Devil On My Heels July 2007

Directed by Taylor Hackford

Adapted by Akiva Goldsman

Produced by Reese Witherspoon and Denzel Washington

Distributed by 20th Century Fox

Main Cast
Evan Rachel Wood- Dove Alderman

Hunter Parrish- Chase

Loretta Devine- Delia

Larenz Tate- Gator

Ed Harris- Dad

John Glover- Travis

Harry J. Lennix- Gus

Tagline: "N/A"

Synopsis: Dove Alderman has a very privileged life. She wakes up every morning to the smell of freshly baked Cinnamon Rolls and bacon sizzling on the stove made by her loving house maid Delia. Her dad has his own orange grove in which she grew up in, playing with her now boyfriend Chase. Working in her Dad’s orange grove are migrant workers who include one of Dove’s best friends Gator and Delia’s deceased husband Gus. One of her Dad’s closest friends is Travis who is in charge of the migrant workers and runs their store. All of the sudden fires start popping up all over of Dove’s hometown of Benevolence, Florida including the family barn. The town is convinced that it is the migrant workers who are starting the fires and this prompts the appearance of the KKK in Dove’s town.While Dove is starting to expose the KKK drift that is going through the town she discovers that her father, Travis, and Chase are all attending the KKK meetings. Along the way of exposing the group she will come across the truth to the murder of Delia’s husband Gus, and that everyone thinks that Gator has kidnapped her.

What the Press would say:
Devil On My Heels is based upon the novel written by Joyce MacDonald and the film is just as good if not better than the already classic young adult book. It tells the story of Dove Alderman, played by the always brilliant Evan Rachel Wood, who is trying to expose the racism going on in her hometown. The story while complete Oscar bait is absolutely compelling and perfectly directed, written, acted, and produced as well. Taylor Hackford directs his actors and the story to perfection and you can tell he was the perfect director to aim this film in the right direction. He crafts the film so well that I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and sobbing by the end. Evan Rachel Wood is absolutely superb in the role of Dove Alderman and brings depth to the role that wasn’t written in the already fantastic script. If there is any justice in this world, Wood’s performance will earn her an Academy Award. The supporting cast is incredible and I don’t have time to mention them all, but I’ll mention a few. Loretta Devine is first-rate as Delia the house-maid. She really brings the mother quality that is missing in Dove’s life and is really on key when she needs to be emotional. John Glover, who is mainly known from his television role on Smallville, is superior as the villain of the film Travis who is in charge of the migrant workers. He was made for the role and is unbelievably great in his role. Ed Harris who is one of the bigger names in the cast is just great in the role of Dove’s two-faced Dad and really deserves recognition that I’m afraid may not occur. The script is faultlessness and brings out the best in each of the actors. Overall the film is one of the best of the decade, full of great performances, direction, and written, it is way beyond deserving of the Best Picture Oscar. A+

FYC

Best Picture

Best Director- Taylor Hackford

Best Actress- Evan Rachel Wood

Best Supporting Actor- Ed Harris

Best Supporting Actor- John Glover

Best Supporting Actress- Loretta Devine

Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Editing

Best Costume Design

Best Art Direction

It's A Public Life June 2007

Name: Michael

Location: Oklahoma

"It's A Public Life"

Directed by Alexander Payne

Distributed by Universal Studios

Written by Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, and B.J. Novak

Music by Rolfe Kent

Main Cast
Ellen DeGeneres- Judy “Wilde” Glenn

Florence Henderson- Jenna Wilde

Ricky Gervais- Tony Parker

Nathan Lane- Alex Crawfish

Megan Mullally- Veronica Bergin

Cloris Leachman- Julie Glenn

Tagline: "N/A"
Synopsis: After the press gets a hold of the story about Judy and her real mother Jenna, Hollywood is dying for the two of them to get together and star in a film. The head of Sham Studios, Tony Parker approaches the mother/daughter duo about making a picture called The Shankshaw Punishment about two cellmates sitting on death row who bond over the period they have to wait until execution. Judy falls in love with the story as the words are pouring out of Tony’s mouth; Jenna on the other hand isn’t totally convinced that she wants to star in a movie. After much convincing they agree to do the project which gives the press a field day. Once they are signed on to the film, the director of Judy’s old films Alex Crawfish agrees to direct the film. With all the news surrounding the Wilde duo Veronica Bergin is one of the first members of the press to hound the Glenn and Wilde clans trying to find the next day’s top headline. Once again, Veronica goes to the greatest depths to get a story including hiding in FedEx delivery boxes to the families’ homes, going through air conditioning units, and even having a mole inside Judy and Jenna’s mansion. 6 months later, the filming wraps on The Shankshaw Redemption the offers for Judy and Jenna start pouring in with projects ranging from East by Eastnorth, Most Like it Freezing, and Japantown. They commit to all the films and America is still obsessed with the Wilde team. Then The Shankshaw Punishment opens to rave reviews, critics love the film and premiers with 50 million at the box office. With both the women having their first hit, they can’t wait to put their mark on the 3 other projects. Then all of the sudden the team is fired from all of the 3 movies. Now the mystery becomes why were they fired after having such a big hit…

What the Press would say:
What can I say, this really caps off the trilogy and in a very nice way. It’s hilarious, emotional, awkward, and all around smart comedy. Alexander Payne does yet another fine piece of directing here where unlike a lot of films this year it really shines through. The script is well written, funny, clever and witty and the cast is tremendous. I have to say if Ellen doesn’t get an Oscar for this performance the whole thing is a sham. After 2 pervious nods for her performances as Judy Glenn this is definitely the best. Her timing is impeccable, the expressions she has are perfection, it really is the best performance of the year. The supporting cast is just as good, but in much smaller doses. Megan Mullally gives a wonderful performance that is a great parody of the paparazzi these days and Nathan Lane is just as crazy as ever. I have to say I was crying laughing during the scene where Cloris Leachman is confronted with what she has done. Simply hilarious and the best scene of the year! All around this is the by far the best comedy of the year and light-years better than the #2 film of the year!

FYC:

Best Picture

Best Director- Alexander Payne

Best Original Screenplay- Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, and B.J. Novak

Best Actress- Ellen DeGeneres

Best Supporting Actor- Nathan Lane

Best Supporting Actress- Megan Mullally

Best Supporting Actress- Cloris Leachman

Best Supporting Actress- Florence Henderson

Best Original Score

Clue May 2007

Name: Michael

Location: Oklahoma

"Clue"

Directed by Christopher Guest

Written by Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, and B.J. Novak

Principal Cast:
Christopher Guest- Wadsworth

Catherine O’Hara- Mrs. Peacock

Rachael Harris- Mrs. White

Ed Begley Jr. - Mr. Green

Parker Posey- Miss Scarlett

Eugene Levy- Colonel Mustard

Harry Shearer- Professor Plum

Jennifer Coolidge- Yvette (The Maid)

Michael Hitchcock- Mr. Boddy

Christopher Moynihan- The Motorist

Fred Willard- The Chief/ Evangelist

John Michael Higgins- The Cop

Carrie Aizley- The Singing Telegram Girl

Jane Lynch- The Cook

Tagline: "Communism is just a red herring!"

Comedy

Synopsis: We all know the game and everyone has their favorite character. We all know our favorite weapon, and we all know our favorite room. But, what most of us don’t know is the real story of these 6 individuals and that night at the Boddy mansion…It’s 1950 and a certain Mr. Boddy has called together of all of the people he is blackmailing for a new “arrangement.” This brings together the wife of a senator (Mrs. Peacock), the runner of a call girl service (Miss Scarlett), and even a closeted homosexual working with the state department (Mr. Green). Some are suspected of killing their husbands (Mrs. White), selling radio parts during World War II (Colonel Mustard), and having taken advantage of their lady patients (Professor Plum). Upon arriving each guest is greeted by Wadsworth (The Butler) and taken to the library to have champagne. Once they have all arrived they are taken to the Dining Room to dine of course, and during that time they slowly get acquainted with one another. Soon they find out that some way or another they are linked through Washington D.C. and assume that that is why they are all there. Then, the doorbell rings and Mr. Boddy arrives at what is supposed to be his mansion. He sits down to the table and seems to be very friendly with the maid, Yvette. Disgusted at his relations with the maid and wondering what they are really doing there, all of the guests decide to adjourn to the Study for coffee and brandy. Once in the study and all settled in, Wadsworth unveils that all of the guests are being blackmailed. Following that statement, he goes around the room and unveils the dirty secrets for which each of the guests, except Mr. Boddy, is being blackmailed for. All in confusion now, they then want to know why Mr. Boddy was left out. Wadsworth then informs them that he was the one blackmailing them. It is then that Mr. Boddy notifies the group that he has presents for all of them. The presents happen to be, a revolver, a lead pipe, a candlestick, a wrench, a rope, and a knife. Then, Mr. Boddy tells then that they should kill Wadsworth in order to get the key, unlock the front door, leave, and pretend it never happened. However, when Mr. Boddy turns off the lights so that whoever wants to can kill Wadsworth, a thud is heard, the gun is fired, and suddenly Mrs. Peacock turns the light back on to find, that Mr. Boddy is dead. From that point on there will be 5 more murders at the Boddy Mansion that will occur during, hilarity, suspense, chaos, and the next 45 minutes until the police arrive. The problem is all 6 murders have to be solved before the police come.

What the press would say:
Nowadays in Hollywood, filmmakers are remaking films left and right simply because there is a lack of originality. So when I heard the news that the 1985 cult classic “Clue” was being remade, I was immediately disgruntled even after hearing that Christopher Guest and his usual crew would be making the film. However I came away from the film extremely happy that it was as good as it was. Christopher Guest shied away from the way he normally directs his movies, by actually giving the actors a script to work with. The film is still improvised a great deal, but you can’t really tell because the dialogue flows so well and is so witty. The film is very much in the spirit of the original film, but it really works because the ensemble does extremely well, but Guest’s directing still shines through. In many ways this film is very different from his other films because it has a lot darker of a tone especially with the Mr. Boddy scenes, but I really liked it because even then, that distinct Guest feeling still shined through. I hate to really claim that one performance was better than another because it truly is an ensemble piece of work that is cast perfectly. Catherine O’Hara is fantastic as Mrs. Peacock and gives an excellent comedic performance. Rachael Harris, who is extremely underrated, rises to the spotlight in this movie and really is the star. She has a great deadpan kind of humor in the film that is hilarious, if anyone in the cast deserves any sort of recognition it is her. Rachael does a unbelievable job and is just hilarious. Harry Shearer offers a lot of good zingers as well, and is really really good. Ed Begley Jr. does a great job and he may seem a bit old for the role, but he a truly great job. Parker Posey gives another juicy performance that is side-splitting humor, and Eugene Levy gave a fine performance as well. Christopher Guest really rose to the occasion and took over a role that was perfectly performed by Tim Curry and does a great job and made the character his own.Overall, this film really is something to see, and should not be overlooked in any category in any kind of awards show. Hopefully, this incredible movie will reach a broader audience than the 1985 version. A truly great film that everyone needs to go see!

For Your Consideration:

Best Picture

Best Director- Christopher Guest

Best Supporting Actor- Eugene Levy

Best Supporting Actor- Ed Begley Jr.

Best Supporting Actor- Harry Shearer

Best Supporting Actor- Christopher Guest

Best Supporting Actress- Rachael Harris

Best Supporting Actress- Catherine O’Hara

Best Supporting Actress- Parker Posey

Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Editing

Best Art Direction

Best Costume Design