My articles for Screenprism are now part of The Take

In 2016, I had the pleasure of contributing to a site called Screen Prism where I conferenced in with the creators of the site and they spoke with film writers to create content that answered an FAQ  about film or television with a deep dive. The essays were a great mix of academic and popular in style and I'm extremely proud of my articles for them.

The site morphed into The Take and eventually focused solely on video content so some of my work got buried under the new site design.

Were Movies in the 1950s as White-Washed as Pleasantville Suggests?

https://the-take.com/read/were-movies-of-the-1950s-as-white-washed-as-later-films-like-pleasantville-suggest

Hint: No. This essay was precipitated by noticing that films in the 1940s and 1950s were extremely risque. I often say "Duck Soup" or "Double Indemnity" are great exhibits for how classic movies used to go places that screenwriting often can't today.

How does Mozart in the Jungle Reflect Amazon's New Business Model?
http://screenprism.com/insights/article/how-does-the-pilot-of-mozart-in-the-jungle-reflect-amazons-business-model

I noticed when watching this show that the pilot and the second episode had inconsistencies that got me thinking of Amazon's cross purposes in the creations of the pilot and the rest of the season.

Why don't Characters Never Change in Arrested Development and Seinfeld?
http://screenprism.com/insights/article/do-the-characters-of-black-comedies-like-seinfeld-and-arrested-development
This one explored the concept of black comedy. I had never seen "The Peep Show" but the editor kept wanting to add that in.

What is the real-life story of the Hollywood Blacklist Depicted in Trumbo?
http://screenprism.com/insights/article/how-did-the-real-life-hollywood-blacklist-shown-in-trumbo-affect-the-histor

As a student of film history, this one was fairly simple to write up and topical because of the release of the film at the time

Did the Writers Initially Intend for Mac of It's Always Sunny to be Gay?
http://screenprism.com/insights/article/has-the-character-of-mac-on-its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-always-been-ga

There have been long discussions on message boards that inspired me to want to talk my own stab at writing this with both my own pet theory and a collection of what a lot of internet contributors were saying about the topic.

How does Ball of Fire Reveal the Themes of a Classic Screwball Comedy?
http://screenprism.com/insights/article/how-does-ball-of-fire-reveal-the-themes-of-the-classic-screwball-comedy
I was recently reading about screwball comedies and class in an old college textbook so this fit right in.

Who really wrote Citizen Kane?
http://screenprism.com/insights/article/who-really-wrote-citizen-kane-why-was-there-controversy-over-the-screenwrit
I was fascinated by the fact that Herman Mankiewicz's descendants felt the need to take up the mantle in defense of him decades later. I checked out three books from the library and wrote an article for Nostalgia Digest and reused some of the material here.

How did Cleopatra Destroy a Director and a Studio?
http://screenprism.com/insights/article/how-did-hollywood-disaster-cleopatra-almost-destroy-its-director-and-20th-c
This was from the same Mankiewicz brothers article as above as it was Joseph Mankiewicz who directed "Cleopatra".

10 Best Ensembles of 2015

1.       The Martian: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Sebastian Stan, Kristen Wiig, McKenzie Davis, Donald Glover, Bodinger Wong

An excellent group of actors with a few names you don’t normally see in television (Davis and Glover) all acting with that same walk-and-talk urgency that keeps the mood of the film tense but leaves room for comic levity. Matt Damon had the most overtly comic performance but Sean Bean and Kristen Wiig deserve a bit of credit in that department as well

2.       Spotlight: Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Brian D’Arcy James, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, Billy Cudrup

Another film with strong actors all on the same page in terms of the requisite intensity needed to carry the film. While Mark Ruffalo ended up the only male actor getting a nomination, it would not have looked out of place to see Keaton, Scheiber or Brian D’Arcy James pop up on Oscar nomination day. Each of the five leads provided a different energy even though their character descriptions  (serious-minded journalist battling evil) must have looked exactly the same on paper to form a five-man band of sorts.

3.       Trumbo: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Elle Fanning, Alan Tyduk, Louis C.K., Helen Mirren, Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Portnow,  John Goodman, Stephen Root, David James Elliott

In my opinion, Cranston was a bit too broad and caricatured to merit an Oscar nomination in his category, but he certainly fit the serio-comic tone within the context of his film well. The portrayals of Hollywood icons untethered from the baggage of their on-screen personas like Eddie G Robinson (Stuhlbarg) and John Wayne (Elliott) were particularly interesting performances and Helen Mirren had a lot of staying power as the vindictive columnist Hedda Hopper. Perhaps the biggest surprises were Louis C.K.’s tender performance as fellow troublemaker Arlen Hinds and Elle Fanning’s mature performance as Trumbo’s faithful-yet-frustrated daughter.

4.       Brooklyn: Saoisre Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Emily Bett-Rickards, Eileen O’Higgins, Jenn Murray, Jim Broadbent

A relatively generic love story doesn’t just n

ab a Best Picture nomination in a competitive race like 2015 without solid acting from its leads and background cast. This was Ronan’s first role as a mature grown-up, Cohen’s beak-out, and a cementing of Gleeson’s filmography as someone with range and an ability to melt hearts.

5.       Love and Mercy: John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti, Bill Camp, Jake Abel, Erin Drake

Any sort of forced awkwardness in the adult love story (would he really merit a second date in those circumstances?) was smoothed over by the chemistry between Banks (whose impressively coiffed hair contrasted well with her ability to see inner beauty) and Cusack. Paul Giamatti plays a memorable villain in his overbearing guardian capable of terrifying tirades when threatened and Bill Camp’s soulless father provides a parallel in the past timeline. Credit also goes to the four actors who doubled the Beach Boys and one of the best performances of the year in Paul Dano’s tortured genius portrayal of a young Brian Wilson.

6.       Big Short: Steve Carrell, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Hamish Linklater, John Magaro, Brad Pitt, Marissa Tomei, Melissa Leo, Finn Whitrock, Rafe Spall, Karen Gillan

The sheer amount of talent and the way it is used puts this up there. Bale, ordinarily paying intense and ready for violent, is a new kind of revelation here as an unconventional genius who plays heavy metal drums during the workday and likely resides on the spectrum. Carrell has been showing range and talent for a while (particularly under the direction of Adam McKay) so he’s not that much of a surprise here but it’s still a fine performance. If there’s a reason this falls just short of the top five, it seems Brad Pitt is just shoe-horned in for star power and it might have been nice to see a treasure like Melissa Leo in an expanded capacity.

7.       Hateful Eight: Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Birchir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Channing Tatum, Bruce Dern

Whether a Tarantino film hits you the right way or not, it’s hard to deny how masterful he is at casting. His films have relaunched many a career (even John Travolta counts here), engineered many breakout performances (Christophe Waltz stands out but don’t forget Daniel Bruhl, Melanie Laurent or Diane Kruger from that same movie), and maintained a stable of repertory players (Tim and Eli Roth, Michael Madsen, Samuel L Jackson, etc) that add to the trademark of each film. 

8.       Straight Outta Compton:  Corey Hawkins, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Paul Giamatti, Aldis Hodge, Keith Stanfield, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr.

It’s not particularly easy to get cast recognition for a group of actors this unknown (except Paul Giamatti, whose name sticks out there like a sore thumb) and there are extra points there for mimicking each of the rappers.

9.       Youth: Harvey Keitel, Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano

A film that has offered the meatiest film roles Jane Fonda and Harvey Keitel have received in decades and Michael Caine isn’t too shabby in it either. The film didn’t live up to its potential on the awards circuit but not for lack of its acting.

10.   Sicario: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya

Emily Blunt’s raw performance is the stuff of an action heroine. Think Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty” but directly in the line of fire. On top of that, Benicio Del Toro had a good run on the awards circuit, Jon Bernthal  (who would land a role in “Daredevil” a year later) steals a scene or two  and many of the minor players (the Mexican crime lord and family) provide for a solid multi-cultural cast.

Every 2015 Film I've seen Ranked 1-30, Part I

Here is the ranking of the first 30 films I have seen in 2015 (Bottom Half can be found here):

1. Spotlight, dir. Thomas McCarthy, starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Rachel McAdams, Brian D’Arcy James, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci- The critical consensus is that this film is the shit and I won’t disagree. It’s kinetic, does a great job of deepening its characters with little or no exposition, has a solid amount of world-building and has all that profound social significance you expect from an Oscar front-runner without being preachy. Did I mention it’s about journalism and I’m a journalist? I love that its best picture win is raising at least some degree of awareness that high-quality journalism adds up to something.

2. The Martian, dir. Ridley Scott, starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Kristen Wiig-A fun science-fiction film that doesn’t skimp on the science or the action. Matt Damon got his third Oscar nomination for this film but it’s more the way the character is written that deserves the credit. Damon’s character exists in a haunting isolation that he faces with a thin veneer of optimistic plunk and the fact that his struggle can hold your attention so well is a testament to the writing. The action is smartly divided between Mars’ sole resident, his ship mates in space, and mission control on Earth and the latter two settings are populated with all sorts of gems including Kristen Wiig, Donald Glover, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Jessica Chastain, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. 

3. Joy, dir. David O Russell, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Bradley Cooper, Isabella Rossellini, Edgar Ramirez, Virginia Madsen-I don’t know if my head would agree that this is the third best film of the year, but it just worked for me emotionally. Made in the same history-as-a-loose-guideline-for-my-actors-whims spirit as “American Hustle,” Joy caters to the strengths of its players (particularly, Bradley Cooper’s manic confidence) but is more grounded in a narrative of the struggle to make it in a dog-eat-dog world. As with Spotlight and journalism, the film does a good job of world-building with inventions and QVC. I also like that the film is unapologetic of showing how bad Joy’s family is and doesn’t treat it as something that needs to be resolved in a bow at the end. Edgar Ramirez has a breakout performance here.

4. Star Wars VII, dir. George Lucas, starring Daisey Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac, Donmhall Gleeson-For this viewer, Star Wars’s biggest achievement was convincing me that it had a reason to exist. Return of the Jedi wrapped things up in such an uber-happy ending that I couldn’t see a possible reason for continuing the story except more money. J.J. Abrams’s version was transformative on that front. Not only did it achieve the task of investing me in a story I considered closed but it was about as good as a film could be. 

5. Big Short, dir. Adam McKay, starring Steve Carell, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Jeremy Strong, Melissa Leo, Marissa Tomei, Brad Pitt-The comic genius behind the immortal line “I love lamp” has an Oscar. What a year it’s been for Adam McKay: He used to be known primarily as a skilled comic writer who found his way to some studio money, and now he’s being courted by Democatic presidential candidates for an endorsement. Big Short contains a pretty sharp ensemble with at least two highly memorable characters and contains the kind of comic bounce that protégé Tina Fey (yep, Adam McKay technically recruited Fey to SNL) and others use on TV: Supercuts, cutaways, and flashbacks keep the story moving.

6. Inside Out, voices Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Diane Lane-One of Pixar’s best and most original film in years. Few films really explore an outside topic so well (Inception and dreams comes to mind) that they serve such a pedagogical purpose which is important for a kids’ movie. The comedy and adventure are pretty masterfully done here. It’s an example of Pixar in its groove.

7. Mustang, dir. Deniz Erguven-I actually reviewed this one and you can read it here. In short, I described it as a hellish version of Little House on the Prairie. Following five orphaned sisters under a house arrest imposed by their conservative uncle in small-town Turkey, the film’s technicality recalls Terrence Malick for the ethereal exploration of the present or Jonothan Demme’s more small-scale stuff with a focus on found moments of joy. At the same time, it’s a pretty scary look at restrictive societies.

8. Everest, starring Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Emily Watson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Kelly, Kiera Knightley, Robin Wright-Not a popular film but, hey, you can’t win them all. I had the added benefits of watching this film in 3D AND of not really knowing that it was a disaster film. Perhaps, that’s why the heartbreak of the climbers not making it down resonated so much with me. Some complained that the film was too ambitious with its large ensemble, but there was a lot in Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Jon Hawkes and Emily Watson’s characters to keep their fates engaging. Like Inside Out and child psychology or Love and Mercy and the Beach Boys, this is a film that had me rushing to the library (or the internet or whatever) to learn all I could and become an Everest-phile.

9. Man from Uncle, dir. Guy Ritchie, starring Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander,  Hugh Grant, Elizabeth Debicki, Sylvester Groth -Whether it was awards juggernaut Mad Max: Fury Road,  Jurassic Park tearing up the box office, or Star Wars VII realizing the dreams of fanboys and fangirls, there was an aura of credibility to tentpole films this year. My pick for best action film is this slick spy homage from action auteur Guy Richie. Like his last masterwork, Sherlock Holmes, he creates a distinct time and place: The luxury and extravagance of mid-century Italy (scenery porn galore! Even the shots of meals alone will make your mouth water) with an undercurrent of Cold War paranoia. The film’s buddy chemistry between the two leads and the girl is playful (with the appropriate level of homoerotic satire) and Alicia Vikander is an odd mix of Aurdrey Hepburnesque cuteness and playfully lethal in a way that works.

10. Love and Mercy, starring John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti, Bill Camp, Erin Drake, written by Oren Moverman, Michael Lerner-Like Everest, this is a film that turned me onto something new. I’m embarrassed to say that I previously only knew of the Beach Boys as the group of famous musicians who would randomly pop in on the Tanner residence when Full House needed a ratings boost. The film’s split narrative device can be wobbly at times and there are more than a few awkward  moments (the Brian and Melinda courtship comes off as strange to say the least) but the film brings it on the emotional front. The four principals in the cast each carry very heavy material: Paul Giamatti channels some pretty epic villainy, Elizabeth Banks makes a very awkward courting process on paper work and unleashes a killer instinct in later scenes, John Cusack impresses with quiet moments, and Paul Dano steals the show by selling the genius and the emotional breakdown of a young Brian Wilson

11. Trumbo, dir. Jay Roach, starring Bryan Cranston, Elle Fanning, Louis CK, Diane Lane, Michael Stuhlbarg, John Goodman-As a sucker for Hollywood history, it’s hard to resist watching actors of today doing their best impressions of Hollywood royalty. It’s a solid story dragged down by Bryan Cranston’s slightly cartoonish take and half-hearted attempts to infuse the material with a comic tone (though Stephen Root and John Goodman pull off the funny quite well). It’s an important film that successfully avoids being overly preachy.

12. Our Brand is Crisis dir. David Gordon Greene, starring Sandra Bullock, Anthony Mackie, Joaquim de Almeida, Billy Bob Thornton, Zoe Kazan, Ann Dowd, Scoot McNairy- An underlooked political drama about the rivalry between two ace political strategists (Sandra Bullock channeling a slightly darker version of her frazzled but endearing rom-com persona and Billy Bob Thornton channeling James Carville) working different sides of a Bolivian election. With a supporting cast that includes Scoot McNairy (he with the name that’s extremely easy to misspell), Zoe Kazan and Ann Dowd, the film boasts an enjoyable camaraderie and this is easily one of Sandra Bullock’s best performances. Like Trumbo, it successfully threads the needle of thought-provoking without being overly preachy, even if the resolution is slightly less profound than it thinks it is. Bonus points if you’ve recently been to Bolivia (i.e. me!)

13. Mad Max: Fury Road dir. George Miller, starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Bryne, Rosie Huntington-Whitely-In light of the fact that putting such a popular film somewhere in the middle of the queue will draw complaints, it seems preferable here to pre-emptively answer the question “why isn’t this in your top five?’ and it would be even better if I had a good answer to that question. The things that are praised- the exploration of society’s male-female dichotomy and the can’t-be-faked special effects – are things I agree with on all counts but I don’t necessarily think the special effects or the gender explorations of other films are particularly lacking. I also think that Imortan Joe and his goons could have used just a tad more subtlety. Still, this certainly was something unique and different and the narrative worked whole-heartedly.

14. Sicario, dir. Denis Villeneuve, starring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Dan Kaluuya-I’ve wanted to see a good Mexican border/drug cartel film for a while, but aside from a great performance by Emily Blunt, this isn’t that film. It felt slightly more like a slightly tired entry of the gangster genre than something profound and new.  I prefer the series “The Bridge” which is truly all that and a bag of chips and while I can’t personally recommend Stephen Soderberg’s “Traffic” (I’ve inexplicably never seen it),  it sounds like a great film. “Sicario” is still a pretty good film and I can’t say enough good things about Emily Blunt, but I just don’t think it’s THE film.

15. Hot Tub Time Machine 2, starring Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Adam Scott, Gillian Jacobs, Kumail Nanjiani-I can’t imagine there are more than half a dozen people on the entire planet who bothered writing up a comprehensive ranking of their greatest films from 2015 and ranked Hot Tub Time Machine 2 ahead of Bridge of Spies. I realize this got negative reviews for crude and dumb characters, but there is a lot dumber and cruder stuff out there (Adam Sandler, Johnny Knoxville, Tyler Perry, Eddie Murphy, “Entourage the Movie”, the “Dumb and Dumber” Series, etc, etc., etc.). Yes, these characters are idiots but there’s a comic rhythm to their shared idiocy that hit the sweet spot for me and the naiveté of Adam Scott’s character made him a great straight man and contrast to the trio. I read this film as a trippier version of Back to the Future with a higher level of Murphy’s Law-infused stupidity.

Reflecting on the Elia Kazan controvoursey

Most of my knowledge on the Elia Kazan controversy comes from Brad Damien's "Inside Oscar 2 1996-2000" (Which covers the controversial 1998 Oscar ceremony where Kazan was presented with an honorary Oscar and many in the audience including Ed Harris, Nick Nolte, and Barbara Streissand refused to stand up) and Nick Clooney's "The Movies that Changed Us."

The background is that in the 1950's the most popular and successful director was Elia Kazan. His greatest works were literary adaptations like Streetcar Named Desire, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He also made socially conscious pictures which I personally think went a long way toward exposing issues on anti-semitism and racism such as Pinky and Gentleman's Agreement.

A terrible chapter of our nation's history that I hope people don't take lightly in which Jews, foreigners, radicals and anyone who wasn't in the WASP establishment was persecuted on the grounds of being Communist was the McCarthy witch hunt hearings. If anyone's ever read the Crucible about the Salem Witch trials, they were inspired by the McCarthy hearings. The McCarthy hearings targeted Hollywood and made them testify before the House Unamerican Committee, and many lost their jobs as a result.

A lot of people felt that in the wake of this, Kazan betrayed a lot of colleagues by going to the committee and naming names. To the day of his death, Kazan defended his actions saying that he felt that the communists were a danger to the country. It is widely believed that Kazan had enough grounds to break the blacklist.

A lot of the condemnation was that he did something wrong, and the debate is over whether he was wrong or right. I think the debate should be whether he did what he thought was right vs. whether he didn't care about wrong or right but just sold out to commercial interests. It's well-known that Kazan was the hottest filmmaker at the time of the hearings and that only he could have broken the blacklist and still retained a career because he had that much clout. So I ask if he still would have retained a career, weren't his motives not financial?

Also, does it factor into your judgement of Kazan that even if he did that one rotten thing, he still contributed to society by making message pictures like Gentleman's Agreement and Pinky? From what I know, I have to think that even if he did something dumb, he did what he thought was the right thing (which he vehemently defended against his death and went to the trouble of making a whole movie about it) on the basis of the fact that making GA and Pinky demonstrates that he was a guy with a social conscious.

I asked this on a message board and it got a lot of interesting responses. Many people defended him pointing out that Ronald Reagan named names as well, and he got to be president. Someone said and I agree, that we should point more fingers to the institutions, the Catholic Church, Congress, the movie studios, the press (who waited too long) that was complicit in this dark chapter on the nation's history.

There was also an opinion that the Oscar was unnecessary since Kazan had been awarded enough Oscars during his lifetime while people he ratted out like Dalton Trumbo got none until after his death. I pointed out in response to that, that Trumbo died in the late 1960's, 30 years before Kazan, so it's hard to say if they wouldn't have come to their senses eventually and given it to him while he was alive, and an Oscar posthumously is better than none at all.

I think the important thing is that we all remember what happened and don't forget that dark chapter in our nation's history.