One of the upcoming movies that has received a lot of buzz is La La Land. The movie is directed by Whiplash (2014) director Damien Chazelle and stars Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, and John Legend. Oh, and it is a musical.
Featuring two of our current era’s most charming actors, La La Land follows the struggles of aspiring actress Mia (Stone) and jazz musician Sebastian (Gosling), both working to survive in modern day Los Angeles. Critics have already been singing their praises of the movie, which also won the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
K. Patrick Tutera‘s short film The Last Hurrah is a charming homage to film noir and an entertaining story in its own right. The movie effectively tells an engaging tale through two characters with a past, spinning a narrative worthy of classic film noir movies.
The movie clocks in at less than 18 minutes, but in that time Tutera tells a tight well-paced story that never feels rushed. Every shot is effective, beginning with the credits that quickly establishes the movie’s film noir pedigree. The Last Hurrah‘s opening credits are accompanied by scenes that appear out of old film noir movies, such as shots of a winding road along the California coast and cars from the 1940s on city streets.
Quotes from William Faulkner and Picasso then appear on the screen, highlighting themes we will encounter. And a newsreel voice-over helps complete the setting. The short piece of news effectively confirms the time period as around the end of World War II. Thus, the astute viewer immediately knows The Last Hurrah is set in the same era as many classic film noir movies.
The camera then follows a woman and a man to an apartment. We see that Petra (Aleksandra Vujcic) and Samuel (Michael Bronte) are carrying bags that we soon discover contain money.
The images are beautifully shot as the two climb the stairs and go to an apartment. Director of Photography Philip Hurn did an excellent job throughout the movie.
Thus, before any conversation begins, the viewer recognizes the film noir setting. The black and white images combined with the sound of the rain evoke film noir so well that a vase on a mantle made me look twice to make sure it was not a maltese falcon statue.
Almost all of the rest of the film occurs inside the apartment. We learn how Petra and Samuel obtained their money, and, more importantly, we begin to learn about the past between the two characters.
To say more about the plot and what happens to Petra and Samuel would ruin the story. But the filmmakers do an excellent job creating a short story in one setting through conversation, styles, images, and sounds reminiscent of film noir. And veteran actors Vujcic and Bronte also do a great job effectively capturing the appropriate mood.
The entire movie, including the ending, makes viewers feel they are watching a movie from the classic film noir era. Even the music, with an outstanding score by composer David Frank, is perfect for the movie.
Tutera directed and wrote the screenplay for The Last Hurrah, a film that was funded through a Kickstarter campaign. The ultimate result reveals how the fundraising platform can be used to create quality work.
Watch for The Last Hurrah on the festival circuit to see an excellent short movie that takes you back to the time when Hollywood created beautiful film noir films. Also, keep an eye out for the future work of K. Patrick Tutera.
The Last Hurrah premieres on Saturday, December 10, 2016 at the Film Noir Festival in Albert, France. Leave your two cents in the comments.
On October 22, 1903, Tom Horn was hanged in Wyoming, one day short of his forty-third birthday. Historians generally do not dispute that Horn had killed a number of men. But most believe Horn was innocent of the killing for which he was hanged. Many are familiar with Horn’s later life through one of Steve McQueen’s final films.
Tom Horn’s Life
Horn was born on November 21, 1860 at a family farm in Scotland County, Missouri. Young Tom had a troubled early life, growing up in a large family with an abusive father. In one of his early fights, he was beat up by two boys who then killed his dog.
At the age of sixteen, Horn moved West. There, he worked a number of different jobs, including acting as a scout for the Army. Horn acted as an interpreter when Geronimo surrendered to the Army. After the Apache Wars, Horn bought his own ranch. But cattle thieves overran his ranch, again causing him to wander.
Horn found other work, such as as a prospector, a ranch hand, a deputy sheriff in Arizona, and an agent for the Pinkerton Detective agency. But it was his work for cattle companies that eventually led to his demise.
During the Johnson County War in Wyoming, Horn worked for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Reportedly, Horn killed a number of men in this role. He then worked in Colorado for the Swan Land and Cattle Company, where he again killed more men who were suspected of rustling.
Horn then served in the Army in Cuba during the Spanish American War. Eventually, though, he ended up back West working for cattle owners, this time working for cattle baron John C. Coble in Wyoming.
The Murder and Trial
On July 18, 1901, the body of a 14-year-old son of sheep ranchers was found murdered. Authorities began investigating the killing of the young Willie Nickell, soon focusing on Tom Horn.
The government put Horn on trial in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The trial featured as a key piece of evidence a statement Horn made. He had claimed, apparently while still drunk, that if he did the killing, it was the “best shot that I ever made and the dirtiest trick that I ever done.”
On October 24, 1902, the jury found Horn guilty of the murder. A few days later, the court sentenced him to death by hanging.
During the appeal, Horn wrote his autobiography while in jail, focusing on his early life: Life of Tom Horn, Government Scout and Interpreter. Eventually, the Wyoming Supreme Court turned down the appeal.
The governor refused to stop the hanging. And Horn was hanged in Cheyenne by means of a “Julian Gallows” that used water as a means of releasing the trap door.
Many historians believe Horn was innocent of the killing of Willie Nickell, while noting that he did do a number of other killings. Still, his case is a reminder of how innocent people may be convicted of capital crimes. Still today, we discover innocent people on death rows across America.
Tom Horn on TV and Film
Tom Horn’s story has resonated in popular culture. The 1954 television series Stories of the Century, took an unflattering look at Tom Horn and his crimes.
The episode portrays Horn as someone who worked for the law but “then for some reason turned criminal.” In the episode, actor Louis Jean Heydt portays Horn.
Steve McQueen provided the most famous portrayal of Horn in the 1980 movie Tom Horn. The film was based on Horn’s writings, and McQueen gives a largely sympathetic portrayal of Horn, while not shying away from his violence.
McQueen was notorious for clashing with his directors, and Tom Horn went through several directors before TV director William Wiard came on board to finish the film. McQueen also requested several rewrites of the script, which included work by the great Western writer Thomas McGuane. Tom Horn — which was released on March 28, 1980 — was the next-to-last film released that starred McQueen. During the filming of the movie, McQueen had trouble breathing, and he was later diagnosed with a form of lung cancer, malignant mesothelioma. On August 1 of that year, his final film, The Hunter, was released. McQueen died on November 1, 1980 at the age of 50.
The movie Tom Horn received mixed reviews and did a disappointing $12 million at the box office. At the time, Variety claimed that McQueen appeared to be walking through the lead role. But actor James Coburn claimed Tom Horn was McQueen’s best film. Currently, it has a 68% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie seems to have aged well over time, as has Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, which was released the same year. Empire calls Tom Horn an “underrated, gloomy Western.”
In subsequent years, viewers were more tolerant of Westerns that focused on something besides action. In 2014, True West explained that the movie and McQueen’s acting in the film were ahead of their time: “Audiences were used to action-packed Westerns with gunfights and brawls. McQueen offered them something different—a meditation of the West and a character study of one of America’s best-known figures of the era.”
Below is the trailer for Tom Horn. Check it out.
Photo via public domain. What did you think of the movie “Tom Horn”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
The trailer for the upcoming movie Passengers shows Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt using all of their charms in outer space. The film looks like it is sort of a rom-com in space, although I suspect there might be a twist or two.
In the film, Lawrence and Pratt are on a ship traveling to a distant planet with thousands of others in a sleep state. But something goes wrong, waking Lawrence and Pratt 90 years too soon.
From the trailer, it is difficult to tell whether the movie features a good science fiction story or whether the makers are banking on the two popular leading actors. Still, it looks like it might be worth taking a chance on seeing the movie. Check out the trailer.
Passengers is directed by Morten Tyldum based on a screenplay by Jon Spaihts. Passengers hits theaters on December 21, 2016.
Will you see “Passengers”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
The film Captain Fantastic (2016) is much better than one might expect. Although a short description of the film sounds like a family television series, the movie rises above expectations so that the sum of its parts make it one of the more enjoyable movies of the summer.
Captain Fantastic, written and directed by Matt Ross, stars Viggo Mortensen as Ben, an idealistic father trying to raise his six children away from society in the wilds of Washington state. As the movie opens, we learn that Ben’s wife is away being treated in a hospital.
Ben is serious about the education of his children, teaching them such activities as defending themselves with knives and rock climbing. But he equally teaches them about politics, philosophy, and literature. For example, the anti-capitalist family celebrates Noam Chomsky‘s birthday instead of Christmas.
As the movie progresses, word about Ben’s wife leads him and the children to go on the road. Some of the more humorous moments involve the family clashing with modern society. Ben also clashes with family members, in particular with his father-in-law Jack, played by Frank Langella.
From a description, so much of the movie seems predictable. But the movie works for several reasons. First, the actors are outstanding. Mortensen, of course, dominates the film. But the actors playing the children do an excellent job of giving personality to the roles. Actors Samantha Isler and George MacKay, for example, show that they have promising careers ahead of them.
Another reason the movie works is that the characters are three-dimensional. Producers of movies like this one are often tempted to make the father character perfect, but Ben is far from perfect, just as Langella’s character is not all bad.
Captain Fantastic does not give a one-sided perspective. Variety even argues that the film is both left-wing and right-wing.
I will not say more about the movie because it is better enjoyed without knowing too much about it. It is not a big-budget summer blockbuster, but it is an enjoyable movie that may be under the radar. Is Captain Fantastic fantastic? I will have to think more about the question, but the movie certainly does restore your faith in small summer movies.
Rotten Tomatoes gives Captain Fantastic a 78% critics score and an 85% audience score.
What did you think of Captain Fantastic? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Quotes from William Faulkner and Picasso then appear on the screen, highlighting themes we will encounter. And a newsreel voice-over helps complete the setting. The short piece of news effectively confirms the time period as around the end of World War II. Thus, the astute viewer immediately knows The Last Hurrah is set in the same era as many classic film noir movies.
To say more about the plot and what happens to Petra and Samuel would ruin the story. But the filmmakers do an excellent job creating a short story in one setting through conversation, styles, images, and sounds reminiscent of film noir. And veteran actors Vujcic and Bronte also do a great job effectively capturing the appropriate mood.
McQueen was notorious for clashing with his directors, and Tom Horn went through several directors before TV director 
