Savage House review – Claire Foy and Richard E Grant sell it hard in bewigged 18th-century caper

-
The leads are the most watchable thing in this raucous period yarn about a grimy pair of status-obsessed nobles Black-belt performances from Claire Foy and Richard E Grant put some vim and vigour into this haranguingly one-note and unidirectional period romp of the raucously bewigged and be-poxed 18th century. It’s written and directed by American film-maker Peter Glanz, who gives us candlelit interiors like a knockoff Barry Lyndon, and periodic deafening orchestral stabs with a touch of Amadeus as furious people in costume storm down corridors. But Grant and Foy are always there, selling it hard and there are one or two nice lines. They play Sir Chauncey and Lady Savage, who are living in a vast crumbling country estate: he’s a parvenu, an adventurer, a lover of the new Hanover dispensation who loathes Jacobites, but fundamentally a social alpinist who married for money and took his wife’s noble name. She was entranced by his roguish ways and she forgave him everything but is, however...
Post a Comment

The Integrity of Joseph Chambers review – tense parable of troubled masculinity

-

A city slicker moves his family to Alabama in search of a wholesome life and sets off for a solo hunting trip. It’s not going to go well

Robert Machoian is an indie film-maker drawn to a certain type of troubled American masculinity: the type that’s never so toxic as when weak or insecure. His previous drama The Killing of Two Lovers was about male anger, and this tense, suspenseful new film has similar ideas: a Dostoevskian parable set over a single day in remote woodland, with a slow-moving simplicity that belies its storytelling ingenuity and force, and again featuring Machoian’s longtime collaborator, actor-producer Clayne Crawford. This actually looks as if it could have been conceived in the 1970s, with a hint of Boorman’s Deliverance: right down to the Burt Reynolds moustache that the male lead smugly sculpts for himself one morning in front of the shaving mirror, to his wife’s annoyance.

Crawford plays Joseph Chambers, a prosperous insurance salesman and Christian family man who has moved to rural Alabama with his wife Tess (Jordana Brewster) and their two boys, to find a more wholesome place away from the city for the children’s upbringing. But Joseph has got it into his head to have a day’s hunting on his own in some nearby woodland belonging to his friend Doug (Carl Kennedy), to learn some survival skills and generally prove his manhood. Tess, who grew up with a dad and brothers who hunted, and actually knows more about this kind of stuff than her naive city-slicker husband, is dead against him going on his own like this.

Continue reading...

from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/9pwj2sv
via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Miracle Club review – Maggie Smith can’t save this rocky road trip to Lourdes

-
Laura Linney is upstaged by older co-stars Smith and Kathy Bates in this sentimental tale about a group of Dublin women who go on a spiritual journey together Who’s up for a golden-hued heartwarmer set in 60s Ireland starring Kathy Bates and Maggie Smith about women with secret fears and dreams going on a church trip to Lourdes and finally finding the real miracle is their new compassion for each other? The answer to this question could well have been … me. I have a liking for a gentle tale and there is nothing necessarily wrong with, just occasionally, showing Ireland and the church of this period with something other than outrage and horror. But The Miracle Club does not at any time, to use a discredited metaphor, throw away its crutches and walk. And it’s painful to note that this is largely because of the way film can’t convincingly use that estimable actor Laura Linney in a central role. She is upstaged by the older, fruitier performances and doesn’t hold her own with a more seri...
Read more

‘I lost a friend of almost 40 years’: Nancy Meyers pays tribute to Diane Keaton

-
Film-maker who directed Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give, and wrote Baby Boom and Father of the Bride, says ‘we have lost a giant’ Film-maker Nancy Meyers has paid tribute to the late Diane Keaton, her “friend of almost 40 years” and collaborator on celebrated comedies Something’s Gotta Give, Baby Boom and Father of the Bride. On Monday, Meyers wrote on Instagram that she’d had a difficult 48 hours since Keaton’s death was announced on Saturday, but “seeing all of your tributes to Diane has been a comfort.” Continue reading... from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/TFc820j via IFTTT
Read more

Malaika Arora scolds 16-year-old dancer for inappropriate gestures: “He is winking, giving flying kisses”

-
Bollywood diva Malaika Arora found herself at the center of an unexpected controversy during the filming of Hip Hop India Season 2. The popular dance reality show, judged by Arora alongside choreographer-director Remo D’Souza, took an awkward turn when a 16-year-old contestant made suggestive gestures toward her during his performance. The incident, which left Malaika visibly uncomfortable, was captured on video and has since gone viral. What Happened on Hip Hop India Season 2? The incident unfolded during a recent episode of Hip Hop India Season 2, which streams on Amazon MX Player and showcases India’s top hip-hop talent. While judging a contestant’s performance, Malaika noticed the young dancer directing inappropriate gestures her way, including winking and blowing flying kisses. Clearly taken aback, the actress and fitness icon didn’t hold back her disapproval. In the now-viral footage, she can be heard reprimanding the teenager, sternly demanding, “Mummy ka phone number do!” (Giv...
Read more