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August 16, 2013
LUKE BAYBAK is an L.A. based actor/producer who has appeared on television shows such as "HOUSE," "WITHOUT A TRACE" and "MAD MEN." He co-starred in a short film called "HEAD, HEART and BALLS... or Why I Gave Up Smoking Pot" starring Adam Carolla that was direct by your truly. I recently caught up with Luke at a coffee bar on La Brea to talk about his career and his current projects.
Peter Foldy: Hey, Luke.
Luke Baybak: Hello.
PF: So things seem to be going really well for you at the moment. I'm just curious. When did you first realize you wanted to be an actor."
LB: I think it was actually at two different points in my life. One when I was about six or seven and I fell in love with the idea of becoming something or someone else. It was really fascinating to me at the time.
PF: Play acting?
LB: Not really play acting but being something or someone else for real, to the point where people would think that you were not you. My brother and I would play a game at the airport where we would separate and then run toward each other and embrace as if we were two old friends reuniting again. I would pretend to be, say a Japanese kid, which of course is ridiculous since I am not asian, but I loved imagining other airport goers seeing this epic hundred foot colliding embrace and thinking it was real.
PF: So basically fooling people?
LB: Yeah, kind of.
PF: So when was the second time?
LB: The second time that I thought seriously about acting was when I was a bit older, early teens I guess, and I went out for the school play. They were doing a musical and I hated it. It was like the worst experience ever 'cause I had to act all cheery. Not that I'm not a cheery guy but I was just not into it, so after getting a role I was swiftly fired. But then I auditioned for another play, and I studied the character and put a lot of effort into it, and I remember people looking at me at the audition like, who is this? Who is this person? And I thought that was cool.
PF: So you were once again attracted to the mystery, to the notion of fooling people.
LB: Yes.
PF: So who were some of your early influences?
LB: It was always changing but I love watching actors like Gary Oldman. It was really cool the way he transformed into characters. I also checked out some of the old time actors like James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Brando of course, who I thought were all amazing in there own ways.
PF: What was your first professional job?
LB: It was an AOL commercial with Sting when I was about sixteen.
PF: Sweet! Did you work with him?
LB: No, I didn't get to meet him but he was in the spot so that was kind of exciting.
PF: What else did you worked on when you were first starting out?
LB: I did a hand full of TV spots, some plays, commercials and short films. It was going relatively well but then things started to slow a down a little. I was waiting for shit to happen but it just became increasingly more difficult. The longer I waited around for an audition the harder it became to get them. At that point I took an interest in getting behind the camera, producing, writing and creating my own content, to essentially keep myself going as an actor. Its a that point that I kind of switched gears and widened my career path from actor to actor/film maker. I kind of put myself through film school in a way.
PF: You got spit out?
LB: Partly by choice.
PF: So how do you deal with the disappointments? Like trying to land auditions and the rejection and all that, because knowing you a little bit and having worked with you in the past, I always got the impression that you were pretty low key.
LB: I'd say while maybe I came off as low key I always had an idea of what I wanted to be, of what I wanted to become. But to the outside world that would not have been necessarily obvious, and it still probably isn't.
PF: Yet meeting you now, you tell me you recently did an episode of "Mad Men," you acted in a couple of short films, you co-wrote, directed and acted in your own successful web series and you're about to start producing your first feature. How did you get back into whirlwind again?
LB: I think once I realized that this is what I wanted to do, the notion of failing at it sucked, so I just decided I was going to begin making projects with my friends.
PF: Who's been your biggest motivator so far?
LB: I have a pretty good circle of people who are all working in the business. I have a writer's meeting of five to seven friends every week where we throw out ideas and try and develop them. One of my best buds, MORGAN KRANTZ, and I made a short and are working on his feature. I also work with a group of friends who have a top 100 Youtube Sketch comedy group called "Reckless Tortuga," but just to answer your earlier question, it can be a frustrating game for sure, really disconcerting, and I think in my case I realized that the onus to succeed is on me. That I can't really rely on anyone else. You can build a team but you're the one who has got to push them forward. It also comes down to the fact that we're living in an age where you can create your own movies and try to make things happen on your own, at least to a certain point.
PF: So technology has come along and bit you on the ass and said now you can actually do it yourself.
LB: Yeah. Now it's almost expected that you make your own shit where as before that was never even a concept. Of course the other side of the coin is that everyone in this town is an actor, writer, producer, director...
PF: Is that good or bad?
LB: It's both. On the one hand you learn all facets of the business, behind the camera and in front of it, on the other hand, there's so many people doing it. For me personally, I'm trying to balance where I put my energies, so right now as I am about to start producing a feature, I have to think, do I also want to act in it, or do I just wear a producer's hat and make that work the best it can be.
PF: This weekend you have two short films in the "HOLLY SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL at the Chinese Theater. Tell us about "The Cyclist" a film I had a chance to take a peek at this past week that I thought you were really good in.
LB: Thanks. I read this short story called "The Cyclist". It had a cool and eerie Alfred Hitchcock feel to it, written by a friend of mine named JESSICA LEE GARRISON. I read it, went to Morgan and we decided to adapt it and raised the funding for it through friends and family. Jessica also directed her own short, which I am in as well, playing at Holly Shorts this weekend called "MoonTown."
PF: Nice. You also starred in a play recently called, "Father's at a Game." How was that?
LB: It's a great exercise doing a play. You have no safety net. You go out there and go, okay. Lets see how much of this I can remember and hope there isn't too much I'll forget. Live theater is a real rush.
PF: How would you describe your perfect L.A. weekend?
LB: Starting on Thursday or Friday?
PF: Weekend starts on Saturday morning.
LB: Okay, well on Saturday I would definitely start by getting a coffee. Maybe at Inteligencia or Cafecito in Silver Lake. Love me an iced Americano. Then I would do a little reading or play a round of golf followed by a visit to Wi Spa.
PF: What's that?
LB: It's a Korean spa. Dude you gotta go. Use the steam room and all that. Then I'd maybe hit a happy hour up. Go to a Mexican joint and have a margarita on the rocks with salt. Then at night I might go to dinner, Black Hogg, Esperanza, one of the twenty new restaurant that opens every week in DTLA. On Sunday it could be a friend's pool, a bike ride, or a hike in Griffith Park with my girlfriend and my dog. And then hit up the club and rage all night. Just kidding. I know its hard to tell, but i'm not really the club type. Can we get started on this weekend right now?
PF: So what do you have coming up in the future?
LB: As I mentioned, I'm producing this feature. I think it's going to be awesome and I am really happy to be a part of it. It'll be directed by Morgan. I've also got two more short films coming up of and I will be acting in one of those.
PF: So it seems like more producing that acting for the time being.
LB: Well producing provides a vessel to keep working and collaborating. I'm constantly auditioning and I think my goal is to just try and do it all and see what happens. I wanna be a story teller and not every story will have a role for me.
PF: What advice do you have for somebody just starting out in this business?
LB: I would say decide you wanna be in it for the long haul, work hard, keep going and learn. I am constantly feeling that I need to learn more. That feeling never seems to goes away.
PF: Thanks for chatting, Luke. Good luck at HOLLY SHORTS and with all your projects.
LB: Thank you.
Published on Oct 01, 2013


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TULSA, Okla. (AP) Patsy Sutton, the matriarch of a family of college basketball coaches, has died in Oklahoma at age 74.
The wife of Hall of Fame coach Eddie Sutton died Tuesday at a Tulsa hospital after suffering a stroke in December, according to officials at Ninde Brookside Chapel.
Sutton followed her husband to coaching stops at College of Southern Idaho, Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State. Eddie Sutton finished his Hall of Fame career as interim coach at San Francisco while Patsy stayed home in Oklahoma.
She was also the mother of Oral Roberts head coach Scott Sutton and assistant coach Sean Sutton, who succeeded his father as Oklahoma State's head coach before joining his brother at Oral Roberts. A third son, Steve, is a banker in Tulsa.
``We are saddened today by the passing of Patsy Sutton. She had a positive influence on everyone she met, and was a devoted partner to her husband, Eddie, and a beloved mother to her three sons,'' Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder said.
``For us at Oklahoma State, she was an ambassador for our college basketball program and our university. She was loved by many and will be missed by many.''
A memorial service is scheduled for Friday at First Methodist Church in Tulsa.
``The ORU athletic family has lost a very important person today with the death of Patsy Sutton,'' Oral Roberts athletic director Mike Carter said. ``The Suttons have been a huge part of ORU Athletics for almost 20 years. Patsy was a mentor and friend to so many people and will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Sutton family.''
Eddie Sutton was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame after going 804-328 and becoming the first coach to lead four different schools to the NCAA tournament. Scott Sutton has won more games than any coach in the history of Oral Roberts in Tulsa, where the family settled in recent years.
``We extend our deepest sympathy to Eddie, Sean, Scott and Steve at Patsy's passing today,'' Oklahoma State University president Burns Hargis said. ``She was a wonderful person who was deeply devoted to her family.
``While she played a quiet role, she nevertheless played a pivotal role in the success of her husband becoming one of the most respected and successful college basketball coaches of all times. And she was a strong and wonderful mother for her three sons. She will be deeply missed by her family and the Oklahoma State family. Our prayers are with the Sutton family at this time.''


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Ed Levine's Caloric Journey, Week 162: Vacation and Doughnuts Are Not a Righteous Path
Yesterday we had a doughnut tasting at SE World Headquarters. On a Thursday, no less. The day before my weigh-in.
Now I know full well that doughnuts are not on the path to weight loss, or even weight control. Doughnuts are one of the big holes in my weight control game. But what would you do if you were confronted by an entire conference table filled with doughnuts: big ones, small ones, doughnut holes, yeast doughnuts, cake doughnuts?
Well, I know what I did. I tasted a bunch then left the room.
The doughnuts were the only thing I ate all day, and all I had for dinner was a cup of cooked rice with some grated Romano cheese sprinkled on top for flavor. So, I actually think I did a decent job of mitigating the doughnut damage.
The problem is Doughnut Day came two days after I returned from a mini-vacation on Captiva Island in Florida, where I ate too much fried food and too many Yucatan-style barbecued shrimp, which were drenched in a spicy butter sauce spiked with lime, cilantro, and chilies. I always seem to let my caloric guard down on vacations. Don't most serious eaters?
So between the doughnuts and the vacation, my caloric journey this past week was filled with bumps in the road.
The Weigh-In
I tried to mitigate the overall damage by merely tasting many things and leaving food on my plate at every meal. We shall see if I succeeded. Here we go: 224. Up a pound from a week ago. Given the doughnuts and the vacation, I'll take it. I feel neither triumphant nor defeated. Just another week on my caloric journey.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Pantone, the industry's "authority on color," predicts color trends each year and recently announced that the color trend of 2012 will be Tangerine Tango, which is a reddish orange color.
You're probably thinking, "Orange makeup?" We say, "YES!" We've been seeing more cosmetics products that have a red/orange hue – nail polish, lip stick, eyeshadow, you name it! The team here at BH is a dedicated believer in Tangerine Tango as we are all supporters of bright and bold makeup.
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Price: $5.50
Quantity: 1 available
Book Condition: Good
Soft cover, magazine style, first edition, 400gms, 128 pages. Magazine is in good condition with minor general wear and tear, inserts are still in magazine, otherwise no other pre-loved markings.
Title: Journal of the Australian Geographic Society, The (No. 19)
Categories: Pets/Animals, Environment/Nature,
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Terry Hills, Australia, Australian Geographic Society: 1990
Binding: Magazine
Book Condition: Good
Jacket Condition: Not Applicable
Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Item: 1.00 Item
Seller ID: AUSGEO19


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Jeter ties Mays for 10th on all-time hits list
Shortstop's 3,283rd knock is key RBI single against Red Sox
Jeter flared a shallow liner into center field facing the Red Sox's Junichi Tazawa in the seventh inning of Thursday's game at Fenway Park, driving in Steve Pearce with a run-scoring single.
"It's pretty special if you think about it," Jeter said. "But it's kind of hard to think about it now, because we're trying to win games -- especially this time of the year. But I'd be lying to you if I didn't think it was special."
The hit gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead over Boston, a margin of victory that would hold up as New York posted consecutive wins for the first time since an Aug. 13-15 series against the Rangers in New York.
Jeter has been hobbled by a bone bruise in his left ankle and moved slowly down the first-base line on the play, celebrating by clapping his hands after rounding the bag.
"There's no doubt that he's a leader and he leads by example," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He's done that his whole career."
Due to discrepancies in historical statistics, some numbers may differ according to the source. Some statisticians rank Mays and Jeter 11th all-time due to conflicting accounts of Cap Anson's career hits total; both the Elias Sports Bureau, the official statistician of Major League Baseball, and MLB.com consider Jeter and Mays tied for 10th.
Jeter, 38, completed play on Thursday with a Major League-leading 195 hits this season, and he now owns a nine-game hitting streak. He and Mays are the only players in baseball history to record at least 3,000 hits, 250 home runs, 300 stolen bases and 1,200 RBIs in their careers.
"It's amazing. It really is," Girardi said. "It's amazing what he's done. [Mays] is some kind of name."


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A United Kingdom group is warning that a bacon and pork shortage in Britain is "unavoidable" and may already be a global problem.
Britain's National Pig Association said in a press release that new data shows that the European Union pig herd is declining at a significant rate, a trend mirrored around the world. In a statement, the group warns that pig farmers are losing money because of high pig-feed costs caused by global failure of maize and soya harvests.
The association says that in the U.S., the government has introduced a pork-buying program in a bid to keep its pig farmers in business. The Chinese government is putting pork into cold storage, as a buffer against high prices and shortages next year, the group reports.
Pig industry leaders met this month to explore ways to ensure pork remains the world's "most affordable red meat." They reported that pig herds are being sold because prices are not rising fast enough in supermarkets to cover the cost of record-high pig-feed costs, according to the association.
"It usually takes at least six months for higher production costs to filter through to shop prices — but pig farmers simply haven't got that long," said National Pig Association chairman Richard Longthorp, who farms outdoor pigs in Yorkshire. "Some have got only a few weeks left before they run out of credit at the bank and have to sell up, and this is happening all over Europe."


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Universal History of Light is a lot of things. It's a game about a seeing eye dog going insane and seeing the birth of the universe. It's about loneliness and talking feces. At least, I think it is.
Watch us play through the psychotomimetic, bonkers-as-hell Universal History of Light, the brainchild of indie dev Increpare. You may remember him from Slave of God, the drunk-in-the-club simulator that our own Patricia Hernendez wrote up as well as English Country Tune. If you want to play it yourself, it can be downloaded free here for PC, Mac and Linux.
Try to parse out your own meaning in the comments.


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I was wondering if there is any chance of there being an App for BibleWorks like Logos has on the iphone? I will have an Android OS (operating system) on the HTC EVO 4G so i was wondering if BW was coming out with anything of that sort, here is the link to what it is:
That is iphone exclusive, it would be great if BW offered an App across multiple platforms, or at least on the Android OS. Any help would be greatly appreciated!


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Film listings are edited by Cheryl Eddy. Reviewers are Kimberly Chun, Dennis Harvey, Lynn Rapoport, Sam Stander, and Sara Maria Vizcarrondo. For rep house showtimes, see Rep Clock.
HUMP! Tour This new touring program pulls together a best-of collection from the first eight years of the annual Seattle-Portland amateur porn festival founded, curated and hosted by Savage Love columnist and queer pundit Dan Savage. "Amateur" is a slippery term here, as the general quality has improved greatly since HUMP! started in 2005 — maybe the truer distinction to make is that these movies are made by mostly anonymous (presumed) non-pros for shared amusement rather than profit. Or, frequently, arousal: Shorts like the mockumentary Mythical Proportions: Centaur Love in Contemporary America ("My fantasy often takes place in a meadow, and he emerges from a mist … his cum tastes like mountain spring water") or hilarious time-travel fantasy Go Fuck Yourself are just comedies, period, with no real sexual content. On the other hand, humor and actual sexy-making match up in the likes of self-explanatory Dungeons & Dragons Orgy, as well as more straightforward porn mini-scenarios like Hot N' Saucy Pizza Boy (yes, he makes a large delivery). Highlights in terms of both filmmaking and content include the genuinely erotic Edged (about a conditional blind date with restraints), Ouroboroughs (a hookup rewound from climax to first eye contact), the stop-motion fun of Magic Luv 2000, and Krutch (a woman demonstrates some private uses for the cane she needs to walk publicly). In the fetish realm, an eye-opener is Fun With Fire, whose happily hyperventilating thrill seeker at one point rationalizes "It's just a fireball on my cunt, that's all, no big deal." Other shorts are just one-joke prospects, some clever, some not. But there's a so-what-we're-just-goofing-anyway esprit even to the dumbest among them that makes this a pleasant 75 minutes or so. Since SF is already the capital of "alternative" porn, HUMP! may not seem so transgressive here as it plays up north. Still, should inspiration strike, you have plenty of time yet to craft your own entry for the 2014 edition in November. Roxie. (Harvey)
If You Build It See "Constructing Change." (1:25) Opera Plaza, Shattuck, Smith Rafael.
Non-Stop An air marshal (Liam Neeson) battles to save a plane full of passengers when a texting terrorist (textorrist?) starts issuing high-stakes demands. (1:50) Presidio, Shattuck.
Stalingrad Behold, Russia's highest-grossing blockbuster of all time, which presents (in 3D IMAX) a very small story contained within the enormous titular World War II battle, previously dramatized by the West in 2001's Enemy at the Gates. Stalingrad begins in the aftermath of the 2011 Japanese earthquake, in which an aid worker tells stories to a group of trapped German tourists as they await rescue. Seems the man's mother, a Russian teenager during the Battle of Stalingrad, met five Red Army soldiers who bonded while fighting the invading Nazis, and helped her survive while all kinda, sorta, falling for her at the same time. There are plenty of lavish battle scenes for war-movie buffs — likely the only people who will seek out this film during its limited US run, and it is interesting to see a WW2 tale with zero American perspective or involvement — but the film is earnest to a fault, with plot holes that may or may not be a result of cultural and language barriers. And speaking of the plot: isn't the bloody, epic tale of Stalingrad compelling enough without awkward romance(s) shoehorned in? Eliminate that, and you eliminate the need for that ham-fisted frame story, too. (2:15) 1000 Van Ness. (Eddy)
7 Boxes If Paraguayan cinema can make such a splash with wheelbarrow chases, one wonders what Outer Mongolia can do with dolly races. Despite its determinedly lo-fi look and feel — US reality TV looks downright slick in comparison — and some very camp acting, 7 Boxes demands respect, like the scruffy street urchins it champions, for its will to cobble together movie magic out of gritty, street-level material. The scene is Asunción's municipal marketplace. Fascinated by the pirated DVD crime dramas playing out on the screens around him, wheelbarrow delivery boy Victor (Celso Franco) is determined to get a camera of his own — attached, of course, to a way-too-expensive phone. It seems far out of reach, until butchers offer him a US $100 bill to cart seven mysterious boxes away until the coast is clear. The meat purveyors' regular cart-pusher Nelson (Victor Sosa Traverzi) is desperate to get those boxes — and get paid — instead, and Victor has to depend on his mouthy, spunky friend Liz (Lali Gonzalez) to help him out, as they grapple with cops and robbers, attempt to collect, and uncover the boxes' nasty secrets. Like charismatic leads Ferreira and Gonzalez, 7 Boxes is full of promise. Directors Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori pour considerable energy into 7 Boxes' somewhat absurd wheelbarrow high jinks and attempt to humanize their characters while capturing some of the multicultural, screen-laden complexity of anarchic 21st-century urban life in Paraguay. Detracting from the cause are some of the more OTT, unintentionally laughable performances, gratuitous narrative twists, and the alternately jerky and fluid video work — which, appropriately enough, looks to be shot from a phone and, in spite of the moviemakers' moments of bravura editing and inventive swings in and out of the marketplace labyrinth, never manages to rise above the unlovely. (1:45) Roxie. (Chun)
About Last Night (1:40) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.
American Hustle David O. Russell's American Hustle is like a lot of things you've seen before — put in a blender, so the results are too smooth to feel blatantly derivative, though here and there you taste a little Boogie Nights (1997), Goodfellas (1990), or whatever. Loosely based on the Abscam FBI sting-scandal of the late 1970s and early '80s (an opening title snarks "Some of this actually happened"), Hustle is a screwball crime caper almost entirely populated by petty schemers with big ideas almost certain to blow up in their faces. It's love, or something, at first sight for Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), who meet at a Long Island party circa 1977 and instantly fall for each other — or rather for the idealized selves they've both strained to concoct. He's a none-too-classy but savvy operator who's built up a mini-empire of variably legal businesses; she's a nobody from nowhere who crawled upward and gave herself a bombshell makeover. The hiccup in this slightly tacky yet perfect match is Irving's neglected, crazy wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), who's not about to let him go. She's their main problem until they meet Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), an ambitious FBI agent who entraps the two while posing as a client. Their only way out of a long prison haul, he says, is to cooperate in an elaborate Atlantic City redevelopment scheme he's concocted to bring down a slew of Mafioso and presumably corrupt politicians, hustling a beloved Jersey mayor (Jeremy Renner) in the process. Russell's filmmaking is at a peak of populist confidence it would have been hard to imagine before 2010's The Fighter, and the casting here is perfect down to the smallest roles. But beyond all clever plotting, amusing period trappings, and general high energy, the film's ace is its four leads, who ingeniously juggle the caricatured surfaces and pathetic depths of self-identified "winners" primarily driven by profound insecurity. (2:17) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness, Piedmont, Presidio, Shattuck, Sundance Kabuki. (Harvey)
August: Osage County Considering the relative infrequency of theater-to-film translations today, it's a bit of a surprise that Tracy Letts had two movies made from his plays before he even got to Broadway. Bug and Killer Joe proved a snug fit for director William Friedkin (in 2006 and 2011, respectively), but both plays were too outré for the kind of mainstream success accorded 2007's August: Osage County, which won the Pulitzer, ran 18 months on Broadway, and toured the nation. As a result, August was destined — perhaps doomed — to be a big movie, the kind that shoehorns a distracting array of stars into an ensemble piece, playing jes' plain folk. But what seemed bracingly rude as well as somewhat traditional under the proscenium lights just looks like a lot of reheated Country Gothic hash, and the possibility of profundity you might've been willing to consider before is now completely off the menu. If you haven't seen August before (or even if you have), there may be sufficient fun watching stellar actors chew the scenery with varying degrees of panache — Meryl Streep (who else) as gorgon matriarch Violet Weston; Sam Shepard as her long-suffering spouse; Julia Roberts as pissed-off prodigal daughter Barbara (Julia Roberts), etc. You know the beats: Late-night confessions, drunken hijinks, disastrous dinners, secrets (infidelity, etc.) spilling out everywhere like loose change from moth-eaten trousers. The film's success story, I suppose, is Roberts: She seems very comfortable with her character's bitter anger, and the four-letter words tumble past those jumbo lips like familiar friends. On the downside, there's Streep, who's a wizard and a wonder as usual yet also in that mode supporting the naysayers' view that such conspicuous technique prevents our getting lost in her characters. If Streep can do anything, then logic decrees that includes being miscast. (2:10) Four Star, Shattuck, Sundance Kabuki. (Harvey)
Beijing Love Story Writer-director-star Chen Sicheng adapts his 2012 Chinese TV series, adding movie stars Carina Lau and Tony Leung Ka-fai to the cast to up the big-screen wattage. The film follows an array of couples, starting with Chen and real-life wife Shen Yan as a young couple forced to make some hard choices after an unplanned pregnancy. "What's love? It's like a ghost. Everyone's heard of it, nobody's seen it," the reluctant father-to-be's cynical friend tells him. Said friend has been hitched for years; the film's next storyline follows what happens when his wife finds out he's been cheating (as it turns out, she has some secrets of her own). At one point, the action shifts from Beijing to Greece (for the Lau-Leung segment), before returning to the city for a teenage love story involving a cello prodigy who wants to compete on TV, and a boy who can "see auras," among other fanciful talents. Finally, an elderly man embarks on a series of blind dates, looking for a second chance at love, with a twist that's obvious to anyone who's ever seen a rom-com before. By the time this flowery Valentine's card of a movie reaches its melodramatic conclusion, it's abundantly clear that Chen knows his target audience — see: the film's multiple Titanic (1997) references — and that he's a huge fan of the romance genre himself. (2:02) Metreon. (Eddy)
Dallas Buyers Club Dallas Buyers Club is the first all-US feature from Jean-Marc Vallée. He first made a splash in 2005 with C.R.A.Z.Y., which seemed an archetype of the flashy, coming-of-age themed debut feature. Vallée has evolved beyond flashiness, or maybe since C.R.A.Z.Y. he just hasn't had a subject that seemed to call for it. Which is not to say Dallas is entirely sober — its characters partake from the gamut of altering substances, over-the-counter and otherwise. But this is a movie about AIDS, so the purely recreational good times must eventually crash to an end. Which they do pretty quickly. We first meet Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) in 1986, a Texas good ol' boy endlessly chasing skirts and partying nonstop. Not feeling quite right, he visits a doctor, who informs him that he is HIV-positive. His response is "I ain't no faggot, motherfucker" — and increased partying that he barely survives. Afterward, he pulls himself together enough to research his options, and bribes a hospital attendant into raiding its trial supply of AZT for him. But Ron also discovers the hard way what many first-generation AIDS patients did — that AZT is itself toxic. He ends up in a Mexican clinic run by a disgraced American physician (Griffin Dunne) who recommends a regime consisting mostly of vitamins and herbal treatments. Ron realizes a commercial opportunity, and finds a business partner in willowy cross-dresser Rayon (Jared Leto). When the authorities keep cracking down on their trade, savvy Ron takes a cue from gay activists in Manhattan and creates a law evading "buyers club" in which members pay monthly dues rather than paying directly for pharmaceutical goods. It's a tale that the scenarists (Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack) and director steep in deep Texan atmospherics, and while it takes itself seriously when and where it ought, Dallas Buyers Club is a movie whose frequent, entertaining jauntiness is based in that most American value: get-rich-quick entrepreneurship. (1:58) California, Embarcadero. (Harvey)
Endless Love Just about everything about this very, very loose rework of the 1981 Franco Zeffirelli schmaltzathon-slash-cinematic stab at Scott Spencer's well-regarded novel — apart from Alex Pettyfer's infallible chest — is endlessly laughable. The Zeffirelli effort was dedicated to the nation's sexualization of all things Brooke Shields, with an added Reagan-era rebuff of perceived loosey-goosey boomer mores. Mixed messages, certainly, but that was a different time and place, and instead of viewing youthful sexual obsession-cum-romance as an almost-anarchic force of nature, threatening life, limb, and everything we hold dear, this venture defuses much of that dangerous passion and turns it all into a fairly weak broth of watered-down Romeo and Juliet. Here, Jade (Gabriella Wilde) is the privileged, golden-girl bookworm who has no social life — her family, headed by control-freak doctor dad (Bruce Greenwood), has been preoccupied with the care and finally passing of her beloved, cancer-striken brother. Enter hunky po' boy David (Pettyfer), who finds a way into a lonely girl's heart, with, natch, his social savvy and fulsome pecs. Standing in the way of endless love? A great medical internship for Jade and a bossy pants father who worked very hard to get that internship for her. Pfft. Love finds its work-around amid those low stakes, and we're all left marveling at Wilde's posh, coltishly thin limbs and Pettyfer's depthless dimples. (1:44) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Chun)
Frozen (1:48) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness, Shattuck.
Gloria The titular figure in Sebastian Lelio's film is a Santiago divorcee and white collar worker (Paulina Garcia) pushing 60, living alone in a condo apartment — well, almost alone, since like Inside Llewyn Davis, this movie involves the frequent, unwanted company of somebody else's cat. (That somebody is an upstairs neighbor whose solo wailings against cruel fate disturb her sleep.) Her two children are grown up and preoccupied with their adult lives. Not quite ready for the glue factory yet, Gloria often goes to a disco for the "older crowd," dancing by herself if she has to, but still hoping for some romantic prospects. She gets them in the form of Rodolfo (Sergio Hernandez), who's more recently divorced but gratifyingly infatuated with her. Unfortunately, he's also let his daughters and ex-wife remain ominously dependent on him, not just financially but in every emotional crisis that affects their apparently crisis-filled lives. The extent to which Gloria lets him into her life is not reciprocated, and she becomes increasingly aware how distant her second-place priority status is whenever Rodolfo's other loved ones snap their fingers. There's not a lot of plot but plenty of incident and insight to this character study, a portrait of a "spinster" that neither slathers on the sentimental uplift or piles on melodramatic victimizations. Instead, Gloria is memorably, satisfyingly just right. (1:50) Embarcadero, Smith Rafael. (Harvey)
Gravity "Life in space is impossible," begins Gravity, the latest from Alfonso Cuarón (2006's Children of Men). Egghead Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is well aware of her precarious situation after a mangled satellite slams into her ship, then proceeds to demolition-derby everything (including the International Space Station) in its path. It's not long before she's utterly, terrifyingly alone, and forced to unearth near-superhuman reserves of physical and mental strength to survive. Bullock's performance would be enough to recommend Gravity, but there's more to praise, like the film's tense pacing, spare-yet-layered script (Cuarón co-wrote with his son, Jonás), and spectacular 3D photography — not to mention George Clooney's warm supporting turn as a career astronaut who loves country music almost as much as he loves telling stories about his misadventures. (1:31) Metreon, Presidio. (Eddy)
The Great Beauty The latest from Paolo Sorrentino (2008's Il Divo) arrives as a high-profile contender for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, already annointed a masterpiece in some quarters, and duly announcing itself as such in nearly every grandiose, aesthetically engorged moment. Yes, it seems to say, you are in the presence of this auteur's masterpiece. But it's somebody else's, too. The problem isn't just that Fellini got there first, but that there's room for doubt whether Sorrentino's homage actually builds on or simply imitates its model. La Dolce Vita (1960) and 8 1/2 (1963) are themselves swaying, jerry-built monuments, exhileratingly messy and debatably profound. But nothing quite like them had been seen before, and they did define a time of cultural upheaval — when traditional ways of life were being plowed under by a loud, moneyed, heedless modernity that for a while chose Rome as its global capital. Sorrentino announces his intention to out-Fellini Fellini in an opening sequence so strenuously flamboyant it's like a never-ending pirouette performed by a prima dancer with a hernia. There's statuary, a women's choral ensemble, an on-screen audience applauding the director's baffled muse Toni Servillo, standing in for Marcello Mastroianni — all this and more in manic tracking shots and frantic intercutting, as if sheer speed alone could supply contemporary relevancy. Eventually The Great Beauty calms down a bit, but still its reason for being remains vague behind the heavy curtain of "style." (2:22) Opera Plaza. (Harvey)
Her Morose and lonely after a failed marriage, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) drifts through an appealingly futuristic Los Angeles (more skyscrapers, less smog) to his job at a place so hipster-twee it probably will exist someday: beautifulhandwrittenletters.com, where he dictates flowery missives to a computer program that scrawls them onto paper for paying customers. Theodore's scripting of dialogue between happy couples, as most of his clients seem to be, only enhances his sadness, though he's got friends who care about him (in particular, Amy Adams as Amy, a frumpy college chum) and he appears to have zero money woes, since his letter-writing gig funds a fancy apartment equipped with a sweet video-game system. Anyway, women are what gives Theodore trouble — and maybe by extension, writer-director Spike Jonze? — so he seeks out the ultimate gal pal: Samantha, an operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson in the year's best disembodied performance. Thus begins a most unusual relationship, but not so unusual; Theodore's friends don't take any issue with the fact that his new love is a machine. Hey, in Her's world, everyone's deeply involved with their chatty, helpful, caring, always-available OS — why wouldn't Theo take it to the next level? Inevitably, of course, complications arise. If Her's romantic arc feels rather predictable, the film acquits itself in other ways, including boundlessly clever production-design touches that imagine a world with technology that's (mostly) believably evolved from what exists today. Also, the pants they wear in the future? Must be seen to be believed. (2:00) Four Star, 1000 Van Ness, Piedmont, SF Center, Shattuck, Sundance Kabuki. (Eddy)
In Secret Zola's much-adapted 1867 novel Thérèse Raquin is the source for this rather tepid period melodrama with Elizabeth Olsen as that character, dumped by the seafaring father she never sees again on the doorstep of a joyless aunt (Jessica Lange). The latter pretty much forces Thérèse to eventually marry her own son, sickly Camille (Tom Felton), and even a move to Paris does little to brighten our heroine's dreary existence. Until, that is, she meets Camille's contrastingly virile office coworker Laurent (Oscar Isaac), with whom she's soon more-or-less graphically doing all the sweaty sexy thangs Zola could only hint at. When their passion becomes more than they can bear maintaining "in secret," they find themselves considering murder as one way out. The original author's clever plot mechanizations create some suspense in the late going. But despite good performances around her, Olsen doesn't make her heroine very interesting, and director-adaptor Charlie Stratton is all too faithful to the depressing nature of this classic tale — visually the film too often seems to be crouching beneath a heavy, damp cloak, proud to be saving on candle wax. (1:47) Shattuck, Sundance Kabuki. (Harvey)
The Lego Movie (1:41) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness, Presidio, SF Center.
Like Father, Like Son A yuppie Tokyo couple are raising their only child in workaholic dad's image, applying the pressure to excel at an early age. Imagine their distress when the hospital phones with some unpleasant news: It has only just been learned that a nurse mixed up their baby with another, with the result that both families have been raising the "wrong" children these six years. Polite, forced interaction with the other clan — a larger nuclear unit as warm, disorganized, and financially hapless as the first is formal, regimented and upwardly mobile — reveals that both sides have something to learn about parenting. This latest from Japanese master Hirokazu Koreeda (1998's After Life, 2004's Nobody Knows, 2008's Still Walking) is, as usual, low-key, beautifully observed, and in the end deeply moving. (2:01) Shattuck. (Harvey)
The Monuments Men The phrase "never judge a book by its cover" goes both ways. On paper, The Monuments Men — inspired by the men who recovered art stolen by the Nazis during World War II, and directed by George Clooney, who co-wrote and stars alongside a sparkling ensemble cast (Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh "Earl of Grantham" Bonneville, and Bill Fucking Murray) — rules. Onscreen, not so much. After they're recruited to join the cause, the characters fan out across France and Germany following various leads, a structural choice that results in the film's number one problem: it can't settle on a tone. Men can't decide if it wants to be a sentimental war movie (as in an overlong sequence in which Murray's character weeps at the sound of his daughter's recorded voice singing "White Christmas"); a tragic war movie (some of those marquee names die, y'all); a suspenseful war movie (as the men sneak into dangerous territory with Michelangelo on their minds); or a slapstick war comedy (look out for that land mine!) The only consistent element is that the villains are all one-note — and didn't Inglourious Basterds (2009) teach us that nothing elevates a 21st century-made World War II flick like an eccentric bad guy? There's one perfectly executed scene, when reluctant partners Balaban and Murray discover a trove of priceless paintings hidden in plain sight. One scene, out of a two-hour movie, that really works. The rest is a stitched-together pile of earnest intentions that suggests a complete lack of coherent vision. Still love you, Clooney, but you can do better — and this incredible true story deserved way better. (1:58) California, Marina, 1000 Van Ness, Piedmont, SF Center, Sundance Kabuki. (Eddy)
Nebraska Alexander Payne may be unique at this point in that he's in a position of being able to make nothing but small, human, and humorous films with major-studio money on his own terms. It's hazardous to make too much of a movie like Nebraska, because it is small — despite the wide Great Plains landscapes shot in a wide screen format — and shouldn't be entered into with overinflated or otherwise wrong-headed expectations. Still, a certain gratitude is called for. Nebraska marks the first time Payne and his writing partner Jim Taylor weren't involved in the script, and the first one since their 1996 Citizen Ruth that isn't based on someone else's novel. (Hitherto little-known Bob Nelson's original screenplay apparently first came to Payne's notice a decade ago, but getting put off in favor of other projects.) It could easily have been a novel, though, as the things it does very well (internal thought, sense of place, character nuance) and the things it doesn't much bother with (plot, action, dialogue) are more in line with literary fiction than commercial cinema. Elderly Woody T. Grant (Bruce Dern) keeps being found grimly trudging through snow and whatnot on the outskirts of Billings, Mont., bound for Lincoln, Neb. Brain fuzzed by age and booze, he's convinced he's won a million dollars and needs to collect it him there, though eventually it's clear that something bigger than reality — or senility, even — is compelling him to make this trek. Long-suffering younger son David (Will Forte) agrees to drive him in order to simply put the matter to rest. This fool's mission acquires a whole extended family-full of other fools when father and son detour to the former's podunk farming hometown. Nebraska has no moments so funny or dramatic they'd look outstanding in excerpt; low-key as they were, 2009's Sideways and 2011's The Descendants had bigger set pieces and narrative stakes. But like those movies, this one just ambles along until you realize you're completely hooked, all positive emotional responses on full alert. (1:55) Opera Plaza, Piedmont, Shattuck. (Harvey)
Omar Palestine's contender for Best Foreign Language Film is a mighty strong one, with a top-notch script and direction by previous nominee Hany Abu-Assad (2006's Paradise Now). After he's captured following the shooting of an Israeli soldier, the titular freedom fighter (a compelling Adam Bakri) is given an unsavory choice by his handler (Waleed F. Zuaiter): rot in jail for 90 years, or become an informant (or "collaborator") and rat out his co-conspirators. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Omar is in love with Nadia (Leem Lubany, blessed with a thousand-watt smile), the younger sister of his lifelong friend, Tarek (Iyad Hoorani), who planned the attack. Betrayals are imminent, but who will come out ahead, and at what price? Shot with gritty urgency — our hero is constantly on the run, ducking down alleys, scaling walls, scrambling across rooftops, sliding down drainpipes, etc. — Omar brings authenticity to its embattled characters and setting. A true thriller, right up until the last shot. (1:38) Clay, Shattuck. (Eddy)
"Oscar Nominated Short Films 2014: Animated" Five nominees — plus a trio of "highly commended" additional selections — fill this program. If you saw Frozen in the theater, you've seen Get a Horse!, starring old-timey Mickey Mouse and some very modern moviemaking techniques. There's also Room on the Broom, based on a children's book about a kindly witch who's a little too generous when it comes to befriending outcast animals (much to the annoyance of her original companion, a persnickety cat). Simon Pegg narrates, and Gillian Anderson voices the red-headed witch; listen also for Mike Leigh regulars Sally Hawkins and Timothy Spall. Japanese Possessions is based on even older source material: a spooky legend that discarded household objects can gain the power to cause mischief. A good-natured fix-it man ducks into an abandoned house during a rainstorm, only to be confronted with playful parasols, cackling kimono fabric, and a dragon constructed out of kitchen junk. The most artistically striking nominee is Feral, a dialogue-free, impressionistic tale of a foundling who resists attempts to civilize him. But my top pick is another dialogue-free entry: Mr. Hublot, the steampunky tale of an inventor whose regimented life is thrown into disarray when he adopts a stray robot dog, which soon grows into a comically enormous companion. It's cute without being cloying, and the universe it creates around its characters is cleverly detailed, right down to the pictures on Hublot's walls. Embarcadero, Shattuck. (Eddy)
"Oscar Nominated Short Films 2014: Live Action" With the exception of one entry — wryly comedic The Voorman Problem, starring Sherlock's Martin Freeman as a prison doctor who has a most unsettling encounter with an inmate who believes he's a god — children are a unifying theme among this year's live-action nominees. Finnish Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?, the shortest in the bunch, follows a cheerfully sloppy family's frantic morning as they scramble to get themselves to a wedding. Danish Helium skews a little sentimental in its tale of a hospital janitor who makes up stories about a fanciful afterlife (way more fun than heaven) for the benefit of a sickly young patient. Spanish That Wasn't Me focuses on a different kind of youth entirely: a child soldier in an unnamed African nation, whose brutal encounter with a pair of European doctors leads him down an unexpected path. Though it feels more like a sequence lifted from a longer film rather than a self-contained short, French Just Before Losing Everything is the probably the strongest contender here. The tale of a woman (Léa Drucker) who decides to take her two children and leave her dangerously abusive husband, it unfolds with real-time suspense as she visits her supermarket job one last time to deal with mundane stuff (collecting her last paycheck, turning in her uniform) before the trio can flee to safety. If they gave out Oscars for short-film acting, Drucker would be tough to beat; her performance balances steely determination and extreme fear in equally hefty doses. Embarcadero, Shattuck. (Eddy)
"Oscar Nominated Short Films 2014: Documentary (presented in two separata programs)" Opera Plaza.
The Past Splits in country, culture, and a harder-to-pinpoint sense of morality mark The Past, the latest film by Asghar Farhadi, the first Iranian moviemaker to win an Oscar (for 2011's A Separation.) At the center of The Past's onion layers is a seemingly simple divorce of a binational couple, but that act becomes more complicated — and startlingly compelling — in Farhadi's capable, caring hands. Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) has returned to Paris from Tehran, where he's been living for the past four years, at the request of French wife Marie (Bérénice Bejo of 2011's The Artist). She wants to legalize their estrangement so she can marry her current boyfriend, Samir (Tahar Rahim of 2009's A Prophet), whose wife is in a coma. But she isn't beyond giving out mixed messages by urging Ahmad to stay with her, and her daughters by various fathers, rather than at a hotel — and begging him to talk to teen Lucie (Pauline Burlet), who seems to despise Samir. The warm, nurturing Ahmad falls into his old routine in Marie's far-from-picturesque neighborhood, visiting a café owned by fellow Iranian immigrants and easily taking over childcare duties for the overwhelmed Marie, as he tries to find out what's happening with Lucie, who's holding onto a secret that could threaten Marie's efforts to move on. The players here are all wonderful, in particular the sad-faced, humane Mosaffa. We never really find out what severed his relationship with Marie, but in the end, it doesn't really matter. We care about, and end up fearing for, all of Farhadi's everyday characters, who are observed with a tender and unsentimental understanding that US filmmakers could learn from. The effect, when he finally racks focus on the forgotten member of this triangle (or quadrilateral?), is heartbreaking. (2:10) Albany. (Chun)
Philomena Judi Dench gives this twist on a real-life scandal heart, soul, and a nuanced, everyday heft. Her ideal, ironic foil is Steve Coogan, playing an upper-crusty irreverent snob of an investigative journalist. Judging by her tidy exterior, Dench's title character is a perfectly ordinary Irish working-class senior, but she's haunted by the past, which comes tumbling out one day to her daughter: As an unwed teenager, she gave birth to a son at a convent. She was forced to work there, unpaid; as supposed penance, the baby was essentially sold to a rich American couple against her consent. Her yarn reaches disgraced reporter Martin Sixsmith (Coogan), who initially turns his nose up at the tale's piddling "human interest" angle, but slowly gets drawn in by the unexpected twists and turns of the story — and likely the possibility of taking down some evil nuns — as well as seemingly naive Philomena herself, with her delight in trash culture, frank talk about sex, and simple desire to see her son and know that he thought, once in a while, of her. It turns out Philomena's own sad narrative has as many improbable turnarounds as one of the cheesy romance novels she favors, and though this unexpected twosome's quest for the truth is strenuously reworked to conform to the contours of buddy movie-road trip arc that we're all too familiar with, director Stephen Frears' warm, light-handed take on the gentle class struggles going on between the writer and his subject about who's in control of the story makes up for Philomena's determined quest for mass appeal. (1:35) Albany, Embarcadero, Sundance Kabuki. (Chun)
Pompeii There's not a single original idea in Resident Evil series prolonger Paul W.S. Anderson's take on the legendary volcanic eruption, but what did you expect? Among its cast, only Kiefer Sutherland (as a lasciviously evil Roman senator) seems to be enjoying himself, camping it up alongside deeply serious young leads Emily Browning and Kit Harington. The mop-topped Game of Thrones stud doesn't expand his brooding act beyond what we've seen him do in Westeros — though it's likely he expanded his workout routine, what with all the muscular emoting he gets to do in the gladiator ring. The tissue-thin plot involves forbidden romance, revenge, a couple of swipes at big-city corruption, and male bonding 'twixt Harington and Lost's Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who brings a certain amount of gravitas to his one-dimensional slave character. But the film's most interesting player is giant Mount Vesuvius, which grumbles in the background as it readies for its big scene — reassuring the audience that deadly chunks will eventually spew all over this mediocre movie and hasten its necessary conclusion. (1:45) 1000 Van Ness, SF Center. (Eddy)
The Pretty One Examined from a certain remove, the premise of writer-director Jenée LaMarque's first feature is a pretty bizarre exercise in wish fulfillment. Zoe Kazan plays a pair of identical twins who, if you swirled their DNA together, would make up one pretty decent manic pixie dream girl, but separate out into perfectly drawn foils: awkward, stay-at-home oddball Laurel and LA professional hipster Audrey — aka the pretty one, who left their small hometown while Laurel hung back to look after their father in the long wake of their mother's death. Laurel is clearly stuck. But it's unfortunate that it takes a fiery car wreck that kills Audrey and leaves her body burned beyond recognition, while flinging Laurel to safety, to get her to move forward — which she does by letting everyone believe that she died and taking on Audrey's identity, as well as her job, her BFF, the mortgage payments on her two-unit bungalow in L.A., and her tenant, scruffy charmer Basel (New Girl's Jake Johnson). Turning these circumstances into romantic comedy gold doesn't sound likely. But in LaMarque's sweet, funny, slightly off-center film, the oddity of the situation begins to give way, or rather to make some room for an odd girl to fumble around in. The glare of the artifice dims a bit, revealing a peculiar, affecting manifestation of grief and loss. And while LaMarque cuts a few corners in steering her protagonist toward a life of her own, Laurel and Basel's engaging, comic rapport, as they begin keeping company, is pleasurable to watch. (1:30) Metreon. (Rapoport)
Ride Along By sheer dint of his ability to push his verbosity and non-threatening physicality into that nerd zone between smart and clueless, intelligent and irritating, Kevin Hart may be poised to become Hollywood's new comedy MVP. In the case of Ride Along, it helps that Ice Cube has comic talents, too — proven in the Friday movies as well as in 2012's 21 Jump Street — as the straight man who can actually scowl and smile at the same time. Together, in Ride Along, they bring the featherweight pleasures of Rush Hour-style odd-couple chortles. Hart is Ben, a gamer geek and school security guard shooting to become the most wrinkly student at the police academy. He looks up to hardened, street-smart cop James (Cube), brother of his new fiancée, Angela (Tika Sumpter). Naturally, instead of simply blessing the nuptials, the tough guy decides to haze the shut-in, disabusing him of any illusions he might have of being his equal. More-than-equal talents like Laurence Fishburne and John Leguizamo are pretty much wasted here — apart from Fishburne's ultra lite impression of Matrix man Morpheus — but if you don't expect much more than the chuckles eked out of Ride Along's commercials, you won't be too disappointed by this nontaxing journey. (1:40) Metreon. (Chun)
RoboCop Truly, there was no need to remake 1987's RoboCop, Paul Verhoeven's smart, biting sci-fi classic that deploys heaps of stealth satire beneath its ultraviolent imagery. But the inevitable do-over is here, and while it doesn't improve on what came before, it's not a total lost cause, either. Thank Brazilian filmmaker José Padilha, whose thrilling Elite Squad films touch on similar themes of corruption (within police, political, and media realms), and some inspired casting, including Samuel L. Jackson as the uber-conservative host of a futuristic talk show. Though the suit that restores life to fallen Detroit cop Alex Murphy is, naturally, a CG wonder, the guy inside the armor — played by The Killing's Joel Kinnaman — is less dynamic. In fact, none of the characters, even those portrayed by actors far more lively than Kinnaman (Michael Keaton, Gary Oldman, Jackie Earle Haley), are developed beyond the bare minimum required to serve RoboCop's plot, a mixed-message glob of dirty cops, money-grubbing corporations, the military-industrial complex, and a few too many "Is he a man…or a machine?" moments. But in its favor: Though it's PG-13 (boo), it's also shot in 2D (yay). (1:50) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Eddy)
Stranger by the Lake Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) is an attractive young French guy spending his summer days hanging at the local gay beach, where he strikes up a platonic friendship with chunky older loner Henri (Patrick d'Assumcao). Still, the latter is obviously hurt when Franck practically gets whiplash neck swiveling at the sight of Michel (Christophe Paou), an old-school gay fantasy figure — think Sam Elliott in 1976's Lifeguard, complete with Marlboro Man 'stache and twinkling baby blues. No one else seems to be paying attention when Franck sees his lust object frolicking in the surf with an apparent boyfriend, one that doesn't surface again after some playful "dunking" gets rather less playful. Eventually the police come around in the form of Inspector Damroder (Jerome Chappatte), but Franck stays mum — he isn't sure what exactly he saw. Or maybe it's that he's quite sure he's happy how things turned out, now that sex-on-wheels Michel is his sorta kinda boyfriend. You have to suspend considerable disbelief to accept that our protagonist would risk potentially serious danger for what seems pretty much a glorified fuck-buddy situation. But Alain Guiraudie's meticulously schematic thriller- which limits all action to the terrain between parking lot and shore, keeping us almost wholly ignorant of the characters' regular lives — repays that leap with an absorbing, ingenious structural rigor. Stranger is Hitchcockian, all right, even if the "Master of Suspense" might applaud its technique while blushing at its blunt homoeroticism. (1:37) Four Star. (Harvey)
That Awkward Moment When these bro-mancers call each other "idiots," which they do repeatedly, it's awkward all right, because that descriptor hits all too close to home. Jason (Zac Efron) and Daniel (Miles Teller) are douchey book-marketing boy geniuses, with all the ego and fratty attitude needed to dispense bad advice and push doctor friend Mikey (Michael B. Jordan), whose wife recently broke it off after an affair with her lawyer, into an agreement to play the field — no serious dating allowed. The pretext: Anything to avoid, yup, that awkward moment when the lady has the temerity to ask, "So — where is this going?" How fortuitous that Jason should run into the smartest, cutest author in NYC (Imogen Poots), all sharp-tongued charisma and sparkling Emma Stone-y cat eyes; that Daniel would get embroiled with his Charlotte Rampling-like wing woman (Mackenzie Davis); and Mikey would edge back into bed with his ex. That's the worst — or best — these tepid lotharios can muster. The education of these numbskulls when it comes to love and lust aspires to the much-edgier self-criticism of Girls — but despite the presence of Fruitvale Station (2013) breakout Jordan and the likable Poots, first-time director Tom Gormican's screenplay lets them down. (1:34) 1000 Van Ness. (Chun)
3 Days to Kill (1:40) Marina, 1000 Van Ness, SF Center.
Tim's Vermeer "I'm not a painter," admits Tim Jenison at the start of Tim's Vermeer. He is, however, an inventor, a technology whiz specializing in video engineering, a self-made multimillionaire, and possessed of astonishing amounts of determination and focus. Add a bone-dry sense of humor and he's the perfect documentary subject for magicians and noted skeptics Penn & Teller, who capture his multi-year quest to "paint a Vermeer." Inspired by artist David Hockney's book Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters, Jenison became interested in the theory that 17th century painters used lenses and mirrors, or a camera obscura, to help create their remarkably realistic works. He was especially taken with Vermeer, feeling a "geek kinship" with someone who was able to apply paint to canvas and make it look like a video image. It took some trial-and-error, but Jenison soon figured out a way that would allow him — someone who barely knew how to hold a brush — to transform an old photograph into a strikingly Vermeer-like oil painting. He decides to recreate The Music Lesson (1662-65), using only materials Vermeer would have had access to, and working from an exact replica of the room in Vermeer's house where the painting was made. A few slow moments aside ("This project is a lot like watching paint dry," Jenison jokes), Tim's Vermeer is otherwise briskly propelled by the insatiable curiosity of the man at its center. And Jenison's finished work offers a clear challenge to anyone who subscribes to the modern notion that "art and technology should never meet." Why shouldn't they, when the end results are so sublime? (1:20) Embarcadero. (Eddy)
12 Years a Slave Pop culture's engagement with slavery has always been uneasy. Landmark 1977 miniseries Roots set ratings records, but the prestigious production capped off a decade that had seen some more questionable endeavors, including 1975 exploitation flick Mandingo — often cited by Quentin Tarantino as one of his favorite films; it was a clear influence on his 2012 revenge fantasy Django Unchained, which approached its subject matter in a manner that paid homage to the Westerns it riffed on: with guns blazing. By contrast, Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave is nuanced and steeped in realism. Though it does contain scenes of violence (deliberately captured in long takes by regular McQueen collaborator Sean Bobbitt, whose cinematography is one of the film's many stylistic achievements), the film emphasizes the horrors of "the peculiar institution" by repeatedly showing how accepted and ingrained it was. Slave is based on the true story of Solomon Northup, an African American man who was sold into slavery in 1841 and survived to pen a wrenching account of his experiences. He's portrayed here by the powerful Chiwetel Ejiofor. Other standout performances come courtesy of McQueen favorite Michael Fassbender (as Epps, a plantation owner who exacerbates what's clearly an unwell mind with copious amounts of booze) and newcomer Lupita Nyong'o, as a slave who attracts Epps' cruel attentions. (2:14) Embarcadero, Four Star, Presidio, Shattuck. (Eddy)
The Wind Rises Hayao Miyazaki announced that Oscar nominee The Wind Rises would be his final film before retiring — though he later amended that declaration, as he's fond of doing, so who knows. At any rate, it'd be a shame if this was the Japanese animation master's final film before retirement; not only does it lack the whimsy of his signature efforts (2001's Spirited Away, 1997's Princess Mononoke), it's been overshadowed by controversy — not entirely surprising, since it's about the life of Jiro Horikoshi, who designed war planes (built by slave labor) in World War II-era Japan. Surprisingly, a pacifist message is established early on; as a young boy, his mother tells him, "Fighting is never justified," and in a dream, Italian engineer Giovanni Caproni assures him "Airplanes are not tools for war." But that statement doesn't last long; Caproni visits Jiro in his dreams as his career takes him from Japan to Germany, where he warns the owlish young designer that "aircraft are destined to become tools for slaughter and destruction." You don't say. A melodramatic romantic subplot injects itself into all the plane-talk on occasion, but — despite all that political hullabaloo — The Wind Rises is more tedious than anything else. (2:06) California, Embarcadero, Sundance Kabuki. (Eddy)
Winter's Tale Adapted from Mark Helprin's fantastical 1983 novel of the same name, but with most of the sense and all of the wonder drained from it, Winter's Tale follows the fortunes of Peter Lake (Colin Farrell), a mechanic turned expert thief on the run from evil incarnate in early-19th-century New York City. Having incurred the wrath of one Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe) — presiding boss of the five boroughs and dedicated minion of Lucifer (Will Smith) — Peter Lake scrapes acquaintance with a magical white horse and then, while burglarizing her mansion home, with a lovely, doomed young consumptive named Beverly (Downton Abbey's Jessica Brown Findlay), with whom he falls in love. A marvelous destiny is much hinted at, and something about the balance of good and evil in the world, but it's hard to connect these exalted bits, or a series of daffy voice-overs by the ethereal Beverly about light and stars and angels' wings, with the tortured plotline. First-time feature director Akiva Goldsman, whose writing and producing credits include A Beautiful Mind (2001), I Am Legend (2007), and the TV show Fringe, has written a screenplay that attempts to rein in Helprin's sprawling, complicated epic — and in doing so, simplifies his tale to the point of nonsensicality. The metaphysics are fuzzy, while the miraculous is so insistently heralded that when we see it, it doesn't leave much of an impression.(1:58) 1000 Van Ness, SF Center. (Rapoport)
The Wolf of Wall Street Three hours long and breathless from start to finish, Martin Scorsese's tale of greed, stock-market fraud, and epic drug consumption has a lot going on — and the whole thing hinges on a bravado, breakneck performance by latter-day Scorsese muse Leonardo DiCaprio. As real-life sleaze Jordan Belfort (upon whose memoir the film is based), he distills all of his golden DiCaprio-ness into a loathsome yet maddeningly likable character who figures out early in his career that being rich is way better than being poor, and that being fucked-up is, likewise, much preferable to being sober. The film also boasts keen supporting turns from Jonah Hill (as Belfort's crass, corrupt second-in-command), Matthew McConaughey (who has what amounts to a cameo — albeit a supremely memorable one — as Belfort's coke-worshiping mentor), Jean Dujardin (as a slick Swiss banker), and newcomer Margot Robbie (as Belfort's cunning trophy wife). But this is primarily the Leo and Marty Show, and is easily their most entertaining episode to date. Still, don't look for an Oscar sweep: Scorsese just hauled huge for 2011's Hugo, and DiCaprio's flashy turn will likely be passed over by voters more keen on honoring subtler work in a shorter film. (2:59) 1000 Van Ness, SF Center, Shattuck, Sundance Kabuki. (Eddy) *


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LI people on the move, Feb. 7, 2013
Scott J. Goldberg has joined CBIZ in Manhattan as managing director. He joins the accounting services practice group with a specialization in nonprofit services. The Cedarhurst resident was previously a principal in the audit department at accounting and consulting firm Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra in Manhattan.
A.J. Caro has been appointed to the Long Island Community Foundation's board of advisers. The Smithtown resident is chief executive of Arrow Security in Bohemia.
Douglas Elliman Real Estate welcomes three new licensed sales agents to their team in the Roslyn office.
Malia Guercia previously held a similar position at Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes in Woodbury and is a resident of East Norwich.
Alexandra Mikhaylova previously held a similar position at Realty Executives in Oceanside and is a resident of Great Neck.
Staci Tucker was previously an account executive for Liz Claiborne in Manhattan and is a resident of Roslyn.


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A month ago on the 4 & 5 August 2012, the Science Centre Singapore organised the inaugural Singapore Mini Maker Faire.
It was a bang. We had over 20 maker booths, 6 vendors, two fully packed days of workshops and talks, plus lots of visitors.
The venue was packed and activity-filled.
Everybody were full of anticipation; the organisers to see the birth of the inaugural event here in Singapore, the makers to showcase their makes, the volunteers to be part of the team, and the visitors to find out what a Maker Faire is all about. Some were even keen "followers" of the Maker Faire culture in the United States and were all excited about it. Overall, it was all excitment in the air.
The event was launched by Professor Lim Tit Meng, Chief Executive, Science Centre Singapore.
The launch was truly amazing, not only because it was done with an in-house confetti cannon launch mechanism, but because of the warm spirit in the air. Everybody crowded enthusiastically near the stage and it felt like a countdown to a family party.
The launch was also nicely accompanied with the impromptu launch music by Jolyon, one of our Makers! 🙂
Personally, I think it was an eye-opening experience. It felt as if I were at a country carnival. Every booth was fun and interesting. You can find ingenious makes and concepts, and you can find the gadgets that you need to do the same thing!
You get to produce music using bananas (with the use of the makey-makey), see a blimp fly all over the hall, see water rockets shooting all over the place just outside the hall and many others. More photos are available on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/SingaporeMiniMakerFaire.
Before the event even started, many of you were already busy tweeting and posting Facebook posts about it. Thanks to all your active participation, the event even caught the interest of some local papers and some of the makers were interviewed.
It was an enjoyable two days. Thanks to you, the first ever Singapore Mini Maker Faire had indeed made ourselves heard. If we were not "loud" enough for you this year, come help us make the event "louder" the next time round!
P.S:- Did the Faire inspire you to make something? Did you embark on any project after that? I did, and you can read about it here. Cheers.


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Downtown Lake Oswego
Lake Oswego's Downtown is a beautiful, walkable lakefront business district with an estimated 747,000 square feet of ground floor space with specialty shopping, dining, and entertainment, as well as office and service uses. Located along State Street (Highway 43) and between A to B Avenues from 6th Street to State, downtown has several connected nodes.
- Lake View Village, at State and A, is a mixed-use redevelopment with several restaurants and local and national specialty retailers including Sur la Table and Chico's.
- Oswego Village is an 86,000 square foot center on State Street just south of A Avenue. Anchored by Whole Foods 365 Market and Ace True Value Hardware, it includes a mix of food-related and specialty retail shops.
- Lake Place shopping center, further south along State Street, adds Petco, U.S. Bank, and small specialty and service businesses to the downtown mix.
- Civic and community uses include City Hall and a fire station, the post office, the Lakewood Center for the Arts, the Gallery Without Walls, and the Lake Oswego Public Library in the adjacent First Addition neighborhood.
- Downtown's Millenium Park is home to the popular Farmers' Market and many community and entertainment events throughout the year.
Lake Oswego Retail Market Analysis
Other Materials:


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Undo the back button and keyhole fastening and slip on the Summer Nebula Jersey Mix Dress for a statement style that will get you noticed in the sun. The sleeves and back are made from breathable jersey, to survive in the hottest of heats, whilst the woven front is printed all-over with a feel-good print.
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Credit where it's due: This was the first Joel and Julia storyline in a while that didn't make me want to stab things at least once during its running time. You know how the two are kind of smugly superior to everybody else, and when the show tries to make them own it somehow, it mostly just makes them more annoying? Somehow, that all got tossed on its ear in tonight's episode, when the two realized that they were raising a spoiled brat who didn't know how to lose after Sydney threw a giant tantrum after losing at a game of Charades. (Again, that I can write this sentence like I might breathlessly recount Tony Soprano whacking a guy is one of the reasons I love covering this show.) Joel beat his daughter at a game of Candy Land, and it got even worse, as he finally had to lock her in her room after she smacked him around a little bit. (Not gonna lie: That scene was awesome.) Then, Joel has Julia take over sitting outside Syd's room while she tells him all of the ways he's failed her, and the whole thing ends with Julia drinking wine out of a drinking glass and the two talking shit about their kid. It's awesome.
But here's something: This is the halfway point of this season. No, really! There are only 18 episodes ordered for this season, and the season finale will air February 28! While last season concluded with four episodes that seemed completely tacked on so this could end up being a good thing, doesn't it also kind of feel like there hasn't been much of a build this season at all? Things are just sort of happening, and while there have been some tremendous, tremendous storylines and moments this season—like Alex and Haddie's break-up or the episode where Nora was born—the whole thing feels sort of scattered at present. It's working very well on the episode-by-episode level, so I'm not going to complain too much. But when this show is working well, it's both telling those smaller stories and slowly building much larger ones. Then again, it took last season a while to get to that point, so maybe I'm being alarmist. Still, it does feel like that's what the season's missing.
Other than that persistent, nagging worry, though, I was kind of into everything in this episode. I think that we're supposed to see Rachel kissing Adam as a huge moment that could ruin everything. And I guess it kind of is, since I can't imagine Kristina not wanting Rachel gone once she finds out about it and it's inappropriate workplace behavior and all that. Yes, Rachel is the reason Gavin's so down with renting out the studio for a whole month, so her kissing Adam would jeopardize that as well, particularly if he had to let her go. But at the same time, do we really believe that she's going to come between Adam and Kristina, that he'll run off with her or something? Of course not, and I wouldn't want this show to be that show. But then the flipside has to be the case, and we really have to believe that if Adam and Crosby fire Rachel, there will be serious consequences. But do any of us really think that if Rachel goes, Gavin will withdraw his contract, and Crosby and Adam will have to hustle? Has there ever been a chance the Luncheonette would fail?
One of the problems with the Luncheonette storyline has been just how easy everything is. Crosby gets a half-assed idea, and a few weeks later, he and Adam are on the verge of owning the best studio in the Bay Area. Maybe that's realistic (I somehow doubt it), but there's been a weird lack of stakes in this storyline. Maybe we'll learn next week that even with the spurt of good luck, the two are barely breaking even. And certainly losing a client for a month would be a big deal. But the only tension here comes from the idea, I think, that Rachel is all loose and free and easy, and Kristina's kind of high-strung and just had a baby and isn't ready for sex. But, again, this just isn't the kind of show where Adam would cheat on Kristina.
And, see, I liked this episode quite a bit, and here I am bitching about things because I'm an awful person. I continue to like Sarah's season of letting go, as she's forced to consider the fact that both of her kids have grown up and don't need her as much as they once did. The scene where she admitted to Drew that he's old enough to understand the consequences of not getting good grades so, sure, he could still see Amy was a highlight of the episode, and I liked the way it tied in with how Joel and Julia realized that their daughter wasn't all that grown up just yet. (I love when the show subtly parallels the actual storylines about parenting.) I also liked that the storyline worked in Camille in everybody's favorite spinoff, Bonnie Bedalia Spends Her Time, as she got mad at Sarah for making her play watchdog to Drew. The Sarah storyline definitely feels like it's had at least a slight build this season, and I like that she's still figuring out a way to let her kids go and work her way through the issues she has stemming from how her marriage ended.
What else happened? Crosby and Rachel attempted to star in the Northern Californian remake of Once, and he seemed suitably baffled that she wasn't falling for his charms. (The scene where Adam tried to explain to him why this was unprofessional was fun.) Zeek ran all the way over to Joel and Julia's house to tell them they were raising their daughter poorly, then beat Sydney in chess so we could all see that she'd learned her lesson and was able to congratulate him on a good game. When the episode was over, my wife made me watch Toddlers & Tiaras, and the difference between the two shows was stark, yo.
Oh, and we got to see just why Adam's so crazy about his wife, when she figured out that the kids on his math bowl team weren't impressed by Max's skills but, rather, making fun of his mannerisms and methods. It must be a crushing realization to figure out that kids are being mean to your kid when your kid thinks they're just trying to be friends with you. (I've been there, Max.) Watching Kristina's slow-boiling fury was great, and I thought the show made the best use of Monica Potter that it has in a while when she chewed out Lewis, Max's nerd bully, who stared at her unwittingly and was terrified by the notion that he lived in a just world, where if he dared say anything bad to a Braverman, it would be revisited upon him and then some. Parenthood walks that fine line between realism—God, my kid's a sore loser, too!—and wish fulfillment—who wouldn't want to tell off their kid's bully with impunity? Sometimes, it screws that walk up, but when it does, as it did in the two highlight storylines of tonight, it's both a lot of fun and hugely satisfying.
Stray observations:
- Parenting pro-tip: How do you let your kid win at Candy Land? Isn't that just all about the luck of the draw and, thus, the perfect game to teach kids about colors, gracefully losing, and the magic candy gods who dictate our every move?
- Braverman of the week: Jabbar. He mostly just turned up to stand there and watch Sydney play chess, but that was some intense watching, man. It was awesome.
- I completely want to play Braverman Charades. I also have to believe that Joel really would be able to somehow convey "Gattaca" using only frantic hand gestures.


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185lb rider solid 20 mph wind 3rd 4 hour session.
Build quality: absolutely stunning quality as usual for Core.
Big one pump valve is excellent for fill and deflate. Easiest one pump to deflate which is a huge improvent for one pump. Inflate is always great with one pump but the dreaded deflate is no longer dreaded with this system as struts deflate easily as well. Awesome!!!!
Bridles: all sleeved bridle for long lasting line and a line guide rather than pulley on primary bridle. Great safety and long lasting durability.
In Flight with front line attached on front pick off for direct handling and more pop.
Rear pick off on stock middle setting and on 3rd knot closest to kite, full power.
1st off bar pressure is absolutely the best combo of light/ med with excellent bar feedback and intuitive connection to kite. Standing on land in 20mph turn and sheet in and get your first paraglide session. Amazing lift and float from a stand still.
Kite turning: Wow! Really fast kite with quick response and precise, no lag when cranking a turn . The ability to control turn speed for kite loops is brilliant. Good traction through the turn for powered turns and even pull through the kite loop. Turning improvement on this model is very noticeably improved!!! I personally think it is just right. I tried the back line rear setting for fastest turning on middle knot and found the kite to have noticeably less bar pressure and less traction in the turn perfect for quick turning on a wave without pulling you off your board. Great wave setting. But not an all around setting I think for all around the middle rear attachment on middle knot is totally perfect for freestyle/freeride and wave. The kite feedback and intuitive connection is better on the middle back line connection and top/3rd knot fully powered in light or heavy wind.
Low end power: I flew the GT for 3 years the riot xr for 1year and now the GTS for a season. The Xr2 is a beautiful change from the xr1. And feels like totally different kite. Higher aspect, more open canopy, and more precise, fast accurate steering and noticeable difference on kite settings. Not the same low grunty tug you feel with GT and XR1, but quick power build in light wind from fast apparent wind development with an better upwind pull in light wind. 12 knot low end at 185lb is no problem and once your moving no need to sign the kite except if you want to speed up and park again. Very impressive sustained apparent wind once speed is developed over the water. 15mph and jumping with good float and nice light wind freestyle/kiteloops. At 20mph Jumps huge and best float of all core kites. So easy to jump!!! Like any core kite is, but this one is so easy to jump and control your hangtime.
Anyone will feel comfortable strait away on this kite super stable, tunable, fun kite that really does everything well. The 10m is a one kite quiver for me with shinn monk 135x42 and spleen zone 159x43. Getting started at 12kts no problem, fun jumps starting at 15kts, and hanging on at 35 kts was quit fun. Second time on kite it was gusting to 30k-35kts and others were going in on a 9m this kite was brilliant and easy to control, but definately overpowered at 35kts
Please respond if you have any questions.
BTW: not affiliated with Core, just a diehard core kite fan. This is the # 1 brand in Germany. If you haven't heard of Core, you won't be disappointed if you try.


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Stepping out of the van, the heat hits all of us at the same time, and before we've even made it halfway up the dirt pathway—to where a sprawling, vine-covered Gothic mansion is quietly redefining the word "imposing"—every one of us is starting to sweat. The person guiding us to our destination points, and we all look around a corner to see what appears to be a checkered ballroom set into the center of a topiary garden. Dozens of elaborately-costumed actors and actresses are milling about: some have foot-tall, brightly-colored hairdos, others have their faces covered in intricate makeup jobs, and all of them must be dying in this swampy heat. Just as we're starting to make sense of what it is we're looking at, Jeremy Irons walks by holding a Styrofoam cup of coffee and nods a "Hello" at us.
Earlier this year, I was invited out to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where Warner Bros. and director Richard LaGravenese were bringing the YA novel Beautiful Creatures to life. To say the visit was surreal doesn't quite do it justice, but I'll give it a shot. Meet me after the jump to find out what I learned on the Beautiful Creatures set…and why Warner Bros. might have the next, big Twilight-sized YA hit on their hands.
For someone like me—the kinda guy who has zero interest in the teen-centric supernatural romance sub-genre—Beautiful Creatures doesn't jump out as the sort of project that I'd be in line for on day one. Indeed, a gothic, small-town romance set against the struggle of a centuries-old society of witches (here called "Casters"), Beautiful Creatures sounds like the sort of thing I'd make an effort to avoid on opening day, preferring to leave my seat open for the type of viewer that might have a great appreciation for such entertainment.
But when the offer to visit the Beautiful Creatures set came in earlier this year, I admit to being intrigued: after all, the production had attracted some seriously impressive talent (from acting legends like Jeremy Irons and Margo Martindale to relative newcomers like Emmy Rossum), and that seems to indicate that LaGravenese is building something with a little more substance and pedigree than the average teen supernatural-romance project. Upon our arrival, such indications only became more prevalent: the set design, costuming, and attention to detail we saw on display was astounding, and I walked off that set visit genuinely curious to get a look at the final product. Sure, the genre might not be in my wheelhouse, but what I saw that afternoon made it impossible for me not be a little curious about the film in its "final product" form.
That said, I'm willing to bet that there's a large chunk of the Collider.com readership who still doesn't have Beautiful Creatures on their radar, if only because of the genre it take place in. To be fair, it might turn out that LaGravenese will turn in something that's right in line with the other films and TV shows that take place within the genre, and that we'll all have our most tedious fears re-confirmed by the film…but I'm also willing to bet that if any of these dime-a-dozen supernatural-teen-romance projects that are headed our way over the next few years has a chance to be a crossover hit, it'll be Beautiful Creatures. Here's 15 things I learned on-set that I think will change the minds of the disinterested…and confirm the interest of the true believers and already-faithful.
- First of all, the basic plot here sounds a lot more interesting than the average teen supernatural-romance project. In Beautiful Creatures, Ethan Wate (relative newcomer Alden Ehrenreich) meets—and almost instantly falls in love with—Lena Duchannes (also-newcomer Alice Englert), a "Caster" (read: witch) on the verge of making an important decision regarding her allegiances to an age-old society of similarly empowered beings who live outside the public eye. The film deals with Ethan and Lena's attempts to uncover the troubling history of her extended, supernatural family while juggling their burgeoning romance.
- The makeup and costumes are going to be impressive. When we first arrived on-set (which was about a 45-minute drive outside of Baton Rouge), we were told we'd arrived on a "very exciting" day, and that something big was being filmed. This turned out to be the "Claiming Party" for Alice Englert's character, Lena, and we were all stunned to see how elaborate the costumes were for this sequence: dozens of actors milled about in intricately-designed clothing (some of which seemed to almost defy gravity), each more impressive than the last. It was a total spectacle.
- The sets are going to be even more impressive. The "Claiming Party" was being shot on a portion of property that also included a massive, sprawling gothic mansion. The production had covered this house—which we were told belonged to Jeremy Irons' character, Macon Ravenwood—in vines and distressed shutters, all of which we were surprised to learn hadn't been there before their arrival: it all looked like the real-deal, and was endlessly detailed.
- Alden Ehrenreich tells us his wardrobe is largely standard American-teen fare, but one particular wardrobe change indicates the scope of LaGravenese's film. Says Ehrenreich: "Do I get to wear any cool costumes? No, not like that. Cool, but in a different way–sort of American like western shirts and jeans and sneaker, iconic looking American outfits. I do wear a Civil War uniform at a reenactment. There's a Civil War reenactment. I wear a Confederate Civil War uniform.'
- How does the town of Gatlin view the film's contingent of "Casters"? The screenwriters have thought through how the town might consider living amongst a group of powerful witches. Says Alice Englert: "The town is under the impression that we're satanists, rich, plantation-owning satanists, the sort of stuff you hear ghost stories about. It's only Ethan who discovers that, he's the only human that becomes aware of it."
- Emmy Rossum plays the intriguing, man-manipulating Ridley…and she's dug deep in deciding how to play the character. When asked how she approached the role, Rossum told us: "I modeled her after a Norse goddess I read about".
- Speaking of Emmy Rossum, if you're a red-blooded American male who isn't opposed to the sight of good-looking women on film, you'll have a chance to see Rossum in a variety of hair-colors and provocative clothing styles. On the day we visited the set, Rossum was wearing what could best be described as a "Sexy Jackie O" outfit, and told us that she would appear as a blonde, brunette, and redhead at various points throughout the film.
- Jeremy Irons was an engaged presence on-set, even if that presence was also somewhat intimidating. We didn't get a chance to speak with Irons at length: he kinda greeted us upon arrival, but immediately after he stayed glued to a monitor, watching LaGravenese film the action on the makeshift ballroom floor of the "Claiming Party" whenever he wasn't being called before the camera. Everyone we spoke with expressed—to a greater or lesser degree—being somewhat intimidated by his presence, something it's clear the production hopes translates into his role as Macon Ravenwood.
- There's a good chance Margo Martindale's badass real-life persona will translate on-camera into her character, and that alone is a reason to show up on opening day. If you're at all familiar with character actors/actresses, you know of the award-winning Margo Martindale, and she was a blast to interview on-set. At one point, we asked her what she looks for in a role, and her answer typifies her unique energy: "I look for insanity and drunken behavior, pill pushers, doped slings and cowboys. I like it all kind of twisted."
- LaGravenese has done his homework in finding other films that might inspire this one. For instance, Emmy Rossum told us that Ridley's penchant for sucking on lollipops had been expanded to include an interest in fruit, in a nod to the cherries in The Witches of Eastwick, and she also told us that LaGravenese screened horror movies for the film's two leads prior to the beginning of filming.
- As previously noted, the scope of the film is much bigger than one might expect based on the genre. When asked to discuss some of the bigger set pieces that had been filmed during production, Alice Englert described a Civil War re-enactment that had been filmed at one point: "We've already shot some of that, at Honey Hill, where they're having a reenactment for the Civil War. It gets overtaken by this flashback, where it merges into the actual battle, so you have the reenactment, and then you have the actual soldiers dying. It's quite epic."
- Alden Ehrenreich's first film was with Francis Ford Coppola, and while he relished getting to work on such an esteemed production, he's happy to now be working on something he expects many more people will actually show up for when it opens. When we asked him about taking on this film after making that much smaller one, he said, "Typically genre films like this didn't appeal to me because they just weren't written with the same intelligence and sophisticated as this one is. Yet at the same time, I want to make movies that people see. I wouldn't say I'm satisfied by that 10 people who liked it. I really think that movies are the most popular form of story telling ever and have such a huge impact on culture when they do. So I really want to be a part of those movies that say something good to a lot of people."
- The film may be able to answer lingering questions fans had after reading the book. When we interviewed Margo Martindale, we asked how she compared the two, and she told us, "I think there are things about the book that I had questions about that are answered in the script."
- Director Richard LaGravenese might not be quite a household name at the moment, but he's been involved in two films that Collider.com readers are surely familiar with…and fans of. Pull up LaGravenese's IMDB page, and you'll learn that the director wrote both 1994's The Ref (the funniest movie Kevin Spacey and Denis Leary ever made) and 1991's The Fisher King (one of the best pieces of director Terry Gilliam's filmography).
- And, finally, let's let Emmy Rossum explain what sets Beautiful Creatures apart from some other films of its ilk. When asked to differentiate LaGravenese's film from some other well-known teen supernatural-romance projects, Rossum offered the following: "…They've really created a world that looks different than any other world that's out there. It doesn't look like Twilight, it doesn't look like Hunger Games, it doesn't look like any of that stuff. It's very much based in this Southern gothic world, but it has this sense of magic and also kind of a nod of the head to high couture fashion and also a nod of the head to old paintings and things that he's pulling on in that way. So I think there's really a sophistication and a way that he's adapted the material that's going to make it quite visually different. And film's a visual medium, so I think it'll be good."
We spent as much time on the Beautiful Creatures set as we were permitted to (read: for as long as we could stand the sweltering heat) that afternoon, and those of us who weren't amped about the film's prospects upon arrival left feeling very intrigued by what we'd seen. From the badass costumes to the impressive set design and the pedigree of the uber-talented cast, Richard LaGravenese's Beautiful Creatures is shaping up to be something worth paying attention to when it opens on February 13th of 2013 (the day before Valentine's Day, which is surely not a coincidence).
Special thanks to everyone on the Beautiful Creatures cast and crew that took the time to speak with us, the fine folks at Warner Bros., the excessively accommodating Orna Pickens, and everyone else who made this set visit such a pleasure.
For more on our Beautiful Creatures set visit:
- Alice Englert Talks Witch Bar Mitzvahs and Civil War Re-Enactments on the Set of Beautiful Creatures
- Alden Ehrenreich Talks Twilight Comparisons, Landing the Part, and Working with Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson on the Set of Beautiful Creatures
- Emmy Rossum Talks Playing the Evil Witch, Her Character's Many Looks, and Oral Fixation on the Set of Beautiful Creatures
- Margot Martindale Talks Painful Costumes, Getting Acclimated with the World's Mythology, and More on the Set of Beautiful Creatures