Meet the free, proud, independent people of Ukraine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzNxLzFfR5w Nothing but reviews. In excess.
From ZERO to 6 ♥s. 100% ad-free. Run on pure love for movies, documentaries and TV-series. June 2025: Countdown to: Top 10: Best horror comedy movies - Upcoming review: There's Still Tomorrow (2023)
Eagerly anticipating this month ... (6-25)
Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value (2025)
Showing posts with label Hayden Christensen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hayden Christensen. Show all posts
+ Shooting Star Actress of the Year: Sienna Miller
Imitating Andy Warhol's pop-art-style, this is an intriguing poster for George Hickenlooper's Factory Girl
Edie Sedgwick is an extraordinarily beautiful, wealthy young woman, who comes to New York in the mid-1960s and gains the interest of the city's leading artist Andy Warhol, whose 'Factory' she becomes a part of, and which ends up causing her early demise.
Factory Girl is written by Captain Mauzner (Wonderland (2003)), with story elements from Simon Monjack (Two Days, Nine Lives (2001)) and Aaron Richard Golub (Proud Iza, short (2008, executive producer)), and directed by George Hickenlooper (Grey Knight (1993)). It is a tragic story of 'damaged goods' from out west, in the form of Sedgwick, who could not live with the great pressure of the big city jungle and who, moreover, was exploited by superficial, egocentric Factory 'artists'. The story is brought to vivid life with flashbacks to her sexual abuse-shaped childhood and an outstanding performance by Sienna Miller (American Sniper (2014)) in the title role. Guy Pearce (Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010)) is also good as the coolly distanced Warhol, who was a real prick towards Sedgwick. Hayden Christensen (Free Fall (1999)) is snugly to look at as the obviously Bob Dylan-shaped character; who makes love to Sedgwick before a fireplace in the film's only clichéd scene. Factory Girl also has good supporting performances from Mena Suvari (Apparition (2019)), Beth Grant (Natural Disasters (2008)) and more. It is a small, sad and fine film.
Miller reminisces with fellow Factory Girl cast member Jimmy Fallon about the film many years later on his talkshow in a video here
Cost: 7 mil. $ Box office: 3.5 mil. $ = Huge flop (returned 0.5 times its cost) [Factory Girl premiered 29 December (USA) and runs 99 minutes. Katie Holmes was set to star as Sedgwick but got pregnant and dropped out. Shooting took place in Toronto, Ontario, in New York, Connecticut and Louisiana from December 2005 - February 2006. Lou Reed and Bob Dylan were incensed with the film. It opened #46 to an 87k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #23 and in 336 theaters and grossed 1.6 mil. $ (45.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 964k $ (27.5 %) and Italy with 225k $ (6.4 %). Hickenlooper uploaded a director's cut of the film on Youtube in the fall of 2008, which was taken down due to The Weinstein Company's ownership of the footage. Hickenlooper returned with 3 documentary projects before his last feature Casino Jack (2010), the last film he made before his premature death caused by a drug overdose at age 47 in 2010. Miller returned in Interview (2007); Pearce in Death Defying Acts (2007); and Christensen in Awake (2007). Factory Girl is rotten at 20 % with a 4.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
+ Best Fight Scene of the Year: Yoda vs. County Dooku + Best Space Movie of the Year
An epic-teasing and quite delectable poster for George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
10 years have gone by since the events in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), and Padawan apprentice Anakin is now a young adult. Obi-Wan Kenobi has taught him the arts of the Jedi, but Skywalker is rebellious and arrogant. Queen Amidala is now Senator, and assassins try to kill her. Anakin moves her to safety, while Obi-Wan follows the mysterious leads that soon reveal a clone army.
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones is written by Jonathan Hales (The Scorpion King (2002)) and great Californian filmmaker, co-writer/director George Lucas (THX 1138 (1971)). It is the 5th film in the Star Wars franchise.
Up to this point it was alsothe longest Star Wars film (at 142 minutes) and probably the least liked generally, but for me it is a satisfying space adventure; Episode III (2005) is the weakest in the original 6-film saga, with Episode I and Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as the strongest. The biggest hurdles in Episode II and III are Lucas' questionable ability to write romance, and Hayden Christensen (Takers (2010)), the uncharismatic, dull and dubiously talented new actor employed for the pivotal part of Anakin Skywalker. Lucas has a much better actress in Natalie Portman (Black Swan (2010)) as Senator Amidala, but still the two mostly fail in bringing feelings of real romance into their calculated scenes, set in excessively picturesque settings to lure the viewer's attention away from the stony dialog and interaction. I have problems connecting the dots between the overly smart, cute boy Anakin of Episode I with the brooding, dumb Anakin of Episode II. Something has somehow gone terribly wrong in the ten year span that we are left unaware of: The young man talks continuously about his mother and unfairness committed against him; he is almost entirely in his emotions' control. Even the death of his mother (played by Pernilla August (Young Royals (2021-24)) only inspires him to be an enormous idiot. The character, which I loved in Episode I, is now the dumbest Jedi apprentice ever, in Episode II. Fortunately, Episode II has many better things to offer, which counter-weigh the issues with Anakin and his stale romance: Ewan McGregor (The Impossible (2012)) is a great Obi-Wan, and I enjoyed his almost detective-like adventure to Kamino and beyond a lot. Samuel L. Jackson (Django Unchained (2012)) is good as Master Windu, and Christopher Lee (Dracula (1958)) is always a great villain, here as Count Dooku. Behind him, Ian McDiarmid (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)), still lurks around in the villains' wardrobe as the imposing Chancellor Palpatine. All of his scenes are amazing. For levity, Jar Jar Binks, who was not treated mildly by many audiences of Episode I, has been minimized as a character in lieu of more of our old pals R2D2 and C3PO. By theatrical chronology, (Episodes IV,V,VI,I,II,III), I think I have sometimes had enough of the latter at this stage, but at least he loses his head in this film. (That happens in the droid factory scene, which I quite enjoyed.)
The pioneer efforts on the film's digital photography and visual effects end are considerable, and the achievements in this area are deeply impressive. Not least the entirely CG monsters and the giant benevolent lizard are terrific entertainment. What many fans will remember as the best of Episode II
is undoubtedly Yoda's fight scene. It is highly satisfying and thrilling to
finally see him in action, also a technical milestone. There's also a really good scene earlier
in the film, where Yoda is teaching young Jedi Padawans. So while Episode II has its issues, it is also rife with amazing scenes and adventure, and it made me nuts to see the saga-finalizing Episode III in its day, I remember vividly. Finally, the Star Wars films are also so exciting because of their masterful sound design and the music, composed and conducted by John Williams (The Post (2017)), and performed by the London Voices and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Cost: 115 mil. $ Box office: 653.7 mil. $ = Huge hit (returned 5.68 times its cost)
[Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones premiered 12 May (Los Angeles) and runs 142 minutes. Shooting took place from June - September 2000, with reshoots in March 2001, in Australia, London, England, Tunesia, Spain and Italy. It was allegedly the 3rd film to be shot fully in digital HD. The film opened #1 to an 80 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then another 3 in the top 5 (#2-#3-#5), grossing 302.1 mil. $ (46.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 78.1 mil. $ (11-9 %) and the UK with 58.7 mil. $ (9 %). The film was the year's 3rd highest-grossing in North America, behind Spider-Man and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and 4th highest-grossing globally, a first time a Star Wars film was not #1 over-all. The film was nominated for the Best Visual Effects Oscar, lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. The Star Wars franchise returned with Lucas' Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), also Lucas' return as a director. Christensen returned first in Shattered Glass (2003); Portman in Cold Mountain (2003); and McGregor in Solid Geometry (2002, TV movie) and theatrically in Down with Love (2003). Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones is fresh at 65 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones?
