Crisp Criticism - "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1", "Maps to the Stars", "The Homesman"

by

Julien Faddoul

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

Katniss Everdeen reluctantly becomes the symbol of a mass rebellion against the autocratic Capitol.

Under-lit, choppy and shapeless film that serves merely as set-up for the next installment.

d – Francis Lawrence  

w – Peter Craig, Danny Strong   (Based on the Novel by Suzanne Collins)

ph – Jo Willems  

pd – Philip Messina 

m – James Newton Howard  

ed – Alan Edward Bell, Mark Yoshikawa  

cos – Kurt and Bart

p – Nina Jacobson, Jon Kilik

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Natalie Dormer, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone

Maps to the Stars **

A tour into the heart of a Hollywood family chasing celebrity, one another and the relentless ghosts of their pasts.

Typical Cronenbergian dive into the blackness: Filled with malicious observations and a melodramatic plot. The scrupulousness of his detail and compositions is what is so formidable.

d – David Cronenberg

w – Bruce Wagner

ph – Peter Suschitzky

pd – Carol Spier

m – Howard Shore

ed – Ronald Sanders

cos – Denise Cronenberg

p – Saïd Ben Saïd, Martin Katz, Michel Merkt

Cast: Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Evan Bird, Olivia Williams, Robert Pattinson, Sarah Gadon, Dawn Greenhalgh, Kiara Glasco

The Homesman *

A claim jumper and a pioneer woman team up to escort three insane women from Nebraska to Iowa.

Handsomely made western about a gaggle of characters whose motivations are left annoyingly unexplored.

d – Tommy Lee Jones   

w – Tommy Lee Jones, Kieran Fitzgerald, Wesley A. Oliver   (Based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout)

ph – Rodrigo Prieto  

pd – Merideth Boswell

m – Marco Beltrami  

ed – Roberto Silvi  

cos – Lahly Poore

p – Luc Besson, Peter Brant, Brian Kennedy

Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank, Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto, Sonja Richter, Meryl Streep, John Lithgow, James Spader, Hailee Steinfeld, Caroline Lagerfelt, Tim Blake Nelson, Jesse Plemons, William Fichtner, David Dencik, Barry Corbin, Evan Jones