Tag: David Chase

Not Fade Away

notfadeaway

There have been plenty of coming-of-age stories about kids who started a band and made it big. “Not Fade Away” is the movie about the kids who didn’t, but you would hope that you would at least be rooting for their success.

David Chase, the creator of “The Sopranos,” is making his film debut with this homage to the 1960s, and it’s a stylish, messy and musical look at a decade that shared all those attributes.

The film follows Douglas (John Magaro), a New Jersey Italian who hears The Rolling Stones on TV and decides starting a band is the life for him. He starts as the drummer in his group of friends playing blues covers and soon graduates to lead singer and head songwriter, winning the affections of his high school crush Grace (Bella Heathcote) along the way.

For a guy who admires the boyish, goofball charms of the Beatles and the effortless cool of the Stones, Doug and his band mates are shockingly unlikable. His demeanor is more modern hipster insouciant than hippie free spirit, and it gets in the way of the band’s talent and his romantic chemistry. Continue reading “Not Fade Away”

Off the Red Carpet – Week of 10/3 – 10/10

I needed to find a way to write about the Oscars. I’m constantly seeing news and updates in everything I read and everyone I follow on Twitter, so I know what’s happening almost as soon as they do.

But I don’t live in New York or LA. I don’t have press access to early film screenings. I can’t do more than follow distributors on Facebook and Twitter to get the same updates the pros do.

I’m viewing all this second hand, from just off the red carpet.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t share everything I’ve heard, and that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own take on all that’s going on.

So what I’ve decided to do is start a weekly column where I round up all the Oscar news I’ve found relevant in the past week and share it with my own spin. It’s the least I can do.

Up Till Now

Since this is my first “Off the Red Carpet” column, I feel it’s necessary to catch everyone up on all that’s happened in the race so far.

“Amour” won the Palme D’Or at Cannes, making it only the second time a director has won with two consecutive films. Director Michael Haneke won with his previous film, “The White Ribbon,” back in 2008. That film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, but came home empty handed. This one on the other hand is a contender for Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, Foreign Film and possibly more. It’s the story of an elderly couple of music teachers who is torn apart when one of them suffers a stroke.

The Oscar nominations have been moved up to the early date of Thursday, January 10, 2013, meaning that the nominations are in fact before the Golden Globes. This could prove troublesome for movies being released late in the year, but it’ll keep buzzy movies in the conversation just when they need to be.

David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” won the People’s Choice Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, making it the new front-runner for Best Picture.

It’s pronounced “que-ven-zha-ne.” Get to know the name.

Seth McFarlane of “Family Guy” and “Ted” was selected as this year’s Oscar host. Yes yes yes, younger demo, he was good on SNL, Hollywood insider, blah de blah. Just please no racist “Beasts of the Southern Wild” jokes from a talking blender. Continue reading “Off the Red Carpet – Week of 10/3 – 10/10”