Far from Heaven (2002) - Supreme production and Moore define Haynes' inspired period melodrama

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+ 3rd Best Movie of the Year 

+ Best Connecticut Movie of the Year + Best Melodrama of the Year + Best Period Movie of the Year + Best Screen Couple of the Year: Julianne Moore & Dennis Haysbert

Julianne Moore in neat 1950s attire makes up the majority of this simple poster for Todd Haynes' Far from Heaven

The Whitakers are viewed as societal pillars in their plush suburban community of Hartford, Connecticut in the 1950s, - but that image of them is about to crack: There are troubles in paradise.

Far from Heaven is written and directed by Californian master filmmaker Todd Haynes (Carol (2015)) as his 4th feature. Featuring both homosexual and racial themes of suppression, racism and bigotry, Far from Heaven is also a celebration of - and an entry in - the melodrama genre, which rides ahead here in sumptuously beautiful images, (cinematography by Edward Lachman (Life during Wartime (2009)).)
The costumes and sets are also top notch, adding to the intense satisfaction of watching the film. It has superb performances from Dennis Quaid (The Alamo (2004)), Dennis Haysbert (Mr. Baseball (1992)) and particularly Julianne Moore (Bel Canto (2018)), who is also divinely beautiful as the really good housewife protagonist.
Elmer Bernstein's (Frankie Starlight (1995)) score is a truly great one, a booming and piercing work of brilliance. SPOILER Far from Heaven doesn't go the last mile with a kiss at the railway station between the miserable, wronged wife and her secret love the colored gardener (Haysbert), which is a shame. Nevertheless this film is a precious treasure that can be seen again and again.

Related posts:

Todd Haynes:  2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Top 10: Best 'box office success' movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Carol (2015) - Haynes' romance adaptation is a triumph
Mildred Pierce (2011, miniseries) - Haynes' spin on the Cain classic is a luxury   
I'm Not There (2007) - Haynes' experimental Bob Dylan biopic is half-good, half-bad

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 13.5 mil. $
Box office: 29 mil. $
= Flop (returned 2.14 times its cost)
[Far from Heaven premiered 2 September (Venice Film Festival, Italy) and runs 107 minutes. Haynes was inspired by the 1950s melodramas of Douglas Sirk as well as Rainer Werner Fassbinder's melodrama masterpiece Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) in determining the film's style and narrative. Shooting took place in New Jersey in and around October 2001. The film opened #30 to a 211k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #11 and in 286 theaters, grossing 15.9 mil. $ (54.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 2.6 mil. $ (9 %) and the UK with 2 mil. $ (6.9 %). The film was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actress to Nicole Kidman in The Hours, Original Screenplay to Pedro Almodóvar for Talk to Her, Cinematography to Conrad L. Hall for Road to Perdition and Score to Elliot Goldenthal for Frida. It was also nominated for 4 Golden Globes, a European Film award, won 5/5 nominations for Independent Spirit awards, 2 National Board of Review awards, 4 awards in Venice and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Haynes returned with music video Sonic Youth: Disappearer (2004) and theatrically with I'm Not There (2007). Moore returned in masterpiece The Hours (2002), Haysbert in 8 short, video, video game, TV and animated projects before he returned physically in a feature in Jarhead (2005), Quaid in Cold Creek Manor (2003). Far from Heaven is certified fresh at 88 % with an 8.11/1o critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Far from Heaven?

Cahill U.S. Marshall/Cahill (1973) - John Wayne upholds the law in exciting late-career western

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John Wayne takes yet another turn as the man of the law in Andrew V. McLaglen's Cahill U.S. Marshall

QUICK REVIEW:

Lawman Cahill is one of the hard dogs of the West, but he has never raised his sons right, and now they are involved in a bank robbery. But the bad guy, Fraser, is so evil that they don't dare talk to their Pa about it.
Cahill is a film with intense suspense and several great actor's performances. Elmer Bernstein's (Airplane! (1980)) music is peculiar for a western, - it is more urban crime-like. The film has atmospheric locations and a well-playing John Wayne (Stagecoach (1939)) in one of his last performances here. George Kennedy (Another Happy Day (2011)) as the ugly bastard Fraser is also worth seeing, and not least of all is Clay O'Brien (The Cowboys (1972)) a treat as little Billy Joe Cahill, a dougthy lad.
It is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen (The Wild Geese (1978)).

Related review:

Andrew V. McLaglen: Chisum (1970) - Middle-of-the-road John Wayne action-western

Don't mess with this guy! John Wayne as Andrew V. McLaglen's Cahill U.S. Marshall

Watch the original trailer here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 3.1 mil. $ (North America rentals only)
= Uncertainty

What do you think of Cahill U.S. Marshall?
Can you ever get enough of Wayne, the lawman?

An American Werewolf in London (1981) - Landis' great, funny, scary werewolf favorite

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This poster for John Landis' An American Werewolf in London trusts its product (the movie) and the general public enough to let them know in advance that its ambition is to be both frightening and funny

Two young, American men begin their European journey in wet Northern England, - where they are soon attacked by a werewolf! Only one survives, but an unfortunate repercussion of the attack is that he transforms into a beast and starts killing under the full moon in the clammy London streets.

Illinoisan master writer-director John Landis (The Blues Brothers (1980)) made with An American Werewolf one of the three best werewolf movies of all time in my opinion. With a relatively unknown but brilliantly cast acting troupe, Landis' own enthusiasm and love for old werewolf and horror movies in general shines through in his playful, youthful and creative script, which delivers an original angle, - the werewolf as a boy-to-adult-male transformation metaphor, - taken out in a number of highly memorable, sometimes funny and sometimes nightmarish scenes. The central transformation scene, arguably the film's highlight, is a scene that every one familiar with the film will look forward to, and Rick Baker's (Missing Link (1988)) incredible make-up effects are a vital part of the film's lasting power.
An American Werewolf in London is a horror classic that gushes with the vivid energy that its brilliant young creator Landis enriched it with. - Don't miss it!

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Coming to America (1988) - Landis and Murphy's second amusing but less well-constructed collaboration The Twilight Zone (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
The Blues Brothers (1980) - Try to sit still to this one!

In this video from the 1982 Oscars, Johnny Carson introduces Kim Hunter and Vincent Price, who present the nominees for the first Best Makeup Oscar, which was won by Rick Baker for An American Werewolf in London

Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 61.9 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 6.19 times its cost)
[An American Werewolf in London was released 21 August (North America) and runs 97 minutes. Landis got the idea for the film, when he witnessed a gypsy burial ritual during production of Kelly's Heroes (1970) (on which he acted as assistant director and production assistant) in Yugoslavia in 1969. His script was shelved for a decade, while he built up a solid hit reputation in Hollywood, and financiers grew a willingness to bet on his wild ideas. Shooting took place in Wales and England, including London, from February - April 1981. The film opened #1 with a 3.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 30.5 mil. $ (49.2 % of the total gross), or possibly 31.9 mil. $ (different reports). Its international gross (30 mil. $), if accurate, indicates that it was a global hit. David Lynch's great The Elephant Man (1980) was not premiered for its makeup excellence at the 1981 Oscars, causing criticisms, and so a Best Makeup category was instated for the 1982 Oscars. An American Werewolf in London was nominated against Heartbeeps, and Rick Baker won the first statuette in the category. An unrelated sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris (1997) was made and flopped. Landis' son, filmmaker Max Landis (Me Him Her (2015)) is working on a remake of An American Werewolf in London at the moment (6/3/18, ed.). Landis returned with video documentary Coming Soon (1982) and theatrically with comedy Trading Places (1983), before his career was derailed by the three tragic deaths which happened as a result of a helicopter crash on his set of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). David Naughton (Cool as Hell (2013)) returned with 3 TV credits before returning to big screens in Hot Dog... The Movie (1984); Jenny Agutter (Child's Play 2 (1990)) returned in a 1982 TV movie, a video and a bit part before she had her next theatrical role in Secret Places (1984); Griffin Dunne (Straight Talk (1992)) returned in The Wall (1982, TV movie) and theatrically in Cold Feet (1983). An American Werewolf in London is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.75/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of An American Werewolf in London?