Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Crisp Criticism - "Magic Mike XXL", "Love & Mercy", "Madame Bovary"

by
Julien Faddoul














Magic Mike XXL **

Three years after Mike bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.
A fascinating film: Directed by the first film’s Assistant Director, with Soderbergh both shooting and editing (under his usual pseudonyms). It breathlessly glides from one immaculate set-piece to another while offering really no commentary or even elementary observation to the goings-on, ending in what is essentially a 20-minute filmed stage show. Ultimately, it rides mostly on the charisma of its lead performer.

d – Gregory Jacobs
w – Reid Carolin
ph – Peter Andrews
pd – Howard Cummings
ed – Mary Ann Bernard
cos – Christopher Peterson

p – Nick Wechsler, Channing Tatum, Gregory Jacobs, Reid Carolin

Cast: Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Adam Rodríguez, Kevin Nash, Gabriel Iglesias, Jada Pinkett Smith, Donald Glover, Andie MacDowell, Amber Heard, Elizabeth Banks













Love & Mercy *

The life of reclusive Beach Boys songwriter and musician Brian Wilson, from his successes with orchestral pop albums to his nervous breakdown and subsequent encounter with controversial therapist Dr. Eugene Landy.
Well acted but self-conscious and arbitrary biopic, with the modish construct of switching back and forth from the young Wilson to the old. It's not nearly as soulful as it thinks it is.

d – Bill Pohlad
w – Oren Moverman, Michael Alan Lerner
ph – Robert D. Yeoman
pd – Keith P. Cunningham
m – Atticus Ross
ed – Dino Jonsater
cos – Danny Glicker

p – Bill Pohlad, Claire Rudnick Polstein, John Wells

Cast: John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti, Jake Abel, Bill Camp













Madame Bovary

Flaubert’s Emma Bovary, the beautiful wife of a small-town doctor in 19th century France, who engages in extra marital affairs in an attempt to advance her social status.
Dire, dull and not particularly pretty adaptation. Read the book, instead.

d – Sophie Barthes
w – Rose Barreneche, Sophie Barthes   (Based on the Novel by Gustave Flaubert)
ph – Andrij Parekh
pd – Benoît Barouh
m – Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine
ed – Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
cos – Christian Gasc, Valérie Ranchoux

p – Sophie Barthes, Felipe Marino, Jaime Mateus-Tique, Joe Neurauter

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Ezra Miller, Laura Carmichael, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Paul Giamatti, Rhys Ifans, Logan Marshall-Green, Olivier Gourmet


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