Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Monster's Ball (2001) - Performances ignite Forster's heavy drama

11/17/2020

Monster's Ball (2001) - Performances ignite Forster's heavy drama

♥♥♥♥

Three stars in different dimensions, praise from Roger Ebert and a sundown color scheme is used on this gritty poster for Marc Forster's Monster's Ball

A correctional officer at death row in a Georgia prison is readying his son to facilitate his first execution, following in his father's footsteps. But although it takes place, other things go awry, and the man re-evaluates his life, meanwhile he begins a relationship with the widow of an executed prisoner.

Monster's Ball is written by Milo Addica (Birth (2004)) and Will Rokos (Shadowboxer (2005)) and directed by great German-American filmmaker Marc Forster (Loungers (1995)). The title refers to a get-together that corrections officers and a prisoner about to be executed arrange on the night before the death sentence is carried out.

Thematically heavily loaded (executions, guilt, shame, abuse, racism and suicide), this serious drama moves forward thanks to fine performances from Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs (A Raisin in the Sun (2008, TV movie)), Billy Bob Thornton (Chrystal (2004)), Halle Berry (X-Men (2000)), Coronji Calhoun as Berry's son Tyrell, and Peter Boyle (Sweet Evil (1996)) as Thornton's racist father. The 'lump of sugar' that the film offers up to counter its depressing scenarios, is erotica that liven up scenes between Thornton and Berry, although I won't rule out that there are also instances of Oscar-bait overacting and exaggerations here and there.

Monster's Ball is a film about survival, riding with the waves and continuing life, when it gets dark and paradoxical. It is a fine film.

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2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Finding Neverland (2004) - Forster and an inspired cast strike gold with story of Peter Pan's creation

Halle Berry talks to Roger Ebert about the film in a 2-minute video here

Cost: 4 mil. $

Box office: 45 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 11.25 times its cost)

[Monster's Ball premiered 11 November (AFI Fest, USA) and runs 111 minutes. Addica and Rokos wrote the screenplay in 1995, inspired by their difficult relationships with their fathers. Shooting took 5 weeks from May - June 2000 in Louisiana. Berry was reportedly paid 600k $ for her performance. The film opened #29 to a 110k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #12 and in 676 theaters (different weeks), grossing 31.2 mil. $ (69.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 3.5 mil. $ (7.8 %) and Australia with 1 mil. $ (2.2 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Original Screenplay, lost to Julian Fellowes for Gosford Park, and Best Actress (Berry), which she won. The film was also nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, 2 AFI awards, won a prize in Berlin, was nominated for an Independent Spirit award, won 3 National Board of Review awards and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Forster returned with Finding Neverland (2004). Thornton returned in CatDog: The Great Parent Mystery (2001, TV movie), Billy Bob Thornton: Angelina (2001, music video) and theatrically in The Badge (2002); Berry in The Bernie Mac Show (2002, TV-series) and theatrically in Die Another Day (2002); and Heath Ledger (Paws (1997)) in The Four Feathers (2002). Monster's Ball is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.34/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

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Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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11/17/2020

Monster's Ball (2001) - Performances ignite Forster's heavy drama

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