Film of the week: Still Alice

COULSDON COLLEGE: MEDIA TEXT INFORMATION SHEET

TITLE:

Still Alice

YEAR OF PROD:

2014

TYPE:

FILM

TELEVISION

DOC.

MUSIC

ADVERT

MUSIC VID.

OTHER:

DIRECTOR

Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland

PRODUCER

James Brown, Pamela Koffler, Lex Lutzus

WRITER

Lisa Genova (novel), Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland (screenplay)

PRODUCTION COMPANY

Lutzus-Brown, Killer Films, Big Indie Pictures, Shriver Films

KEY CAST /ARTIST

Julianne Moore (Alice), Kate Bosworth (Anna), Shane McRae (Charlie), Hunter Parrish (Tom), Alec Baldwin (John), Kristen Stewart (Lydia), Stephen Kunken (Dr. Benjamin)

KEY CREW

Music: Ilan Eshkeri, DP: Denis Lenoir, Editing: Nicolas Chaudeurge

GENRE

Drama,

BUDGET

$5 million

BOX OFFICE

$41.8 million

THEMES

Alzheimer’s, memory, family, love, change, acceptance, defeat, frustration, heartbreak, disability

AWARDS

27 awards, e.g. Julianne Moore won an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA for best performance. She won 13 more awards for best performance so nearly all of the films awards were for her.

NARRATIVE: “Alice Howland is a renowned linguistics professor happily married with three grown children. All that begins to change when she strangely starts to forget words and then more. When her doctor diagnoses her with Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease, Alice and her family's lives face a harrowing challenge as this terminal degenerative neurological ailment slowly progresses to an inevitable conclusion they all dread. Along the way, Alice struggles to not only to fight the inner decay, but to make the most of her remaining time to find the love and peace to make simply living worthwhile.” My opinion: Words can’t even describe how much I loved this film, it was honestly a masterpiece. A story so beautifully written and performed that I still feel sad now so it has had a lasting impact on me. Julianne Moore was phenomenal, her changing state of memory was made clearly evident and she was able to portray the emotions her character was feeling perfectly. Some parts were so upsetting that it was hard to watch and the speech scene was just wow, amazing. I think it was so impactful because Alzheimer’s could happen to any of your loved ones and it made you think that this could happen to someone close to me which personally, made me even more upset. Also, I felt so connected to the narrative and characters that I felt Alice was almost part of my family so I was experiencing the heartbreak along with her family and when the film ended (incredible ending), I had so many emotions running through me. So, if you couldn’t tell by now, I loved Still Alice and if you are reading this right now then you should stop and go and watch the film, there is no doubt you will love it and if you don't like it then you have no heart and maybe you should re-watch it, ok thanks.  11/10

KEY SCENES: ·         Opening scene- birthday celebration at restaurant- Alice is perfectly fine ·         Alice forgets her words during a lecture ·         Alice gets lost during her run ·         Doctor tests Alice on her memory ·         Doctor breaks it to Alice that she is likely to have Alzheimer’s Disease ·         Alice tells John about her Disease ·         Alice breaks the news to her children, tells them there is a 50/50 chance they may have it ·         Beach scene with Alice and John ·         Alice’s speech on Alzheimer’s ·         Alice gets lost in her own home ·         Final scene “love” ·         Alice tries to take the tablets, following the video ·         Lydia asks Alice “what is it like?”

COMPARABLES: Do you remember love.  Maybe 50/50 and The Theory of Everything.

PROGRESSION OF KEY CONTRIBUTORS: Together, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland have previously directed: The Last of Robin Hood (2013), Echo Park, L.A. (2006) and The Fluffer (2001). Very sadly, Richard passed away this March so Still Alice was his last film. Julianne Moore has progressed to act in: Mockingjay- Part 1 (2014), Seventh Son (2014), Maggie’s plan (2015), Freeheld (2015) and Mockingjay- Part 2 (2015).

ANY OTHER BUSINESS? “Co-director Richard Glatzer suffers from ALS and can't speak. He directed the film using a text to speech app on an iPad. Both Moore and Stewart dedicated their "Ice Bucket Challenge" to Glatzer. The directors of the film, Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer were unable to attend the Oscars to see Julianne Moore win, due to the fact that Glatzer was suffering from ALS and his condition had deteriorated significantly.”

Film of the week: Lilting

COULSDON COLLEGE: MEDIA TEXT INFORMATION SHEET

TITLE:

Lilting

YEAR OF PROD:

2014

TYPE:

FILM

TELEVISION

DOC.

MUSIC

ADVERT

MUSIC VID.

OTHER:

DIRECTOR

Hong Khaou

PRODUCER

Dominic Buchanan

WRITER

Hong Khaou

PRODUCTION COMPANY

BBC Films

KEY CAST /ARTIST

Ben Whishaw (Richard), Pei-Pei Cheng (Junn), Andrew Leung (Kai), Morven Christie (Margaret), Naomi Christie (Vann) and Peter Bowles (Alan)

KEY CREW

Music: Stuart Earl, DP: Ula Pontikos, Editor: Mark Towns, Casting: Kharmel Cochrane

GENRE

Drama, romance

BUDGET

£120,000

BOX OFFICE

$197,588

THEMES

Sexuality, acceptance, differences, love, heartbreak, loss, family, barrier, language, bond, understanding, trust, grief, forgiveness

AWARDS

GLAAD Media Award- Outstanding Film, Cinematography Award at Sundance for Ula Pontikos.

NARRATIVE: The IMDb description: “In contemporary London, a Cambodian Chinese mother mourns the untimely death of her son. Her world is further disrupted by the presence of a stranger. We observe their difficulties in trying to connect with one another without a common language, as through a translator they begin to piece together memories of a man they both loved.“ My opinion on the film: So I decided to watch this film only because the DP is Ula Pontikos I had not seen much of her feature film work so especially after watching Weekend, I felt inspired to watch another piece of her visual work. Lilting was just amazing and I definitely did not expect it to be this good because the trailer made it seem quite boring. The deeper meanings behind this piece of work are beautiful and I really liked how the language barriers between the characters was made to seem like the conflict, however parts of the film showed that is really wasn’t and it is not common language that connects two people, it is the connection itself and the emotional bond you share with one another. Lilting was powerful and moving and Ben Whishaw provided a stunning performance. Of course the cinematography was beautiful, amazing compositions that followed the rule of thirds and the depth of field engrossed me fully into the scene and Ula did a brilliant job, I always feel inspired when I watch her work. The lighting was also perfect. So I highly recommend this film, it’s a must watch. 9/10.

KEY SCENES: ·         Junn is sitting in her room, ‘talking’ to Kai, and when the scene is repeated in the middle and at the end ·         Richard’s talk with Junn at the end, explaining that Kai was gay and they were in love. The translator doesn’t translate but she seems to understand ·         The argument between Richard and Junn about Kai’s ashes ·         Junn and Alan dancing in the room ·         When the translator translates for Junn and Alan for the first time ·         Junn and Alan’s dinner date ·         Flashback scenes that show Kai and Richard together

COMPARABLES: Weekend

PROGRESSION OF KEY CONTRIBUTORS: This was Hong Khaou’s first feature film and he has previously only made videos and shorts between 2005 and 2012. This includes: “Waiting for Movement” and “Spring”. Ben Whishaw has gone on to act in Paddington (2014), The Lobster (2015), Suffragette (2015), The Danish Girl (2015), Spectre (2015) and In the Heart of the Sea (2015) Ula Pontikos has gone on to shoot: Second Coming (2014), Glue (2014), The Game (2014) and Humans (2015).

ANY OTHER BUSINESS? Lovely quote from the film: “Through plenty of crying, I've learnt to be content that I won't always be happy, secure in my loneliness, hopeful that I will be able to cope. Every year on Christmas Day I get very lonely. An incredible feeling of solitude. On this day, everything has stood still, even the trees have stopped rustling, but I'm still moving, I want to move, but I have nothing to move to, and nowhere to go. The scars beneath my skin suddenly surface and I get scared. Scared of being alone.”

Film of the week: 50/50

COULSDON COLLEGE: MEDIA TEXT INFORMATION SHEET

TITLE:

50/50

YEAR OF PROD:

2011

TYPE:

FILM

TELEVISION

DOC.

MUSIC

ADVERT

MUSIC VID.

OTHER:

DIRECTOR

Jonathan Levine

PRODUCER

Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin and Seth Rogen

WRITER

Will Reiser

PRODUCTION COMPANY

Summit Entertainment, Mandate Pictures, Point Grey

KEY CAST /ARTIST

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Adam), Seth Rogen (Kyle), Anna Kendrick (Katherine), Bryce Dallas Howard (Rachael), Serge Houde (Richard), Andrew Airlie (Dr. Ross)

KEY CREW

Music- Michael Giacchino, DP- Terry Stacey, Editor- Zene Baker and Casting- Francine Maisler

GENRE

Comedy, drama, bit of romance

BUDGET

$8 million

BOX OFFICE

$39.2 million

THEMES

Cancer, love, friendship, betrayal, acceptance, anger, frustration, loss, defeat, determination, resist, care, understanding and survival.

AWARDS

12 wins, e.g. Independent Spirit Award- Best First Screenplay and Aspen Filmfest- Audience Favourite Feature. It also received Golden Globe nominations for best motion picture and for best performance (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

NARRATIVE: The IMDb description: “Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease. With the help of his best friend, his mother, and a young therapist at the cancer center, Adam learns what and who the most important things in his life are.” My opinion on the film: I loved 50/50 so much and Seth Rogen’s performance was absolutely hilarious so the film would not have been the same without him. It was interesting to see how the serious topic of cancer was approached in a comedy and I think Jonathan Levine did an excellent job because he made me, as a member of the audience, feel a variety of emotions. At the beginning of the film, there were a lot of ‘laugh out loud’ moments which continued throughout, however towards the end it became very sad and I felt more emotional because over the first half of the film, I was able to gain a connection with the characters. I had high hopes going into this film and my expectations were definitely met and it was even better than I expected. I would honestly recommend this film to anyone so go and watch it and you will not regret it!! 9.9/10

KEY SCENES: ·         Adam finds out he has cancer ·         Adam shaves off his hair ·         The car scene near the end of the film- Adam has a complete breakdown ·         Adam meets with Katherine ·         Hospital scene- in the waiting room ·         Before Adam goes into operation ·         Adam reveals to his mum that he has cancer ·         Adam finds out that his girlfriend cheated on him ·         “50/50 is not that bad” ·         Messy car ·         “I wish you were my girlfriend”- part of the car scene near end of film

COMPARABLES: Funny People (2009)

PROGRESSION OF KEY CONTRIBUTORS: Jonathan Levine went on to direct: Warm Bodies (2013), The Screen Junkies Show (TV Series-2013), Rush (TV Series-2014) and The Night Before. He is currently at the production stage of the TV Movie, I’m Dying Up Here. Joseph Gordon-Levitt went on to act in films such as The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Looper (2012) and The Night Before (2015). Seth Rogen went on to act in films such as This Is the End (2013), The Interview (2014) and The Night Before (2015).

ANY OTHER BUSINESS? “Adam is based on writer Will Reiser, who was diagnosed with cancer and later recovered. Seth Rogen, who plays Kyle, helped Reiser cope with his disease and convinced him to write a screenplay during their early 20s together.” “Joseph Gordon-Levitt actually shaved his head during filming. Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen were improvising in character while the cameras kept rolling since the scene was not in the script.”