Glory be, I have accomplished one of my life’s goals: Published author.
Although writing is a solitary pursuit, it took many other people to help me get to this point. This has not been an easy journey, but ultimately fulfilling, and cathartic, during a very rough — yet resilient — year. The best thing is that along the way, I have met my fellow contributors from across the country – and these are wise, warm women, all over 50, with not only something to say, but special people that have been a pleasure to get to know better.
We’re all part of our astonishing friend and visionary Marqueeta Curtis-Haynes’ book: “Ageless Glamour Girls: Reflections on Aging” that will be published on Dec. 5, and pre-sales are now underway. We’re hitting social media and local media during the next 36 days, and will gather together for a live group Zoom the night it is officially out that anyone can join, too, and celebrate with us..
My chapter is titled: “You Are Not Alone: Dealing with Grief and Loss.”
Lynn Venhaus (wearing my AGG T-shirt and my RBG earrings).
Talk about an abundance of life lessons! Turning pain into purpose has been one of my goals since my oldest son died nearly five years ago. It’s been a process navigating grief after Tim passed, then my brother Matt nine months later, and then my dear uncle/father figure last year. I have reached an age where by now, many other family members and friends have passed, and it can be overwhelming, especially when there are more empty chairs at every holiday and special occasion.
While I struggle to make sense of the world and summon the courage to just keep on keeping on, I thought that if I shared this very personal experience, it may help others. I hope it’s relatable and lets people know they’re not crazy or alone. It’s my raw, real story, and I don’t pretend to be an expert.
Marqueeta is a former colleague, a native of East St. Louis, Ill., and a force of nature. She lives in Florida now, and we reconnected through Facebook. She has an Ageless Café page, too, and you will be immediately captivated by her sunny spirit.
As fledgling reporters, we worked together at the Journal Newspapers of Southern Illinois, part of the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis – I want to say 1980-81 (and even played together on a benefit basketball team that will remain one of our most ‘what were we thinking?’ experiences that we can laugh about now).
She left our dingy Fairview Heights newsroom to go into broadcast writing — St. Louis TV news (KMOX then – Channel 4) then onto the big dream of CBS News in NYC, and other career opportunities, while I moved on to O’Fallon Progress, then my dream job at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and after that folded, Belleville News-Democrat, Centralia Sentinel, and other stops along the way while raising two sons..
She is such a game-changer and I’m so glad the world’s going to know her name. As we older women know, there is something about our journey that is worth talking about – especially in a world that wants to dismiss us. We have survived, thrived and lived to tell about it.
When Marqueeta asked me and 12 other women to share our stories, I figured there would be power in this endeavor. Here is how she described her quest::
“Still on a mission to become a vehicle to help women manage aging, I created Ageless Glamour Girls. (I cover the origin of the name, in my chapter. My vision was and still is today, to provide a platform in which women of a certain age (50+), can “gather,” to get and share information on various topics, including caregiving, finances, second acts, menopause, plastic surgery, dementia, sexual health, and everything else from finding love to finding the best mascara that stands up to hot flashes. Our goal is to inform, inspire, empower, motivate, and yes – entertain.”
Recently, when she announced this achievement, she called her co-authors “some of the most fierce and inspirational women ever!”
She said she is a better woman because of it. I feel that way too.
This has been a year where I confronted my own mortality (twice), which changes one in many ways. And while writing my chapter this spring/summer, I somehow learned more about myself too. That chapter was one of the hardest things I ever had to write, but I accomplished it, overcoming doubts. If I can reach people, it will have been worth re-living some dark days.
I finally articulated this feeling on Tim: “What I miss most is seeing the world through his eyes.”
Maybe something else I wrote will resonate with a reader.
I am thrilled to join Lisa Bedian, Cheryl Collier, Sandi Badash, Ciriaca Yolanda, Maria Gonzalez, Karen Lindauer Herlands, Dionne Jones, Melinda Rinzivillo, Marian R. Featherson, Wendy Campbell, Patricia Desamours, Leah Irene Victoria, and Marqueeta. There are a few of us based in St. Louis, so you’ll likely see us together promoting it.
It’s quite a collection. The women write, straight from the heart, about leaps of faith, careers, being a mom, grandma, second and third acts, and weathering change and storms. Among the chapters are “The Unicorn: A Journey of Grace, Healing and Rarity Grace,” “Butterflies,” “The Positives of Being 87,” “The Antidote to Aging is Belonging” and “Finding Joy.”
And it’s been terrific to work with our very patient publisher Germaine Miller-Summers.
If you are interested in ordering a copy now, the $24.99 includes fees, taxes, and shipping. It will be available later on Amazon (after it’s published), and we’ll have more information as the date gets closer. To reserve your book, you can scan the QR code, or hit the link in the bio, or cut/paste right here: https://90daybookcreation.com/ageless-glamour-girls
On Dec. 5, after the world-wide release, you’ll be able to chat with us ageless glamour girls that evening at our Virtual Zoom Launch. If it’s anything like our Zoom chat “happy hours,” I guarantee laughs and sparkling conversation. This has truly turned into a team effort.
My heart is filled with gratitude. I have so many people to thank – first and foremost Marqueeta, for her support, guidance and encouragement when I really needed it.
Here’s my acknowledgement that I wrote for the book. I am sure I didn’t thank nearly enough people, but we had a limit as to what we could say (of course, with 14 co-authors!): I’d add my nephews, nieces, colleagues and so many people I’ve connected with through my writing.
“These past five years have been a difficult journey, but also one of insight, connection and comfort. I am grateful to my sisters Julie Modde and Mary Clare Gastro and their spouses Dean and Ken — we are Zipfel Strong!, my son Charlie Venhaus and his wife Maria and her Gencev family, his dad Bob Venhaus and family, my dearest friends and family members, and the many people in Tim’s life who loved him so much. Because we knew him, we have been changed for good, and will forever share that bond.” – Lynn Venhaus
As always, we want to engage with others, so feel free to send me your thoughts and reactions. Onward and upward, and thank you for taking the time to read something I wrote.
Timothy Robert Venhaus, Dec. 2, 1984 – Dec. 9, 2018. This photo is from Dec. 2, 2014, enjoying a slice of Key Lime Pie on his 30th birthday at the Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant, New York City.
My brothers, Mike Zipfel and Matt Zipfel, flanking my mom on a family trip to Portsmouth, NH in August 1985. My mother, Rosemary Zipfel, died on July 7, 2001, at age 70, from lung cancer. My brother Matt, on right, died at age 59, suffering from a terminal illness, Multiple System Atrophy, on Aug. 31, 2019. My brother Mike, on left. hasn’t been seen since Jan. 6, 2005, in the Dallas, Texas, area. He would have turned 65 on Oct. 26, 2023.My Aunt Shirley, who passed in 2014, and Uncle Charlie, who died in July 2022. Photo at a family wedding in 1989.
Cinema St. Louis is thrilled to unveil the 32nd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF), set to captivate audiences from November 9th to 19th at the historic Hi-Pointe Theatre, CSL’s new forever home, as well as at multiple venues across the city including the Alamo Drafthouse, Webster University, Washington University and more.
CSL’s centerpiece event, is a world-class international film festival that exhibits films from around the globe and attracts between 25,000 and 31,000 patrons annually. Offering its 32nd edition in 2023, the fest presents 278 films over 11 days in November. Featured work includes shorts, documentaries, foreign-language works, American independents, restorations/revivals, and studio art-film releases. More than 100 filmmakers, documentary subjects, scholars, and critics attend the fest, participating in post-film discussions, master classes, and seminars. In 2019, SLIFF was included among USA Today’s 10 Best Film Festivals.
Highlights of this year’s fest include:
SLIFF’s Opening Night Party on 11/9 at the Hi-Pointe, where the fest will celebrate 50 Years of Hip-Hop in St. Louis, as explored through both film and music
Signe Baumane on hand to accept this year’s Women in Film Award at a showing of her newest film, “My Love Affair with Marriage” on 11/11
La Passion de Dodin Bouffant” (Taste of Things), Cannes award winner for director Trần Anh Hùng, starring Juliette Binoche, Pierre Gagnaire, Jan Hammenecker, and Benoît Magimel, serves as France’s official submission for Best International Feature for the 96th Academy Awards in 2024 and will screen on 11/12 at the Hi-Pointe Theatre
Director Alexander Payne to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, while showcasing not only his newest film on 11/14, “The Holdovers,” but also his modern classic, “The Descendants,” on 11/15
A screening of The TIFF 2023 People’s Choice Award winner, “American Fiction,” on 11/17, directed and written by Cord Jefferson, co-starring St. Louis’s favorite son, Sterling K. Brown.
Highlighting the lives of the LGBTQ+ community, SLIFF’s QFest Spotlight Film, “All of Us Strangers,” from Searchlight Pictures, the critically acclaimed romantic drama written and directed by Andrew Haigh, starring Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, and Claire Foy, will close the festival on 11/19
The festival will culminate on Sunday, November 19th, with the much-anticipated Awards Party, featuring an insightful conversation with Reginald Hudlin, during which he will be bestowed with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Reginald Hudlin
The festival kicks off on Thursday, November 9th, celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop with a tribute to the Hi-Pointe Cafe’s pivotal role in shaping hip-hop’s history, showcasing the city’s significant influence in its evolution. Attendees will be treated to a cocktail reception, engaging conversations, and a special screening of the 1990 film, “House Party,” directed by East St. Louis’ own, Reginald Hudlin.
CSL’s Executive Director, Bree Maniscalco, shared, “As we celebrate our first festival at the Hi-Pointe Theatre, we wanted to pay tribute to the H-Pointe neighborhood and honor those who made Hip-Hop what it is today. Mondays at the Hi-Pointe Cafe holds a special place in many people’s hearts, and we’re looking to bring it back to kick things off in style for this year’s Fest.”
This year’s festival promises a variety of exclusive events, screenings, enlightening post-film Q&A sessions, and illuminating masterclasses dedicated to addressing industry-relevant topics. SLIFF received an impressive 2,419 submissions, marking the festival’s 32nd anniversary with record-breaking enthusiasm. SLIFF’s dedicated team of programmers, hailing from diverse backgrounds, meticulously curated a selection of 278 remarkable films that underscore the transformative power of cinema.
The lineup includes 54 captivating narrative features, 52 thought-provoking documentary features, and an astounding 172 short films, all part of its prestigious Oscar-qualifying annual Shorts Competition. These films delve deep into a spectrum of compelling themes, ranging from art, the environment, human rights, and racial equity, to name just a few. What’s more, they authentically represent perspectives from 32 countries, encompassing an astounding 39 native languages, ensuring that SLIFF remains a truly international celebration of storytelling through film.
The Holdovers
FILM SPOTLIGHTS
SLIFF serves as a cinematic beacon, illuminating the big screen with a diverse array of films that might otherwise remain hidden gems, waiting to be discovered by local audiences. As the festival unfolds, St. Louis becomes a vibrant hub for filmmakers from far and wide, with many making their inaugural visit to the city. In this dynamic atmosphere, the city buzzes with the infectious energy and passion that only the power of film can generate.
● Documentary Spotlight: Sponsored by Mary and Leon Strauss, this spotlight will screen 130 films, including “Sorry/Not Sorry,” an examination of Louis C.K.’s, comeback and the unseen effects of this on the women who spoke publicly about the sexual harassment accusations in 2017; “Chasing Chasing Amy,” the complex legacy of Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy (1997, also screening at SLIFF) on LGBTQ+ people and its life-saving impact on director Sav Rodgers; “We Dare to Dream,” follows athletes on their journey to become part of the refugee Olympic team; “Nathan-ism,” a tender portrayal of an artist’s distinctive viewpoint on his war assignment, coupled with his impassioned yearning for self-expression.; and “Omoiyari,” follows Kishi Bashi when a media interview links the Muslim ban and the immigration crisis at the USA-Mexico border with the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during WWII.
● French Language Spotlight: Sponsored by the Jane M. and Bruce P. Robert Charitable Foundation, this spotlight will feature 16 feature and short films celebrating St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. Leading the spotlight is “La Passion de Dodin Bouffant” (Taste of Things), Cannes award winner for director Trần Anh Hùng, starring Juliette Binoche, Pierre Gagnaire, Jan Hammenecker, and Benoît Magimel, serves as France’s official submission for Best International Feature for the 96th Academy Awards in 2024.
● New Filmmakers Forum: SLIFF’s longest-running juried award, highlighting first-time narrative feature filmmakers whose works truly stand out.
● Oscar-Qualifying Shorts Competition: SLIFF is one of 63 Oscar-accredited short film competitions worldwide, making filmmakers who win a “Best of” at SLIFF, eligible for an Academy Award nomination.
○ Across 11 documentary shorts programs, audiences will witness the global impact of art, the nuances of the Black experience, the damage done by society’s broken systems, the power of indigenous lands, the thrill of high-stakes sports, the state of the average workday, the importance of sustainability, the plight of immigrants worldwide, the spectrum of sexuality, the reality of living with disabilities, and the untold stories of remarkable St. Louisans.
○ This year’s selection of narrative short films strives to highlight the vast array of global voices in contemporary cinema. Twenty languages are represented, and over half come from female filmmakers. Three highlights of the fifteen total programs are “Beyond Pedro,” a slate of shorts from emergent Spanish filmmakers, “Pan-Asia Stories,” and “Joy in Latinx Representation.” Elsewhere, adventurous genre fans will find new kinds of horror with “A New Kind of Blood” and eye-popping, mind-bending animation from around the world with “Transmission.” Of course, area films and filmmakers are well represented in the narrative shorts selections, with two programs featuring the best of the 2023 St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, held by Cinema St. Louis this past summer.
Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott in “All of Us Strangers”
● QFest Spotlight: A collection of films that spotlight the lives of LGBTQ people while celebrating queer culture. Films include “All of Us Strangers,” from Searchlight Pictures, the critically acclaimed romantic drama written and directed by Andrew Haigh, loosely based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada. The film stars Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell, and Claire Foy; “Glitter & Doom,” a fantastical summer romance musical told with the iconic tunes of legendary American Folk music duo the Indigo Girls; and “Housekeeping for Beginners,” the Official submission of North Macedonia for the Best International Feature Film category of the 96th Academy Awards in 2024.
● Race in America Spotlight: For the last 10 years, SLIFF’s Race In America programming has reflected the frustrations of African Americans in response to the events in Ferguson. While this mission continues, the Spotlight will also draw attention to building community, fostering dialogue, and creating a platform for real societal change. To maximize these objectives, all of the 14 programs are offered for free thanks to support from the Trio Foundation of St. Louis. Films include “The Space Race,” which explores the experiences of the first Black astronauts through decades of archive film and interviews in a reflective illumination on the burden of breaking barriers; “Razing Liberty Square,” chronicling residents who fight to save their community from climate gentrification; “Ellis,” the first feature-length documentary about Ellis Marsalis Jr. and the Marsalis Music Family. This screening will pay tribute to the late St. Louis Post-Dispatch Theater Critic (former film critic), Calvin Wilson, with a portion of ticket proceeds donated to his alma mater, Northwest High School’s Performing Arts department; “Black Barbie,” the story behind the first Black Barbie; and “Kenyatta Do Not Wait Your Turn,” from Al Roker, an inspiring film that follows a self-described “poor, gay, Black man from North Philly” on his historic run for the U.S. Senate.
● Studio Spotlight: Star-filled highlights include “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” an American drama film, written and directed by Raven Jackson, starring Charleen McClure, Moses Ingram, Reginald Helms Jr., Zainab Jah, Sheila Atim, and Chris Chalk; “American Fiction,” an American satirical comedy-drama film directed and written by Cord Jefferson based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett, starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Sterling K. Brown, Myra Lucretia Taylor, John Ortiz, Issa Rae, and Adam Brody; “The Holdovers,” an American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, starring Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa; “Maxine’s Baby,” a documentary about Tyler Perry; and “Taste of Things,” (La Passion de Dodin Bouffant), directed by Trần Anh Hùng, starring Juliette Binoche, Pierre Gagnaire, Jan Hammenecker, and Benoît Magimel, is sure to leave audiences hungry for more and serves as France’s official submission for Best International Feature for the 96th Academy Awards in 2024.
SLIFF is pleased to honor the following for their incredible contributions to film: ● Reginald Hudlin, a distinguished American film screenwriter, director, producer, and accomplished comic-book writer, hails from the vibrant cultural tapestry of East St. Louis. His cinematic repertoire boasts an impressive array of works, including notable titles such as “Marshall,” “The Black Godfather,” and “Sidney,” each contributing to his renowned status in the industry. On the closing night of the SLIFF, which falls on Sunday, November 19th, Hudlin will engage in an enlightening interview, offering audiences a captivating insight into his illustrious career, and he will be bestowed with a highly deserved Lifetime Achievement Award, an accolade reflecting his enduring influence.
● Alexander Payne, a luminary in American cinema, is a prominent film director, screenwriter, and producer celebrated for his illustrious career, including directorial gems such as “Sideways,” “Election,” and “Nebraska,” each a testament to his mastery of the craft. On Tuesday, November 14th, at the Hi-Pointe Theatre, audiences will have the rare opportunity to delve into the creative genius of Payne with his latest cinematic creation, “The Holdovers.” This screening is an occasion to honor Payne with a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award. On Wednesday, November 15th, at the Hi-Pointe Theatre following a screening of his 2011 cinematic masterpiece, “The Descendants,” Payne will engage in an enlightening conversation, led by former CSL Executive Director Cliff Froehlich. In a poignant gesture of solidarity, a portion of the ticket sales from this screening will be donated to the Hawaii People’s Fund, an organization dedicated to offering direct aid in the aftermath of Maui’s wildfire devastation.
● Signe Baumane, an extraordinary talent from Latvia now rooted in the creative hub of Brooklyn, Baumane emerges as a multifaceted powerhouse in independent filmmaking, artistry, writing, and animation. With an illustrious career, she has crafted 16 acclaimed animated shorts that have earned her numerous awards and accolades, solidifying her place as a luminary in the field. Her groundbreaking animated feature debut, “Rocks in My Pockets,”
impressed SLIFF audiences in the past, and audiences this year will be entertained by her latest cinematic offering, “My Love Affair with Marriage.” Her film will screen at the Hi-Pointe Theatre on Saturday, November 11th, where she will be honored with the prestigious Women In Film Award, a testament to her unwavering dedication and the inspiring stories she brings to life through her craft.
American Fiction
TICKETS & PASSES
Tickets are now on sale:
● All Access Pass (admits two): $500 / CSL Members $400
● VIP Pass (admits one): $350 / CSL Members $300
● 20-Film Pass: $250 / CSL Members $200
● 10-Film Pass: $130 / CSL Members $100
● 6-Film Pass: $80 / CSL Members $60
Not a CSL Annual Member? In addition to discounts at SLIFF, members receive year-round benefits, sure to please every type of movie lover. Learn more and become a member here: https://cinemastlouis.org/membership.
VENUES
The festival will showcase films and special events across multiple centrally-located venues throughout the St. Louis area:
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, located at 3700 Forest Park Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63108 Arkadin Cinema & Bar, located at 5228 Gravois Ave, St. Louis, MO 63116 Contemporary Art Museum, located at 3750 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108 The Foundry Art Center, located at 520 N Main Center, St Charles, MO 63301 Hi-Pointe Theatre, located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117
Hi-Pointe Backlot Theatre, located at 1002 Hi-Pointe Pl., St. Louis, MO 63117 St. Louis Public Central Library, located at 1301 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63103
Washington University, Brown Hall Auditorium, located at Centennial Greenway, St. Louis, MO 63105
Webster University, Moore Auditorium, located at 470 East Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, MO 63119
SPONSORS
Title Sponsor: Whitaker Foundation
Sustaining Sponsors: Albrecht Family Foundation, Chellappa-Vedavalli Foundation, Coolfire Studios, Jane M. & Bruce P. Robert Charitable Foundation, Ward & Carol Klein, Nancy & Ken Kranzberg, Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Division of Tourism, Missouri Film Office, National Endowment for the Arts, Regional Arts Commission, Mary Strauss, Trio Foundation of St. Louis, William A. Kerr Foundation
Presenting Partners: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Arkadin Cinema & Bar, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Eventive, Film & Media Archive at Washington University Libraries, Film & Media Studies Program at Washington University, Foundry Art Centre, St. Louis Public Library, St. Louis Public Radio, Webster University Film Series
Two remarkable – and impressively tough — actresses showcase their considerable skills in “Nyad,” which concerns a four-year chapter in the distance swimmer’s life when she is in her 60s, and it’s not all smooth sailing.
Three decades after she gave up marathon swimming for a prominent career as an analyst and commentator for ABC Sports, Diana Nyad (Annette Bening) returns to an obsession: the “Mount Everest” of swims, a 110-mile trek from Cuba to Florida. At the age of 60, in 2010, with the help of her best friend and coach Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster) and a dedicated sailing team, she commits to achieving this lifelong dream of an open ocean swim without a shark cage.
Nyad isn’t your typical inspiring poster girl athlete. She’s prickly, selfish, bossy, and stubborn. She infuriates those around her. Yet, she has the grit and determination to shake things up and make a big impact, so she makes a riveting film subject, and Bening gets under her skin to see what makes her tick. And roar.
Another fine point is that she’s living in a world ready to dismiss her at age 60, and she’s not about to do that: “Hold On!” is a terrific theme for this day and age. So, she’s complex and flawed, and the film doesn’t sugar-coat any of it. Bravo!
In their narrative feature debut, co-directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, who won an Oscar for Best Documentary with “Free Solo” in 2018, move from the heights to the depths with consummate know-how. This is a solid effort from the pair, who are natural storytellers.
They are aided by exceptional cinematography by Claudio Miranda, who won an Oscar for his shimmering work in “Life of Pi.” He can make the ocean appear either stunningly beautiful or dark and ominous with tremendous flair. And composer Alexandre Desplat captures the grandeur of nature as well as the dangers in the music score’s emotional beats.
It’s a tough story to tell because of its demanding physical requirements. Screenwriter Julia Cox has adapted the story from Nyad’s memoir, “Find a Way,” and archival footage helps explain her previous open water swims triumphs and challenges. At age 28, she had failed to accomplish the very dream she set out to achieve at age 60, and this single-minded pursuit makes people around her doubtful.
During the 103-mile swim, she faces such dangers as box jellyfish, sharks, unpredictable weather, changing currents – and she’s her own worst enemy when she doesn’t listen to and heed advice.
The stamina she exhibits is admirable, but the movie focuses on more than physical health, including her inner battles with emotional and mental health, which is an important element, given her bull-in-a-China-shop personality.
Flashbacks to her childhood reveal some trauma, which adds to the understanding of why she goes to extremes.
Bening, whose range has been noteworthy in a long career, in such Oscar-nominated roles as “The Grifters,” “The Kids Are Alright,” “Being Julia” and “American Beauty” – but the Academy Award has eluded her those four times. She could get nominated for this performance, but it’s not a shoo-in among heavy competition this year.
Now, Foster, who has won two – for “The Accused” and “The Silence of the Lambs,” hasn’t been working as much in recent years, and it’s invigorating see her give this character her all. She started as a child in the business, and her strengths as an actress have only grown.
As Bonnie, she conveys how exasperating it is to be Diana’s friend, but she does share such traits as fierceness and being driven by dreams. However, they are mainly opposites – she’s compassionate and listens, while Diana is self-absorbed and hard-headed.
However, they love each other as friends, which comes through. Both are lesbians, but not in a relationship.
Her crazy quest is made possible through a team of dedicated crew members, led by Rhys Ifans as navigator John Bartlett, and he is always a pleasure to watch in movies. The real expedition had about 40 people, such is the difference between fiction and non-fiction.
What is gripping are the struggles with the elements, as it’s key to our emotional investment, as we see them give everything they have.
This is a sturdy biopic that gives two great actresses an opportunity to shine – and look in the mirror and say “Find a Way.”
“Nyad” is a 2023 biopic directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and starring Annette Bening, Jodie Foster and Rhys Ifans. It is rated PG-13 for thematic material involving sexual abuse, some strong language and brief partial nudity, and the run time is 2 hours, 1 minute. It is in select theatres Oct. 25, and streaming on Netflix Nov. 3. Lynn’s Grade: B+
Throughout history, class wars have ended badly for many people, overt often for people in the lower class, and less so for the ruling class.
But class never matters when people show you their true selves.
Such is the complicated “Bitter Fruit,” a 2018 social commentary-human drama by Argentinian playwright Hector Levy-Daniel, “El Fruto mas amargo,” which has been translated from Spanish by Philip Boehm.
Boehm, Upstream Theater’s artistic director, wanted to bring it here for the U.S. English language premiere, so he not only translated but also directed it in a deliberately mysterious way.
Since 2005, two-thirds of the plays Upstream has produced have been U.S. or world premieres, with the goal to not only “move you” but “move you to think.” And they always do. This is a play to mull about, for at its center is a logical question on identity that has dramatic consequences. How can you deny who you really are, and what does that say about us as a society?
The playwright’s focus on identity crisis has roots in Argentina’s Dirty War, when from 1974 to 1983, an estimated 9,000 to 30,000 were killed by the state, or disappeared, in a right-wing effort to eliminate leftist political adversaries, including writers, students and journalists. Others were imprisoned.
Their children were not always killed, and sometimes, they were put up for adoption or given to supporters of the right wing.
There are children born during this period that don’t know their real identities because they were adopted by their captors and given new lives. They either discover this fact or never know the truth, but there isn’t any justice or peace amid the inequality that rages, along with political corruption.
According to the play’s notes, about 500 children were affected and the Argentine government is still sorting it out after years of protests from grandmothers.
In this quietly devastating production, a committed cast provides complex portraits of people representing different factions of entitlement and insincerity, of loss and lies.
However, as good as actresses Jane Paradise, Jennifer Theby-Quinn and Michelle Burdette Elmore are, all members of the Actors’ Equity Association, they are not Latino women, and they are playing characters named Luisa, Maria, and Teresa respectively.
Isaiah Di Lorenzo has a small but important supporting role as Pedro Coltinari, the labor representative in factory negotiations, and in flashbacks, as Maria’s teenage paramour. He establishes his character’s pure heart and breaking point in only a few scenes.
None of the four identify as Hispanic — although the play never specifically states Argentina or alludes to the Dirty War, and there are no accents used, so…but it is perplexing, and does raise questions.
If it’s vague on purpose, so be it. Nevertheless, these days, people tend to notice whitewashing. It may not be as egregious as, say Laurence Olivier as “Othello” and John Wayne as Genghis Khan in “The Conqueror,” but it is something that crossed my mind, especially given Upstream’s commitment to shows with global themes involving marginalized people.
Set in a mansion, it’s late night or early morning, depending on your perspective, and a new maid, Luisa (Paradise), is up to prepare her mistress some tea, as requested as she waits for her daughter. Upon arrival home, haughty Maria, demands to know who this interloper is in her home.
As played coldly by Theby-Quinn, Maria is a cruel woman who has no qualms about making people feel inferior in her presence. She lacks compassion and a conscience, brought up in wealth, sheltered from the world. She is now running her father’s cotton mill with a tight fist and a disdain for the workers. They are in financial trouble, and Maria is tough about negotiations. Her mother, Teresa (Burdette Elmore) is clueless (or is she?).
Yet, once upon a time, Maria fancied a local boy, someone beneath her in social status, and those scenes reflect a person she used to be but is far removed from now.
Teresa, who was kept in the dark about that relationship, is oblivious to other behaviors and sentiments as well, and Michelle Burdette Elmore portrays her as if she’s firmly entrenched in a bubble — and a bit la-di-da.
Luisa’s gaze is a tad too intense for Maria, who is threatened by the new maid, for she views her as a spy who has infiltrated the home on behalf of the workers in the factory. Paradise’s gut-wrenching performance is the show’s highlight.
As tension increases – especially with suspicious deaths, and characters smolder, the secrets, deceptions, and denials are slowly disclosed.
Another of the show’s high points is original instrumental music performed by guitarist Lliam Christy. The minimalist scenic design by Patrick Huber represents a small portion of a large estate, with ornate touches to indicate affluence, darkly lit by Steve Carmichael to reflect shadows. Costume designer Michele Siler selected outfits according to economic status.
The playwright challenges memory and how sacrificing love shows true colors. It’s not an easy play to understand. Because one is off-guard, it is hard to relate to – however, Paradise’s performance as a crushed woman who has lost everything is haunting. Nevertheless, it brings attention to a tragic, dark time involving innocent children – and is that ever over?
Upstream Theater presents the US premiere of “Bitter Fruit,” by award-winning playwright Héctor Levy-Daniel in a translation by Philip Boehm, Oct. 13 through Oct. 29. It is 1 hour, 30 minutes, without intermission. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and at 7 p.m. Oct 15 and 2 p.m. Oct.22 and 29, and take place at the Marcelle Theatre, 3310 Samuel Shepard Dr. in Grand Center. For more information: www.upstreamtheater.org, For tickets, visit: https://www.metrotix.com/events/detail/upstream-theater-bitter-fruit
By Lynn Venhaus When Haskell Harelik, born Chatzkell Garehlik in Belarus, first steps off the boat in the port of Galveston, Texas, in 1909, actor Dustin Lane Petrillo beams with both joy and wonder.
That sense of liberty, breathing free on our teeming American shore, is palpable, and brings to mind how many other journeys of generations we know about, making “The Immigrant” a universal story that couldn’t be timelier.
This one is specific to Texas following the Russian Revolution. Pograms during those events spurred Haskell to emigrate as part of the Galveston Movement, as one of about 10,000 Eastern European Jews who arrived there 1907-14, arranged by a businessman to alleviate the overcrowding and poor living conditions on the lower east side of New York City.
This fresh New Jewish Theatre production, for the third time in its 25-year history, offers a warm, intimate connection that says as much about our common ground as humans as it does about hope and dreams.
Perceptively directed by Rebekah Scallet, this moving true story is awe-inspiring in its simplicity and eloquence, heart-tugging in its splendid character portrayals by an outstanding quartet, and masterly in its technical achievements.
Playwright Mark Harelik’s richly textured family drama, first produced in 1985, has an absorbing ebb and flow over eight decades, but mainly concentrates on his tempest-tossed grandfather’s early struggles to survive in a foreign land and then eventually succeed in living his American Dream.
Petrillo’s exceptional range as Haskell – and exemplary command of Yiddish — is first shown as a poor, tired, and parched peddler, selling bananas for a penny apiece when he nearly collapses from the heat in front of the Perry’s home in Hamilton, Texas. Wary of the stranger, banker Milton Perry lets him get water from their well, while his tender-hearted wife Ima wants to offer more help to the lost soul in their midst, and their paths will cross again.
David Wassilak, Dustin Lane Petrillo. Photo by Jon Gitchoff.
As the Perrys, David Wassilak and Mindy Shaw mirror the mindsets of the day, suspicious and fearful of “the other,” but are won over by Haskell’s charm and work ethic. When Milton sees Haskell’s papers and discovers he’s a Russian Jew, his prejudice flares up, but the young man is so earnest, he wins over the locals.
Because of Milton’s position, he’s willing to help set up Haskell in a more stable enterprise – a horse-drawn fruit and vegetable cart. That leads to a store in downtown Hamilton that lasted 78 years, until it closed in 1989.
Being a practicing Jew in a primarily Christian enclave, with many Southern Baptists, takes some adjustment, especially for Haskell’s wife Leah, who reunites here with reluctance. Bryn McLaughlin conveys her challenges as she desperately misses her community, but eventually assimilates to a good life as thriving, trustworthy merchants. They raise three boys, with the Perrys being a major part of their lives.
Wassilak and Shaw deliver finely tuned performances, with subtle rural central Texas accents, and together, in sync like an old married couple through the years, for full-bodied realism. Their chemistry is matched by Petrillo and McLaughlin so that you truly feel the couple’s bonds.
Bryn McLaughlin, Dustin Lane Petrillo. Photo by Jon Gitchoff.
Differences about the growing European storm with Hitler in Germany and the reluctance of the U.S. to get involved in 1939 will cause friction between Milton and Haskell. There may be some artistic license, but it’s a wonderful story well-told. The minutia of daily living is superbly captured, all those little things that add up to making a life, no matter what era or what region. (I particularly enjoyed references to rabbit’s foot keychains, anklets and first time seeing an artichoke).
The creative team’s skills are first-rate, with stellar work from Kareem Deanes on sound –organically integrated with birds chirping, and retro background music – as well as his projections design. Each side of the theater has a screen where the audience can view information on Haskell’s journey and portraits of the Harelik family through the years that adds real sentimental moments to this deeply felt tale.
Scenic designer Rob Lippert’s meticulously detailed work on two home facades and landcaped trees and greenery creates a terrific setting to tell this story, placing the audience on each side for seamless action.
Stage Manager Nathan Wright, and Assistant Stage Manager Journee Carter keep the staging crisp and fluid.
Lighting designer Michael Sullivan’s warm illumination creates the feeling of home for both families.
Costume designer Michele Friedman Siler has astutely outfitted the women in changing skirt lengths and vintage styles while dressing the men in their appropriate professional attire, Haskell changing in stature through the years.
The play, co-conceived by Harelik, a professional actor, and Randal Myler, a writer, director, and producer, resonates beautifully with today’s audience.
New Jewish produced this play before, in 1999 and 2011, before I became part of the St. Louis Theater Circle as a founding member in 2012. This was a wise choice to mount it again.
Mindy Shaw, Dustin Lane Petrillo. Photo by Jon Gitchoff
This is Scallet’s directorial debut, and it’s impressive. She is in her second season as artistic director of New Jewish, having moved here in 2020.
The dialect coaching by John Wright deserves mention, and so does the aesthetically pleasing natural wig designs by Dennis Milam Bensie.
“The Immigrant” is a compassionate example of shining our lamps on the golden door for those yearning for better lives. Indirectly, it also is infused with an urgency to not be passive about the current state of turmoil in the world.
The fact that local groups are hosting information sessions on how to help refugees in the Israel-HAMAS War during this play’s run, creates even more meaning. For more information, visit https://jccstl.com/resources-on-the-israel-hamas-war/.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” – bronze plaque on The Statue of Liberty, 1883
David Wassilak, Dustin Petrillo. Photo by Jon Gitchoff.
The New Jewish Theatre presents “The Immigrant” Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Oct. 12 through Oct. 29. Performances take place at the Wool Studio Theatre in the SFC Performing Arts Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive. The two-act play runs 2 hours, 21 minutes, and has a 15-minute intermission. For more information: newjewishtheatre.org or call 314-442-3283.
The New Jewish Theatre has coordinated with multiple local organizations who help immigrants to plan outreach events at or in coordination with this production to bring awareness to current issues facing immigrants and refugees in St. Louis. They include:
A “needed item” drive in collaboration with The International Institute will take place throughout the showings.
On October 21, following the 4 pm performance, there will be a discussion panel featuring members of the Central Reform Congregation Resettlement Chavurah.
On October 22, following the 2 pm performance, there will be a discussion featuring members of the Shaare Emeth Congregation Resettlement Group.
Finally, a Welcome Neighbor dinner will take place at the J between the 4pm and 8pm performances on October 28.
For the second year, Paul Hibbard is channeling his passion for horror movies into the Hysteria Fest, currently playing Oct. 18-22 at the Arkadin Cinema and Bar, a microcinema right in the heart of Bevo at 5228 Gravois Avenue. He’s coming fresh off a triumphant showing at Franki Cambaletti’s Haunted Garage Festival of his locally shot “Some Visitors,” which has been on the festival circuit and wraps up this month.
As I said to Paul — it’s well-made but highly disturbing. He delighted in that because it is bloody, intense and really creepy — all effective elements when putting that genre together.
He truly cares deeply about filmmaking and travels across the country, attending festivals and meeting filmmakers. His festival schedule is a well-curated list from veterans and up-and-coming filmmakers. For a complete schedule: https://arkadincinema.com/hysteria-fest-2023-oct-18-22/
Paul and I have been on film juries before, for the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, and he’s been a guest on our PopLifeSTL Podcast last year and this year, talking enthusiastically about his projects. He also writes for www.ZekeFilm.org. Here’s more on the man who beats to an artistic drummer in all areas of life.
Jackie
Where can you find “Some Visitors” this October? Check out this schedule for the final month of its festival run.
October 7th – Eerie, Pennsylvania – Eerie Horror Film Festival – Warner Theater – midnight October 13th – Walnut Cove, NC – Horror Movie Freaks Film Festival – The Palmetto Theater. Start time TBD October 13th – Atlanta, Ga – Atlanta Horror Film Festival – Limelight Theater October 14th – Dickson City, Pa – NEPA Horror Fest – The Circle Drive-In – All day horror fest that ends with a screening of Rob Zombie’s Halloween with cast/crew in attendance October 18th – Thunder Bay Ontario Canada – Terror in the Bay Film Festival – Maple Tops Paramount Theater October 20th – Madison, Indiana – The Horror at the Ohio Film Festival – The Ohio Theater October 21st – Chicago, Il – The Chicago Horror Film Festival – Facets Theater October 28th – Port Richey, Fl – Necro Nancy Horror Film Festival – Cinema 6 Theater
Take Ten Questionnaire 1. What is special about your latest project?
“Some Visitors” was my last film. First of all, it was special because it made its premiere at Panic Fest on a double bill with Gaspar Noe’s “Lux Aeterna.” Noe is a director I’ve been obsessed about for years, especially the way he pushes the envelope, and to book me alongside his film at a major festival was amazing. That screening was a special experience.
And Some Visitors is special because I used it to start my own film festival. It’d play at film festivals and the other directors would watch it and message me saying how great or gnarly it was. I’d tell them I loved their films also, and I’d ask if I could play their films alongside mine at Hysteria Fest. I probably would have started a film festival eventually, but Some Visitors helped me get access to the best horror filmmakers on the festival circuit.
2. Why did you choose your profession/pursue the arts?
I love film and just knew that at first. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a critic and on the festival side or a filmmaker. So I kind of did both. But at the heart of it is a love of film. I directed a play once and the critic said it was entertaining but felt too much like a film in the blocking. I wrote a novel once, and again people said it felt like a film. Everything goes back to my love of films.
3. How would your friends describe you?
Intense. Political. Funny. And with a crippling self-awareness.
4. How do you like to spend your spare time?
Watching movies, reading and running. Currently training for a half marathon.
5. What is your current obsession?
At the moment I’m super obsessed with the Criterion Channel’s High School Horror collection.
6. What would people be surprised to find out about you?
I don’t believe in ghosts. People always try to tell me ghost stories when they hear I’m a horror writer. I also make super-violent films but think true-crime is exploitative and irresponsible. I like to challenge, but relishing in real death I hate.
7. Can you share one of your most defining moments in life?
It may honestly be when “Some Visitors” played with “Gaspar Noe” at a huge genre festival. That felt so validating for a film that was almost impossible to make. I also made a really political satire/comedy called “The Blair Trump Project: making fun of Trump and it played in 2019 on a double bill with The Blair Witch Project” for its 20-year anniversary at the Salem Horror Festival. That was great.
8. Who do you admire most?
My late older brother. He taught me to be strong-willed, political and speak my mind.
9. What is at the top of your bucket list?
I’m not much of a traveler, but I really want to visit Korea someday,
10. How were you affected by the pandemic years, and anything you would like to share about what got you through and any lesson learned during the isolation periods? Any reflections on how the arts were affected? And what it means to move forward?
Like a lot of people, I would get upset at others who didn’t take the virus seriously and grasped onto anti-science beliefs. I think to me it was a breaking-point in how I viewed life and the arts. I realized then that no matter what, appealing to the masses is impossible, because some of the masses believe in lunacy, and it’s okay for me to become more uncompromising. I thought to create art that was uncompromising. Appeal to the niche market with similar tastes and ideas about art, because you may not appeal to everyone, but when you are trying to appeal to everyone, you are appealing to some with insane beliefs and morals. A film like “Some Visitors” I think I would have been more hesitant to make before the pandemic, but afterwards, I was in the mentality to do what I want. Some will absolutely love it at the expense of some who absolutely hate it, but the ones who love it will fight for it. Which is what has happened.
11. What is your favorite thing to do in St. Louis?
Go to the Art Museum. I live in walking distance. I’m a member. I go at least once a week. it’s my sanctuary.
12. What’s next?
We had some traction on turning “Some Visitors” into a feature with some named talent attached, but the strikes stopped all of that. I think I’m just going to focus on Hysteria Fest. I don’t really want to make shorts anymore. I’ll go big with a film if given a chance, but otherwise would rather be a critic and curator.
Paul Hibbard
More About Paul Hibbard
Birthplace: Arnold, Mo Current location: St. Louis (Dogtown) Family: unmarried Education: Bachelors in Political Science Day job: Freelance First job: Movie theater. The old Lindbergh 8
First movie you were involved in or made: I was involved in a film called “Time to Die” that played at the first Showcase ever. My buddy directed it. I was just a background person.
Favorite jobs/roles/plays or work in your medium? Writing is the best. And editing. Both are storytelling. Brian De Palma used to say that directing a film was the dark tunnel between writing and editing. I feel that.
Dream job/opportunity: Film critic at a publication that paid a livable salary. I don’t think that exists anymore.
Awards/Honors/Achievements: Some Visitors has won a ton of awards, and all of them I’m proud of, but any time the lead actress Jackie Kelly wins, I’m most proud. Because directing acting used to be my weakness. Not that she needs much directing…
Favorite quote/words to live by: “I know nothing of life except through the cinema.” -Jean Luc Godard
A song that makes you happy: “Strange Magic” by ELO
Actor Clayton Bury in “The Blair Trump Project” is also in “Some Visitors”
A disturbing story of greed, prejudice, and the American Dream soaked in venom, director Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” raises awareness of heinous crimes committed against the Osage People, and contains outstanding craftsmanship, but remains limited in perspective. Scorsese’s film is a reminder of the hardships and resilience of the Osage framed largely through the eyes of White evildoers, to emotionally compromised effect.
Based on David Grann’s bestselling nonfiction book of the same name, “Killers of the Flower Moon” centers around the “Reign of Terror” that befell members of the Osage Nation in the early 1920s. After being forced to relocate to supposedly desolate land in Oklahoma, members of the Osage Nation discovered that their new surroundings contained oil — rendering them the richest people per capita on Earth, but also targets for manipulation by those eager to strip them of all rights and privileges.
Such is the case of William “King” Hale (Robert De Niro), a wealthy cattle rancher and businessman, who feigns love for the Osage but seeks to take control of their oil-rich lands via any means necessary, including murdering them for oil rights.
Hale’s nephew, the infuriating and slow-witted Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), returns from working as a cook in World War I, looking to Hale for a job, unabashedly admitting his love for women and money. Ernest, having injuries that prevent him from doing much manual labor, starts working as a cab driver, where he meets Mollie Kyle (an incredible Lily Gladstone) — a beautiful, sharply intelligent woman quietly enraged at the ways she’s treated by White-dominated authority — and becomes smitten with her.
DiCaprio and Gladstone as Ernest and Mollie
Hale encourages Ernest to seduce and marry Mollie, who also happens to be an heir to a large fortune in oil royalties held by her mother, Lizzie Q (Tantoo Cardinal) — so long as Mollie’s sisters and their husbands aren’t around to inherit it first. Thus sets the stage for brazen brutality, as Hale and Ernest’s schemes grow ever more elaborate, and Ernest becomes a part of Mollie’s family — developing genuine love for her while simultaneously killing her family behind her back: infuriatingly ignorant and/or unwilling to reckon with his own bloodthirstiness and lack of humanity. Eventually, a J. Edgar Hoover-ordered FBI investigation gets underway, led by agent Tom White (Jesse Plemmons), but the grisly damage has already been done.
Indeed, “Killers of the Flower Moon” tells a sobering, insidious story that needs to be told, taking plenty of time to set the scene, emphasize the devilish machinations of its villains, and educate viewers on the hardships and resilience of the Osage Nation. What’s sacrificed by Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth’s screenplay, however, is a more intentional, meaningful focus.
The film spotlights Ernest’s crisis of conscience (or lack thereof) above diving into the individual tragedies committed against the Osage — illuminating themes that, regardless of relevance, have persisted throughout American history. Scorsese misses an opportunity to explore new, informative points-of-view that have previously been sidelined in mainstream storytelling of this scale.
Stylistically, “Killers of the Flower Moon” excels, but viewers shouldn’t expect anything less from Scorsese. On a big screen, the film is unquestionably immersive, with cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto capturing expansive plains and claustrophobic interiors, blinding sun and menacing, pitch-black darkness, in beautiful compositions that rarely draw too much attention to themselves.
Longtime Scorsese editor Thelma Schoonmaker lets scenes breathe and marinate — giving the incredible ensemble, including numerous Indigenous actors, room to stretch their wings, with Scorsese taking a noticeably sparse directorial style that eschews flashiness for intimate contemplation: sometimes taking a more spiritual, matter-of-fact approach in depicting Osage customs.
Acts of violence against the Osage are depicted with cold remove — coming seemingly out of nowhere, shocking in their immediacy and grotesque without being gratuitous. The late Robbie Robertson’s score is particularly effective as an omnipresent heartbeat to the monstrous acts unfolding before our eyes.
DiCaprio delivers a characteristically engaging performance as Ernest, with a rough-hewn look, disastrous dentistry, and playful swagger that belies a dark heart of greed and moral bankruptcy.
Viewers going into “Killers of the Flower Moon” with expectations for Ernest to be “redeemed” won’t find that arc here, as his love for Mollie is always offset by the cruelty he exhibits behind her back: a buffoon resistant to the shred of goodness located somewhere deep within his corrupted heart.
As our primary vessel for this story, he’s frustrating, if not outright idiotic, being manipulated by Hale and giving into base instincts that cannot coexist alongside his life with Mollie, try though he might.
DeNiro is frighteningly unhinged as Hale, swerving between Hale’s public and private personas with precision. Hale enlists henchmen to do his dirty work for him, but he remains a powerful presence, and Scorsese’s film gives us plenty of time to observe him pulling strings and explaining his schemes, hiding his conspiracies behind seemingly benign smiles and a culture of complicity.
Gladstone is, without a doubt, the film’s MVP, conveying warmth, quiet rage, crushing sadness, and persistent hope with minimal dialogue. Through it all, Mollie’s bravery shines through — her resistance to accepting Ernest’s betrayal is heartbreaking to watch.
It’s too bad that “Killers of the Flower Moon” fades her into the background after a certain point, though, as well as giving her siblings and other members of the Osage Nation — featuring powerful performances from Cara Jade Myers, Janae Collins, Jillian Dion, and William Belleau, among others — only a handful of sequences (in the span of a mammoth 206-minute runtime) to divert the spotlight from White evildoers.
That extended runtime exacerbates this issue, especially in the third act, full of legal histrionics and prolonged sequences where viewers watch Ernest and co. squirm under interrogation by the FBI; their incompetence and stupidity on full display, even as the “justice system” fails to live up to its name.
A last-minute framing device at the conclusion paints the proceedings in a somewhat new light (commenting on the twisted appeal of true-crime stories to begin with and bringing attention to the limitations of Scorsese’s directorial viewpoint, ending with a notable shift back to the Osage in its closing moments), but perhaps “Killers of the Flower Moon” could have been better told by a filmmaker more willing to buck tradition.
It’s admirable that Scorsese takes on the challenge here, and will undoubtedly raise awareness to these real-life happenings, but “Killers of the Flower Moon” is also ham-strung by his own storytelling patterns. It’s an important film brimming with technical mastery and exceptional performances, but one that’s not nearly as enlightening or emotionally gripping as it believes it is.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is a 2023 historical western true crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons. Cara Jade Myers, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow, Tommy Schultz Rated: R for violence, some grisly images, and language, the run time is 3 hours, 26 minutes. It opens in theatres Oct. 20 and will stream on Apple TV+ at a later date, to be announced. Alex’s Grade: B
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL, KOKOMO CITY,AND STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIERECEIVE FIVE NOMINATIONS EACH
GALA TO HONOR AWARD WINNERS ON NOVEMBER 12, 2023AT THE EDISON BALLROOM IN MANHATTAN
The Critics Choice Association(CCA) has announced the nominees for the Eighth AnnualCritics Choice Documentary Awards (CCDA). The winners will be revealed at a Gala Event on Sunday, November 12, 2023 at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan. The ceremony will be hosted for the second year in a row by longtime event supporter, actor, and standup comedian Wyatt Cenac.
American Symphony leads the pack with six nominations including in the category of Best Documentary Feature. The film’s other nominations are Matthew Heineman for Best Director, Tony Hardmon, Matthew Heineman, and Thorsten Thielow for Best Cinematography, Sammy Dane, Jim Hession, Matthew Heineman, and Fernando Villegas for Best Editing, Jon Batiste for Best Score, and Best Music Documentary.
20 Days in Mariupol, Kokomo City, and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie received five nominations each. The nominations for 20 Days in Mariupol are Best Documentary Feature, Best First Documentary Feature, Michelle Mizner for Best Editing, Mstyslav Chernov for Best Narration, and Best Political Documentary. The nominations for Kokomo City are Best Documentary Feature, Best First Documentary Feature, and D. Smith for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Score. The nominations for Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie are Best Documentary Feature, Davis Guggenheim for Best Director, Michael Harte for Best Editing, Michael J. Fox for Best Narration, and Best Biographical Documentary.
Cenac is an Emmy Award-winning comedian, actor, producer, and writer known for the HBO late-night comedy docuseries Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas. Additional credits include aka Wyatt Cenac,People of the Earth, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He has made four comedy albums: Wyatt Cenac: Comedy Person, the Grammy nominated Brooklyn, Furry Dumb Fighter, and One Angry Night in November, and hosted the televised stand-up variety series Night Train with Wyatt Cenac. He started his career in animation as a writer for Mike Judge’s King of the Hill, and has served as a consultant for South Park. Every now and again he pops up in a film, most notably Barry Jenkins’ Medicine for Melancholy.
The Critics Choice Documentary Awards will be live-streamed through Facebook, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter). Viewing links will be available on the Critics Choice Association website at 7:00 PM ET on Sunday, November 12.
In addition to the 18 award categories listed below, a prestigious honor, The Pennebaker Award (formerly known as the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award), will be presented to esteemed documentarian Ross McElwee. The award is named for Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award winner D A Pennebaker, who passed away in 2019. The award will be presented by Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker’s producing partner and wife.
McElwee has made ten feature-length documentaries as well as a number of shorter films. Sherman’s March has won numerous awards, including Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. Sherman’s March was also chosen for preservation by the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2000 as a “historically significant American motion picture.” Bright Leaves premiered at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight and was nominated for Best Documentary by both the Directors Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America. McElwee’s In Paraguay premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2008, and he returned to Venice in 2011 to premiere Photographic Memory.
In 2005, complete retrospectives of McElwee’s films were presented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and later in many more cities. McElwee has received fellowships and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the American Film Institute, the LEF Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. McElwee received the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival’s Career Award in 2007. He is currently a Professor of the Practice of Filmmaking at Harvard University and is working on a documentary about the cable television remake of Sherman’s March.
The Critics Choice Association is honoring the year’s finest achievements in documentaries released in theaters, on TV, and on major digital platforms, as determined by the voting of qualified CCA members. The eighth annual awards ceremony is produced by Bob Bain of Bob Bain Productions and Joey Berlin of Berlin Entertainment.
For the fourth year in a row, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards welcomes back National Geographic Documentary Films as the Presenting Sponsor.
The Spirits Sponsor of the event is Milagro Tequila.
“We are thrilled with the number of exceptional documentaries released theatrically and on streaming this year and are very excited to introduce an overdue category honoring true crime films and series,” said Christopher Campbell, Vice President of Documentaries of The Critics Choice Association. “This event is about showcasing and celebrating the best in nonfiction, and I want to congratulate all of our nominees and thank them for making us see and think about the world in new ways.”
Carla Renata, Co-President of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch added, “We are also thrilled to witness a varied number of nominees spanning subjects represented across all genders (including Transgender Intersex) and genres, further solidifying the Critics Choice Documentary Awards’ commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion within the documentary landscape.”
At the Seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, Good Night Oppy took home five trophies in all including the top award of the evening for Best Documentary Feature. The film’s other victories were Best Director for Ryan White, Best Score for Blake Neely, as well as Best Narration (written by Helen Kearns and Ryan White, performed by Angela Bassett), and Best Science/Nature Documentary.
“Still: A Michael J Fox Movie”
Nominees for the 8th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards Presented by National Geographic Documentary Films
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
20 Days in Mariupol (PBS) American Symphony (Netflix) Beyond Utopia (Roadside Attractions) The Deepest Breath (Netflix) The Eternal Memory (MTV Documentary Films) Judy Blume Forever (Amazon Studios) Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures) The Mission (National Geographic) Stamped from the Beginning (Netflix) Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+)
The Eternal Memory
BEST DIRECTOR
Maite Alberdi – The Eternal Memory (MTV Documentary Films) Madeleine Gavin – Beyond Utopia (Roadside Attractions) Davis Guggenheim – Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+) Matthew Heineman – American Symphony (Netflix) Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss – The Mission (National Geographic) Steve McQueen – Occupied City (A24)
BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
20 Days in Mariupol (PBS) 26.2 to Life (Film Halau) Bad Press (Oklafilm) Bobi Wine: The People’s President (National Geographic) Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures) Orlando, My Political Biography (Sideshow) Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Greenwich Entertainment) The Thief Collector (FilmRise)
Anselm
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tim Cragg – The Deepest Breath (Netflix) Tony Hardmon, Matthew Heineman, Thorsten Thielow – American Symphony (Netflix) Lennert Hillege – Occupied City (A24) Franz Lustig – Anselm (Sideshow) D. Smith – Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures) Toby Strong, James Boon, Bob Poole, Neil Fairlie, Wim Vorster, Joshua Tarr, Pete Allibone, Neil Harvey, Andreas Knausenberger – Secrets of the Elephants (National Geographic)
The Mission
BEST EDITING
Sammy Dane, Jim Hession, Matthew Heineman, Fernando Villegas – American Symphony (Netflix) Madeleine Gavin – Beyond Utopia (Roadside Attractions) Michael Harte – Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+ Michelle Mizner – 20 Days in Mariupol (PBS) D. Smith – Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures) Aaron Wickenden – The Mission (National Geographic)
The Last Repair Shop
BEST SCORE
Jon Batiste – American Symphony (Netflix) Danny Bensi & Saunder Jurriaans – The Mission (National Geographic) Nainita Desai – The Deepest Breath (Netflix) Philip Glass – The Pigeon Tunnel (Apple TV+) Katya Richardson & Kris Bowers – The Last Repair Shop (Breakwater Studios) D. Smith – Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)
Secrets of the Elephants
BEST NARRATION
20 Days in Mariupol (PBS) Written and Performed by Mstyslav Chernov
32 Sounds (Abramorama) Written and Performed by Sam Green
The Disappearance of Shere Hite (IFC Films) Written by Nicole Newnham Performed by Dakota Johnson
John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial (Apple TV+) Performed by Kiefer Sutherland
Secrets of the Elephants (National Geographic) Written by Martin Williams Performed by Natalie Portman
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+) Written and Performed by Michael J. Fox
The Disappearance of Shere Hite
BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY
Being Mary Tyler Moore (HBO | Max) The Disappearance of Shere Hite (IFC Films) It Ain’t Over (Sony Pictures Classics) JFK: One Day in America (National Geographic) The Lady Bird Diaries (Hulu) The League (Magnolia Pictures)
BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY
The 1619 Project (Hulu/Onyx Collective) JFK: One Day in America (National Geographic) The Lady Bird Diaries (Hulu) Lakota Nation vs. United States (IFC Films) The League (Magnolia Pictures) Occupied City (A24) Stamped from the Beginning (Netflix)
BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY
Being Mary Tyler Moore (HBO | Max) The Disappearance of Shere Hite (IFC Films) Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (HBO Documentary Films) Judy Blume Forever (Amazon Studios) Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (Hulu) Sly (Netflix) Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+)
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
American Symphony (Netflix) Carlos (Sony Pictures Classics) Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop (Netflix) Little Richard: I Am Everything (Magnolia Pictures/CNN Films) Love to Love You, Donna Summer (HBO | Max) Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (AMC Theatres) What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears? (Abramorama)
The Lady Bird Diaries
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
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About the Critics Choice Awards
The Critics Choice Documentary Awards are an offshoot of the Critics Choice Awards, which are bestowed annually by the CCA to honor the finest in cinematic and television achievement. Historically, the Critics Choice Awards are the most accurate predictor of Academy Award nominations.
The Critics Choice Awards ceremony will be held on January 14, 2024 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City, CA, and will be broadcast live on The CW.
About the Critics Choice Association (CCA)
The Critics Choice Association is the largest critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 580 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, in recognition of the intersection between film, television, and streaming content. For more information, visit: www.CriticsChoice.com.
By Lynn Venhaus A sprawling saga exploring the horrific exploitation of Native Americans and how the entitled white interlopers of Fairfax, Okla., manipulated, stole, extorted, and killed them is a true story that needs to be told.
While I’m not declaring “Killers of the Flower Moon” a modern masterpiece like many of my colleagues, I admire the efforts and care that the filmmakers brought to this explosive, gut-wrenching tale of injustice.
Members of the Osage tribe in the U.S. are murdered under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s, after oil is found on their land, and finally, after too much time — and death — has elapsed, it sparks a major F.B.I. investigation started by J. Edgar Hoover.
Martin Scorsese is such a visceral director, with his keen eye for visuals and distinctive way music organically becomes part of his storytelling, that his sweeping view of the prairie and respect for the indigenous people of the land is breath-taking.
And in his expert way, captures the ugly, insidious greed and power plays that overtake this locale in moody, murky images and unsavory incidents. But the decision to concentrate mostly on the villains, who keep getting away with these awful crimes, is hard to watch for 206 minutes. I know, how he depicts corruption is a Scorsese trademark. (But blasphemy — is he the right person to tell this story?)
A densely layered plot becomes one long slow death march, and yes, it’s disturbing. We get to the point quickly about the amoral criminal behavior underway, but the repetitiveness, slow-burn style, makes one impatient for any sign of justice.
Do we need 3 hours, 26 minutes to tell this story? No. Based on American journalist David Grann’s best-selling 2017 nonfiction book “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” the work would likely be better served as a mini-series.
The Kyle sisters
Many characters get the short shrift. You may be hard-pressed to recall their characters or the way they fit into the puzzle: Tantoo Cardinal, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, William Belleau, Louis Cancelmi, Tatanka Means, Michael Abbot Jr., Pat Healy, Scott Shepard, Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson, although you’ll remember Cara Jade Myers as Mollie’s wronged sister Anna, who is brutally murdered, and Tommy Schultz as Blackie Thompson, who figures in to some of the earlier shenanigans.. And then, Brendan Fraser and John Lithgow show up, ever so briefly, as attorneys near the end.
With its $200 million price tag, it is technically brilliant, with exceptional cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto (who also did “Barbie” this year!), and stunning production design by Jack Fisk.
Yet, I can’t ignore the flaws in the storytelling. At times, it’s cold, flat, and airless because it’s hard to root for people. As the Osage daughter Mollie, Lily Gladstone is the heart of the film, but that’s a lot to carry on her shoulders – although she’s definitely the secret weapon. She will be in the awards conversations at year’s end.
Scorsese, and co-writer Eric Roth, concentrated on the improbable romance of opportunistic Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Gladstone’s Mollie Kyle, and what happens in their orbit is indicative of the behaviors of the time.
By 1872, the U.S. government had forced the Osage from their ancestral homeland to Oklahoma, and at the turn of the century, oil was discovered, which brought a fortune to the Osage nation. Because they became some of the wealthiest people in the world overnight, that didn’t sit well with the old-white-guys network, who would systematically destroy and take over any way possible to get their hands on that money from the ‘black gold.’ For some, that involved marrying an Osage, and becoming the heir.
DeNiro as William Hale and DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhardt
Robert De Niro is sensational in a strong sly performance as William Hale, the town’s kingpin — interestingly enough, nicknamed “King.” He controls everything, and pretends to be a great friend to all. Those in his employment do his dirty work, and the despicable deeds start piling up, too many to ignore. Scorsese brings out DeNiro’s best, and since 1973, they have made 10 films together.
Hale is Ernest’s uncle. And Ernest has arrived after serving in World War I, as a cook, who can’t do manual labor but is eager to make money. He starts out as a taxi driver, where he meets Mollie, and hopes sparks will fly. They eventually marry and have three children. DiCaprio, always interesting, goes to the dark side here, disheartening for his loved ones when the truth eventually comes out. It’s DiCaprio’s sixth feature collaboration with Scorsese, since “The Gangs of New York” in 2002.
Enter Jesse Plemons as FBI agent Tom White, who seems like he could be intimidated, but is brave enough to pursue righting wrongs. He comes in later in the second act, which is interesting because the book concentrated on his narrative.
The performances are superb, although Leo’s bulldog grimace wears thin as does his period-appropriate dental work (yikes). Does subtly sinister suit the golden boy? Jury’s out, but thankfully, his portrayal is more conflicted than sympathetic.
But Gladstone is remarkable, her fierce intelligence shining through as the betrayed wife. I was impressed with her work in Kelly Reichardt’s 2016 indie movie “Certain Women,” so happy to see attention being paid.
Robbie Robertson’s music score is so organic that at times, you will not notice it. As a member of The Band and a great friend of Scorsese, they have worked together on soundtracks before – “Raging Bull,” “The King of Comedy,” “The Color of Money” and “The Irishman,” after their legendary documentary collaboration “The Last Waltz” in 1978.
Now that Robertson has passed (Aug. 9), the film is dedicated to his memory. He was a Native American as well – the son of a Cayuga and Mohawk mother and lived on the Six Nations Reserve in Canada southwest of Toronto during his youth. So that’s a special connection.
For its unusual finale, the film jarringly shifts to a radio show, which gives a razzamatazz wrap-up of all the corruption and dastardly deeds that have transpired.
Overall, the film is a haunting reminder of the atrocities committed against the Osage Nation specifically and indigenous people in general, and for that, it should spark outrage, which is necessary.
Perhaps watching it again when it streams on the small screen (No date as yet, just ‘later on Apple TV+), I will find more nuance and make a stronger emotional connection. It is a story that needs to be told.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is a 2023 historical western true crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons. Cara Jade Myers, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow, Tommy Schultz Rated: R for violence, some grisly images, and language, the run time is 3 hours, 26 minutes. It opens in theatres Oct. 20 and will stream on Apple TV+ at a later date, to be announced. Lynn’s Grade: B-
This movie would work better as a stand-up routine, for taking Bill Burr’s familiar cranky white guy rant into a broader community setting makes for a chaotic buffet-style narrative that is mainly throwing jokes out there to see what lands.
Burr, who is a funny no-filter comedian that is reluctant to embrace societal change and unapologetic about his discomfort with woke mindsets, is often relatable about his struggles to fit in to the modern world.
“Old Dads” is about a middle-aged father and his two best friends after they sell their sports apparel company to a millennial. They find themselves out of step and behind the times as they struggle to navigate a changing world of culture, career, and fatherhood.
As Jack Kelly, a bitter 46-year-old but loving husband and father living in Woodland Hills, Calif., he’s not the only Gen X-Baby Boomer mired in the past, for his childhood buddies are not going gentle into the good night either.
Connor Brody, played in cookie-cutter mode by Bobby Cannavale, is an old dude trying to be hip and cool. Mike Richards, as played by Bokeem Woodbine, is content not to marry his girlfriend and doesn’t want more children because he has two grown Ivy League graduate sons by his ex-wife, is the most undeveloped and frustrating chauvinistic character.
There is humor in people not happy with anything past 1987 and the ever-changing times. But it also wears thin after incessant macho postering. Enough with anatomy jokes!
Dealing with competitive progressive pre-schools and parenting kids today is also ripe for mocking, especially tiptoeing around indulging, not disciplining, youngsters. And that is the movie’s saving grace, because helicopter parenting is ridiculous.
Burr’s belligerence can’t be softened, really, and that’s applauded by some while others cringe, such is the cultural zeitgeist these days. And don’t bring up white privilege to him. He’s good at poking fun at modern absurdities but does get carried away about victimhood (however, that’s his ‘schtick’).
As co-writer with Ben Tishler, Burr touches on many issues that are deemed offensive in today’s diverse, inclusive society that it becomes boorish midway and inexplicably, piles on lots o’ sex jokes. Why men behaving badly at a strip club that doubles down into Neanderthal territory is supposed to be some sort of epiphany? Clumsy at best, really stretching patience thin.
And are the sitcom antics of grown men not happy in their marriages still laugh-worthy? This is Burr’s directorial debut and he’s not convincing us, because the guys aren’t that likable with their self-centered stubbornness.
Oh sure, they love their wives and children, but do they really evolve beyond some supportive dialogue after a movie full of tirades? And parenting is only a fraction of this movie.
The wives, all beautiful, do show some gumption but they put up with a lot of icky. Katie Aselton is Jack’s pregnant wife Leah, Jackie Tohn is Connor’s controlling wife Cara, who speaks in psychobabble, and Reign Edwards is Mike’s pregnant wife Britney.
Now, what is funny is the changing workplace. When the three besties sell their business, they still show up for work, and it’s all New-Agey thinking on display. Playing the Millennial CEO Aspen Bell is Miles Robbins, who may look familiar because he is the son of Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, and his comedic instincts are sharp. He’s believable and fun to watch, and when he helps the guys out in the third act, his storyline goes nowhere after that.
The movie is such a mixed bag that a discourse on smoking cigars and vaping goes on interminably – with Paul Walter Hauser in a cameo. And speaking of drive-by appearances, Bruce Dern is a looney ride-share service driver? C. Thomas Howell is a guy who goes off the grid in New Mexico groomed to be the new face of the company’s sportswear?
Funny bits about e-scooters and planning school benefits strike chords, but obviously “Old Dads” is specifically meant for an audience who’d rather armchair-quarterback life than go out there and make the most of the 2020s, enlightened or not.
“Old Dads” is a comedy directed by Bill Burr, starring Burr, Bobby Cannavale, Bokeem Woodbine, Rachael Harris, Miles Robbins, Katie Aselton, Reign Edwards and Jackie Tohn. It is rated R for pervasive language, sexual material, nudity, and brief drug use and runs 1 hour, 44 minutes. Streaming on Netflix starting Oct. 20. Lynn’s Grade: C-
