Showing posts with label Danielle Koch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Danielle Koch. Show all posts
Friday, November 2, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
REVIEW -- Reservation Road
“Reservation Road” is a film about the need for closure, and in the last minute, it gives the audience exactly that. The film opens at a children’s music recital overlooking a beautiful New England waterway. Following the recital, Ethan and Grace Lerner (Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly) stop at a gas station on Reservation Road so their daughter Emma (Elle Fanning) can use the bathroom. While they are stopped, their son Josh (Sean Curley) gets out of the car to release his jar of fireflies. Meanwhile, Dwight Arno (Mark Ruffalo) is speeding to get his son Lucas (Eddie Alderson) back to his ex-wife (Mira Sorvino) following a Red Sox game. While trying to answer his cell phone, Dwight hits and kills Josh. In shock, he speeds away.
Following Josh’s death, Ethan goes on a desperate search to find the driver of the car. Likewise, Dwight is desperate to hide what he has done to maintain his freedom and continue to work on his strained relationship with his son. Their journeys parallel each other until they are both at their most vulnerable. A little too coincidentally, their paths cross as Ethan hires Dwight as his lawyer to investigate the death and Dwight’s ex-wife becomes Emma’s personal piano teacher. True, the story takes place in a small New England town, but the coincidences are a bit too much to believe. If they see each other so much now, why had they never met before?
After enough personal investigating, Ethan finds what he was looking for, proof that Dwight killed his son. Ethan never seems to consider calling the police but instead buys a gun and goes after Dwight himself. At this point, itwould seem that the logical ending is for Dwight to end up dead. However, the film goes beyond conventional Hollywood filmmaking and resolves the story without montages neatly tying up every character’s story. The film climaxes and in two short scenes, Ethan’s and Dwight’s futures are conveyed and the film fades to black. The brilliantly written conclusion negates the clichés and coincidences that existed earlier in the film.
The film features beautiful New England locations and has a high production quality. Some award nominations would not be entirely surprising, but more likely for Golden Globes than for Oscars. Best Adapted Screenplay seems the most logical category for the film to be recognized in.
The performances are all around excellent. Phoenix and Connelly poetically portray the tragedy of parents losing a child. Ruffalo also manages to create a sympathetic character, despite the horrific act he committed. The few scenes between Phoenix and Ruffalo are especially powerful. In each meeting, the tension increases until the audience almost can’t handle it anymore. Alderson is also notable as a young boy striving for a close relationship with his father.
“Reservation Road” is a powerful, well-written and emotionally packed film. Suspension of disbelief is a bit necessary, but isn’t it for most every film in theaters? Unlike most of those, “Reservation Road” is thoughtful, well made and beautifully acted.
By Danielle Koch
News Editor, District
Following Josh’s death, Ethan goes on a desperate search to find the driver of the car. Likewise, Dwight is desperate to hide what he has done to maintain his freedom and continue to work on his strained relationship with his son. Their journeys parallel each other until they are both at their most vulnerable. A little too coincidentally, their paths cross as Ethan hires Dwight as his lawyer to investigate the death and Dwight’s ex-wife becomes Emma’s personal piano teacher. True, the story takes place in a small New England town, but the coincidences are a bit too much to believe. If they see each other so much now, why had they never met before?
After enough personal investigating, Ethan finds what he was looking for, proof that Dwight killed his son. Ethan never seems to consider calling the police but instead buys a gun and goes after Dwight himself. At this point, itwould seem that the logical ending is for Dwight to end up dead. However, the film goes beyond conventional Hollywood filmmaking and resolves the story without montages neatly tying up every character’s story. The film climaxes and in two short scenes, Ethan’s and Dwight’s futures are conveyed and the film fades to black. The brilliantly written conclusion negates the clichés and coincidences that existed earlier in the film.
The film features beautiful New England locations and has a high production quality. Some award nominations would not be entirely surprising, but more likely for Golden Globes than for Oscars. Best Adapted Screenplay seems the most logical category for the film to be recognized in.
The performances are all around excellent. Phoenix and Connelly poetically portray the tragedy of parents losing a child. Ruffalo also manages to create a sympathetic character, despite the horrific act he committed. The few scenes between Phoenix and Ruffalo are especially powerful. In each meeting, the tension increases until the audience almost can’t handle it anymore. Alderson is also notable as a young boy striving for a close relationship with his father.
“Reservation Road” is a powerful, well-written and emotionally packed film. Suspension of disbelief is a bit necessary, but isn’t it for most every film in theaters? Unlike most of those, “Reservation Road” is thoughtful, well made and beautifully acted.
By Danielle Koch
News Editor, District
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Coffee Talk Tuesday Morning by Danielle Koch
Students and professors met in the lobby of Marshall House for coffee and donuts and to talk with John Sayles and Maggie Renzi about being independent filmmakers.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Michael Douglas Interview in Print
On October 27, the Savannah College of Art and Design and the Savannah Film Festival presented Academy Award winning actor and producer, Michael Douglas, with a Lifetime Achievement in Acting award. Douglas has starred in films such as “Romancing the Stone,” “Wall Street,” “Traffic” and “Basic Instinct.”
Receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award left Douglas with mixed emotions.
“[The award makes me feel] old. You always think when you get these awards maybe they talked to my doctor and they know something I don’t. But it’s a lovely honor,” said Douglas.
Douglas also said the real thrill in being given the award is that it gave him the opportunity to visit Savannah for the first time. Douglas said that he was very happy to explore Savannah with his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and his children, Dylan and Carys. Douglas and his family toured Fort Pulaski, visited with President Paula S. Wallace and were able to see many SCAD buildings including Bobbie’s Diner.
“It’s sort of a mindblower when you realize [SCAD] started in ’79. All I do is drive around town and ‘Oh, that’s a SCAD building and that’s a SCAD building.’ Each of them preserved and looking more cherried out than the next. It’s pretty impressive,” said Douglas.
Douglas began his career in the early 1970s acting on the television show, “The Streets of San Francisco.” However, his career didn’t really get jumpstarted until he started producing films, a career which he said he “lucked into.” He ended up being very lucky when the first film he produced, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” won all five of the major Academy Award categories including a Best Picture Oscar for Douglas.
For him, the key to producing quality work is the source material. Douglas first read “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in college. Later, he discovered that his father, Kirk Douglas, owned the rights to the book. He then bought the rights from his father and spent nearly six years developing the book into a film.
“If you have a piece of material that’s good, it attracts the elements, it will attract the financing. The big trouble with movies today is how much it costs to market them, the publicity. But if you find a piece of material that you really like and you know how to make it into a three-act structure, then you’ll attract the people to you.”
Douglas said that producing has helped him in many ways in regards to his acting.
“Producing is like seeing the whole picture. You have to understand what the movie is going to be in three acts. Acting is like tunnel vision. They kind of pay you to be selfish. As an actor, having a producing background makes me see the whole movie. So I’m pretty good at knowing what my responsibility is, if I have to pick up the pace or create threat or create humor,” said Douglas.
Douglas has also won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film, “Wall Street.” Currently, a script is in development for a sequel to that film titled, “Money Never Sleeps.” Douglas is attached to star in the film but he is not producing it.
“They’re working on a draft. And I just threw my two cents in. I’m not a producer. So we’ll just see when the script comes in and how good of shape it’s in, if we can do it or not,” said Douglas.
Thankfully, it seems the Lifetime Achievement Award is motivating him to continue to add to his impressive body of work. During his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony Douglas spoke of the other benefit of the award — his children now know what he does.
“I don't have a movie that they can see. So up until tonight, they knew mommy is an actress and daddy makes pancakes. So thank you. Now they know what their father does,” said Douglas.
by Danielle Koch
News Editor, District
Receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award left Douglas with mixed emotions.
“[The award makes me feel] old. You always think when you get these awards maybe they talked to my doctor and they know something I don’t. But it’s a lovely honor,” said Douglas.
Douglas also said the real thrill in being given the award is that it gave him the opportunity to visit Savannah for the first time. Douglas said that he was very happy to explore Savannah with his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and his children, Dylan and Carys. Douglas and his family toured Fort Pulaski, visited with President Paula S. Wallace and were able to see many SCAD buildings including Bobbie’s Diner.
“It’s sort of a mindblower when you realize [SCAD] started in ’79. All I do is drive around town and ‘Oh, that’s a SCAD building and that’s a SCAD building.’ Each of them preserved and looking more cherried out than the next. It’s pretty impressive,” said Douglas.
Douglas began his career in the early 1970s acting on the television show, “The Streets of San Francisco.” However, his career didn’t really get jumpstarted until he started producing films, a career which he said he “lucked into.” He ended up being very lucky when the first film he produced, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” won all five of the major Academy Award categories including a Best Picture Oscar for Douglas.
For him, the key to producing quality work is the source material. Douglas first read “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in college. Later, he discovered that his father, Kirk Douglas, owned the rights to the book. He then bought the rights from his father and spent nearly six years developing the book into a film.
“If you have a piece of material that’s good, it attracts the elements, it will attract the financing. The big trouble with movies today is how much it costs to market them, the publicity. But if you find a piece of material that you really like and you know how to make it into a three-act structure, then you’ll attract the people to you.”
Douglas said that producing has helped him in many ways in regards to his acting.
“Producing is like seeing the whole picture. You have to understand what the movie is going to be in three acts. Acting is like tunnel vision. They kind of pay you to be selfish. As an actor, having a producing background makes me see the whole movie. So I’m pretty good at knowing what my responsibility is, if I have to pick up the pace or create threat or create humor,” said Douglas.
Douglas has also won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film, “Wall Street.” Currently, a script is in development for a sequel to that film titled, “Money Never Sleeps.” Douglas is attached to star in the film but he is not producing it.
“They’re working on a draft. And I just threw my two cents in. I’m not a producer. So we’ll just see when the script comes in and how good of shape it’s in, if we can do it or not,” said Douglas.
Thankfully, it seems the Lifetime Achievement Award is motivating him to continue to add to his impressive body of work. During his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony Douglas spoke of the other benefit of the award — his children now know what he does.
“I don't have a movie that they can see. So up until tonight, they knew mommy is an actress and daddy makes pancakes. So thank you. Now they know what their father does,” said Douglas.
by Danielle Koch
News Editor, District
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