Dangerous Beauty/A Destiny of Her Own (1998) - Yawns galore with Herskovitz's stale, hokey Venice-set period romance

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+ 3rd Worst Movie of the Year

 

A partially undressed Catherine McCormack looking sensually at you from a bed of red velvet invites with a tag-line of a 'life without compromise' on this poster for Marshall Herskovitz's Dangerous Beauty

A beautiful woman in 16th century Venice falls for a nobleman and he for her, but their stand in society prevents them from marrying, so that she instead becomes his courtesan.

 

Dangerous Beauty is written by Jeannine Dominy (American Experience (1991, TV series documentary), controller), adapting the non-fiction book The Honest Courtesan (1992) by Margaret Rosenthal, and directed by Marshall Herskovitz (Jack the Bear (1993)).

The Italians are British (actors), which is symptomatic for a film in which every component tastes artificially. Rufus Sewell (Carrington (1995)) doesn't appear as a real man here as the nobleman, who beds just about half the city, but the seemingly (in its own evaluation) 'risqué' film actually has only one dry sex scene.

Dangerous Beauty is pompous and poor on nuances as it snails its way forward: It is a deadly boring, well-behaved women's magazine type of film, in which lead Catherine McCormack (A Sound of Thunder (2005)) is eventually accused of being a witch due to her promiscuous lifestyle.

 

Related post:

 

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Estimated 8 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 4.5 mil. $ (North America only)

= Uncertain but likely a huge flop - better than 0.56 times its cost

[Dangerous Beauty was released 20 February (USA) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place around April 1996 in Italy, including Rome. The film opened #17 to a 105k $ first weekend in 10 theaters in North America, where it grossed 4.5 mil. $. The film's international gross numbers are regrettably not reported online. The film was likely less successful abroad and may have landed at a realistic 7 mil. $ gross, which would be a 0.87 return, ranking the film still a 'huge flop'. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 4 notches over this one. Herskovitz never directed another feature but did direct 3 TV credits and turned towards producing in the next two decades. McCormack returned in Dancing at Lughnasa (1998); Sewell in Dark City (1998). Dangerous Beauty is fresh at 68 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Dangerous Beauty?

The Father (2020) or, Disintegration

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Critical hype is the background to an intimate moment between the father-daughter pair on this poster for Florian Zeller's The Father

Anthony is an old man who was recently moved in with his daughter in an arrangement that doesn't really relieve either party, as he is going through the process of escalating dementia.

 

The Father is written by Christopher Hampton (The Quiet American (2002)) and debuting co-writer/director Florian Zeller (Empreintes (2010, TV documentary), adapting his own 2012 play La Père ('the father').

It is the latest in the 'star-actor-gets-Alzheimers/dementia' drama subgenre, and certainly an eloquent, - visually and narratively, - new work in this tradition. Narratively the novelty here is that Zeller has different actors portray the same characters, reflecting for us the confusion and inability to remember faces that a person with dementia experiences. This is an effective and highly unpleasant feature of The Father.

Anthony Hopkins (The Dawning (1988)) is on fire here in a tragic role that also lays bare how mood-swings and rudeness can be regular companions for the person with dementia, whose self is in a process of complete disintegration. Olivia Colman (The Lobster (2015)) is moving and dignified as his hurting, accommodating daughter.

Watching The Father is an awful ordeal. It is well-acted and well-made but a colossal downer, though probably rightfully so. Nevertheless I don't expect I will need to revisit this one in the future.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 6 mil. $

Box office: 13.4 mil. $ and counting

= Uncertain - at the moment ranks as a flop but could improve status

[The Father premiered 27 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 97 minutes. No less than 11 companies were involved with the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place in London, England. The film's release was greatly inhibited by the China Virus pandemic. It opened #8 in 865 theaters to a 433k $ first weekend in North America, where it never attained a higher rank and grossed 2.1 mil. $. Currently North America was its 3rd biggest market, with Australia (2.3 mil. $) and France (2.2 mil. $) being the biggest and 2nd biggest. But the film is still only now rolling out in several markets: 15 June Columbia; 19 June China; 24 June Slovakia; 20 August Sweden; 26 August Germany and the Netherlands. The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning 2: For Best Actor (Hopkins) and Adapted Screenplay. It lost Best Picture to Nomadland, Supporting Actress (Colman) to Yuh-Jung Youn in Minari, Editing to Sound of Metal and Production Design to Mank. It won 2/6 BAFTA nominations, was nominated for 4 Golden Globes and several other honors. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #105 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between The Kid (1921) and Full Metal Jacket (1987). Zeller returns with The Son, another adaptation of a play of his. Hopkins returned in Elyse (2020); Colman in 6 TV and voicing projects and is set to return physically and theatrically in Mothering Sunday (2021). The Father is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Father?

Judy (2019) - Capital Zellweger comeback drives winning biopic

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+ Best Biopic of the Year + Best Comeback Actress of the Year: Renée Zellweger

Zellweger in a moment of serene calm as the title character of Rupert Goold's Judy on this simple poster

Judy Garland is a cultural icon by 1969, - but she is also a single mother of two, who is broke. Her way to secure a home for them, she believes, is a concert engagement in London without them.

Judy is written by Tom Edge (The Crown (2016-17)), based on Peter Quilter's (Saving Jason (2016)) play End of the Rainbow (2005), and directed by great English filmmaker Rupert Goold (True Story (2015)).
The story almost eerily resembles the story of one of last year's best pictures, Jon S. Baird's masterpiece Stan & Ollie (2018), detailing Laurel & Hardy's English tour in their career's fall.
The England that Garland travels to is more than a decade later, in the grips of 'flower power', anti-authority outlooks and a young generation with little regard for the past and its cultural heroes; she still can strike up sizable crowds of the bourgeoisie and gays, who have adored her for decades. In one of the film's winning sequences, Garland exits the grand Talk of the Town concert hall to find two men waiting in the dark for her autograph. The violence of so many films have instilled a natural wariness and premonition towards men lurking in the dark, but this scene culminates movingly in the couple's apartment, where Judy bonds with two of her doting, loyal gay fans.
Critics will point out that there are so many films of artists in the autumn of their careers like Judy, and there are, but that is because there are many human and poignant true stories about artists in the autumn of their careers. And Judy is another one, about one of the most fascinating and talented stars of the 20th century. Her final weeks and death were indeed sad, pitched against the glory and joy her singing and performances gave so many, but the film also shows how her personality was shaped by love for her children, how she was a rare and consummate singer and performer, and how she battled despair, disappointments and addiction with humor and intelligence.
Making the film, - carrying it, in fact, - is Renée Zellweger (Chicago (2002)), who inhabits the unique artist with incredible orchestration of her frame, movement and expression. Zellweger's Garland is mannered, nerve-ridden, often on-edge; watch footage of Garland from the period, and you'll see that she was a lot like this. Zellweger also doesn't shy away from the unattractive sides that would be missing, had they been whisked from Judy, SPOILER for this is not a portrait of Garland young and at the height of her career but in the weeks leading up to her tragic drug overdose death at age 47 in 1969.
Supporting actors of note are Rufus Sewell (The Legend of Zorro (2005)) as Judy's ex-husband, whose detrimental effects on her fiscal situation are only hinted at, and Finn Wittrock (La La Land (2016)) as Garland's last husband, Mickey Deans.
Judy also features seamless hair, makeup and prosthetics magic as well as great costumes.
Don't miss Zellweger's performance on a big screen.

Related post:

Rupert Goold: 2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2019 in films - according to Film Excess

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 31.1 mil. $ and counting
= Uncertain
[Judy premiered 30 August (Telluride Film Festival, Colorado) and runs 118 minutes. Shooting took place in London, England, from March 2018 - ?. The script takes few creative licenses, (SPOILER among them are the finishing joint concert hall singing of Over the Rainbow), and is generally faithful to facts from Garland's life. Garland's iconic actress-superstar daughter Liza Minnelli has stated that the film did not "approve or sanction" the film and won't see it. The film opened #7 to a 2.9 mil. $ first weekend in 461 in North America, where it peaked at #6 and in 1,627 theaters (different weeks) and has grossed 21.5 mil. $ to date. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets yet are the UK with 8.1 mil. $ and Australia with 0.9 mil. $. The film is set to open in several more major markets, including Italy, Germany, France and Spain, from November - February 2020 and is a hot contender for Oscar nominations. If made on a likely 20-30 mil. $ budget, the film still has some way to go before turning profitable. Goold does not have his next project announced yet, and the same goes for Zellweger. Judy is certified fresh at 83 % with a 7.02/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Judy?