Author: Frank Mengarelli

I have always been Frank.

EPISODE 33 – Brian De Palma’s RAISING CAIN with SPECIAL GUEST PEET GELDERBLOM

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Podcast

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_vb_3133-optPodcasting Them Softly is extremely excited to present a chat with editor, filmmaker, and movie buff Peet Gelderblom, who most recently re-cut Brian De Palma’s 1992 thriller Raising Cain as a passion project. Indiewire posted the re-cut on Vimeo, it went viral, De Palma saw it, and it became a director approved special feature on the newly released Shout! Factory Special Edition Blu-ray. Raising Cain had a troubled production history, with changes made to the overall narrative after poor test screenings; De Palma has long felt that the released version was in a compromised state. Peet is a massive De Palma aficionado, so this was an especially fun chat to record. And considering that this personal experience for Peet is something of a surreal dream come true, we couldn’t help but gush a bit — it was very enjoyable to speak with someone who shares the same sense of cinematic excitement as all of us do at PTS. Check out Peet’s work at http://www.directorama.net/   If you’ve not seen Raising Cain, you can order it right here https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/film-crime/raising-cain-collector-s-edition And then check out Peet’s version, as De Palma himself says it’s the best way to see it!

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY – A Review by Frank Mengarelli

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Film Review

ROGUE ONE is the most surreal theatre experience of my life. Yes, it is a STAR WARS movie that’s very much akin to the seven previous films, yet it is completely different than anything we’ve seen before. In a very odd and perplexing way, ROGUE ONE may just be the best STAR WARS film ever made.

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Set months prior to the events in A NEW HOPE, we’re shown a world that we’ve never seen. The Rebellion is split in fractions, they aren’t painted with heroism, a lot of them are killers without morals all doing this for the greater good of the galaxy.

The call backs not only from the original trilogy but particularly the prequels perfectly thread the needle of anchoring this film in a familiar galaxy but with unfamiliar worlds and characters. The CGI resurrection of Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin is a flawless effects achievement, and brings a weight of establishment and riches to the film.

The new characters are a perfect addition to the STAR WARS’ cinematic canon. Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Wen Jiang, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen, and Forest Whitaker are all wonderful, with Ben Mendelsohn stealing every scene he’s even. Even if he’s matched up against the CGI’d Cushing or Darth Vader, he is the standout.

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Bravo to Disney for making a very dark and dreary film. They haven’t done this before. They simultaneously made a film about the horrific personal repercussions of war while organically sliding it into George Lucas’ cinematic timeline. Disney had everything riding on this picture; THE FORCE AWAKENS was easy. They had the original cast, a continuation of the saga story on their side, but with ROGUE ONE they created someone new and fresh inside of a franchise that honestly didn’t need it to continue forward in public consciousness.

The new score from Michael Giacchino is absolutely wonderful. He does complete justice staying true to John Williams, yet he takes major liberties with some tracks we are already familiar with. Gregg Fraser’s cinematography is perfection. This is the best looking STAR WARS film to date, without a doubt. The aesthetic will please diehard original trilogy fans because we’re back to the utter dilapidation of the Galactic Empire.

Gareth Edwards, Kathleen Kennedy, and Tony Gilroy all deserve acclaim and recognition for the film that they have created. But without the brilliant mind of George Lucas, we would never have gotten this film. For all the undo and faux outrage Lucas constantly receives, none of this would have been made possible without him.

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What makes ROGUE ONE so very special isn’t just the Easter Egg’s, the callbacks, references to BLUE VELVET and APOCALYPSE NOW, and the cameos, it’s a film that is about hope in its purist form. It is about heroes. It is about championing what you believe in regardless of the odds and sacrifices made. And for a lot of us, this is the exact film we needed at this particular moment.

PTS PRESENTS DAMIAN K. LAHEY RAGER POWERCAST

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Podcast

 

laheyPodcasting Them Softly is thrilled to present a passionate cinematic discussion with independent filmmaker Damian K. Lahey! A Jacksonville, Fl. native, Damian graduated from Douglas Anderson School Of The Arts High School and is an alumnus of The University Of North Carolina School Of The Arts Film School. Damian has produced and/or written several independent films including festival blazing cult faves ‘Ding-A- Ling- Less’ (2002) directed by indie maverick Onur Tukel and the critically acclaimed anti-drug film ‘Cocaine Angel’ (2006), directed by indie stalwart Michael Tully which premiered at Rotterdam International FF and South By Southwest. Damian was a staff writer/contributing editor for IndieSlate Magazine from 2006-2011. In 2008 he won a Creative Excellence Award for screenwriting at Slamdance. Damian has also worked as a freelance screenwriter, director and UPM on several commercials, music videos and shorts over the years including ‘Children For A Day'(2008), which finished up a successful festival run in 2010, winning a slew of awards. The last feature film he wrote and directed, the holiday comedy/drama ‘The Heroes Of Arvine Place'(2012), was shot in Jacksonville, Fl. and also had a very strong festival run, winning several awards and was picked up for distribution and released in December of 2014 on Blu-Ray and multiple online platforms. In July of 2014, Lahey wrote and directed the short comedy/horror piece ‘Soccer Moms In Peril’ in Los Angeles, which had its world premiere at Dances With Films in Hollywood in June of 2015. It recently finished a successful festival run, even winning a Jury Award at the prestigious Indie Memphis Film Festival and best comedy/horror film at The Chicago Horror Film Festival. Damian kicked off 2016 shooting another short film, ‘District Quarantine’ in Los Angeles, which was recently completed and will begin its festival run in 2017. Damian is currently in pre-production on another short film, ‘Captain Traer Smiles At The Stars’ which will shoot in Los Angeles in February of 2017. That will complete a trilogy of genre short films titled ‘Three Slivers Of The Moon’ which all feature star Tarah DeSpain, Damian’s long time cinematographer Tarina Van Den Driessche, sound designer Joshua Chase and editor, co-producer and all around collaborator Craig Moorhead. We hope you enjoy this exciting and entertaining chat!

 

Alan Parker’s ANGEL HEART – A Review by Frank Mengarelli

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review

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A nightmarish fever dream of despair, discovery, and darkness is what makes Alan Parker’s ANGEL HEART one of the very best films of the 1980’s. Featuring a greasy and tobacco stained Mickey Rourke, a fresh and innocent Lisa Bonet, and Robert De Niro in one of his most underrated and undervalued performances.

The brutal violence and horrifying imagery of Rourke’s downward spiral are made up of this harmoniously tranquil aesthetic that makes the film even more terrifying and unnerving. At times, the film almost challenges its viewer to look away from the screen, but it knows you cannot because you’ve become so enamored with the richly lathered story that quickly unfolds.

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Rourke gives one of his finest, if not best performance as the amoral and skeevy private investigator who doesn’t have any limitations of what he’ll do for a paycheck. As his story arc comes to a close, Rourke transforms his character into a man who’s conflict gains nothing but sympathy from the viewer.

De Niro gives a brilliant and subtle turn as a man who is so powerful and dangerous his very presence in the film leaves you feeling violated. De Niro has often been hailed for his award-winning performances, but this role deserves as much attention and acclaim if not more.

Director Alan Parker is almost an unsung hero as a filmmaker. He’s made countless films throughout an array of genres, never allowing himself to become beholden to any of them. His films are topical, emotional, and more times than not unique pictures that find their way into your consciousness and are rarely forgotten. ANGEL HEART is a film that few have seen but no one will ever forget.

De PALMA – A Review by Frank Mengarelli

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Interviews

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DE PALMA is without a doubt one of the best films of the year. It is a candid and refreshing documentary on one of cinema’s most important voices. He speaks about his beginnings, his failures, successes, in a very honest and touching way.

Like his filmography, the doc’s singular voice is De Palma, not once is the interviewer heard, and only once does De Palma himself address them. It is an incredible amount of joy to sit and listen to him talk for nearly two hours about each one of his films, giving us unique insight, humorous anecdotes, how his personal life affects his films, and brutally honest assessments of his work and actors he’s collaborated with.

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De Palma doesn’t shy away from talking about his unpleasant working relationship with Cliff Robertson on OBSESSION, or his disdain for Robert Towne’s changes to MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, or how he had to have Oliver Stone removed from the set of SCARFACE. Perhaps the best story is of the constant strife between Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox on the set of CASUALTIES OF WAR.

What makes a great documentary is honesty. Particularly when the director of the doc isn’t purposefully manipulating the doc to their liking, or trying to control the subject and/or film into having a preordained outcome.

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Directors Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow just let De Palma talk. They allow him to speak freely about everything, and it is a marvel to watch. The only negative marks this film gets is that it’s only an hour and fifty minutes. Surely we could listen to De Palma speak for at least six hours, right?

Tom Ford’s NOCTURNAL ANIMALS – A Review by Frank Mengarelli

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Film Review

Tom Ford is a cinematic anomaly. With little traditional filmmaking experience he’s taken cinema by storm and with his most recent directorial and screenwriting effort, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, Ford has created an immaculate and haunting masterpiece.

The film is a magnificent web of truths, the lies we tell ourselves, the selfishness we guise in our actions, and a love that was so fierce and passionate that when it ends the only comparable feeling is death.

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It’s deep, complex, and heavy. Ford does anything but hold our hand, but he does an incredible job guiding us through a narrative that is so thick and murky, one slight mistake or hiccup would make the film an incoherent mess.

The performances are all stellar. Amy Adams gives a purposefully reserved turn that keeps her at arm’s length for anyone she interacts with, occasionally allowing vulnerability to slip through the cracks, allowing us a peak at her inherent toxicity.

Jake Gyllenhaal embarks on yet another revelation of a performance, blending into the picture in a way that is impossible to see any other actor in. Michael Shannon gives the best performance of his career as a character who if a lesser actor took on the role, it would be a one note character that would not serve as big a purpose.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey does an unbelievable job, helping construct a visual narrative that is as beautifully sweeping as it is terrifyingly haunting. It’s his best, and most important work to date. Ford re-teams with composer Abel Korezeniowski, who creates an atmosphere so dark and dreamy, the visual imagery is that much more impactful.

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Production design by Shane Valentino and costumes by Arianne Phillips further create two simpatico worlds of high excess and dusty noir, that is unlike any other film ever made. The films aesthetics are flawless, without a single blemish or crack that supports the already taut and visceral narrative Ford carefully takes us through.

Ford’s audacity knows no bounds, and cinema needs more films like this. His previous film, A SINGLE MAN hit all the cinematic marks, making it one of the best debut directorial efforts of all time, it’s so good that it was impossible for Ford to ever outdo himself. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS blows A SINGLE MAN out of the water. It’s not even close. It’s a film that’s brute nature and frightening themes delivers a cathartic ending that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Whatever Ford does after this is almost irrelevant, he has already become a cinematic titan on his own accord, and we should all be in awe.

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EPISODE 33: DOG EAT DOG with SPECIAL GUEST MATTHEW WILDER

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review

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Podcasting Them Softly is honored to be joined with returning guest, Matthew Wilder, to talk about his latest film, DOG EAT DOG starring Nicolas Cage, Christopher Matthew Cook, and Willem Dafoe.  Matthew adapted Edward Bunker’s novel of the same name, and the film was directed by legendary filmmaker Paul Schrader.  Matthew is currently in pre-production on his next film; MORNING HAS BROKEN starring Lydia Hearst and Peter Bogdanovich.  Matthew is currently writing BAD COMPANY: THE COTTON CLUB MURDERS.  DOG EAT DOG is currently avalible to rent and purchase on VOD with a blu ray being released on December 27th.

PTS Presents Writer’s Workshop with Jeremy Pikser

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Podcast

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pikserPodcasting Them Softly is thrilled to present a chat with special guest Jeremy Pikser. Jeremy is the Oscar nominated co-writer of Warren Beatty’s hilarious and more relevant than ever political satire Bulworth. He also served as a creative consultant and did uncredited writing work on Beatty’s epic drama Reds. Other screenwriting credits include War Inc. and The Lemon Sisters with multiple new projects in the pipeline. Jeremy teaches graduate screenwriting at Johns Hopkins University, and before that, was a screenwriting teacher at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He’s serves as Vice President of Writers Guild of America East, and he’s also a regular adviser at the Sundance Film Festival’s Screenwriter’s Lab. A lifelong political activist and graduate of Oberlin College, Jeremy was one of the original organizers of the Not in Our Name Statement of Conscience, which opposed the US-led invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, while he’s written posts for The Huffington Post, The Guardian and CounterPunch. We hope you enjoy this fantastic discussion about films and politics!

JUSTICE LEAGUE: FLASHPOINT PARADOX

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review

​JUSTICE LEAGUE: FLASHPOINT PARADOX is my first foray into the DC animated feature film series.  It’s based upon a graphic novel, FLASHPOINT where The Flash goes back in time, preventing his mother’s death but by doing so he changes the trajectory of events that yields a dead Bruce Wayne, a rage filled Batman in Thomas Wayne who maliciously uses guns as his primary weapons, turning Martha Wayne into the Joker – basically most of all the heroes as we know are villains, and a few villains are heroes.

The animation draws the heroes in an obnoxiously muscular way, and some of the dialogue is almost intentionally lame, but with a voice cast of Kevin Conroy, Michael B. Jordan, Danny Huston, C. Thomas Howel, Kevin McKidd, Nathan Fillion, Dana Delany, Cary Elwes, and Ron Perlman – it’s pretty good.
Seeing the heroic DC Universe flipped, where Batman is killing everyone, Wonder Woman is beheading Atlantians, and Deathstroke and Lex Luther are fighting with Cyborg and the military against the meta-human war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman, all in all it’s a pretty fun watch.  PARADOX proposes itself as a rich “what if” in an already interesting universe.

If you are rabidly awaiting the onslaught of the DC Cinematic Universe, this film is a fun introducrion into who the heroes and villains you’ll eventually see on screen are.  Or, if you’re like me and don’t know a lot about some of the deeper characters in the DC Universe, this is a quick film that is certainly worth checking out.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: FLASHPOINT PARADOX is now available to stream on Netflix.

PTS Presents EDITOR’S SUITE with MICK AUDSLEY

by Frank Mengarelli, posted in Film Review, Podcast

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audsleyPodcasting Them Softly is thrilled to present a chat with veteran film editor Mick Audsley! His latest feature, which he co-edited with Jeremiah O’Driscoll, is the Robert Zemeckis-directed WWII action-romance Allied, which hits theaters this weekend! He’s worked numerous times with filmmaker Stephen Frears, with credits that include The Hit, My Beautiful Laundrette, Prick Up Your Ears, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Dangerous Liasons, The Grifters, Hero, The Van, High Fidelity, Dirty Pretty Things, Tamara Drewe, Lay the Favorite, and Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight.  He’s also collaborated with director Mike Newell on Love in the Time of Cholera, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mona Lisa Smile, and Prince of Persia. He’s teamed up with director Neil Jordan on We’re No Angels and Interview with the Vampire, and has crafted multiple films with director Terry Gilliam, including the sci-fi classic 12 Monkeys, The Zero Theorem, and the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. He also cut last year’s superb mountain climbing disaster film Everest, which was shot by cinematographer and friend of Podcasting Them Softly Salvatore Totino. And we also learned about Sprocket Rocket Soho, an online networking organization for filmmakers, actors, and craftspeople, which he co-founded with his wife as a way of keeping open communication between various artists. Check out the site at Sprocket Rocket Soho   We hope you enjoy this fabulous hour of passion and cinema love!