Tag: Emmanuel Lubezki

345 – Great Expectations

After his A Little Princess adaptation earned a duo of Oscar nominations, Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón followed that up with another literary adaptation, a modernization of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. With hot young stars Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow as the central lovers and Oscar winners Anne Bancroft and Robert De Niro in support, the film transplanted Dickens’ social climbing classic to America’s southern coast and the New York City art scene. With some behind-the-scenes struggle and middling results, the film was pushed from its planned Christmas 1997 release into January, still eclipsed by Titanic.

This episode, we talk about the film’s modernized mixed bag and Cuarón before Y Tu Mamá También. We also discuss the Christmas 1997 trend of drawing a naked lady, the Best Actress race when Bancroft won for The Miracle Worker, and Paltrow in the leadup to her Oscar win.

Topics also include Tori Amos, voiceover narration, and late 90s Donna Karan.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

337 – To the Wonder

With the whispers and rumors that Terrence Malick’s Jesus film The Way of the Wind maybe possibly perhaps who knows could finally premiere this year after filming in 2019, we thought it was time to discuss his work. One year after The Tree of Life earned Oscar nominations and the Palme d’Or, Malick had perhaps his fastest turnaround with To The Wonder. A semi-autobiographical tale of a cross-continental love affair souring once it reaches America, the film starred Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko and Rachel McAdams as the onscreen love triangle. But once the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, it earned some of Malick’s harshest notices to date.

This episode, we discuss the mixed reception around Malick’s post-Tree of Life work and our own divided thoughts on the film. We also discuss the several famous names left on Malick’s cutting room floor, Javier Bardem’s performance as the town priest, and Rachel McAdams joins our Six Timers Club.

Topics also include Roger Ebert’s final review, Kurylenko as an action star, and “to the wonder, to the walls.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS