What to watch? The ''Great 20s Film list'' in COVID-19 times - 1) Winter's Bone

 Hello everyone! Thank you all for your personal messages asking us to get back onto Red Curtain Cinema. It is humbling and beautiful to see that after all these years, we still get messages of support around our blog. Even if we wished to write every single day, it has been definitely difficult - we do work besides watching films-  but here we are now! 

 As the world is still stuck with COVID-19 and we are being asked to stay at home, films are more important than ever. Not only can they be incredible vehicles to take us to far away lands and magical worlds but they can reveal brutal social realities and help us understand better the world we are living in. 

The power of Cinema lies in creating these emotional connections with characters - fictitious or not - going through a journey at a certain time and quite often, acting as mirrors of ourselves. Sometimes we feel so related to the characters that they could be representing us or a fantasy of what we want to be or achieve. Cinema is an emotional journey and certainly a powerful one. 

With that in mind, in honour of this pitiful and awful 2020, we pulled together a list of fantastic films worth watching while at home - ''The Great 20s Film List''. This is the first one on our list and it is brilliant:

          I) WINTER'S BONE (2010) by Debra Granik

This was the film that brought Jennifer Lawrence under the Hollywood spotlight with this gripping independent feature brilliantly directed by Debra Granik. She portrays a fatherless young woman living in low-income rural Missouri with caring responsibilities over her two young siblings. As her family faces eviction, she needs to find her father who was released from prison to find a solution to their dramatic situation. 

Not only we haven't heard of this film before but we were also surprised that this film doesn't appear in many 'Best Films of the 2010s' list. Filmed with natural light and quite a raw photography in most daylight scenes, it is a brutal testimony of the reality of many low-income families in rural America. With a documentary touch, Debra Granik takes us to Ree's (a fantastic Jennifer Lawrence) tough reality but whose inner strenght and determination for a better future for her family brings light into so much darkness. 

As it is quite difficult finding mainstream films directed by Women artists,  this one is a must on your list. We need to put great Women directors as Debra Granik under the spotlight as they deserve recognition as other great male directors. Interestingly, most of the lead characters in this film are women and they are the ones who keep chaotic homes in order. They are the ones who decide who their junkie or criminal husbands should speak to, they take care of the children, they take care of their rural gardens and animals. They are the ones who are the key to Ree's final resolution. A brilliant film!  

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Something to think about: women in films

We'll give you the link to a fantastic article about women in film. Why women, especially the latest action films, have to be strong? Why men are strong by "default" and women aren't, so that we have to be amazed when we see one? These questions are brought up in this fantastic article by Sophia McDougall in The New Statesman. 

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2013/08/i-hate-strong-female-characters

Have a look, it is worth it. 

Macbeth (4/5, Good)

A Shakespeare's classic re-adapted into the big screen with a poetry that hasn't been seen since Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet. A film worth watching.

It has been very difficult for directors to make a Shakespeare's film with a fresher view. Two films in the 2000s decade are a proof of it: Hamlet (2000) and 'O' (2001). Both films were superficial and soulless, setting up Shakespeare in modern times. Director Justin Kurzel understood that he needed to go back to the roots. Shakespeare's prose is there but also the medieval context. Nevertheless Kurzel had something else in mind: the cinematography coupled with Shakespeare's prose to enhance an incredibly intense film.

Fassbender and Cotillard are brilliant in this film, no doubt about it. We do think though that the performances from these actors are being given more intensity thanks to the cinematography. It is literally visual poetry and perhaps among the best photography we have seen in years. It is brilliant and the disturbing story of this greedy couple in search of more power embraces this dark and very well-cared photography. 

Saturated colors take the lead and they all have a role to play. The illustration of the different themes that surround Macbeth are seen with red, white, grey, dark and scarlet. They become characters themselves as the characters interact continuously with them. The score is brilliant and accompanies perfectly this very disturbing story. We feel uneasy and Fassbender knows it when he talks. He is a man with one great fear: to loose power. 

This is a good film, perhaps the link between Cotillard and Fassbender's characters could have been developed more. The play puts these two characters at the center but does not achieve to illustrate the complexity of their relationship. They become poisonous to each other which slowly dehumanizes them. A shame they didn't go further more in that direction. Besides that, thank you Justin Kurzel.

Trailer: 

Southpaw (4/5, Good)

A dark story about an anti-hero who had it all but slowly started to fall into a spinal of anger and sorrow. An outstanding acting by Gyllenhaal. 

We started to get use to Antoine Fuqua's cheap and cliché stories (Shooter, Olympus has fallen). However since he collaborated again with Denzel Washington in The Equalizer, a fresh air of inspiration caressed him. It was a long-time he wasn't doing a good film. If The Equalizer was still a decent film, Southpaw is definitely an upgrade in...everything! The script is interesting but focuses mostly on this boxer's personal struggles. It explores how much hate and anger can cause self-destruction and decadence. Gyllenhaal is simply impeccable in portraying this man trying to get back on his feet after losing her wide and the custody of her child. 

This film isn't only the comeback of Fuqua but also Forest Whitaker's. He has been known for choosing carefully his film but has failed in that task for a while. Taking the role as the mentor of Gyllenhaal, he embodies a man who has been through dark times and has learned how to cope with the anger. A society who puts so much pressure on individuals to be someone famous, to be meaningful, to be ''utilitarian'' to the world. Those who are left aside, they are condemned to a life of loneliness and sorrow. Whitaker's character represents all that with perfection. Bravo.

Gyllenhaal already deserved an Oscar with Nightcrawler. It is due with this one now. The pace is good and the cinematography is raw and dirty. It illustrates how raw and primitive anger can be. Keeping you far away from hope, into the darkness.


Trailer: 

Very funny and exciting advertisement by Guy Ritchie

This is an old short-film advertisement for BMW. It stars Madonna and Clive Owen as the driver of the new BMW car. Guy Ritchie, Madonna's husband at the time, directed this outstanding action film. Red Curtain Cinema found it again on the Internet and decided to share it with you! Go for it, just click on it!

#SecretCinema: #StarWars The Empire Strikes Back

One of the greatest experiences we ever had. You enter into the world of Star Wars and you have to undertake very important missions! While you wait for your ship to take you to the world of "Star Wars Episode V", you are going to walk in the city of Tatooine and in the Death Star. You will encounter Darth Vador, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca...and many others! 

These are the last days for #SecretCinema #StarWars so we HEAVILY recommend: GET your tickets straight away Londoners! It is the worth the price, it is worth the adventure! Go for it, it is simply stunning. 

Which are your favorite film scenes?

We all have memorable scenes from a film in our minds. Which are yours? Red Curtain Cinema will share a few but we are very keen on discovering yours! Don't be shy cinema lovers! 

This is our first memorable scene from "Road to Perdition" (Spoiler alert). Incredibly well-shot accompanied by the great musical skills from Thomas Newman and with the presence of two colossal actors: Paul Newman and Tom Hanks. Enjoy!

More music to Red Curtain's playlist!

We opened the music playlist and only saw dust! We cleant it and added a few more beautiful music scores. Hope you enjoy it!

We are back with more!

For sure, the coolest scene that Justin Timberlake has ever done! From the insane film Southland Tales, this scene is definitely worth the watch! Especially if you love the band The Killers.

Craig Armstrong- an amazing music composer

How many times have we seen a film thinking: "the music was much better than the movie itself." Did it never happen to you? Well if it's not the case, I want to bring your attention to this great piece signed by Craig Armstrong (Love Actually, Romeo and Juliet). 

This score, from a terrible terrible movie, is just incredible. Listen to it, trust Red Curtain Cinema!

A recommended film: "Shooting Dogs" (2005) #CinemaIsAction

A fantastic film about the Rwandan genocide. There are a few films (Hotel Rwanda, Shake hands with the devil) about this terrible period. It is perhaps one of the greatest failures of international organisations such as The United Nations. These films are a testimony of something that should not happen again, however they still do. These tragic stories are being lost in the air but some people (activists, film directors, independent studios) decide to pick them up and tell them to a wide audience. This film is fabulous no matter how heartbreaking it can be. Sadly, it didn't have a wide release but it is still a very valuable story. Red Curtain Cinema recommends it. 

#CinemaIsAction: free online films about social change

This is a great website showing the commitment that can exist between cinema and social change. It is a recommended one. Have a look at this website Films for Action

                                                http://www.filmsforaction.org/walloffilms/

Red Curtain Cinema selected as "Voice of the week" by Tondo!

So thankful for being selected by Tondo as Voice of the Week ! Have a look at our special posts!
www.tondo.is

Dancing scenes in films: Moulin Rouge

"El Tango de Roxanne" is probably among the best dancing scenes in the cinema history. Red Curtain Cinema will start making a small selection of these scenes so that you can enjoy the image, the movement and the light. Everything what the cinema is all about. 

Movies that you should have seen in the cinema and you haven't: Episode III

                                          The Hurricane

We will start with a big statement: this is definitely Denzel's best role he ever did. He is colossal, he is a genius but his role in Training Day (and posthumous Oscar award) fits small compared to his acting in The Hurricane.  If there is already one solid reason for watching this film, it is Denzel Washington. We will qualify it as one of the bests we ever saw in contemporary cinema.

The second reason why you should see this film is the story. It is the real-life story about the boxer Ruben "Hurricane" Carter who enjoyed the glory of success but also the darkness of racism in the America of the 1960s. Despite a tumultuous past being convicted in juvenile detention centers and prison, he was wrongly accused of a triple homicide in 1966. Racism was, as it has been many times in the world, the greatest obstacle to fair justice. He became famous for its unfair detention, to the extent that Bob Dylan wrote a song about it, and he wrote a book that was soon left in the shelves to be forgotten. But that was not the end. A young black boy named Lesra would pick up that book many years later and would undertake the path to give freedom to Ruben "Hurricane" Carter. 

                                              The song by Bob Dylan

Even if the history has a few inaccuracies, it is still an excellent film. Moving, funny, compelling...Many words come across our minds when talking about this film. When you have a good story and an incredibly talented actor such as Denzel Washington, the consequence is a masterpiece. Of course director Norman Jewison has also a great deal in this. There is nothing pretentious about the film: the story is what matters the most. 

Slow West (4/5, Good)

An atypical western with bits of comedy, drama and action. A solid film led by Michael Fassbender who never stops to keep impressing us.

This is the first film from director John Maclean and what an achievement it is: it has gained since critical acclaim and won a Price at Sundance Festival 2015. It approached the story through a classic frame: an innocent young boy dreaming with love discovering society's brutality and selfishness. The result is an existentialist western with black humor. The innocence of this boy enhances chaos and further violence in a world of brutality. He has no other choice that , in order to see again the love of his life, to pull many times the trigger. Life is a hard road and sometimes you have to adapt to its violence.

The photography is stunning. It is perhaps the best ingredient in the film considering the story, real short and simple, looses a bit of its charm when we realize that we do not know much about any of them. Nevertheless the beauty of the images and the acting ( fabulous Fassbender) compensates it all. The film pace is slow sometimes but everything we see at the screen is solid.

This is a great film for Western and Non-Western amateurs. It pays an homage to a dead genre and is good at telling a funny but dark story. This is the kind of films that show its love for the cinema. That is why we recommend it. 

Terminator Genisys (4/5, Good)

Be prepared people, Arnie is back as the Terminator! A big bet from the actor to give further shine to its action-star status. TG is a good surprise as it comes up with a creative story and great action sequences. Even James Cameron approved the film. 

It is always the same story: going back through time to avoid Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) being killed. This is 1984 (the same set as the first Terminator). However everything changed. The rules of the game are not the same. Everything seems messed up for Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney): why is Sarah Connor a warrior in 1984 when she was described as vulnerable and scared? Why is there an older T-800 in 1984? 

                         

                                       

The script is definitely a good surprise in TG. This is not the T-3 or Terminator Salvation garbage story. This one is fresh and is respectful of the the first two Terminator. How challenging is that?! That's already a good starting point. The second thing: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnie is Arnie and he is great. He is funny and performs an interesting portrait of this perfect machine attached to its mission of protecting Sarah Connor. The third thing: the supporting actors. Emilia Clark and Jai Courtney are very good and raise the bar real high: Claire Danes and Nick Stahl (T3) should hide! They are credible and make these characters have something more to say besides shooting and blowing everything up. The fourth thing: the action sequences. Of course, very spectacular and creative. 

TG will never achieve the quality of T2 (of course, it is one of the greatest action films ever made!). However it does respect the spirit of the franchise and puts forward a critical thinking of technology controlling furthermore human lives. Every step forward is dangerous and the Terminators are the symbol of it. James Cameron said it in Terminator 1 and T2. Director Alan Taylor knows it and he adapted this discourse to our post-modern times. We can also add that Taylor made a good job: a lot of pressure for a director used to film TV shows rather than big-dollar-machine-productions. 

This Terminator is worth seeing because it brings back a degree of nostalgia and excitement. However it is not only because of that: the film finds a creative way to re-tell a new story and find dramatic paths to make it worthwhile watching it. This is an achievement, especially considering Hollywood is pretty terrible at recycling old recipes. 

Trailer:

                                    

Classic movie of the month: The Haunting

A classic of the classics. Even if you dislike horror films, this is A MUST.

If a suspense film had a godfather, this would one of them. A paranormal investigator takes a group of people to a supposedly haunted house for research purposes.  The dark and long corridors from the house come to life to frighten them and whisper deep questions to the main characters. Many of the scenes which occur in this haunted house are a metaphor of the infinite power of the mind upon the body. This house has many secrets: obscure thoughts and dark stories. Whilst characters immerse deeper in fear, they will uncover their deepest impulses to reveal their true colors.  

Robert Earl Wise (who also directed West Side Story) was in charge of this film. The film was not a massive success but had positive mentions by film critics. Today it is considered to be one of the best suspense/horror films ever made. The great care taken by Wise to have low lights and adopt camera angles suggesting a constant presence with the characters creates an uneasy environment. No one is at ease in a house who is opening a door to its darker impulses. Many scenes from this films are considered to be a classic for never showing anything: all what is obscure and scary is hidden. Films such as  The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity and Jaws can say thank you. 

Ready for a good Saturday night movie? Want to hold the love of your life in your arms whilst having an exciting fright? Just trust Red Curtain Cinema! 

Ex Machina (5/5, Excellent)

Screenwriter Alex Garland directs his first feature with a dark story about artificial intelligence, love and life. A disturbing and a brilliant film. Bravo.

Caleb (Domhall Gleeson) wins a contest and has the chance to spend a weekend with software genius Nathan (Oscar Isaac) in a remote mansion. This latter has pierced scientific and philosophical boundaries: he created a robot, Ava (Alicia Vikander) who will be tested by Caleb to see if she can be recognized not as a robot but as a human being. However many dark deeds surround both Ava and Nathan. Who to trust? Who to believe? 

Screenwriter Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 days later, Sunshine) directs his first film and what an accomplishment! He could bring together different influences from The Matrix to The Shining. He is a film fan and it can be easily guessed. The film occurs in one week and each day is a step forward a dark abyss. The degrading context is beautifully engineered by a good script (written by Garland himself) accompanied with a beautiful acting (especially by Vikander). 

Cinematography has been done with great care, putting forward mirror reflections as if they were illustrations of our darkest impulses. Life can be created from a bright mind but what it cannot ever be controlled are the feelings of the ''created''. Garland is not afraid to talk about philosophical issues such as freedom, love , desire and power. These are contemporary ones which cross our lives and thoughts. You don't like philosophy? Do not worry, Garland handles it very well to give further dramatic intensity to the story. 

An incredible surprise for a film that we thought it wouldn't be that interesting. The issue of Artificial Intelligence has been overused in contemporary sci-fi but this time, it has been given an interesting focus. Is it possible to feel desire for a machine? Is it real love or is it only an illusion? Can we really love then? Important questions that we will never know the answers for sure. This film does not try to answer them, it adds further enigma. The matter is therefore to keep wondering what are the answers. 

Trailer:

Burden of Peace (Very Good, 5/5)- Human Rights Watch Film Festival, London

A gripping documentary about a Latin American country that still suffers from its past scars. Impunity, corruption and cries for justice is an usual topic in Guatemala. However one woman decided to stand-up and make a difference: Claudia Paz y Paz.

When two Dutch filmmakers heard about the story of violence and impunity in Guatemala, this would be the start of a new journey. Human Rights militant and lawyer Claudia Paz y Paz was  appointed General Attorney in Guatemala and decided to give fresh air to a bureaucratic and inefficient Judiciary system. It would be a new start for the country and people's trust in Justice was being rebuilt. However this was not her only purpose: she targeted previous military dictators from the 1980s who decided with lightness to kill supposed conspiring communists. An too old story well known in Latin America. It will be a struggle, it will be hard. Nevertheless, Justice can be heard by those ignored by a society who wanted to forget their scars. 

This documentary is gripping and an invaluable historical document for our modern culture. It pictures a weak democracy with low levels of social and political accountability and where impunity is one of the norms. A group of people led by Paz y Paz decided to go against the tide. The sequences we watch are stunning: the camera lives both with this Human Rights militant in her intimacy and at work. It is rare to be such a privileged witness of transparency within an State department and see the issues that Paz y Paz had to face ( resistance from the establishment to Justice, the bureaucratic inefficiency, the threats to her life). This is an example of a woman who decided to open the doors of the Judiciary system to people: we, as viewers, are part of this new transition.

This is a hard struggle of a continent still asking for Justice. This is an essential film because it mirrors many Latin American countries: cases such as in Chile and Argentina have certain similarities with Guatemala. Besides the context in which we are inserted, this is the brave struggle of a woman (the first woman ever to take charge as a General Attorney) who despite her small and cute voice, is an example of toughness and courage. Red Curtain Cinema cannot but only applause with this documentary who reminds us that this world needs more people interested in Politics. Political apathy is a tool used by the most powerful. You just need to believe you can make a change and Claudia Paz y Paz was one of them. She did it.


Trailer: