Movies
Interview: Adam Brooks, co-writer, co-director and star of Astron 6's The Editor
Posted by: Tony Hinds • August 20, 2015 @ 7:13am
Every now and then, a small independent film manages to break through the cracks in the towering wall of entertainment available to our fickle culture. Like some little engine that could, it attracts critical praise and audience attention through its sheer brilliance, and without some huge marketing campaign.
Depressed film editor Rey Ciso (Adam Brooks) is stuck working on a rather trashy Italian crime thriller, a film far beneath his talents. While Ciso's professional life crumbles, his personal life follows suit. His wife (Paz De La Huerta; Enter the Void) is rapidly losing respect for him.
Decades before the fall of the Iron Curtain, two spies face off in a bombed out section of East Berlin. The first spy, Solo (Henry Cavill, Man of Steel, Immortals) is an American CIA agent. The second, Illya (Armie Hammer; The Lone Ranger, The Social Network) is a Russian KGB agent.
The creative potential on display in Joel Edgerton's The Gift is remarkably refreshing. The actor-turned-director, who also wrote the screenplay, has composed a skillful and assured directorial debut. It's a sly contemporary suspense-thriller, without the mindless sex and violence that plagues the genre. We could use a few more of these.
In 2012, Tig Notaro performed one of the most talked about stand-up comedy sets of all time, opening with the announcement that she had been diagnosed with cancer. This diagnosis came soon after the death of Notaro's mother, a one-two punch that could easily derail any happy life.
"I promised your mother that I would protect you."
It's jarring to hear Wade (Arnold Schwarzenegger) deliver that line long after his daughter has been bitten by a zombie.
When we first meet Manglehorn (Al Pacino) he's rescuing a baby from inside a locked car. The concerned mother waves her arms, pleading for her baby to be freed. Before doing so, he deems it necessary to criticize the cleanliness of the car as the mother stands by helplessly. This is a man whose life brings him no joy.
For a script that is mostly gibberish, I was amazed at how entertaining Minions was. It came as no surprise that minion mischief not only warmed the hearts of children but also adults alike.
Welcome to B-movie territory. Self/Less is silly, brainless and paint-by-numbers in an endearing fashion. It's ideal lazy Sunday afternoon fare. The type of film you'd be happy to find playing on cable on a rainy day.
A Spike Lee Joint. I always smile when those words grace a film's opening. It's not a credit we can always expect as Lee occasionally chooses the more drab, "a Spike Lee film," when embarking on potential money makers. Some for better, such as Inside Man, and some for worse, such as his regrettable remake of Chan-Wook Park's Oldboy.
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