The Force Awakens in Hollywood
Happy New Year, dear readers!
As we put the January section to bed, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is trouncing the box office. With such a knockout punch, we knew we didn’t need to battle opening weekend crowds to get a review in by deadline.
If you wanted to see it, you, and millions of others, will have seen it by this time this issue comes out; you won’t need our humble opinion to get you to the theatre. Instead the good Professor Kaufmann and I decided to highlight some films that will garner critical praise at the box office, but probably little else.
Chip reviews the 1950s lesbian drama Carol, the mainstream, albeit slightly controversial, Concussion, and the most artsy title of the year (and one of our favorites for 2015), Youth. Meanwhile I find myself dreaming of a galaxy far, far away after reviewing three films with a dark side – The Danish Girl, a fictionalized love story inspired by transgender pioneer Lili Elbe and Gerde Wegener, a brutal drama about London’s most notorious gangsters in Legend, and The Revenant, an unrelentingly harsh and bleak piece of Oscar bait. All of these will be playing at local theatres during January.
With the onslaught of award season, the last few weeks have been a movie marathon for us – attending screenings, pouring through screeners and assessing the ‘Best of 2015.’ We are happy to report that the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) voted Spotlight ‘Best Picture of the Year.’ And with that, we are ready to dispense with the critical bests and have some fun. You’ll find our Favorite Films of 2015 here.
Two films which bypassed the typical screenings of the season are David O’Russell’s Joy and Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, so we do not have reviews of them. We anticipate that both will be worthwhile, but our inner movie geeks love that Tarantino shot TH8 on super-wide film stock and reverted to lenses not used since Khartoum, starring Charlton Heston.
The Asheville Film Society, hosted by Mountain Xpress film critic Ken Hanke, and The Hendersonville Film Society, hosted by Reel Takes’ own Chip Kaufmann, kick off the New Year with a full slate offerings, including What’s New Pussycat?, High Society, Shane, and Goya’s Ghosts.
Until next time, may the force be with you!