Lynn Venhaus

Total Post: 1142

Lynn (Zipfel) Venhaus has had a continuous byline in St. Louis metro region publications since 1978. She writes features and news for Belleville News-Democrat and contributes to St. Louis magazine and other publications.  She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, currently reviews films for Webster-Kirkwood Times and KTRS Radio, covers entertainment for PopLifeSTL.com and co-hosts podcast PopLifeSTL.com…Presents.  She is a member of Critics Choice Association, where she serves on the women's and marketing committees; Alliance of Women Film Journalists; and on the board of the St. Louis Film Critics Association. She is a founding and board member of the St. Louis Theater Circle. She is retired from teaching journalism/media as an adjunct college instructor.

Women In Film: Jane Craig in ‘Broadcast News’ in the Spotlight

Women In Film: Jane Craig in ‘Broadcast News’ in the Spotlight

During the month of March, PopLifeSTL.com will recognize significant female contributions in filmmaking.

By Lynn Venhaus
“Strong, complex, fully realized women characters with their own stories to tell have lasting impact in our culture and at the box office,” wrote Jennifer Merin, Alliance of Women Film Journalists’ co-founder and president, and co-organizer of the Wonder Women project, back in 2016l

“AWFJ members delighted in focusing on women characters whose stories that have impacted our own lives. We recommend them as essential viewing for women and girls and anyone who is interested in film,” Merin said.

To coincide with Wonder Woman celebrating her 75th year as a superhero in the D.C. Comics, we had begun the project the summer before. Fellow members of the national women’s organization were polled to select 100 women film characters that were inspiring, and live on in our hearts and minds.

AWFJ members nominated more than 500 characters from as early as 1915 to as recent as today. Real women, such as Queen Elizabeth II and Erin Brockovich, were eliminated to better showcase the writers who understood and created authentic fictional female characters with depth. The final group comprises 55 filmic wonder women who range from professionals to single mothers pursuing higher education and con artists. There are also warriors, divas, flirts and gals who love to kick up their heels.

In the last half of 2015, we compiled a master list of 250, then took another vote and whittled it down to a tidy 55. The list was announced in 2016 in a countdown revealed over several weeks. So many trailblazers and role models!

This countdown of the most fascinating, inspiring and singular fictional female characters who have appeared in movies as selected by the AWFJ membership. The project, AWFJ’s Wonder Women, commemorates the 10th anniversary of the organization’s founding.

Merin said the project’s title pays homage to Wonder Woman, the comic book heroine who debuted more than 70 years ago to offer young readers, then and now, a female character of substance. Like Wonder Woman, the characters on the AWFJ list are headstrong, loving, fierce, willful, confident,  good-hearted champions of justice, equality and peace, and they are not afraid to mix it up.

“The staying power of Wonder Woman is proof that audiences need and welcome robust female characters in popular culture. Since our beat is cinema, we decided it was time we remind the public and the movie industry about other ‘wonder women’ that audiences have embraced over the years,” said AWFJ member and project co-organizer Marilyn Ferdinand.

All of the characters on the Wonder Women list are annotated by AWFJ members Thelma Adams, Marina Antunes, Linda Barnard, Liz Braun, Anne Brodie, Carol Cling, Laura Emerick, Marilyn Ferdinand, Candice Frederick, Susan Granger, MaryAnn Johanson, Cate Marquis, Jennifer Merin, Nell Minow, Rebecca Murray, Betsy Pickle, Lynn Venhaus, Liz Whittemore and Susan Wloszczyna.

I was honored to participate, and wrote three of the blurbs — #47 – Jane Craig of “Broadcast News” (Holly Hunter), #35 – Alice Hyatt of “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (Ellen Burstyn) and #26 – Hermione Granger of the Harry Potter Series (Emma Watson).

Film Background

“Broadcast News” was released in a small number of theaters on Dec. 16, 1987, and went wide on Christmas Day. The romantic comedy-drama

Fun Facts: Journalist and news producer Susan Zinnsky was the role model for the character. Zinnsky served as an associate producer and technical advisor on the film.

Originally Debra Winger was supposed to play Jane, as she had worked with James L. Brooks in “Terms of Endearment,” but she found out she was pregnant (with son Noah Hutton), and was replaced by Holly Hunter.

“Broadcast News” Character Description (description credited to Wikipedia):
Jane Craig is a talented but intense news producer whose life revolves around her work. She is passionate about reporting, and abhors the trend towards soft news in news broadcasts. Her best friend and collaborator, Aaron Altman, is a gifted writer and reporter, but is lacking in many social skills. The two work in the Washington, D.C. bureau of a national TV network. The bureau hires Tom Grunick, a local news anchorman who started his career in sports. Tom is tall, handsome, likable, and telegenic, but lacks news experience and isn’t especially bright. He constantly seeks help from Jane to assist him with his reporting, who resents his lack of qualifications, but finds herself attracted to him. Tom is also attracted to Jane, but is intimidated by her skills and intensity.

This is what I wrote about Jane Craig for the AWFJ.org website:

47. JANE CRAIG from Broadcast News (1987)

Holly Hunter

Jane, Jane, Jane. We’ve all been there. After all, we have a pulse—and hormones. Broadcast News addressed the age-old heart vs. head dilemma in the battle of the sexes. A tiny dynamo, Jane is good—no great—at her job. She’s an intense, tightly wound network news producer in our nation’s capital, with fierce devotion to her career. As impeccable as she is about work, single-lady Jane is a neurotic hot mess socially. Against her better judgment, she falls for the new pretty-boy anchorman. He’s been hired to boost ratings as the news focus shifts to more entertainment razz-a-ma-tazz. Outspoken Jane despises the style-over-substance trend. She commiserates with her best friend, a real newsman who is secretly in love with her. Oh, it gets complicated. But Jane comes to her senses when, in good conscience. an ethical breach can’t be ignored She may have temporarily lost her head, intoxicated by romance, but a grounded workaholic like Jane had to wise up, see the light. Holly Hunter is luminous as Jane, and we can see her sharp mind at work. With a quick wit and verve to spare, Jane remains steadfast about what she stands for, no matter what it costs. Integrity never goes out of style, and Jane Craig is an enduring poster girl for it. —Lynn Venhaus

Awards Run and Film Accolades
“Broadcast News” was one of the top films of 1987 — placed on 67 major Top Ten Lists that year — and I reviewed it for the Belleville News-Democrat (not available at that time digitally). I will have to dig it up to see what I said then, but today, the film has had a lasting impact. After William Hurt died last week, many people cited it as their favorite movie of his. As a longtime journalist, the movie resonates so much about the news media.

Although it did not win an Oscar for any of its seven nominations, it was second behind eventual winner “The Last Emperor,” which won all nine of its nominations), and recognized as a nominee for Best Picture, James L. Brooks for original screenplay, and three acting nods for Hunter, Hurt and Albert Brooks, as well as editing and cinematography. Hunter won Best Actress from both the New York Film Critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics. (Besides “The Last Emperor for film and Oscars that year went to Michael Douglas for “Wall Street,” Cher for “Moonstruck” and Sean Connery for “The Untouchables.”)

While hurt had already won an Oscar and Hunter would win for “The Piano” several years later, Brooks has not — but that performance as the heavy-sweating Aaron is one of his finest, and had not Sean Connery won for “The Untouchables,” I have a feeling Brooks would be an Oscar winner today.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 98% rating from 52 critics. The site’s consensus states: “Blockbuster dramatist James L. Brooks delivers with Broadcast News, fully entertaining with deft, deep characterization.”

On Metacritic, the film has an 84 average, based on 16 reviews, indicating “universal acclaim.”

Just a good solid movie that holds up in repeat viewings.

In his review in the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote about Hunter’s performance: “something of a revelation: her short, feisty, socially gauche, aggressive-compulsive character may be the most intricately layered portrait of a career woman that contemporary Hollywood has given us”.

AWFJ Total List
https://awfj.org/awfjs-top-100-films-list-2007/awfjs-top-100-films-list/awfj-wonder-women-55-best-fictional-female-characters/

http://awfj.org/blog/2016/07/31/awfj-wonder-women-countdown-55-through-44/
:Numbers 55-44 as voted by the AWFJ membership are Olivia Evans from “Boyhood,” Elle Reid from “Grandma,” Katniss Everdeen from “The Hunger Games” series, Mammy from “Gone with the Wind,” Jean Harrington/Lady Eve Sidwich from “The Lady Eve,” Laine Hanson from “The Contender,” Ada McGrath from “The Piano,” Tess McGill from “Working Girl,” Jane Craig from “Broadcast News,” Lucy Honeychurch from “A Room with a View,” Sally Bowles from “I Am a Camera/Cabaret” and The Bride from “Kill Bill: Vols. 1 & 2.”

AWFJ Wonder Women Countdown – Characters 43 through 34

AWFJ WONDER WOMEN: 55 Best Fictional Female Characters

‘Tennessee Williams and Italy’ Theme for Seventh Annual St Louis Festival

‘Tennessee Williams and Italy’ Theme for Seventh Annual St Louis Festival

The 7th Annual Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis Aug. 18-28

The Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis (TWStL) returns for its seventh year, giving center stage to a newly reimagined and sensual Fellini-esque production of William’s romantic Sicilian love story The Rose Tattoo, directed by David Kaplan and performed in the Big Top in the Grand Arts Center.

“This year we celebrate the resilience of love, passion, community, art and the human spirit” said Carrie Houk, TWStL Executive Artistic Director. “How delightful to be moving into the light of 2022 with productions embracing the magnificence of those who ventured from abroad to begin anew. Saluti and avanti!” 

The Rose Tattoo tells the story of love, death, and resilience in a downtrodden but hopeful 1940’s immigrant Sicilian community.  Serafina delle Rose clings madly to her Italian identity, to the fanciful memory of her murdered husband, and to her free-spirited daughter. Will she find love with the banana truck driver?  Are all the rose tattoos a sign?  

Introducing the theme of an Italian circus, Kaplan’s take on Williams’ classic features aerialists, animals, singers and musicians. He surrounds Serafina with a dozen circus performers – including a ringmaster, a strongman, trapeze artists, and clowns – who perform the full text of the play.

Tennessee Williams and Anna Magnani on a Roman holiday filming “The Rose Tattoo”

“This St. Louis Rose Tattoo is performed in a circus as a circus, the better to share what Williams called his ‘limitless world of the dream,’” said Kaplan. “Live goats, accordions, impassioned acting, a play that celebrates the wisdom of desire. What’s not to like?”

Other festival events will occur on the Italian Hill, a St. Louis cultural gem of a location:

—The St. Louis Neighborhood Plays, a series of Williams’ one-acts, directed by Robert Quinlan (Associate Artistic Director Illinois Shakespeare Festival). “Tennessee Williams captured the dreams and struggles of an eclectic collection of St. Louisans in several early one-act plays, to be presented “promenade-style” at the Marketplace on The Hill,” said Quinlan.

—thought-provoking Panels, hosted by TWStL scholar-in-residence Tom Mitchell, including The St. Louis Neighborhoods of Tennessee Williams, Tennessee Williams and his Significant Others and For the Love of Italy. From Mitchell: “It is surprising to see how much Tennessee Williams wrote about the neighborhoods of St. Louis where he grew up in the 1920s and 30s. His stories and plays reveal much about the city and about the playwright.”

—Screenings of iconic films based on Williams’ works, to include “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (adapted from a Williams novella and featuring Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty) and Boom (adapted from The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore and featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton).

Other events to be held at various locations on The Hill:

Tennessee Williams Tribute: Selections from Williams’ Italian-inspired writing

Walking Tour of The St Louis Hill

Gelato Social

Bocce Ball Competition

La Dolce Vita Pool Party

Additional events and locations to be announced in the coming weeks!

The full festival itinerary can be found at twstl.org. Tickets can be purchased via Metrotix beginning in July.

About the Festival

In 2014, award-winning producer, casting director, actor, and educator Carrie Houk produced Williams’ Stairs to the Roof with such success that the ongoing annual Festival was established.  The inaugural Festival in 2016 was themed “Tennessee Williams: The St. Louis Years,” followed by “The Magic of the Other” in 2017 and “The French Quarter Years” in 2018. The 2019 festival featured performances of Night of the Iguana and A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur. In 2021, the Festival spotlighted The Glass Menagerie and You Lied To Me About Centralia. The Festival has attracted thousands to its readings, panel discussions, concerts, exhibitions, and productions.

The Festival, which aims to enrich the cultural life of St. Louis by producing an annual theater festival and other artistic events that celebrate the artistry and life of Tennessee Williams, was named the Arts Startup of the Year Award by the Arts and Education Council at the 2019 St. Louis Arts Awards. TWStL has garnered 12 awards from the St. Louis Theater Circle in the last two years and was recently nominated for four St. Louis Theater Circle awards for 2021’s The Glass Menagerie, which was performed where it was first imagined, at the very building in the Central West End where the Williams family settled when they moved to St Louis.

Tennessee Williams

About Tennessee Williams

Born Thomas Lanier Williams III in 1911 in Mississippi, Williams moved to St. Louis at age seven, when his father was made an executive with the International Shoe Company (where the City Museum and the Last Hotel are now located). He lived here for more than two decades, attending Washington University, working at the International Shoe Company, and producing his first plays at local theaters. He credited his sometimes-difficult experiences in St. Louis for the deeply felt poetic essence that permeates his artistry. When asked later in life when he left St. Louis, he replied, “I never really left.” Most people are familiar with the famous works that have garnered multiple Pulitzer Prizes, Tony Awards, and Academy Awards, such as The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly Last Summer. He also wrote hundreds of additional plays, stories, essays, and poems, many of which are only now seeing the light of day as his estate permits greater access. He is today considered by many leading authorities to be America’s greatest playwright.

Oscar Best Picture Nominee: ‘CODA’ Earns Its Way Into Your Heart

Oscar Best Picture Nominee: ‘CODA’ Earns Its Way Into Your Heart

By Lynn Venhaus
For 10 days preceding the 94th annual Academy Awards on March 27, we are spotlighting each of the 10 Best Picture nominees.by running a review from when the movie opened locally, and then add awards season news and other tidbits.

As a “CODA” (Child of Deaf Adults), Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents (Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur). Rated  PG-13 for strong sexual content and language, and drug use, it is 1 hour, 51 minutes and directed by Sian Heder.

2021-2022 Awards:

It won an unprecedented four awards at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival — Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award, Best Directing and Special Award for Ensemble Cast.

It is nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor Troy Kotsur.

Troy Kotsur, who plays the deaf husband and father, has won Best Supporting Actor from the Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice Awards, BAFTAs, Film Independent Spirit Awards and the Gotham Awards.

The film won the SAG Award for Best Ensemble.and the BAFTA Award for Adapted Screenplay (Sian Heder).

Of the groups I belong to — Emilia Jones won Best Breakthrough Performance in the EDA Female Focus Awards from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur and was nominated for three others (Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Best Young Actor/Actress (Emilia Jones), and was nominated for adapted screenplay by SLFCA. It was nominated for four Critics Choice Awards.

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 95% rating on the Tomatometer from 266 critics (I am an approved critic and gave it an A-) and a 93% audience score.

This review appeared in the Webster-Kirkwood Times on Aug. 13. It was released in theaters and exclusively streaming on Apple TV +, where it can be found today.

Sure, it’s predictable, but “CODA” earns its way into your heart with a touching family coming-of-age story that makes it impossible not to be moved by it.

With warmth, humor and a strong cast, “CODA” has turned a conventional family dynamic and an oft-told tale of a teenager pursuing her dream into something special. Not original, it is a remake of a 2014 French film, “The Belier Family,” but setting it in America translates well.

The film has an appealing lived-in atmosphere. The solid sense of place, set in a New England fishing village — Gloucester, Mass., is one of this small film’s charms. Cinematographer Paula Hidobro deftly handles land and sea.

The family has earned its living as fishermen. Dad Frank, Mom Jackie and son Leo are all deaf, and the local fishing business is going through economic struggles, which affects their home life. Ruby helps, but she has high school and can’t be there all the time.

Because she loves to sing, the shy and awkward teen signs up for choir, surprising her best friend and family – and herself. Her mother doesn’t understand this need to pursue a hobby – and underestimates Ruby’s passion.

A tough music teacher, Bernardo Villalobos recognizes her natural talent and pushes her to succeed, although she is her own worst enemy because of her lack of confidence, not commitment.

A graduate of the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, Mr. V has arranged auditions for a bright star, Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), and decides to do the same for Ruby.

But the family’s dependence on Ruby is so overwhelming that she feels that she can’t pursue her dreams. Well, open the waterworks, because there will be bumps in the road, and baby steps, to finding a way to keep her time slot – not only as an individual, but also as a family.

Emilia Jones

Director-writer Sian Heder has presented the challenges of deaf adults in a hearing world with compassion and accuracy. Through her sharp observations, we can see what hardships that hearing-impaired people face daily. She demonstrates it effectively throughout the film, but a later scene at a concert, shot with complete silence, is a stunner.

Heder won the directing award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Like “Minari” last year, “CODA” was honored with both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. Apple Studios purchased it for a record-breaking $25 million. I hope it will have a broader reach than arthouses.

Oscar winner Matlin, now 55 and the mother of four children, has been an active spokeswoman for the National Captioning Institute. In 1995, she was instrumental in Congress passing a law requiring all television sets that are 13 inches or larger to be manufactured with built-in chips for closed captioning capabilities on their screens.

After winning the Academy Award for her debut screen performance in “Children of a Lesser God,” she has represented the deaf community for breakthroughs large and small.

Her visibility here, as an imperfect mother seeking to be more sensitive to her hearing daughter, is immeasurable, and she does a fine job.

As the sexy mom, she has a playfulness with deaf actor Troy Kotsur, whose portrayal of a gruff but soft-around-the-edges dad is believable. They provide a light-hearted touch, as does deaf actor Daniel Durant as big brother Leo, who tussles with his baby sister like brothers naturally do.

Emilia Jones’ pitch-perfect performance is the necessary glue, and fully engaged, she does not overplay the teenage angst and range of feelings.

Supporting players also appear comfortable in their roles, particularly Eugenio Derbez, known for comedies in his native Mexico, showing his drama skills as the no-nonsense choir director.

He’s relatable, as is Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, so terrific in 2016’s sublime “Sing Street,” as Ruby’s duet partner Miles. So is Amy Forsyth, notable as Ruby’s best friend Gertie.

A crowd-pleaser in the mold of “Billy Elliot,” “CODA” resonates because it takes a familiar story and amplifies it through a different perspective.

Oscar Best Picture Nominee: ‘Belfast’ Is Branagh’s Family Memory Piece

Oscar Best Picture Nominee: ‘Belfast’ Is Branagh’s Family Memory Piece

By Lynn Venhaus
For 10 days preceding the 94th annual Academy Awards on March 27, we are spotlighting each of the 10 Best Picture nominees.by running a review from when the movie opened locally, and then add awards season news and other tidbits.

“Belfast” is a semi-autobiographical account of Kenneth Branagh’s early childhood in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, around the time “The Troubles” began in his neighborhood, in summer of 1969. His family was Protestant, but they didn’t want any harm done to their Catholic neighbors.

Rated: PG-13 for some violence and strong language, “Belfast” is directed by Kenneth Branagh and stars Jamie Dornan, Caitriona Balfe, Ciaran Hinds, Judi Dench, Jude Hill, and Lewis McCaskie. It runs 1 hour, 37 minutes.

It is now available on DVD-Blu-Ray and digital and video on demand..

2021-2022 Awards: “Belfast” is nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Sound, Best Song (Van Morrison, “Down to Joy”), Ciaran Hinds for Best Supporting Actor and Judi Dench for Best Supporting Actress as the grandparents. March 27

At the BAFTAs on March 13, it won Outstanding British Film of the Year.

It won the People’s Choice Award at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.

Of the critics’ groups I belong to — Critics Choice Association Awards – Best Young Actor/Actress Jude Hill, Best Ensemble and Best Original Screenplay March 13; Alliance of Women Film Journalists – EDA Award for Best Original Screenplay; and St. Louis Film Critics Association — it was nominated for eight awards, but no wins.

I ranked it No. 8 on my Top Ten List on KTRS Radio (and in alphabetical order in the Webster-Kirkwood Times). I wrote: “Dramatically charged and filled with gentle humor, writer-director Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical account of his early childhood in Northern Ireland when “The Troubles” began in the summer of 1969 shows how being exposed to turbulence changes your life forever.”

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a Tomatometer rating of 87% from 303 critics (I am an approved critic and gave it B+) and an Audience Score of 92%.

Caitriona Balfe

This review appeared in the Webster-Kirkwood Times on Nov. 15. The movie opened Nov. 12, and was shown a week earlier at the St. Louis International Film Festival on Nov. 5.

Somewhere in his memories, Kenneth Branagh has processed what it was like to be 9 years old at a tumultuous time of change. Turns out you can go home again.

During the lockdown, he wrote “Belfast,” and his film memory piece is a warm reflection about family and community. Because it’s so personal, he understands your family is your home, after all.

Through the eyes of a child, Branagh also expresses how being exposed to turbulence where you live changes you forever.

This Belfast clan is not unlike Tevye’s family leaving Anatevka in “Fiddler on the Roof,” or over the past decades, countless ex-patriates from Africa and the Middle East who sought refuge in other lands after their lives were disrupted by war. The decisions are tough but sadly, increasingly necessary for survival.

Elevated by a pitch-perfect ensemble, evocative black-and-white cinematography and a score/soundtrack by Van Morrison, “Belfast” is both dramatically charged and filled with gentle humor.

As the director, Branagh has coaxed an unaffected performance from the lovable Jude Hill as his alter ego. In his first film, the young actor is masterful observing his surrounding, confiding in his grandpa and being delightful in interactions with his family and friends.

When he is frozen in the streets as he hears approaching rioters and is genuinely afraid of what he is witnessing, he is our eyes and ears. That moment crystalizes this film, and is one of the best scenes of the year. You feel what you feel.

This is a story with a wide range of emotions, as the parents, portrayed by Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe, struggle with finances and raising a family during threats to their safety.

Balfe is impressive as the devoted mother, strong while the father is away working in England, and courageous about protecting her family. She is most certain to be a nominee for Best Supporting Actress.

Also memorable are Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds as the wise and loving grandparents. Dench displays a sardonic wit as Granny while Hinds is the “Pops” with a special relationship with his grandson who advises with common sense.

Branagh, who frequently works on stage and in front of the camera, deftly handles actors. He has worked with Dench multiple times, and while she always excels, she is particularly poignant here.

Branagh has been nominated for five Academy Awards, the first man to be nominated for five different categories (director and actor for “Henry V,” supporting actor for “My Week with Marilyn,” adapted screenplay “Hamlet,” and live action short “Swan Song.” As a producer on “Belfast,” he could make history if he is nominated for Best Picture.

Considering how his last movie was the universally panned “Artemis Fowl” in 2020, this would be a remarkable turnaround – although he has been acclaimed for his Shakespeare adaptations and other works.

The film’s sights and sounds are noteworthy, with spot-on vintage outfits, retro tunes and scenic look. “Belfast” includes fine work by production designer Jim Clay, who worked with Branagh on “Murder on the Orient Express” in 2017, and costume designer Charlotte Walter.

This year, there are several films shot in black-and-white, but “Belfast” is a hybrid with color for contemporary scenes, and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos has handled the transitions beautifully.

What is lacking is character development, for these roles are only snapshots from a child’s point of view.

And if you are unfamiliar with “The Troubles,” which refers to the Northern Ireland conflict from the late 1960s to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, then you will not find any historical information in this film.

The Troubles, primarily political and nationalistic, had two sides referred to as Protestants and Catholics, but it was not a religious conflict. The key issue was the status of the country – Unionists and loyalists who wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom were mostly Ulster Protestants while Irish nationalists and republicans who wanted to leave the UK and join a united Ireland, were mostly Irish Catholics. About 3,500 people were killed, with more than half civilians, during those 30 years.

As we dissolve to the current Belfast landscape, there is a dedication to those who left and those who stayed. But no information card on the conflict.

Yet, the film stays true to its perspective. While it might be specific geographically, it has a universal appeal.

Two Lost Souls Adrift in Vague Tale on Connection in ‘Compartment No. 6’

Two Lost Souls Adrift in Vague Tale on Connection in ‘Compartment No. 6’

By Lynn Venhaus
In a world where so much is about timing, perhaps this isn’t an ideal time to watch “Compartment Number 6,” a rather bleak, dreary, and chilly film that lurches its way through a dour Russia.

As a train weaves its way up to the arctic port of Murmansk, two disparate strangers share a journey. An adventurous but shy, rather blank student Laura (Seidi Haarla) from Finland shares the long ride with a coarse but somewhat friendly and helpful Russian miner Ljoha (Yuriy Borisov).

These two lonely people are in a cramped second-class sleeping car – he’s a crude laborer on his way to a job and she’s a fish-out-of-water, an archeology student (she says) from Finland who wants to see petroglyphs, which are ancient carvings on rocks. The pair look at each other warily, skeptically, disinterested.

Each with their own issues, the bottled-up pair engage in minimal conversation as they take smoke breaks. The people in this movie smoke a lot and drink a lot. In these drab quarters, she sketches and films the falling snow with a clunky video camera. He peels tangerines and drinks to excess. His boorish behavior is unsettling to her, but even reporting it doesn’t seem to matter.

Neither are who they appear to be, showing a public side different from their private life. Eventually, Ljoha tries to reach out, but his social skills are clumsy and awkward. However, he will help her and show out-of-his-way kindness that’s unexpected. She’s more reserved, guarded.

Writer-director Juho Kuosmanen wrote a screenplay “inspired” by Rosa Liksom’s 2021 novel, along with writer-actor Andris Feldmanis and Livia Ullman, setting it in the 1990s instead of the ‘80s, in a post-Soviet Union dismantling.

Finland’s short-listed entry for the Oscar Best International Film – but was not nominated, “Compartment No. 6” won the Grand Prix at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

It received much acclaim for its meditation on human connection – and it is aiming to be profound, deep, and enlightening. But ultimately is disappointing, with its ambiguous ending and lack of clearly defined characters. They oh-so-slowly reveal things about each other, but at this point, does it matter, as it certainly isn’t enough to engage.

The director appears to emulate Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise,” but this neither has the charm nor the sparkling conversation between Jesse and Celine – and there is zero chemistry, unlike Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.

Charitably, this 1 hour, 47-minute film unfolds at a glacial pace.  Besides being incredibly slow, it did not have much to say. We are tasked with reading between the lines. The characters are thinly drawn and hard to warm up to – and the weather is brutal and demoralizing.

We’ve just been through a tough winter ourselves – and know the isolated feeling. As miserable as the train appears, the outside seems even gloomier. This isn’t exactly the Orient Express – although there is some mystery to different characters, particularly a fellow Finlandia guy who plays guitar and seems more sensitive than Ljoha.

Laura had been staying in a room in Moscow with an older Russian woman, Irina, a literature professor whose home is a gathering spot for artists and intellectuals every evening. That Irina (Dinara Drukarova) is charismatic. She’s a fun one, dancing, turning up the music, drinking and engaging in stimulating conversation – and the young one is drawn to her, practically idolizes her. Laura, here to study Russian, yearns to be a Bohemian, but also a sophisticate – and she’s pliable, ready to please. They are lovers but one senses the mercurial older woman isn’t going to commit.

But any move towards a romance here between the solo travelers wouldn’t be authentic – for now, anyway. There would have to be more developments.

Kousmanen is a fan of the Steadicam and its use becomes an aggravation, particularly after an evening of shots as they maneuver through the modest home of Ljoha’s foster mom. Lidia Kostina is terrific in dispensing hard-knocks wisdom.

The movie is assembled in fragments, with fits and starts that are frustrating, and the tone jumps throughout. The cinematography by C-P Passi is interesting, and a nostalgiac synth-pop score adds a nice touch.

“Compartment No. 6” needed more to be compelling. Somewhere inside, these characters are interesting – we just needed those inner selves to be outwardly displayed for better understanding of the point the filmmaker is trying to make.

“Compartment No. 6” is a 2021 international film drama from Finland, directed by Juho Kousmanen and starring Seidi Haarla, Yuriy Borisov, Dinara Drukarova and Lidia Kostina. Rated R for language and some sexual references, its run time is 1 hour, 47 minutes. It opened in local theaters on March 18. Lynn’s Grade: C.

Seidi Haarla, Yuriy Borisov

James Bond, Spider-Man Among Critics Choice Super Awards Winners

James Bond, Spider-Man Among Critics Choice Super Awards Winners

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced today the winners of the 2nd annual Critics Choice Super Awards, honoring the most popular, fan-obsessed genres across both movies and television, including Superhero, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Horror, and Action.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” led the film winners this year, garnering three awards overall. The film was awarded Best Superhero Movie, while Andrew Garfield took the prize for Best Actor in a Superhero Movie, and Willem Dafoe won Best Villain in a Movie.

“Squid Game” and “WandaVision” tied for most series wins, earning three awards each. “Squid Game” swept the Action Series categories, with Lee Jung-jae winning Best Actor in an Action Series, HoYeon Jung winning Best Actress in an Action Series, and the show taking home the Best Action Series award. “WandaVision” was named Best Superhero Series, and Elizabeth Olsen was awarded Best Actress in a Superhero Series, while her co-star Kathryn Hahn won Best Villain in a Series.

“This year’s slate of Critics Choice Super Awards nominees and winners represents the absolute best in genre storytelling,” said Sean O’Connell, Critics Choice Super Awards Branch President. “It’s an honor to showcase these incredible accomplishments in Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Comic Book films and television. The Super Awards will proudly continue to shine a brighter light on the talented people telling stories in these fields.”

Note: PopLifeSTL.com’s Lynn Venhaus votes for these awards as a CCA member.

FILM WINNERS FOR THE 2ND ANNUAL CRITICS CHOICE SUPER AWARDS

BEST ACTION MOVIE

No Time to Die (United Artists)

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE

Daniel Craig – No Time to Die (United Artists)

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE

Jodie Comer – The Last Duel (Disney)

BEST SUPERHERO MOVIE

Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPERHERO MOVIE

Andrew Garfield – Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPERHERO MOVIE

Florence Pugh – Black Widow (Disney)

BEST HORROR MOVIE

A Quiet Place Part II (Paramount)

BEST ACTOR IN A HORROR MOVIE

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – Candyman (Universal)

BEST ACTRESS IN A HORROR MOVIE

Agathe Rousselle – Titane (NEON)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY MOVIE

Dune (Warner Bros.)

BEST ACTOR IN A SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY MOVIE

Dev Patel – The Green Knight (A24)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY MOVIE

Rebecca Ferguson – Dune (Warner Bros.)

BEST VILLAIN IN A MOVIE

Willem Dafoe – Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony)

SERIES WINNERS FOR THE 2ND ANNUAL CRITICS CHOICE SUPER AWARDS

BEST ACTION SERIES

Squid Game (Netflix)

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION SERIES

Lee Jung-jae – Squid Game (Netflix)

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION SERIES

HoYeon Jung – Squid Game (Netflix)

BEST SUPERHERO SERIES

WandaVision (Disney+)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPERHERO SERIES

Tom Hiddleston – Loki (Disney+)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPERHERO SERIES

Elizabeth Olsen – WandaVision (Disney+)

BEST HORROR SERIES

Yellowjackets (Showtime)

BEST ACTOR IN A HORROR SERIES

Hamish Linklater – Midnight Mass (Netflix)

BEST ACTRESS IN A HORROR SERIES

Melanie Lynskey – Yellowjackets (Showtime)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY SERIES

Station Eleven (HBO Max)

BEST ACTOR IN A SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY SERIES

Daveed Diggs – Snowpiercer (TNT)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY SERIES

Mackenzie Davis – Station Eleven (HBO Max)

BEST VILLAIN IN A SERIES

Kathryn Hahn – WandaVision (Disney+)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8ez5iodnwqwen7n/AADvvgNu3KVSdLS1DKmChE-6a?dl=0

Access TV Series Winner Graphics Here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xxcj9un7gmfox4v/AAClnWUKtmSGW7_3_IIx0-KCa?dl=0

Watch Acceptance Speeches Here:

Best Superhero Movie – Spider-Man: No Way Home:

Best Horror Movie – A Quiet Place Part II:

Best Actor in a Horror Movie – Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – Candyman:

Best Action Series – Squid Game:

Best Actor in an Action Series – Lee Jung-jae – Squid Game:

Best Actress in an Action Series – HoYeon Jung – Squid Game:

Best Horror Series – Yellowjackets:

Best Actor in a Horror Series – Hamish Linklater – Midnight Mass:

Best Actress in a Horror Series – Melanie Lynskey – Yellowjackets:

Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Series – Station Eleven:

Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series – Daveed Diggs – Snowpiercer:

Best Villain in a Series – Kathryn Hahn – WandaVision:

Follow the Critics Choice Super Awards on Twitter and Instagram @CriticsChoice and on Facebook/CriticsChoiceAwards.

About the Critics Choice Association (CCA)

The Critics Choice Association is the largest critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 525 media critics and entertainment journalists. It was established in 2019 with the formal merger of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, recognizing the intersection between film, television, and streaming content. For more information, visit: CriticsChoice.com.

Arts For Life Returns to Live Theatre Awards Ceremonies This Spring

Arts For Life Returns to Live Theatre Awards Ceremonies This Spring

Arts For Life will return to live and in-person awards ceremonies this spring, and tickets are now available for both the Theater Mask Awards on April 9 and Best Performance Awards on June 12.

Through the nonprofit organization AFL, the TMAs have honored drama and comedy plays since 2015 while the BPAs have honored musical theater in community and youth productions since AFL’s founding in 1999.

Because of the public health crisis, AFL held its BPAs and TMAs ceremonies virtually in 2020, while BPAs were not held in 2021, but TMAs were virtually, and in a smaller capacity. This year’s BPAs include nominees from the shortened 2020 and 2021 theater seasons.

This year’s eighth annual Theatre Mask Awards will take place starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 9, at The Christy of St. Louis, 5856 Christy Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63116.

Cocktail attire is suggested. Seating will be eight per table, and seating assignments will be available at the entrance.

A brunch buffet featuring eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, hash browns, fruit salad and pasta con broccoli will be served. A cash bar will be available.

“Live and in person!” AFL President Mary McCreight exclaimed. “So happy to see the enthusiasm among theater groups for recognizing excellence among their peers and cheering each other on. It was a tough year to get out there, rehearse, and be among crowds. But through their diligence and willpower, the magic happened. Let’s celebrate!”

This year’s master of ceremonies for the TMAs will be Mark Lull, a nine-time AFL nominee, who won Best Performance by a Comedic Actor as Uncle Fester in Alfresco Productions’ “The Addams Family” in 2015.

“I am thrilled and honored to be hosting the TMAs this year – in person!” he said.

Lull, currently the principal at Maryville Elementary School in Granite City, has performed at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, The Muny, and with other theater companies in the St. Louis metropolitan area. He serves as secretary on the Arts For Life board of directors.

The 22nd Best Performance Awards will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 12, at the Frontenac Hilton, Clayton Ballroom, 1335 S Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis 63131.

Formal attire is requested, and the event will be general admission theater-style seating. A cash bar will be available.

Ticket Information

TMA tickets are $28 and must be purchased by March 28.

BPA tickets are either $20 as an early bird pricing before May 12, or $25 after that until June 12.

Both TMA and BPA tickets are available online with a service fee of $2 added: https://arts-for-life-2.square.site/.

Reservations can be arranged through the mail and tickets can be picked up at the venues on event day. Please make check payable to ARTS FOR LIFE and mail to PO Box 16426, St. Louis, MO 63125.

All BPA ticket orders will be held at the box office unless a self-addressed stamped envelope is included with ticket order. If ordering for a group, please attach a list of individual names for box office pick-up.

Please contact us at afltrg@artsforlife.org if you have any special seating needs or COVID-19 related concerns. Handicapped seating is available

Award Nominations

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Goshen Theatre Project

Nominations were announced Jan. 22 at AFL’s annual Trivia Night, which was a virtual event during heightened COVID-19 cases earlier this winter. They are listed on the website, www.artsforlife.org.

Starting in mid-March 2020, productions were postponed and canceled during the coronavirus pandemic, and safety precautions have been a priority for performers and performances because of the coronavirus public health crisis. Now that vaccines and COVID-19 tests are available, stage work has returned, and theaters are no longer dark.

“While we did about half the usual number of shows in 2021, it did not diminish Arts for Life’s vision for a community recognition program,” McCreight said

“These events recognize the incredible talent we have in St. Louis community theater and honor the passion and dedication of those who build this amazing and unique theatrical community,” she said.

The Kirkwood Theatre Guild in Kirkwood, Mo., led all St. Louis area – metro-east Illinois community theater groups, with 25 nominations – 13 for the George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart comedy classic “The Man Who Came to Dinner” and 12 for the musical “Shrek,” while the Gateway Center for the Performing Arts’ youth musicals “Annie” and “Cabaret” earned 25 nominations – 14 and 11 respectively.

Goshen Theatre Project in Collinsville, Ill., and Monroe Actors Stage Company in Waterloo, Ill., each earned 16 nominations – Goshen, with 11 for “Disney’s The Beauty and the Beast” and five for “Nunsense” and MASC, with nine for Lillian Helman’s drama “Watch on the Rhine” and seven for the Mel Brooks’ musical adaptation “Young Frankenstein.”

Act Two Theater in St. Peters, Mo., received 11 nominations for the Noel Coward comedy classic “Blithe Spirit” and Take Two Productions earned 10 for their regional premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical “Fun Home.”

The Kirkwood Theatre Guild also tied the record for most acting nominations in a single show, with eight for “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” For 2019, the Clayton Community Theatre broke the record for most acting nominations in a single show, with eight for Neil Simon’s ‘Biloxi Blues.”

Prior to the pandemic, 15 theater groups and 10 youth-only groups participated in the BPAs while 11 were involved in the TMAs. As the region’s mitigations efforts were ongoing the past two years, only four youth-only groups and nine community theater organizations produced BPA-eligible musicals while seven participated in TMAs in 2021.

Shrek at KTG. Photo by Dan Donovan

Other groups participating include Christ Memorial Productions, Clayton Community Theatre, Dayspring Arts and Education, KTK Productions, Hawthorne Players, Looking Glass Playhouse, O’Fallon Theatre Works, Over Due Theatre, Spotlight Productions, and Theatre Guild of Webster Groves.

Arts For Life is a local not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to the healing power of the arts through its work with youth, the underserved, and the community, with its goal of “Making a Dramatic Difference.”

AFL is dedicated to promoting public awareness of local community theatre, encouraging excellence in the arts, and acknowledging the incredible people who are a part of it.

TMA Event Sponsorships are available at either $100 or $50 if you also purchase an ad. Sponsorship includes group/company name and logo displayed at the event, website and on our social media platforms.

For advertising rates, BPA event sponsorship or more information, email afltrg@artsforlife.org or visit the website, www.artsforlife.org

‘After Yang’ is Emotionally Intelligent Sci-Fi About an Android’s Impact

‘After Yang’ is Emotionally Intelligent Sci-Fi About an Android’s Impact

By Alex McPherson

Patient, meditative, and pulsing with feeling beneath its calming atmosphere, the latest effort by video-essayist-turned-film-director Kogonada, “After Yang,” poses profound questions in quietly gripping fashion.

The film, based on the short story “Saying Goodbye to Yang” by Alexander Weinstein, is set in an unnamed futuristic city — presumably after a war or natural catastrophe — where slightly heightened technology has permeated daily life, and East Asian stylistic influences abound, cleanly melding the ecological with the manmade.

Everyone speaks in muted, passionless tones. We follow a family encountering a shattering loss. Jake (Colin Farrell) owns a tea shop lacking customers, going about his days with isolated remove. Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith) is constantly busy as a corporate executive. Neither are as present as they should be with their young adopted Chinese daughter, Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja), who spends much more time with Yang (Justin H. Min), a “technosapien” they purchased to help educate Mika about her cultural heritage. Over time, though, shown in flashbacks, Yang becomes less of a “Chinese Fun Fact” distributor for Mika and more of a brother figure, rendering his untimely malfunction all the more traumatic. 

Trying to console a distraught Mika, Jake tries to get Yang repaired. Before long, a paranoid mechanic (Ritchie Coster) finds a box within Yang that contains memory clips of what Yang found meaningful while he was online. As Jake views the recordings — thanks to a museum curator (Sarita Choudhury), who provides him the ability to view them in exchange for permission to create an exhibit about Yang’s life — he begins to value Yang on a whole new level while neglecting to tell his wife and child the full truth.

Yang’s memories are visualized as stars comprising a galaxy, within which lie resonant snippets of time Yang chose to preserve. Jake also learns about his own flaws, imperfections, and potential to develop as an aimless entity in search of meaning in our chaotic universe. He eventually encounters a strange woman in Yang’s memories (Haley Lu Richardson), who unearths more of Yang’s secrets.

Although some viewers might find “After Yang” too subtle and ponderous for its own good, part of what makes Kogonada’s film so moving is how gentle it is — letting plot developments unfold with a dreamlike rhythm that percolates into a rich, textured whole upon later reflection. 

The opening, however, where the central family competes in an intensive dance competition from their living room, is bursting with infectious energy. The rest of the film’s melancholic tone underscores the void left behind by losing Yang, and a family dynamic that Jake and Kyra have difficulty recapturing. Despite their relative privilege and open, spacious house — with a large tree growing in their central courtyard — they’re missing something crucial and comforting, stuck in a sort of limbo not unlike the confusion Yang feels about his own being.

Indeed, although Yang himself possesses a warmth and compassion that’s instantly endearing, it’s much harder to connect with either Jake or Kyra — especially Jake, who isn’t by any means a bad person, but someone drifting through life not fully appreciating those around him. Farrell gives an incredible, understated performance, where viewers observe — through small, yet meaningful shifts in attitude and behavior — a man reckoning with his own memories, by viewing Yang’s, and recognizing the messy, conflicted entity bubbling beneath his programming.

We don’t spend as much time with Kyra, who wants to tell Mika the truth about Yang’s death and move on, but as the story unfolds, she too recognizes a trapped soul searching for more. “After Yang” also paints an emotionally affecting contrast between Mika’s current despondence and her happiness alongside Yang, who gave her attention lacking from her adoptive parents. Yang himself, basically forced to take on a particular Asian identity sans much free will, is performed expertly by Min, who movingly conveys the android’s heartache and yearning through simple, powerful line delivery and facial expressions.

In terms of visuals, Kogonada infuses “After Yang” with depth that perfectly complements the subject matter. The cinematography by Benjamin Loeb features wide, static shots of this plausible world, conveying the ennui faced by Jake and Kyra with effective chilliness. When watching Yang’s memories play out, “After Yang” takes a more documentary-esque, arty approach reminiscent of Terrence Malick’s films, where we get colorful snippets of the natural world and human connection that gradually form a grander portrait. Additionally, when Jake and Kyra look back on specific conversations with Yang, Kogonada repeats lines of dialogue with different tones and camera angles, illustrating how the simple act of remembering has unmoored them to an extent, adding dimension previously overlooked.

The score, by Aksa Matsumiya and Ryuichi Sakamoto, is at once relaxing and raw, elegiac while also accentuating the eeriness of not truly “understanding” technology, or even our loved ones, or ourselves. Within a world over-reliant on technology, “After Yang” depicts the ways that it can benefit our lives if used properly, and how confronting grief can ultimately prove liberating. 

Kogonada’s film isn’t perfect — expository dialogue and simplistic characterizations of certain side characters stand out — but it’s one of 2022’s most thought-provoking films thus far, and one that rewards viewers eager for the unexpected.

“After Yang” is a 2021 American sci-fi drama directed by Kogonada and starring Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Justin H. Min, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Haley Lu Richardson, Ritchie Coster, and Sarita Choudhury. It is rated PG for some thematic elements and language, and the run time is 1 hour, 36 minutes. It started streaming on Showtime and its channels, and DirecTV on March 4. Alex’s Grade:: A- 

Past Meets Future in Jaunty ‘The Adam Project’ Time-Travel Movie

Past Meets Future in Jaunty ‘The Adam Project’ Time-Travel Movie

By Lynn Venhaus

With nods to “Back to the Future,” “The Terminator” and “Field of Dreams,” not to mention a 1949 hit song “Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think)” by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadiens, “The Adam Project” has a familiar but fun retro vibe that relies on its gifted cast to save the day.

This personality-driven science-fiction drama is a combo plate of movie themes set in a sci-fi time-travel world. The action is more video game than epic but has a sincere emotional center, working in a grieving family’s healing.

Pre-teen Adam Reed is small for his age but is quick with quips, and trying to cope with the death of his science professor dad Louis (Mark Ruffalo), who may have accidentally created time travel, as is his exasperated mom Ellie (Jennifer Garner). While home alone, a spacecraft lands in his backyard, piloted by his now-40-year-old buff self (Ryan Reynolds). “Big Adam” has come back from 2050 to find his endangered wife Laura (Zoe Saldana) but was aiming for 2018. They must work together to save the world, each other and strengthen their family ties.

Reuniting cheeky monkey Ryan Reynolds with his “Free Guy” director Shawn Levy, who has a knack for crowd pleasers (“A Night at the Museum,” “Stranger Things” TV series), this film capitalizes on the star’s strengths.

Reynolds, who looks like the Homecoming King but acts like the class clown who’s on the honor roll, rapidly delivers sarcasm and wisecracks in a jaunty way. He easily slips into renegade roles. Both Reynolds and Levy are producers here, and they demonstrate a collaborative spark (just announced that they will work on “Deadpool 3” together).

As Adam Reed, once a scrawny, nerdy kid with nimble verbal skills who grows up to be a buff fighter pilot, Reynolds quips and cajoles with the skills he’s shown in “Deadpool,” “Red Notice” and last summer’s surprise hit “Free Guy.”

He meets his match when he comes face-to-face with smart young Adam, his 12-year-old self in 2022 — Walker Scobell making his film debut, who is truly Reynolds’ mini-me. Together, they are very entertaining and use their powers for good.

It gets a little head-trippy when they go back to 2018, “Big” Adam’s intended target, and their dad is still alive. They have reason to believe his tech project financier Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener) is an unethical megalomaniac with only dollar signs in mind. Despite a brief appearance, Mark Ruffalo’s scruffy workaholic professor lends both gravitas and heart to the story.

Relatable Jennifer Garner plays Ellie Reed, Adam’s overwhelmed widowed mom, while Zoe Saldana, who knows a thing or two about sci-fi, having been in “Avatar” and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series, effortlessly appears as Adam’s fierce warrior wife Laura, who has been missing and presumed dead.

That’s the thing about time travel – logic goes out the window, and the more you think about connecting the dots, the more your head hurts. Your brain needn’t work that hard about wormholes, quantum leaps, electro-magnetic particles, and time streams.

Four screenwriters are credited, starting with Jonathan Tropper, who adapted his novel for the 2014 film “This Is Where I Leave You,” starring Jason Bateman, Adam Driver, Corey Stoll and Tina Fey as siblings sitting shiva after their father’s death, which was directed by Levy.

T.S. Nowlin, who wrote “The Maze Runner” series, and Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, who were Emmy-nominated for the “Big Mouth” animated series, were brought on board.

The dialogue is zippy and the action has genuine peril, although Sorian’s henchmen look more like Daft Punk than Stormtroopers.

As is the digital-age custom – and following James Gunn’s lead in the “Guardians” movies, all action scenes are accompanied by radio-friendly classic rock hits. There’s Boston’s “Long Time,” Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times” and Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’” – sense a time theme? That clever touch carries over to a scene when you can discern Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” as the instrumental music heard in the drug store.

The past meets the future – or is it the future meets the past? — in this amiable film, but the sci-fi takes a back seat to the family story that matters more, illustrated by a dad playing catch with his sons. As “Field of Dreams” still shows to this day, when grown men blubber about a baseball field surrounded by cornfields, something so elemental from childhood can be so profound.

“Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think
Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink
The years go by, as quickly as a wink”

“The Adam Project” is a 2022 sci-fi action-adventure comedy directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Reynolds, Walker Scobell, Jennifer Garner, Zoe Saldana, Mark Ruffalo and Catherine Keener. It is rated PG-13 for violence/action, language and suggestive references and it runs 1 hour, 46 minutes. Streaming on Netflix beginning March 11. Lynn’s Grade: B.

Calling All St Louis Home Cooks and Professional Chefs for Video Contest

Calling All St Louis Home Cooks and Professional Chefs for Video Contest

Create TV is launching a national video contest designed to seek hosts for a digital lifestyle series. Nine PBS Create airs 24/7 over the air on channel 9.4 and on Spectrum 184. 

This year, the Create Cooking Challenge: My Family’s Recipe is focused on the rich, diverse heritage of Americans and the foods families pass down through generations. The winners will be awarded cash prizes and production equipment to host a 10-episode web series on CreateTV.com.   

Sponsored by American Public Television, the Create Cooking Challenge: My Family’s Recipe runs from March 8 to April 5, 2022. The contest will be judged by Create staff and some of Nine PBS’s most recognized hosts: Kevin Belton (Kevin Belton’s Cookin’ Louisiana), Pati Jinich (Pati’s Mexican Table), Diane Kochilas (My Greek Table), Nick Stellino (Storytellers in the Kitchen), and Martin Yan (Yan Can Cook!).  

The panel will judge submissions based on an entrant’s demonstrated knowledge, ability to present ideas succinctly, overall telegenic appeal, uniqueness, and production values. The grand prize includes $4,000 cash and production equipment valued at $1,000 to complete a 10-episode web series for CreateTV.com. The second prize winner will receive $1,000 cash and the same production equipment valued at $1,000 to complete a 3-episode digital series for CreateTV.com.  

The cooking show genre has its roots in public television. Julia Child’s The French Chef had a 10-year run, beginning in 1963, followed Jeff Smith’s the Frugal Gourmet in 1973. Nine PBS has celebrated St. Louis’s robust food and beverage scene since 1999, originating cooking series like Breaking Bread with Father Dominic (1999–2001), Feast TV (2013–2018), tasteMAKERS (2018–2020); Food Is Love is currently airing its second season. Nine PBS covers the local food scene and PBS cooking content on its website Chew in the Lou, a companion podcast, and social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.  

A complete list of judging criteria, official rules, and a preview copy of the submission form are available starting today at CreateTV.com/challenge.  

About Nine PBS  

As an essential community institution, Nine PBS exists to enable access to information, knowledge, and learning opportunities for all. We tell stories that move us. We meet people where they are the most comfortable consuming content. Nine PBS’s platforms include four distinct broadcast channels (Nine PBS, Nine PBS KIDS®, Nine PBS World, and Nine PBS Create), ninepbs.org, social media, the free PBS Video App, streaming services, live and virtual events, and the Public Media Commons. Since 1954, Nine PBS has accepted the community’s invitation into their homes, schools, and businesses. Follow Nine PBS on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. 

About Create TV 

Now in its 17th year, Create® is the premier lifestyle channel featuring public television’s most popular how-to series, focused on food, travel, home and garden, arts and crafts, fitness, and lifestyle. Create is produced and distributed by American Public Television (APT), The WNET Group (New York), and GBH Boston, in association with National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) and PBS. Create TV is carried by 241 local public television stations nationwide and reaches 40 million viewers annually. Nine PBS Create can be watched in St. Louis, over the air on channel 9.4 and on Spectrum 184. 

y Lynn Venhaus