Alexander Skarsgard – Way Too Indie http://waytooindie.com Independent film and music reviews Fri, 02 Dec 2016 17:34:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Way Too Indiecast is the official podcast of WayTooIndie.com. Our film critics grip and gush about the latest indie movies and sometimes even mainstream ones. Find all of our reviews, podcasts, news, at www.waytooindie.com Alexander Skarsgard – Way Too Indie yes Alexander Skarsgard – Way Too Indie dustin@waytooindie.com dustin@waytooindie.com (Alexander Skarsgard – Way Too Indie) The Official Podcast of Way Too Indie Alexander Skarsgard – Way Too Indie http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/waytooindie/podcast-album-art.jpg http://waytooindie.com War On Everyone (Berlin Review) http://waytooindie.com/news/war-on-everyone-berlin-review/ http://waytooindie.com/news/war-on-everyone-berlin-review/#respond Sat, 20 Feb 2016 17:27:54 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=43896 'War on Everyone' is a lean, mean, politically incorrect joke machine.]]>

Considering how perceptibly poignant his first two features are, it was hard to picture a John Michael McDonagh movie quite like the unapologetic and misanthropic War On Everyone. But hey, you know what they say: everything is bigger in America. With War, McDonagh turns away from the finesse we witnessed in The Guard and Cavalry, perhaps as a way to satirize the version of the US everyone else sees. It’s tonally erratic, loud, and rude, and a hundred times funnier than his previous works. Unhinged, like a rabid dog running around that you still have the urge to pet, this anti-hero buddy cop movie has cult status written all over it, giving us a good hard look at the funny side of Alexander Skarsgard and reminding us that Michael Pena is a comedic national treasure.

Terry (Skarsgard) and Bob (Pena) are close friends and partners on the force, a job they use as a springboard and get-out-of-jail free card to do shady, corrupt business. Never starting their sentences with “You have the right to remain silent,” Terry and Bob abuse lowlifes to score drugs and money while trying to keep their private lives in some kind of order (but not really giving a shit about it). Bob is married to Delores (Stephanie Sigman), with whom he has two overweight sons; Terry is the loner alcoholic with the vibe of private eye in the 1940s from a parallel universe with a country twist, one that plays Glenn Campbell 24/7 on the jukebox. When a major deal goes bad, a British criminal (Theo James) gets on Terry and Bob’s radar, and the shitstorm starts brewing.

If you start looking at War On Everyone as anything other than a hilarious journey with entertainment as the only destination, you’ll be left with a pretty shallow outer shell. It’s all about setting up scenes, throwing punchlines, working off of McDonagh’s zing-tastic screenplay, and the unlikely dynamic that builds between Skarsgard and Pena (oh, and Caleb Landry Jones looking he stepped out of a post-modern stage play of A Clockwork Orange is not to be missed). Underneath the garish surface, there’s philosophy a-brewing; but too many swerves to random dead-end scenes stopped me from wanting to explore further. Luckily, it keeps getting back on the main road with a mean streak of anti-PC humor that’s ballsy, vibrant and refreshing.

Rating:
7/10

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The Diary of a Teenage Girl http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/the-diary-of-a-teenage-girl/ http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/the-diary-of-a-teenage-girl/#respond Fri, 14 Aug 2015 01:34:05 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=38172 A gripping, hilarious portrait of female adolescence that's devoted to truth, not morality.]]>

A wise man once said, “Everybody’s got a hungry heart,” and they don’t get much hungrier than Minnie Goetze, the wide-eyed 15-year-old at the center of Marielle Heller’s intoxicating debut feature, The Diary of a Teenage Girl. An aspiring cartoonist with a burgeoning appetite for love and sex, she froths at the mouth for her first taste of sexual awakening, her art a full expression of her obsession with the human body and its nether regions. Her hormones bubbling and her curiosity overflowing, she latches on to the closest hunk of manhood she can find, who just happens to be her mother’s 35-year-old boyfriend, Munroe. As Minnie zooms down the fast lane to womanhood with reckless abandon, we clutch our hearts and hold our breath, waiting for the impending crash and burn.

Minnie’s played by Bel Powley, a short actress with Matryoshka-doll features who’s physically dwarfed by most of her co-stars but gives the most towering performance of all. Kristen Wiig plays Minnie’s unwatchful mother, who drinks incessantly, smokes pot, snorts cocaine and leads her own life as Minnie and her other daughter, Gretel (Abby Wait), float through life without proper supervision.

Without a guide to set her straight, Minnie mistakes the handsome Munroe (Alexander Skarsgard) for a full-grown man when, on the inside, he’s a broken boy who’s just as lost as she is. They use each other for sex and consolation, neither of them mature or strong enough to put a halt to the regrettable affair. The most interesting of the movie’s many wrinkles is the gigantic size difference between Powley and Skarsgard. She’s incredibly tiny and girl-like (Powley was actually in her early 20’s during filming) and he’s incredibly tall and manly, a disparity that makes the age difference all the more staggering.

The movie’s set in the San Francisco of 1976, a time when free love and bohemian frivolity were so prevalent that it was almost fashionable to brush off parental responsibility. It’s critical to the story that it take place when and where it does because the touchy, Lolita-esque scenario at the heart of the plot would have been much more incendiary had it taken place just a decade before or after, or even in the present day. It just doesn’t feel right to mention pedophilia in any discussion about Diary because Heller doesn’t participate in any kind of blame game; she presents the story from Minnie’s perspective exclusively, and since she’s in no state to judge Munroe’s behavior. In her eyes, he’s her one-way ticket to adulthood, not a creepy older man. If the movie were about him, he’d have been put on trial, but it’s not. It’s Minnie’s diary. Whether we judge or not is completely left to us, an artistic choice that’s in good taste. Morality isn’t on the agenda here; authenticity and truthful emotion are.

The movie’s adapted from a graphic novel of the same name, written by Phoebe Gloeckner. Heller doesn’t shy away from the material’s illustrated roots, occasionally populating the screen with hand-drawn figments of Minnie’s imagination, colorful cartoons in the vein of the early days of Disney animation. The primary manifestation is an illustrated fairy godmother named Mrs. Crumb, an imaginary version of Minnie’s favorite feminist cartoonist. Aside from these wondrous flourishes, Heller captures the essence of San Francisco—in all its sun-gold, hilly glory—like few movies set in the city ever do. It’s a magical city, and its greatest charms go unnoticed too often, but Heller, a Bay Area native, gets it right for once.

If you feel uncomfortable watching Diary, you could hardly be blamed. Minnie and Munroe’s romance isn’t easy to digest out of context, but Heller presents it in a way that allows you, if you’re willing, to free yourself of the scenario’s taboo implications. The movie isn’t erotic or salacious in the slightest. It’s actually pretty funny, and the humor is mined from Minnie’s naive teenage perspective. The movie opens with her narration as she exclaims, “I had sex today!” Heller films her walking through Golden Gate Park as if she’s 7 feet tall, pointing the camera up at her rear end as she stomps around, proud of her sexual conquest. The harshness of adolescence is an ugly thing sometimes, but it’s silly and absurd at the same time.

Jack White said of his former White Stripes counterpart Meg White that he hired her for the childlike way she banged on the drums. Her exuberance was loud and untameable, and Powley exudes that same primal, unteachable energy as Minnie. She’s unpredictable, rough around the edges and gripping in her every move. Her raspy voice draws you near and her saucer eyes keep you close.

Female adolescence is a topic rarely covered with as much dimension, truth and empathy as Heller’s Diary. And let’s not downplay the fact that this is as much a comic book movie as The AvengersBatman v Superman and all of those other superhero movies that people site when dismissing comic books as “just for kids.” If you watch and enjoy Diary, do yourself (and me) a solid and pick up Gloeckner’s graphic novel. You won’t regret it.

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The East http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/the-east/ http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/the-east/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=13204 I’ll admit that the main reason I was interested in The East was due to it starring Ellen Page, though the story did also appeal to me. I had not seen Zal Batmanglij’s previous thriller, Sound of My Voice, so I went in blind in regards to his style. However, I was thoroughly impressed. The […]]]>

I’ll admit that the main reason I was interested in The East was due to it starring Ellen Page, though the story did also appeal to me. I had not seen Zal Batmanglij’s previous thriller, Sound of My Voice, so I went in blind in regards to his style. However, I was thoroughly impressed. The East is Batmanglij’s second Sundance release and I’d recommend almost everyone to see it, but don’t go expecting epicness as you may be disappointed, instead acknowledge that it’s a morally complex ‘we are the revolution’, gripping and profound film featuring an tremendously talented and convincing cast.

Sarah Moss (Brit Marling) is a private intelligence operative hired by a firm titled Hiller Brood. Her first big mission set by her power hungry boss (Patricia Clarkson), requires her to infiltrate an anarchist group called The East. Her main objective is to convince the members she is a genuine supporter of their movement in order to extract names, locations and their personal agendas in order to shut them down before the FBI gets involved.

To me this was a very different take on the ‘undercover special ops’ typical plot that I’ve seen previously in films – you believed Sarah’s intentions were innocent and that she was there to stop these individuals from being sent to prison, rather than exposing the group as hardened criminals. The way in which Batmanglij approached this was to study Freeganism (the practice of reclaiming and eating food that has been discarded) alongside co-writer and actress Marling as to further understand and deepen the actors that portray the anarchist’s, commitment to an anti-consumerist lifestyle. By doing so, you get a real sense of truth and dedication from the cast towards their cause, which brings to light the difficult moral choices Sarah and the audience have to make throughout the film.

The East indie movie

Benji (Alexander Skarsgard) who is the founder of The East is very hesitant to give Sarah responsibility in the tasks that they set themselves (referred to in the film as ‘jams’). Initially, Benji does not believe Sarah is as free as they need her to be in respect to how she lives her life, and that her reasons for being around is not to support their movement. One thing leads to another and Sarah is asked by Izzy (Ellen Page – Benji’s second in command) to perform duties to help secure the successful completion of a major jam – one close to the members hearts. In order to play a part in this mission however, she is not allowed to know the details about what they will be doing, only that she has to distract a certain man. When the night is over the group commend her for her efforts. As they begin to trust Sarah they end up explaining to her what they do and why they do it.

Throughout the film The East demonstrates an outstanding ability to take you on several different emotional journeys and intense adventures. There may be a few flaws within the narrative structure, where there seem to be missing sections of information in certain scenes. In some cases this is a good thing, but here it made the film feel a little off balance. Overall, The East did not disappoint my expectations and actually exceeded my expectations on almost all accounts. I left the cinema with a thousand things to talk about and nearly all were very positive. Also, the soundtrack was amazing, something I should have mentioned earlier, but I’m saying it now!

The East trailer:

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2013 SFIFF: What Maisie Knew http://waytooindie.com/news/film-festival/2013-sfiff-what-maisie-knew/ http://waytooindie.com/news/film-festival/2013-sfiff-what-maisie-knew/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=11736 The San Francisco International Film Festival is the biggest festival of the year in the Bay Area, and my SFIFF experience got off to a great start. My festival activities began at the gorgeous Fairmont hotel where I conducted an interview with the team of Scott McGehee and David Siegel (Bee Season) directors of SFIFF’s […]]]>

The San Francisco International Film Festival is the biggest festival of the year in the Bay Area, and my SFIFF experience got off to a great start. My festival activities began at the gorgeous Fairmont hotel where I conducted an interview with the team of Scott McGehee and David Siegel (Bee Season) directors of SFIFF’s opening night film, What Maisie Knew, and Maisie herself, the adorable 7-year-old Onata Aprile. It was a pleasure to speak with them, and Onata handled the interview with the poise and experience of a pro. Scott and David were fantastic as well, and it was a blast to get to talk to such talented filmmakers. Stay tuned to Way Too Indie for the full interview in the coming weeks.

Next up was the opening night screening of What Maisie Knew at the Castro Theater, which is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites in the Bay. Before the screening, SFIFF executive director Ted Hope addressed the large audience with a warm and appreciative introduction to the festival. Next, Ted made the surprise announcement that the recipient of the 2013 Peter J. Owens Award for Acting goes to…Han freaking Solo! Harrison Ford will be in esteemed company, with previous recipients like Sean Penn, Robert Redford, Annette Bening, and Kevin Spacey.

The film was followed by a Q&A with my old friends, McGehee, Siegel, and tiny Miss Onata, conducted by SFIFF director of programming, Rachel Rosen. Onata was asked of her four co-stars—Alexander Skarsgard, Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan, and Joanna Vanderham—which she liked the best. She paused for a while, not sure of how to answer the question, when Siegel suggested that we all knew it was a “tall Swedish man.” Onata paused for a while longer, and finally answered she liked “all of them.” Priceless.

After the Q&A, the celebration continued down by the water at Temple Night Club. I stuffed my face with delicious mung bean salad, artichoke bites, beer, and gelato. Needless to say, there’s a rumbly in my tumbly, and it’s not a pleasant one…

Anyway, on to my impressions of What Maisie Knew

What Maisie Knew

What Maisie Knew indie movie

The film tells the story from the perspective of Maisie, a six-year-old girl whose parents—now separated—constantly bicker and fight over and around Maisie as if she was some sort of trophy. The parents (Moore and Steve) each find light-haired, young hard-bodies (Skarsgard and Vanderham) and marry them, in hopes of winning sole custody over Maisie in court. As her parents’ war rages on, Maisie finds that her step-parents may be the parents she’s deserved all along.

Aprile positively makes this film. It wouldn’t have worked without her. All of the dramatic material works because she’s so darn cute and lovable. You just can’t help but want her to be happy. When her parents spit and curse around her, she simply observes with a straight face, turns around, and goes to her room to play. Aprile seems more comfortable and natural in her scenes than any of her cast mates, including Moore. It’s incredible to watch. Her chemistry with Skarsgard feels so genuine it’s startling.

The four adults do very good work as well (Moore’s final scene is a showstopper), but Aprile handily outshines them. The story the actors have to work with isn’t particularly interesting, but they do their best. What elevates What Maisie Knew are the excellent performances put forth by the actors and quality camerawork by the co-directors. Above all else, Maisie provides an early look at one of cinema’s future superstars.

RATING: 7

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Watch: The East trailer http://waytooindie.com/news/trailer/watch-the-east-trailer/ http://waytooindie.com/news/trailer/watch-the-east-trailer/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=10046 Reading the synopsis from Sundance Film Festival had one thinking that the second feature film from Zal Batmanglij, The East, sounded a lot like his previous film, which also featured and was co-written by Brit Marling. The film is about a person who looks to infiltrate an anarchist group, but ends up falling for its leader. That is shockingly close to the premise of Sound of My Voice, essentially swamping a cult group for an anarchist one. But an official trailer of the film was released today and judging from what is shown, The East appears to be more different than it sounds.]]>

Reading the synopsis from Sundance Film Festival had one thinking that the second feature film from Zal Batmanglij, The East, sounded a lot like his previous film, which also featured and was co-written by Brit Marling. The film is about a person who looks to infiltrate an anarchist group, but ends up falling for its leader. That is shockingly close to the premise of Sound of My Voice, essentially swamping a cult group for an anarchist one. But an official trailer of the film was released today and judging from what is shown, The East appears to be more different than it sounds.

The cast of The East includes; Ellen Page, Alexander Skarsgård, and Brit Marling. The estimated budget of the film is 6.5 million. The film premiered yesterday at the Sundance Film Festival.

Watch the official trailer for The East:

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Melancholia http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/melancholia/ http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/melancholia/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=2148 Lars von Trier, the Danish controversial out-spoken director, delivers his least controversial film of his career, Melancholia. The film centers around two sisters who are both psychologically ill and must deal with the tragedy that world will end when a rogue planet named Melancholia approaches Earth. It is one of the most captivating opening sequences of the year and will instantly get you hooked. But it is an art-house type of film that demands patience from the audience for most of it’s duration.]]>

Lars von Trier, the Danish controversial out-spoken director, delivers his least controversial film of his career, Melancholia. The film centers around two sisters who are both psychologically ill and must deal with the tragedy that world will end when a rogue planet named Melancholia approaches Earth. It is one of the most captivating opening sequences of the year and will instantly get you hooked. But it is an art-house type of film that demands patience from the audience for most of it’s duration.

Melancholia is divided into two parts; the first part is called “Justine”. Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and her newly wedded husband Michael (Alexander Skarsgard) show up two hours late for their own wedding reception. As they are about to enter the reception, they notice an unusually bright red star in the sky and take the time to admire it despite already being so late. You can tell that something is bothering Justine, as she disappears throughout the reception to be by herself. Justine acts as if she is going to fall asleep on more than a couple occasions and at one point takes a bath instead of cutting the cake.

Melancholia movie review

At the halfway point of the film, there is not a whole lot we know about Justine yet. The plot also does not advance a whole lot in the first hour. Still, the film does not lose your attention as you get a sense that it is building up to something. It feels like the film was almost shot in reverse as we are shown the characters in action before knowing anything about them, as it turns out that is what the second part is about.

The second part of the film called “Claire” and is in the point of view of Justine’s sister named, you guessed it, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Suddenly, the film starts giving us more background on the characters and the story. The red star they mentioned at the beginning is in fact the planet Melancholia, which is supposed to pass by Earth in 5 days. At least that is what the scientists are saying; Claire is worried that they might be wrong.

Unless you were not paying attention, the opening sequence gave away the film. The planet does collide with Earth and the end of life as we know it is looming. But knowing that does not take away from the film, knowing that only adds to it. There are many transformations in the film but the most obvious one is the characters themselves.

It turns out that Justine is extremely depressed to the point of barely functional without Claire. Claire battles with her own illness with anxiety about Melancholia. Justine does not help with the anxiety when she tells Claire that “Life on Earth is evil” and there will not be much time left on it. As the planet approaches Justine seems to become more relaxed and normal than ever while Claire is basically switching roles with Justine. It is as if Justine is represented as Melancholia and Claire is represented as Earth, it may be stretch but the paths of destruction links them together.

Beginning shots of slow motion were captured fantastically and had a perfect score to go along with it (Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde). Showcasing people in their last moments before the plant Melancholia collided. We see lightning coming from Kristen Dunst’s finger tips and her laying in her wedding dress on water with her eyes closed. The beginning and ending scenes were phenomenally well shot and hard to forget.

Kirsten Dunst won Best Actress at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for her role of Justine. Dunst does an amazing job of playing an unhappy person who cannot deal with everyday normal activities but can deal with the world ending. Charlotte Gainsbourg (who worked with von Trier in Antichrist) does an equally impressive job with her supporting role as the supporting sister.

Melancholia is perhaps the best “end of the world” film as it does not try to sugarcoat anything or use a far-fetched sci-fi solution to magically resolve the impending doom. Instead, it shows us paths of destruction in multiple ways, psychologically through Justine’s character and physically with the planet Melancholia. While the beginning and ending scenes are brilliant, the middle section is so-so. At the very least, I think most people can agree it is an ambitious film that you can admire from a technical standpoint.

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