Join us as we go our favorite films of 2016, give our assessment of the Oscar nominations, DC Films, and what are some of our favorite overlooked films by the Academy. We hope you guys enjoy!
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Tag Archives: Nocturnal Animals
32nd Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival
We’re very excited to publish our 32nd Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival podcast. This year, Frank was able to get red carpet interviews with Executive Director of the festival, Roger Durling, film historian Leonard Maltin, Naomie Harris of MOONLIGHT, Stephen McKinnley Henderson of FENCES, David Crosby who wrote and performed an original song for LITTLE PINK HOUSE, filmmaker Derek Wayne Johnson who premiered his film, JOHN G. ALVIDSEN: KING OF THE UNDERDOGS at SBIFF, Aaron Taylor-Johnson of NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, and filmmaker Damien Chazelle who wrote and directed LA LA LAND. On the latter half of the podcast, Frank is joined with Devin Godzicki who took photographs and attended panels with Frank at this year’s SBIFF. They discuss a film they saw, SEPTEMBER 12th, and end the conversation with a brief chat about LA LA LAND.
EPISODE 35: NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
Join Frank and Tim, as they discuss one of the very best films of the year, Tom Ford’s NOCTURNAL ANIMALS!
Tom Ford’s NOCTURNAL ANIMALS – A Review by Frank Mengarelli
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.
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.
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.
PTS Proudly Presents CINEMATOGRAPHERS CORNER with Seamus McGarvey
Podcasting Them Softly is extremely proud to present our first Special Edition CINEMATOGRAPHER’S CORNER POWERCAST with two time Oscar nominated director of photography Seamus McGarvey. For the last 25 years, Seamus has been putting together an amazing and eclectic body of work that stretches all genres and styles, with just some of his credits including THE WAR ZONE for Tim Roth, HIGH FIDELITY for Stephen Frears, THE HOURS for Stephen Daldry, Oliver Stone’s THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, the unforgettable and chilling family drama WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN from director Lynn Ramsay, Joss Whedon’s THE AVENGERS, last summer’s blockbuster GODZILLA, this past winter’s worldwide phenomenon 50 SHADES OF GREY, and four huge collaborations with director Joe Wright including ATONEMENT, ANNA KARENINA, THE SOLOIST, and this Fall’s extremely exciting looking PAN, which is a new spin on the classic tale of Peter Pan. He two upcoming projects are Gavin O’Connor’s THE ACCOUNTANT staring Ben Affleck and Tom Ford’s next film NOCTURNAL ANIMALS. He’s one of the most in demand cinematographers of his generation, and it was an honor to speak with him. Enjoy!
