In this biopic of famed American poet Allen Ginsberg, Jon Hamm, Mary Louise-Parker, Treat Williams, and Jeff Daniels join lead actor James Franco to reenact the 1957 trial following the publication of Howl.
A year after printing the epic Beat poem, publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti was arrested and charged with obscenity. The film takes us up to that point through insightful chronicling of Ginsberg’s early years as a writer and revolutionary, carrying us through to the case that represented American society’s conflicting values during a time of change.
When we first saw God of Carnagelast year, we were blown away. Yasmina Reza’s tightly constructed one-act packs a wallop of a theatrical punch into eighty minutes on stage. The brutally funny comedy of (bad) manners stems from a playground altercation between two preteen boys that escalates to full-on war when their parents get involved.
The curtain comes up as Henry and Benjamin’s parents Michael (Jeff Daniels) and Veronica (Janet McTeer)/Alan (Dylan Baker) and Annette (Lucy Liu) respectfully, fine-tune an official statement on the incident over coffee and clafouti (kind of like fruitcake), which gives way in real-time to brandy and cigars. Blame is doled out, and uncomfortable truths are revealed, such as what really happened to a certain pet hamster. Translator Christopher Hampton sets the mayhem in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn for a refreshing New York feel. Director Michael Warchus‘ fast-paced staging teems with physical comedy that’s explosive.
1. Leftist historian Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States and a favorite of celebrities like Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, and Bruce Springsteen, has died at 87. [via NPR]
2. Charlize Theron and David Fincher are collaborating on a new drama series for HBO called Mind Hunter that will revolve around the investigation of serial killers. [via Variety]
3. To celebrate the remastered release of his classic 1975 album Metal Machine Music, Lou Reed is embarking on a 9-city tour that will feature no songs and no vocals. [via TwentyFourBit]
4. Franz Nicolay explains why he quit The Hold Steady — it’s because he was “a fox in a hedgehog band.” [via Paste Magazine]
5. Jeff Daniels will return to God of Carnage in March— but this time in the role first played by James Gandolfini. Lucy Liu joins the cast as well. [via ArtsBeat]
Humor us for a second: Wouldn’t it have been interesting if Vanity Fair actually talked to respected, less well-known stage actors instead of honing in on every celebrity with a project on Broadway for the upcoming theatre feature in their June issue? Read More »
Prop 8 boycotters be damned, the slate for this year’s Sundance Film Festival has been announced, and as always it reads like an overwhelming buffet of tasty cinematic treasures along with a few movies that we would never, ever want to see. The ones that we’re the most excited about? The films that star the actors who we love most, naturally.
(Admittedly this is a flawed way of doing things, as last year it meant that we completely missed out on Momma’s Man and Man on Wire, but our screening powers are only as good as our unhealthy crush on Michael Cera.)
After the jump, the five flicks that we’ll be vying for good seats at come January; leave your own picks in the comments.
