardy playing the new anti-hero. I had seen a snapshot of Charlize Theron will her hair shaved previously and I went absolutely bonkers! Everything about this trailer just screams badass! Visually, the trailer is undeniably stunning with its detailed and epic scale of production design and action! This post-apocalyptic action film is set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. The film also stars Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keough, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. With a cast this bold, badass, and beautiful, Mad Max: Fury Road is going to be one hell of a ride and a feast for the eyes! The film comes out in May 15, 2015!

(via. EW)

I am literally salivating at these The Walking Dead Season 5 posters. I had written in my previous post about the 7 things about 'The Walking Dead' Season 5 trailer and the insanity that is about to ensue come the season premiere on October 12. Contrary to most of the previous season's promo posters, I'm digging these posters that highlight the individual characters from Glenn to Maggie to Daryl to Beth! They're at a point in the series where they don't even need to state what show it is but simply stamp the most important thing the audience needs to know which is "...Who Will Survive?" #Terminus. We don't know much about Terminus at this point but we do know that it is not a welcoming place considering the last scene we saw of the crew was of them being locked up in the boxcar. How they will get out, nobody knows. I can already tell season 5 is going to be an epic season. Let chaos reign!

#SDCC is finally over and although I did not get to go, there were a ton of new sneak peeks of upcoming tv shows, films, and geeky stuff that I need to catch up on! I rarely talk about the tv shows I am watching but of course, I am one of the millions utterly obsessed with AMC's The Walking Dead. So Naturally, when the Season 5 trailer came out, I went skittishly bonkers but it also left me pining for more and with an alarming amount of questions and observations!

Where we left off Season 4:

Rick, Carl, Michonne, and Daryl arrive at Terminus but are met with gunfire and they are forced to go into the boxcar in order to save Carl from dying. They go into the boxcar where they are imprisoned. There they find Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, Bob, Tara, Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita. While the group is losing hope, Rick claims that "they're screwing with the wrong people." CHiLlLzZ

What the Trailer Tells Me:

1) These people at Terminus are super bad and are experimenting on people and holding them hostages. But for what? Because they are not complying with them? Are they taking body parts and doing stuff with them? WHAT THE HELL IS TERMINUS?!

2) Does the group get split up again? Numerous remarks of "We're not leaving without our people" and "Where are our people" is repeatedly shouted. The theme of family and strangers not being trusted is re-instated. It seems like the Terminus guy complies to go to Washington, sparing the lives of the crew but obviously he cannot be trusted. I mean come on, he looks like a total rat! Will they just finally be forced to kill him for the greater good of their safety and goal?

3) I see Carol so seems like she found the crew!!! I hope she comes in with guns banging and ready to save the day.

4) The level of intensity and danger is increased with the crew's unrelenting persistence to travel to Washington in order to find the cure for the zombie epidemic. But will they make it? The risk of going there and not finding anything is huge. Will they risk their safety for that chance?

5) Rictatorship won't be back but it seems like Rick is taking charge and kicking some serious ass. He cocks his muthafucking gun and looks back with such intensity! You definitely know a lot of shit is going down.

6) Whereas previous seasons, the crew was stationed at the jail or at a farm, there seems to be a lot more movement and action taking place at and beyond Terminus. Explosions of zombies are going off, cars falling off highways, people getting tortured, people just bawling their eyes out! A lot of emotions and events are detonating in season 5!

7) Lastly, is this the season where Beth goes total badass after she is pushed to the brink? The last sequence shows a snippet of the danger she encounters. A woman states " Every sacrifice we make, needs to be part of the greater good. In here, you're not the greater good, you're part of the system." We see beth maybe doing some stunts, running, and slaughtering zombies. I hope this is the season where Beth really shines.

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kickman said this season would start off with the Terminus detour, something not shown in the monthly comic book he writes but would soon get back on the track of the story shown in the comics. Apparently, season 5 will be much tougher and rougher (via. Hero Complex) as it's clearly seen in the trailer. With that said, it seems like all the characters will be pushed to their limits and test them in ways they did not think possible. I definitely want to see some epic transitions in Season 5 especially with Beth and Carl. I seriously cannot wait, I got so many chills while watching the trailer! The Walking Dead season 5 comes back October 12!

I'm probably one of the very few people on this planet who has not read E.L. James' best-selling novel, Fifty Shades of Grey. An almost college graduate name Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) strikes up an S&M romance with a successful and young entrepreneur, Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). I know initially everyone wanted Matt Bomer and Alexis Bledel to play these characters which I do agree would've been a match made in heaven but considering that Johnson and Dornan have been assigned, I definitely want to see more of them in action. And knowing that this film is about S&M, I really hope they don't sugar coat the sexy or raunch factor. I mean come on, give the fan what they want especially during the Valentine's weekend. We'll just have to wait and see if it's a good one!

I started writing a bi-weekly column for Crome Yellow called Badass Femmes about all the incredible women in pop culture that has shaped my life. To start off this series, my first inspiration goes out to Enid of Ghost World (2001)! I would've been another K-Town party girl thug without you!

Read HERE!!!

Richard Linklater's Boyhood has got to be one of the most buzzed about and highly regarded film of this year. After its premiere at Sundance, all social media outlets exploded with excitement and incredulous praise about the grandiose film that was 12 years in the making! I've always loved Linklater's films that continued to tamper with time especially in films like Slacker (1991), Waking Life (2001), and The Before Series (1995-2013).

What made the film such an enthralling movie experience was considering that the film was shot over the course of twelve years and stitched together, Linklater was able to capture the essence, tone, and mood of that specific time period that brings another level of authenticity to a story this intimate and nostalgic. Just the the cue of the greatest hits of that year, brought me warm and fuzzy feelings of that time period. Boyhood is definitely going to be on everyone's top list this year as well as going down in the history of film as a piece of art that challenged the boundaries of cinema. You go Linklater!

- Trailer Reaction -

"YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE MONEY TO BUY A TICKET!" Just a day ago, I posted about the Nightcrawler teaser which is the directorial debut of writer Dan Gilroy's new film starring Jake Gyllenhaal. The teaser was incredibly enticing but now that I've seen the official trailer, my anticipation for the film is off the charts! Could this be Gyllenhaal's Oscar winning role? He stars in the film as Lou Bloom, "a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism." Like I said in the previous post, you can smell the desperation in his eyes and what ensues in Nightcrawler is a feast for my eyes considering that chaos will reign in the streets of Los Angeles with Bloom sniffing around!

"I wouldn't really call him a journalist," Gyllenhaal said of his character in an interview with Vulture last year. "I would actually consider him a cinematographer. He's a total observer, and a visual artist." With that said, I'm intrigued by Lou Bloom and will be enthralled to witness his curiosity and spectatorship taking place on screen. And knowing that the setting is so specifically Los Angeles only makes me more itchy with excitement! As a veteran of Toronto International Film Festival, Gyllenhaal will be back to premiere Nightcrawler which comes out in theaters on October 17.

(via.Hufpo)

It's here! The first trailer for Justin Simien's Dear White People! I've been patiently waiting for the full trailer to come out because the teaser just wasn't enough! This was one of the films at LA Film Fest that I wasn't able to see because there was a line around the corner and even those people couldn't get in! The film is based on Simien's own experiences at a predominately white university, which centers on four black students at an Ivy League college where a riot breaks out over a popular "African American" themed party thrown by white students.

Tbh, it's hard marketing a film that talks bad about any ethnicity (besides N. Koreans) but when it's being pointed at the largest and most dominant ethnicity that controls most of media and culture, yeah, it's a hard sell. But I'm so glad it was done because even though I'm sure a lot of white people will immediately take it as offensive and lash out, someone had to do it. And I'm glad it's none other than Simien. Like I said in my other teaser post, it seems like Simien has delivered a razor sharp and tongue in cheek exploration and open discussion about racial identity in a so-called "post-racial" America." It wants to talk about things people are scared to talk about because they don't want to be seen as a "racist" or voice their distaste for it because there are also repercussions. But in a day and age where "racism" is supposedly "gone" is bullshit and that's not the reality. We've been growing a generation of kids to just ignore race politics and brush it under the rug, instead of dissecting and examining the our culture and it's effect on the individual. I'm more than thrilled that Simien has made a film that screams aloud the problems across the board with all ethnicities and not just black people. Dear White People comes out October 17.

What in the world is this?! Clearly, this is viral stunt to promote the directorial debut of writer Dan Gilroy's new film, Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Apparently this video was quietly uploaded to YouTube with the statement "my video resume" by Lou Bloom, the character Gyllenhaal is playing. This is a great first teaser for the film as he talks for about a minute about how he is THE perfect candidate for the job! Nightcrawler is about a young man who stumbles upon the underground world of L.A. freelance crime journalism. The cast includes Bill Paxton, Rene Russo, Ann Cusack, Eric Lange, and Kevin Rahm.

Gyllenhaal looks absolutely emaciated and deprived of sleep in this teaser that you can actually see the desperation in his eyes. That kind of look that is borderline eager yet desperate enough for him to suddenly snap and stab you with his butter knife. It's quite a different look than the ones we're used to seeing him as of lately in Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners (2013) as Detective Loki and L.A. cop Brian Taylor in End of Watch (2012). I can't wait to see a full trailer as this film looks like it could be one of those films where a character is on the brink of a mental breakdown! It's sadistic to adore those kind of films but it brings such a cathartic experience that you can't help but love them! Nightcrawler will open in limited theaters starting October 17th!

I recently went to Agnes Varda's exhibit called Californialand at LACMA. She was once called the "grandmother of the French New Wave" as she's been making narrative and documentary films for six decades! The installation is inspired by her time in Los Angeles in the late 1960s as well as a selection of her photographs. As a film critic and filmmaker, it's always inspiring to see the prolific work done by great auteurs. I am at LACMA almost every other week to either volunteer at film screenings or to just enjoy some jazz on summery friday nights. The most spectacular concoction I saw at the exhibit was Varda's house of film that she called "My Shack of Cinema." Sadly, I had footage of being inside and just the environment but I honestly don't know what happened to that so I'm hoping these photos suffice! I seriously need to watch more of her films because Cleo 5 to 7 (1962) and Vagabond (1985) isn't enough! Watch her films if you haven't already!

See more photos at KCET.

Matt Reeves' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is one of the finest blockbuster to come out this year. It pits the humans and apes against each other to show that even species apart, we all want and need the same thing. At times, it felt long but it really takes it's time to engross you into their post-apocalyptic world. I was very hesitant about Matt Reeves doing the American remake of the Swedish film, Let the Right One In (2008) called Let Me In (2010). But after I saw it, it is clear that Reeves has a talent that needs to be reckon with. I'm so glad that he made a Hollywood film with a modest amount of subtitles. I hope the next film we see will be strictly apes communicating through sign language. I would definitely stand at the midnight screening for that!