Admirable, Slick, ‘Unbroken’
Louis Zamperini’s death this past July triggered an international outpouring of grief on a scale typically reserved for the death of movie stars or royals. It makes sense. In his own way, Zamperini, who was ninety-seven years old, served as both rock star and royal. An Olympic champion runner in his youth, he survived years of torture in a World War II Japanese prisoner of war camp – not to mention forty-seven days adrift in the ocean after a plane crash – and went on to become an inspirational speaker and youth worker who radiated enough love that he touched even the most ardent of cynics. It’s not surprising that a biopic has been made about his life. It’s surprising that such a biopic hasn’t been made before.
“Unbroken,” which covers Zamperini’s life from his inauspicious childhood until his 1945 release from the camps, is Angelina Jolie’s third directorial effort. It is also by far Jolie’s strongest directorial effort – at least in part because brothers Ethan and Joel Coen shaped Laura Hillenbrand’s gripping, eponymous biography into a script so sinewy that it would be hard to screw up its epic story of survival.
The film begins with a bang, literally: We’re on a B-24 sent out on a U.S. bombing raid of a Japanese-held island in the Pacific. Continue Reading →
Say Goodnight, Gracie
Normally I don’t care much about New Years Eve–to me the new year is an individual phenomenon that begins for each person on their birthday–but 2014 was such a trying year on so many levels that I welcome any opportunity, however symbolic, to put the hardship behind us. Here’s to a year of expansion, kindness, clarity, communion, amazing adventures, and, yes, governmental and personal accountability. Not the sexiest resolution but, oh, so necessary. It’s time for us all to grow up. The good news is we’re ready.
5 Reasons Why TV Is Better for Women
All told, 2014 was not a bad year for women in film, a fact that’s sure to be reflected in upcoming awards nominations.
Reese Witherspoon and Mia Wasikowska blew us away in the travelogues “Wild” and “Tracks,” respectively. Patricia Arquette broke our hearts as the single mother in “Boyhood.” Julianne Moore channeled an Alzheimer’s-stricken professor in the haunting “Still Alice.” Tilda Swinton ruled the school in four films, as did Jessica Chastain. Ava DuVernay dazzled us with the Martin Luther King Jr biopic, “Selma.” Gillian Flynn adapted her bestselling novel Gone Girl for the big screen. Jenny Slate kept us rolling in “Obvious Child,” the funny-as-fuck “abortion comedy” written and directed by Gillian Robespierre. Lake Bell sent up adult women who talk like babies in “In a World,” which she wrote, starred in, and directed. Angelina Jolie directed “Unbroken,” the highly regarded portrait of Louis Zamperini. Amma Asante helmed the historical drama “Belle.” Gia Coppola (yes, Sofia’s niece and Francis’s granddaughter) made an admirable debut with her coming-of-ager, “Palo Alto.” With “Foxcatcher,” “Her,” and “Zero Dark Thirty” independent producer Megan Ellison continued to emerge as Hollywood’s most potent new weapon. And with the rise of girl-empowering Young Adult-centric films like “Divergent” and the “Hunger Games” films, young women were even recognized as a force to be reckoned with at the box office.
That said, despite a recent study revealing that men still dominate the small-screen landscape both on and off screen, even a great year for women in film pales in comparison to any year for women in television. Sure, we could argue that’s because TV is viewed as a domestic medium, harkening back to when ladies allegedly lounged at home with their shows while husbands earned the bacon. But here are five more-evolved reasons why TV is better for women. Continue Reading →