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FLICKS: Award nominees inspired by art, history & story

Posted on 17 January 2019 by LeslieM

By “Cinema” Dave

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

One of the fringe benefits of the awards season is the emphasis upon classic movies that have won awards or have been nominated for films in the past. Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will feature 31 days of Oscars, which presents 24 hours and seven days a week of Oscar-associated movies. Given that the Golden Idol is now 91 years old, you can witness an interesting visual history of humanity, themes and pop culture.

Released in 1945 and based on a best-selling novel by Ben Ames Williams, Leave Her to Heaven earned an Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Color), which featured shot composition and colorization inspired by the American Realism Art Movement (Check out the Edward Hopper oil canvas “Nighthawks.”) While nominated for two more technical awards, Leave Her to Heaven earned Gene Tierney a best actress nomination.

Top billed Tierney portrays Ellen, a narcissistic femme fatale who woos handsome writer Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) after dating political lackey Russell Quinton (Vincent Price). The film is incredibly dated as Cornel Wilde and Vincent Price are seen relaxing in a rustic setting wearing neckties with starched shirts and double breasted suits.

Beneath the award-winning cinematography, Leave Her To Heaven is a dark movie. You can witness a passive aggressive abortion and the drowning of the handicapped brother of Cornel Wilde. Both sequences are hard to watch seven decades after they were filmed, for the horror of the mind’s eye is filled in by what is not seen.

It is the terror of the mind’s eye that has made A Quiet Place a critic’s darling with award nominations. Directed and co-written by John Krasinski, this film stars his wife, Emily Blunt. The movie opens 89 days after the alien apocalypse and a family quietly forages for food. The alien invaders are blind as a bat, but with sonar hearing and their diet is humans. With minimal dialogue and abundant use of American sign language, we witness a family quietly adapting to their dangerous world.

A Quiet Place works on so many levels: story strength, character development and keen visualization. Like last year’s best screenplay winner, Get Out, A Quiet Place works as a metaphor for a society that is afraid to speak out.

Both Leave Her to Heaven and A Quiet Place are as diverse movies as one can see, but both films truly represent the time periods in which they were produced. Fortunately, for Broward County residents, both DVDs of these movies can be found for free at your local library.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

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Wick does West Side Story

Posted on 30 January 2017 by LeslieM

By Rachel Galvin

On Jan. 14, Wick Theatre in Boca Raton introduced the classic West Side Story to a packed audience. The From a slow burn to a raucous rumble, the tale unfolded filled with smooth moves and high kicking action to punctuate the poetic dialogue until its tragic conclusion. If the dancing doesn’t keep you on your toes while watching, then the well-known melodies will warm your heart. The play has added value with its multi-purpose and mobile set pieces that offer just a hint of structure and let the personalities shine rather than be hidden by the window dressing.

The coquettish Maria (played by Mary Joanna Grisso) seems a little too childlike next to the strong-armed and much taller Tony (Thaddeus Pearson). But their tender moments ring true. Grisso steals the spotlight in every scene. Sydney Mei Ruf-Wong also does a fine job as Anita. But this really is an ensemble piece meant to be taken in as a whole with the choreography, by director/ choreographer Charles South and Ryan VanDenBoom, being the real star.

West Side Story runs until Feb. 26. For more information, visit www.thewick.org.

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