We liked this story about a man whose livelihood depends upon his selling holographic meeting technology to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Tom Hanks (blogged in Bridge of Spies) plays his usual charming, optimistic, yet self-deprecating character and the lovely Sarita Choudhury (made her debut in Mississippi Masala (1991), then I liked her in House of the Spirits (1993), her small part in Admission, and 19 episodes of Homeland as Mira Berenson) brings spice as a Saudi doctor.
Alexander Black, in his second role ever, is funny and steady as Yousef.
Director/screenwriter/composer Tom Tykwer (good work on the excellent Run Lola Run (1998), a segment of Paris, je t'aime (2006), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)--we didn't see Cloud Atlas in 2012) gives us plenty of comedy in the script he adapted from the novel by Dave Eggars (most recently in these pages for Promised Land).
The trailer and the movie open with an MTV-style video of Hanks performing the Talking Heads 1980 tune Once in a Lifetime (here's the original and here's the trailer). Many exteriors were shot in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Morocco. A few more were filmed in Boston and New York and the rest was shot in Tykwer's native Germany.
Though Tykwer has a website with a music section, this movie's soundtrack is omitted. A playlist is available on youtube, however, and it's nice. There are lots of songs, too, listed here.
Still playing on one screen locally, its ratings, 67% critics and 80% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, aren't great, and I expect it will be gone after Thursday night. Jack and I think most Hanks fans will like it as much as we did ten days ago.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Friday, May 20, 2016
Love & Friendship (2016)
It took me quite a while to get into the rhythm of this adaptation of the Jane Austen novella Lady Susan, about a conniving woman, matchmaking for her daughter and/or herself. Despite the star power--starring Kate Beckinsale, directed and written by Whit Stillman, and with Chloë Sevigny in a supporting role, not nearly starring as the credits would have us believe--Jack didn't like it much, either. The language of the 1790s was slightly daunting and we had a hard time remembering who was who. We attended a special event in early March, saw an advance screening, and met Stillman (covered in Damsels in Distress) afterwards (more on that in a moment).
Beckinsale (profiled in Everybody's Fine) uses her native English accent and Sevigny (Oscar nominated for Boys Don't Cry (1999), won a 2010 Golden Globe for Big Love (2006-2011); I loved her in If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000), American Psycho (2000), Party Monster (2003), Shattered Glass (2003), Melinda and Melinda (2004), and the 2012 series Hit & Miss) doesn't need to, as her gal pal is American. We're fans of Emma Greenwell, whose debut was as Mandy in Shameless and also starred in this year's movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which we didn't see, but thought the concept a hoot. When I mentioned Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to Stillman at the after-party, he was dismissive about zombies and his snobbery took him down a notch in our esteem (my faithful readers may remember that we loved the comedy Zombieland, one of Jack's favorite movies of all time. We also loved Fido (2006), a comedy about a pet zombie. So, even though we're not fans of all things undead, we have open minds. Mmm, yummy, brains!).
Recently I heard an NPR story about the movie that said that Austen's novella was told in letters, which would explain Sevigny's part as Lady Susan's confidante given so much weight.
The good news is that the wardrobe is outstanding and the women absolutely gorgeous, so kudos to the departments of costume, hair, and makeup. The locations in Ireland, standing in for England, are beautiful as well.
It opened last week and still hasn't made it here but I want to get this written before I forget any more of it. The trailer is actually quite amusing and, it seems, everyone else who has seen it loves it, as evidenced by Rotten Tomatoes scores of 99% critics and 98 audiences, not to mention this review from the New York Times. So, believe who you will, see it or not.
Beckinsale (profiled in Everybody's Fine) uses her native English accent and Sevigny (Oscar nominated for Boys Don't Cry (1999), won a 2010 Golden Globe for Big Love (2006-2011); I loved her in If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000), American Psycho (2000), Party Monster (2003), Shattered Glass (2003), Melinda and Melinda (2004), and the 2012 series Hit & Miss) doesn't need to, as her gal pal is American. We're fans of Emma Greenwell, whose debut was as Mandy in Shameless and also starred in this year's movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which we didn't see, but thought the concept a hoot. When I mentioned Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to Stillman at the after-party, he was dismissive about zombies and his snobbery took him down a notch in our esteem (my faithful readers may remember that we loved the comedy Zombieland, one of Jack's favorite movies of all time. We also loved Fido (2006), a comedy about a pet zombie. So, even though we're not fans of all things undead, we have open minds. Mmm, yummy, brains!).
Recently I heard an NPR story about the movie that said that Austen's novella was told in letters, which would explain Sevigny's part as Lady Susan's confidante given so much weight.
The good news is that the wardrobe is outstanding and the women absolutely gorgeous, so kudos to the departments of costume, hair, and makeup. The locations in Ireland, standing in for England, are beautiful as well.
It opened last week and still hasn't made it here but I want to get this written before I forget any more of it. The trailer is actually quite amusing and, it seems, everyone else who has seen it loves it, as evidenced by Rotten Tomatoes scores of 99% critics and 98 audiences, not to mention this review from the New York Times. So, believe who you will, see it or not.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Keanu (2016)
As fans of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, Jack and I laughed a lot in this violent slapstick about two suburban guys posing as drug lords in order to retrieve a stolen kitten named Keanu. Key (covered in these pages in Tomorrowland) and his comedy partner Peele just ended their fabulous Comedy Central sketch series Key & Peele and I recommend you seek it out when it's released on DVD August 2. On that show they introduced Key's character Luther, Obama's "Anger Translator," to Peele's excellent Obama impersonation. Here's my favorite clip. Luther was so successful that the President invited him to last year's White House Correspondent's Dinner. Even if you never click through on this blog, you should watch these two clips. You can also read these fascinating articles (one, two) about the men, who are both bi-racial and bring up the subject of race in almost every sketch. Another of our favorite K&P clips, The Pirate Chantey, however, is about sexism instead.
Included in the cast are Method Man (a musician in Wu-Tang Clan, among others) as Cheddar (as it happens, the actor's part in The Wire was named Cheese), Jason Mitchell (played Eazy-E in the NWA bio-pic Straight Outta Compton and the NWA song F##k tha Police is in this movie) as Bud, Will Forte (profiled in Nebraska before his 30 episodes of Last Man on Earth) as a white drug dealer, and the reliable Luis Guzmán (among his many credits I'll mention Carlito's Way (1993), Out of Sight (1998), The Limey (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Anger Management (2003), Fast Food Nation (2006), and We're the Millers; he was also in the award-winning ensembles of Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), and Traffic (2000)). Oh, and when the kitten speaks in the dream sequence, guess who provides the voice? You can do it.
The many pop songs are listed and can be streamed here. They supplement a score by Steve Jablonsky (profiled in Gangster Squad) and Nathan Whitehead (new to me).
Included in the cast are Method Man (a musician in Wu-Tang Clan, among others) as Cheddar (as it happens, the actor's part in The Wire was named Cheese), Jason Mitchell (played Eazy-E in the NWA bio-pic Straight Outta Compton and the NWA song F##k tha Police is in this movie) as Bud, Will Forte (profiled in Nebraska before his 30 episodes of Last Man on Earth) as a white drug dealer, and the reliable Luis Guzmán (among his many credits I'll mention Carlito's Way (1993), Out of Sight (1998), The Limey (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Anger Management (2003), Fast Food Nation (2006), and We're the Millers; he was also in the award-winning ensembles of Boogie Nights (1997), Magnolia (1999), and Traffic (2000)). Oh, and when the kitten speaks in the dream sequence, guess who provides the voice? You can do it.
The many pop songs are listed and can be streamed here. They supplement a score by Steve Jablonsky (profiled in Gangster Squad) and Nathan Whitehead (new to me).
Rated 78 and 67% by Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences, this looks like it will be gone from big screens in these parts after Thursday. You'll be fine waiting for the DVD, also estimated for an August release. Knowing the creativity of these stars, I won't be surprised if the DVD has all kinds of fun extras anyway. In whatever format you see it, be sure to wait for the bonus at the very end.
Update March 2017: I'm laughing at myself that I completely omitted the writers and director when I wrote about this in May 2016. Peele co-wrote the script with Alex Rubens, and Peter Atencio directed. All three performed the same duties on all 54 episodes of Key & Peele, and Atencio has about two dozen other credits.
Update March 2017: I'm laughing at myself that I completely omitted the writers and director when I wrote about this in May 2016. Peele co-wrote the script with Alex Rubens, and Peter Atencio directed. All three performed the same duties on all 54 episodes of Key & Peele, and Atencio has about two dozen other credits.
Major League (1989)
I enjoyed this dated story about a losing Cleveland Indians team getting their s##t together. Jack had countless times said incredulously, "You haven't seen Major League?!" and, a month ago, we were in a hotel one afternoon (before an Indians baseball game, as it happens), I needed to rest my injured knee, and so we streamed it on Netflix. I have no idea how many times Jack, a lifelong Indians fan, has seen this but he happily watched it again.
Star Charlie Sheen had had success before this one with Platoon (1986), Wall Street (1987), and Eight Men Out (1988), then later worked with his brother Emilio Estevez on Men at Work (1990). He followed those with two Hot Shots! farce movies (1991, 1993) and a sequel to this in 1994, before his addiction sent him off the rails. Better known now for that addiction and some instances of domestic abuse than for 178 episodes of Two and a Half Men, he did a good job 27 years ago in Major League, playing a "wild thing," quite tame by today's standards. The movie also stars Tom Berenger (some of my faves are Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), The Big Chill (1983), Platoon which earned him an Oscar nomination, Shattered (1991), Sliver (1993), and Training Day (2001)), Corbin Bernson (pretty sure I saw all of his 171 episodes of L.A. Law and 120 of Psych, he was also in Shattered with Berenger, and I also liked Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), to name four of his 211 credits), Wesley Snipes (covered in Chi-Raq), Rene Russo (last blogged in Nightcrawler), and Dennis Haysbert (most recently in Men, Women & Children), all so young and cute! Which brings to mind my friend Jill's saying, "No matter how bad you think your picture is now, you'll look at it in ten years and say, 'Damn, I looked good!'"
Director/writer Davis S. Ward won an Oscar for writing The Sting (1973) and was nominated for co-writing Sleepless in Seattle (1993). He directed and adapted the screenplay for Cannery Row (1983) and co-wrote The Milagro Beanfield War (1988). He's an Indians fan himself and said at the time he thought making this movie was the only way he would see the Indians win anything.
James Newton Howard (last scored Concussion) provides the soundtrack (here's one) along with a list of songs. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences give it a solid B at 82 and 84%. If you're missing this, you can watch it anytime you want.
Star Charlie Sheen had had success before this one with Platoon (1986), Wall Street (1987), and Eight Men Out (1988), then later worked with his brother Emilio Estevez on Men at Work (1990). He followed those with two Hot Shots! farce movies (1991, 1993) and a sequel to this in 1994, before his addiction sent him off the rails. Better known now for that addiction and some instances of domestic abuse than for 178 episodes of Two and a Half Men, he did a good job 27 years ago in Major League, playing a "wild thing," quite tame by today's standards. The movie also stars Tom Berenger (some of my faves are Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), The Big Chill (1983), Platoon which earned him an Oscar nomination, Shattered (1991), Sliver (1993), and Training Day (2001)), Corbin Bernson (pretty sure I saw all of his 171 episodes of L.A. Law and 120 of Psych, he was also in Shattered with Berenger, and I also liked Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), to name four of his 211 credits), Wesley Snipes (covered in Chi-Raq), Rene Russo (last blogged in Nightcrawler), and Dennis Haysbert (most recently in Men, Women & Children), all so young and cute! Which brings to mind my friend Jill's saying, "No matter how bad you think your picture is now, you'll look at it in ten years and say, 'Damn, I looked good!'"
Director/writer Davis S. Ward won an Oscar for writing The Sting (1973) and was nominated for co-writing Sleepless in Seattle (1993). He directed and adapted the screenplay for Cannery Row (1983) and co-wrote The Milagro Beanfield War (1988). He's an Indians fan himself and said at the time he thought making this movie was the only way he would see the Indians win anything.
James Newton Howard (last scored Concussion) provides the soundtrack (here's one) along with a list of songs. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences give it a solid B at 82 and 84%. If you're missing this, you can watch it anytime you want.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Sing Street (2016)
I laughed, I cried, I danced in my seat. This story of a teenage Irish schoolboy discovering his and his friends' musical talent, bonding with his brother, and falling in love made me very happy. I had a good time in the mid-1980s, when this is set, though I was far older, and the music of the time is spot on.
The tag line is "1980s Dublin, boy meets girl, girl unimpressed, boy starts band." There is more to it, though. I do wish I had asked for the closed caption device, as the Irish brogue was often difficult for this Yank, but I could hear the songs just fine.
The tag line is "1980s Dublin, boy meets girl, girl unimpressed, boy starts band." There is more to it, though. I do wish I had asked for the closed caption device, as the Irish brogue was often difficult for this Yank, but I could hear the songs just fine.
Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, in his screen debut as Conor, is a former boy soprano and just sixteen now, classically trained by his mother, also a soprano. He has a beautiful voice (and face, for that matter). Also lighting up the screen is the luminous Lucy Boynton, who made her start as young Beatrix in Miss Potter (2006) at the age of ten, and now has six projects coming out in the future, as the girl named Raphina. Jack Reynor (I don't remember him in Delivery Man) is quite good as the passionate brother Brendan, as is Mark McKenna as Eamon, also a musician in real life. Maria Doyle Kennedy (after I covered her in Albert Nobbs I've watched her recurring role on the series Orphan Black) plays the mom and fans of Game of Thrones may want to know that Aiden Gillen is the dad.
Director/writer John Carney (covered in Begin Again, which is mentioned along with Once (2006) in every ad for this movie) has put together a heart-warming and funny script with fantastic original music (on which he worked personally with composer Gary Clark) mixed in with tracks of the time, plus old rock videos along with custom ones just for the film. When I saw it this afternoon I counted 28 songs in the credits. There are 19 listed on imdb, 17 on this spotify playlist and ten on this one from youtube. In addition to Carney's earlier work I'd say this one got some inspiration from The Commitments (1991) (though Carney denies it) and That Thing You Do (1996).
I've asked some Irish friends and relatives to comment on the movie but haven't given them time to respond. This article, which has no spoilers, and the production notes are interesting. You can also see Walsh-Peelo and McKenna performing as themselves at a party at the Sundance festival, but I haven't watched it yet because lyrics make it hard for me to write.
The Jungle Book (2016)
Jodi, who's a harsh critic, recommended this so highly that we saw it Friday and agreed that it's sensational. Based on the Rudyard Kipling books and the 1967 animated feature, director Jon Favreau's Iron Man fingerprints are all over it, including violent battles between anthropomorphic creatures. Apparently, though it's technically a live action picture, the greater percentage was created on computers and the adorable Mowgli, Neel Sethi in his feature debut after one short film, inserted among the talking animals.
We wish we had known in advance that the late Garry Shandling (had a cameo in Iron Man 2) plays the porcupine. When you see it, watch for his lines. You won't have any trouble picking out Bill Murray (last blogged in Rock the Kasbah) as Baloo the bear and Christopher Walken (most recently in Jersey Boys) as King Louie the giant ape. Ben Kingsley's (last in The Walk) voice, as Bagheera the panther sounds an awful lot like Patrick Stewart's, and I was glad we were alone in the room so I could look up the cast on my phone. Idris Elba (most recently in Thor: The Dark World) is the snarling tiger Shere Khan, Lupita Nyong'o (last voiced a character in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens) the wolf mother, and Scarlett Johansson (most recently quite funny in Hail Caesar!) the hypnotic python. The real stars, though, are the hundreds of tech folks, creating a realistic world of computer generated fantasy.
I figured the hit song The Bare Necessities would figure in somehow and was pleasantly surprised when Murray sings the whole thing. It's reprised by Dr. John and the Nite Trippers over the credits. Walken sings a great cover of I Wanna Be Like You and Johansson sings Trust in Me. Three of these (no Dr. John, sorry, you have to buy it for that) are included in the soundtrack playlist streaming on youtube which features exciting music by John Debney (last scored Draft Day). If you're feeling nostalgic, you can stream the soundtrack of the older movie here.
We saw it in 3D and thought it was great. If you don't care so much about the special effects, the DVD is estimated for August 2016. Almost everyone agrees with Jodi and us--95 and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. The MPAA has rated it PG. Some kids will definitely be scared.
We wish we had known in advance that the late Garry Shandling (had a cameo in Iron Man 2) plays the porcupine. When you see it, watch for his lines. You won't have any trouble picking out Bill Murray (last blogged in Rock the Kasbah) as Baloo the bear and Christopher Walken (most recently in Jersey Boys) as King Louie the giant ape. Ben Kingsley's (last in The Walk) voice, as Bagheera the panther sounds an awful lot like Patrick Stewart's, and I was glad we were alone in the room so I could look up the cast on my phone. Idris Elba (most recently in Thor: The Dark World) is the snarling tiger Shere Khan, Lupita Nyong'o (last voiced a character in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens) the wolf mother, and Scarlett Johansson (most recently quite funny in Hail Caesar!) the hypnotic python. The real stars, though, are the hundreds of tech folks, creating a realistic world of computer generated fantasy.
I figured the hit song The Bare Necessities would figure in somehow and was pleasantly surprised when Murray sings the whole thing. It's reprised by Dr. John and the Nite Trippers over the credits. Walken sings a great cover of I Wanna Be Like You and Johansson sings Trust in Me. Three of these (no Dr. John, sorry, you have to buy it for that) are included in the soundtrack playlist streaming on youtube which features exciting music by John Debney (last scored Draft Day). If you're feeling nostalgic, you can stream the soundtrack of the older movie here.
We saw it in 3D and thought it was great. If you don't care so much about the special effects, the DVD is estimated for August 2016. Almost everyone agrees with Jodi and us--95 and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. The MPAA has rated it PG. Some kids will definitely be scared.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Born To Be Blue (2016)
Here is another fictionalized story of another great jazz trumpeter and Jack and I liked it a lot. Ethan Hawke is pretty great as Chet Baker at a low point in his life. I was already a fan in 1988 when I learned that Baker fell out of a window that year in Amsterdam, dying at the age of 58. This movie is a lovely, though sad, companion piece to Miles Ahead, which we saw the day before, last week.
Hawke (last blogged for Boyhood, which earned him a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination) has been getting rave reviews. Kudos also to Carmen Ejogo (most recently in Selma) who plays his wife, a compilation of several women, and to Callum Keith Rennie (14 episodes of Californication and lots of other things) as the manager and friend. Stephen McHattie (so familiar but I can't quite place him, even after reading his credits), who plays Chet Sr., looks more like Chet Baker than Hawke and actually played him in a short film, The Deaths of Chet Baker (2009), by the same director/writer Robert Budreau (he's new to me and this is his second feature).
Unlike Miles Ahead, the soundtrack has been posted on youtube, and here's the imdb list of songs. I had to look to find instrumentals by Baker to play while writing. Here are some: one, two, three. Hawke sings many songs himself in the movie. In this example, #6 on the album, his pitch isn't great, but the feeling is there.
This had a short run here and no DVD release date has been announced but I imagine it'll get there eventually. Watch for it. Averaging 88 and 85%, Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences liked it quite well, As did we.
Hawke (last blogged for Boyhood, which earned him a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination) has been getting rave reviews. Kudos also to Carmen Ejogo (most recently in Selma) who plays his wife, a compilation of several women, and to Callum Keith Rennie (14 episodes of Californication and lots of other things) as the manager and friend. Stephen McHattie (so familiar but I can't quite place him, even after reading his credits), who plays Chet Sr., looks more like Chet Baker than Hawke and actually played him in a short film, The Deaths of Chet Baker (2009), by the same director/writer Robert Budreau (he's new to me and this is his second feature).
Unlike Miles Ahead, the soundtrack has been posted on youtube, and here's the imdb list of songs. I had to look to find instrumentals by Baker to play while writing. Here are some: one, two, three. Hawke sings many songs himself in the movie. In this example, #6 on the album, his pitch isn't great, but the feeling is there.
This had a short run here and no DVD release date has been announced but I imagine it'll get there eventually. Watch for it. Averaging 88 and 85%, Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences liked it quite well, As did we.
Miles Ahead (2015)
"Don Cheadle is a genius," said Jack, about this fictionalized portrayal of seminal jazz trumpet player Miles Davis. In his feature directorial debut, the actor (last blogged for Iron Man 3) gives us the talented, mercurial addict, his anger and sadness, and occasional joy.
The script, co-written by Cheadle and Steven Baigelman (the latter co-wrote Get On Up), invents a 1979 Rolling Stone reporter (played by Ewan McGregor, most recently in The Impossible) and a "caper," which, McGregor said in Rolling Stone in March, Davis might have liked. We also meet Davis' wife Frances, played with great depth by Emayatzy Corinealdi (her breakthrough role was in Middle of Nowhere (2012) which I wanted to see but did not) in some of the 1950s scenes. Frances' photograph is on the album Somewhere My Prince Will Come, and it's recreated in the movie with Corinealdi's. Also featured is the reliable Michael Stuhlbarg (last in Trumbo) as a slimy record company guy.
While researching this post, I learned that Cheadle crowd-funded the project on indiegogo. I wish I had known! The total raised before it closed was about $344k, which is listed on wikipedia as the budget. As of today, the movie has made over two million dollars (check this link for the latest). Did I mention I wish I had known? Investors are probably among the concert goers in the final scene (see below). Sony Pictures is the distributor.
Of course, the soundtrack is awesome. I bought it on iTunes (it's easier to sample the tracks on amazon, however) because I owned only five of its 16 musical tracks (eight album tracks are dialogue--twenty songs were listed in the closing credits but I don't know what's missing). Amazon is selling it as mp3 downloads, CD, and vinyl. Four tracks on the album are by composer Robert Glasper, in his feature debut. A notable musical sequence is the concert scene over the end credits, when Cheadle, in character as Miles, plays a concert with jazz greats Herbie Hancock (earlier in the movie an actor portrays Hancock in several sessions), Wayne Shorter, and Esperanza Spalding. Someone had posted on imdb's Goofs page that Cheadle's vest, which said #socialmusic, was an anachronism. I petitioned to remove it from the goofs (and was successful--none remain as of this writing) because it's clear to me from both the vest and the musicians that the session is not supposed to be historical.
Frances' and Miles' children Cheryl and Erin (the latter is a son) are among the 29 producers (29 is close, but no cigar, in my producers plethora prize. Here's a search). The movie is featured on milesdavis.com, demonstrating their approval and commitment.
Shot almost entirely in Cincinnati with cinematographer Roberto Schaefer (some of my favorites of his work include Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), Finding Neverland (2004), Stranger than Fiction (2006), The Kite Runner (2007), and the pictures in The Paperboy) behind the camera, the movie goes from film noir to action picture to the bio-pic we were expecting. Ending with Miles' birthdate, May 26, 1926, printed on the screen followed by a dash, it leads us to believe that he is still alive, which he is not. He died on September 28, 1991 at 65 after a stroke and more.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are on the tepid side, averaging 71 and 72% respectively. It's still showing in one theatre where I live and the estimated DVD release is July of this year. We say if you didn't love this you weren't paying attention.
The script, co-written by Cheadle and Steven Baigelman (the latter co-wrote Get On Up), invents a 1979 Rolling Stone reporter (played by Ewan McGregor, most recently in The Impossible) and a "caper," which, McGregor said in Rolling Stone in March, Davis might have liked. We also meet Davis' wife Frances, played with great depth by Emayatzy Corinealdi (her breakthrough role was in Middle of Nowhere (2012) which I wanted to see but did not) in some of the 1950s scenes. Frances' photograph is on the album Somewhere My Prince Will Come, and it's recreated in the movie with Corinealdi's. Also featured is the reliable Michael Stuhlbarg (last in Trumbo) as a slimy record company guy.
While researching this post, I learned that Cheadle crowd-funded the project on indiegogo. I wish I had known! The total raised before it closed was about $344k, which is listed on wikipedia as the budget. As of today, the movie has made over two million dollars (check this link for the latest). Did I mention I wish I had known? Investors are probably among the concert goers in the final scene (see below). Sony Pictures is the distributor.
Of course, the soundtrack is awesome. I bought it on iTunes (it's easier to sample the tracks on amazon, however) because I owned only five of its 16 musical tracks (eight album tracks are dialogue--twenty songs were listed in the closing credits but I don't know what's missing). Amazon is selling it as mp3 downloads, CD, and vinyl. Four tracks on the album are by composer Robert Glasper, in his feature debut. A notable musical sequence is the concert scene over the end credits, when Cheadle, in character as Miles, plays a concert with jazz greats Herbie Hancock (earlier in the movie an actor portrays Hancock in several sessions), Wayne Shorter, and Esperanza Spalding. Someone had posted on imdb's Goofs page that Cheadle's vest, which said #socialmusic, was an anachronism. I petitioned to remove it from the goofs (and was successful--none remain as of this writing) because it's clear to me from both the vest and the musicians that the session is not supposed to be historical.
Frances' and Miles' children Cheryl and Erin (the latter is a son) are among the 29 producers (29 is close, but no cigar, in my producers plethora prize. Here's a search). The movie is featured on milesdavis.com, demonstrating their approval and commitment.
Shot almost entirely in Cincinnati with cinematographer Roberto Schaefer (some of my favorites of his work include Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), Finding Neverland (2004), Stranger than Fiction (2006), The Kite Runner (2007), and the pictures in The Paperboy) behind the camera, the movie goes from film noir to action picture to the bio-pic we were expecting. Ending with Miles' birthdate, May 26, 1926, printed on the screen followed by a dash, it leads us to believe that he is still alive, which he is not. He died on September 28, 1991 at 65 after a stroke and more.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are on the tepid side, averaging 71 and 72% respectively. It's still showing in one theatre where I live and the estimated DVD release is July of this year. We say if you didn't love this you weren't paying attention.
Producers Plethora Prize list
When Back to the Future came out in 1985, five producers was a lot. It isn't anymore. These have so many! Because I care about numbers, I'm keeping a running list.
Number of producers, movie name, year of release:
53, Ferrari (2023)
43, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
41, Wakefield (2016)
39, The Butler (2013)
37, Life Doesn't Frighten Me (2012), a short film
Number of producers, movie name, year of release:
53, Ferrari (2023)
43, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
41, Wakefield (2016)
39, The Butler (2013)
37, Life Doesn't Frighten Me (2012), a short film
36, Call Jane (2022)
35, Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
34, The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
35, Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
34, The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
32, The Card Counter (2021)
32, American Made (2017)
32, Another Happy Day (2011)
31, Icarus (2017)
30, All I Wish (AKA A Little Something for Your Birthday - 2017)
29, Silence (2016) (but I counted over 30 in the rolling credits)
29, Miles Ahead (2015)
28, What Maisie Knew (2012)
27, Bernie (2011)
25, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band (2020)
24, The Lunchbox (2013)
24, Chef (2014)
24, Freeheld (2015)
23, Get Low (2009)
22, Hysteria (2011)
19, Girl Most Likely (2013)
19, Battle in Seattle (2007)
17, Grace Is Gone (2007)
It seems almost silly to include any with fewer than 30. Since 2020, I haven't added any with those numbers.
32, Another Happy Day (2011)
31, Icarus (2017)
30, All I Wish (AKA A Little Something for Your Birthday - 2017)
29, Silence (2016) (but I counted over 30 in the rolling credits)
29, Miles Ahead (2015)
28, What Maisie Knew (2012)
27, Bernie (2011)
25, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band (2020)
24, The Lunchbox (2013)
24, Chef (2014)
24, Freeheld (2015)
23, Get Low (2009)
22, Hysteria (2011)
19, Girl Most Likely (2013)
19, Battle in Seattle (2007)
17, Grace Is Gone (2007)
It seems almost silly to include any with fewer than 30. Since 2020, I haven't added any with those numbers.
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