It's been a whirlwind couple of years for Emily Ratajkowski, who launched into collective consciousness with Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" video in 2013 and continued onto the big screen with the Oscar-nominated "Gone Girl" in 2014.
Emily Ratajkowski Sits Naked In A Tub
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'Better Call Saul' Review: The Spinoff Is Not In 'Breaking Bad' Territory, But What Is?
It will come as no surprise that "Better Call Saul" is well made. The previous entry on the resumes of creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould is "Breaking Bad," which, during its five-season run, grew into an incredibly potent blend of slippery morals and thrilling aesthetics.
So, of course, "Saul" looks good. The first three episodes are well-paced and they competently introduce the strands of a plausible prequel for Saul Goodman, Walter White's fast-talking, ethically-challenged attorney.
What "Better Call Saul" doesn't have yet is its own set of independent reasons to exist.
Get past the outer layers of the new show -- the somewhat lighter tone, the familiar mordant humor, the deadpan portraits of bland condos and squat mini-malls -- and its core set of narrative concerns start to look mighty familiar.
Saul -- who, six years before he meets Walter White, goes by the name Jimmy McGill -- is a middle-class guy who feels hemmed in by life and beset by any number of difficulties. He works hard to put on a chipper persona at the courthouse, where he hustles low-paying gigs defending lowlifes, but when his mask slips, the rage and desperation just under the surface quickly emerge. Hard-pressed to make ends meet and pressured by trying family circumstances, Saul/Jimmy makes some poor choices and a few situations spiral off in bad directions. When he tries to undo his mistakes and even when he's trying to resist the temptation to stray from the straight and narrow, he still often tries to tip the odds in his favor. At no point is it hard to imagine the show's lead character talking himself into a life of deceit and self-justification.
So far, so "Breaking Bad," am I right?
Except that in the early going, despite a game, energetic performance from star Bob Odenkirk, Jimmy/Saul is just not an especially magnetic lead character. It's nice to see the familiar face of Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), who is as delightfully exasperated as ever, and Michael McKean displays skill in his low-key role as well, but the other "Saul" characters don't particularly stand out, nor does the greed-driven overarching narrative seem all that fresh. The jury is still out, of course, but it's hard to escape the suspicion that a story built on the aspirations of a sketchy, self-serving lawyer whose fate we already know may be a somewhat rickety enterprise, at least in the early going.
That said, it took me a while to permanently latch on to "Breaking Bad," in part because Walter White's story was shallower and somewhat derivative when it began. In its first and second seasons, I respected "Breaking Bad's" diligence and especially the skill and versatility of its cast, but it wasn't until the third and especially the fourth seasons that I truly fell under its spell. Therefore "Better Call Saul," given the array of talent in front of and behind the camera, has earned far more than three episodes to prove itself.
But I must confess that a feeling of deflation crept over me at certain moments as I watched the first few hours. No spoilers here, but some sequences looked a lot like certain scenarios that played out many times on "Breaking Bad": A middle-aged man stood back and contemplated a chain of events that he had put into motion and that played out in an unexpectedly unpleasant ways.
Was that man as charismatically watchable as Walter White, or O.G. anti-heroes Don Draper or Vic Mackey? Not yet.
The thing is, as I noted in my review of "Backstrom," (a much less worthwhile show), I'm little fatigued at being asked to feel even a couple of shreds of sympathy for the poor schnuck at the center of a morass of his own making. For one thing, my memories of the people whose lives were destroyed by the previous Albuquerque-based screwup are still fresh. Also, depending on your interpretive criteria, we are in either the second or third decade of the Feel Sad for the Wayward Anti-Hero Era. Around these parts, stocks of pity for middle-class, intelligent, reasonably well-educated men who repeatedly and intentionally break the rules are critically low.
(Sidebar: What I wouldn't give for a "Breaking Bad" spinoff series about how a dead-eyed, hollowed-out Skyler and a rightly furious Walter Jr. went about rebuilding their lives, or a CW show about Holly in 2025 as an ass-kicking crime-fighter. But those kinds of shows don't seem to be on-brand for AMC, and a few years ago, that fact would have made me sad. Though it's daunting to contemplate the television explosion we're living through, I'm thrilled that there's a growing array of networks and outlets willing to supply an increasingly diverse array of protagonists and explore a pretty varied group of narrative goals.)
Of course, most shows only wish they could reach the level of aesthetic mastery "Better Call Saul" demonstrates out of the gate, but my counterintuitive hope for the new AMC drama is that it gets messier, less controlled and less perfectionist in its tendencies. The truth is, despite wanting to like the show, there were moments in "Saul" in which I had suspicions of being "Boadwalk"-ed. That's the term I use whenever I wonder if I'm being asked to positively assess a show that ticks all the "Prestige TV" boxes but does not possess an unruly spark of life or an emotionally necessary take on the human condition.
Settle down, "Boardwalk Empire" fans. Yes, I know, the HBO did occasionally perk up and come alive, but not nearly often enough. Like "Saul," "Boardwalk" had a creator who was connected to one of the ultimate Prestige TV vehicles, and as was the case with the Nucky chronicle, "Saul" has a fine cast and great directors. But the HBO drama ended up revealing itself as an expensive, well-tailored empty suit that tended to prioritize structure and surfaces over everything else. I always thought Steve Buscemi did a good job in the lead role, but the show itself lacked a consistent reason to live (and snagging Emmy nominations for deserving actors is not enough of a reason). "Better Off Saul," unlike "Boardwalk," may prove itself to be more than the sum of its perfectly adequate parts, or it may end up looking like yet another understandable but possibly ill-advised attempt to supersize a TV franchise.
"Saul" may yet become every bit as vital as "Breaking Bad" was at its height, but I couldn't deny that there was a slightly airless quality to the new drama's first few installments. Could that be because viewers of "Breaking Bad" know, more or less, where Saul will end up? (It's worth noting that "Breaking Bad's" third season felt a bit forced at times for similar reasons: The writers had to make the end of the season dovetail with events depicted in Season 3's first episode, and thus those installments, whatever else they did right, felt especially constrained at times.)
In any event, there's time for Gilligan and Gould to complicate things in fruitful ways. The second half of "Breaking Bad's" run was much better than the first because it was so much more knotty and unpredictable. There were terrifically painful and sometimes funny collisions between Jesse's doofus-thug naivete and Walter's ambition and stupidity. Once the show made Gus Fring's whipsmart discipline a more permanent presence and added the volatility of big drug cartels to the mix, "Breaking Bad" arrived at something beautifully explosive and controlled. Toward the end, the show's aesthetic rigor was balanced by the witches' brew of complicated emotions its characters were trying (and sometimes failing) to tamp down. By the end of the ride, watching "Breaking Bad" was like witnessing the controlled demolition of a volcano -- it was dangerous, deliberate, amazing and gleefully reckless all at once.
To be clear, "Better Call Saul" doesn't have to create the particular mixture that "Breaking Bad" did and reproduce that product with 99 percent purity. It'd be wrong for the show to try, and it'd be wrong for any of us to expect another Heisenbergian tale. But for now, what we've got are a whole bunch of similarities: A lead character who, underneath the bad haircut and cheap clothes, feels cheated and misunderstood; a man whose way of life involves minimizing the bad things that he does and that other people want to get away with.
I'll keep watching, of course. But there are times, truth be told, when "Saul" seems a little too much like its lead character: Slick, smart, desperate, driven to please and a little bit afflicted by flop sweat.
"Better Call Saul's" first two episodes air 10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8 and 10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9.
So, of course, "Saul" looks good. The first three episodes are well-paced and they competently introduce the strands of a plausible prequel for Saul Goodman, Walter White's fast-talking, ethically-challenged attorney.
What "Better Call Saul" doesn't have yet is its own set of independent reasons to exist.
Get past the outer layers of the new show -- the somewhat lighter tone, the familiar mordant humor, the deadpan portraits of bland condos and squat mini-malls -- and its core set of narrative concerns start to look mighty familiar.
Saul -- who, six years before he meets Walter White, goes by the name Jimmy McGill -- is a middle-class guy who feels hemmed in by life and beset by any number of difficulties. He works hard to put on a chipper persona at the courthouse, where he hustles low-paying gigs defending lowlifes, but when his mask slips, the rage and desperation just under the surface quickly emerge. Hard-pressed to make ends meet and pressured by trying family circumstances, Saul/Jimmy makes some poor choices and a few situations spiral off in bad directions. When he tries to undo his mistakes and even when he's trying to resist the temptation to stray from the straight and narrow, he still often tries to tip the odds in his favor. At no point is it hard to imagine the show's lead character talking himself into a life of deceit and self-justification.
So far, so "Breaking Bad," am I right?
Except that in the early going, despite a game, energetic performance from star Bob Odenkirk, Jimmy/Saul is just not an especially magnetic lead character. It's nice to see the familiar face of Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), who is as delightfully exasperated as ever, and Michael McKean displays skill in his low-key role as well, but the other "Saul" characters don't particularly stand out, nor does the greed-driven overarching narrative seem all that fresh. The jury is still out, of course, but it's hard to escape the suspicion that a story built on the aspirations of a sketchy, self-serving lawyer whose fate we already know may be a somewhat rickety enterprise, at least in the early going.
That said, it took me a while to permanently latch on to "Breaking Bad," in part because Walter White's story was shallower and somewhat derivative when it began. In its first and second seasons, I respected "Breaking Bad's" diligence and especially the skill and versatility of its cast, but it wasn't until the third and especially the fourth seasons that I truly fell under its spell. Therefore "Better Call Saul," given the array of talent in front of and behind the camera, has earned far more than three episodes to prove itself.
But I must confess that a feeling of deflation crept over me at certain moments as I watched the first few hours. No spoilers here, but some sequences looked a lot like certain scenarios that played out many times on "Breaking Bad": A middle-aged man stood back and contemplated a chain of events that he had put into motion and that played out in an unexpectedly unpleasant ways.
Was that man as charismatically watchable as Walter White, or O.G. anti-heroes Don Draper or Vic Mackey? Not yet.
The thing is, as I noted in my review of "Backstrom," (a much less worthwhile show), I'm little fatigued at being asked to feel even a couple of shreds of sympathy for the poor schnuck at the center of a morass of his own making. For one thing, my memories of the people whose lives were destroyed by the previous Albuquerque-based screwup are still fresh. Also, depending on your interpretive criteria, we are in either the second or third decade of the Feel Sad for the Wayward Anti-Hero Era. Around these parts, stocks of pity for middle-class, intelligent, reasonably well-educated men who repeatedly and intentionally break the rules are critically low.
(Sidebar: What I wouldn't give for a "Breaking Bad" spinoff series about how a dead-eyed, hollowed-out Skyler and a rightly furious Walter Jr. went about rebuilding their lives, or a CW show about Holly in 2025 as an ass-kicking crime-fighter. But those kinds of shows don't seem to be on-brand for AMC, and a few years ago, that fact would have made me sad. Though it's daunting to contemplate the television explosion we're living through, I'm thrilled that there's a growing array of networks and outlets willing to supply an increasingly diverse array of protagonists and explore a pretty varied group of narrative goals.)
Of course, most shows only wish they could reach the level of aesthetic mastery "Better Call Saul" demonstrates out of the gate, but my counterintuitive hope for the new AMC drama is that it gets messier, less controlled and less perfectionist in its tendencies. The truth is, despite wanting to like the show, there were moments in "Saul" in which I had suspicions of being "Boadwalk"-ed. That's the term I use whenever I wonder if I'm being asked to positively assess a show that ticks all the "Prestige TV" boxes but does not possess an unruly spark of life or an emotionally necessary take on the human condition.
Settle down, "Boardwalk Empire" fans. Yes, I know, the HBO did occasionally perk up and come alive, but not nearly often enough. Like "Saul," "Boardwalk" had a creator who was connected to one of the ultimate Prestige TV vehicles, and as was the case with the Nucky chronicle, "Saul" has a fine cast and great directors. But the HBO drama ended up revealing itself as an expensive, well-tailored empty suit that tended to prioritize structure and surfaces over everything else. I always thought Steve Buscemi did a good job in the lead role, but the show itself lacked a consistent reason to live (and snagging Emmy nominations for deserving actors is not enough of a reason). "Better Off Saul," unlike "Boardwalk," may prove itself to be more than the sum of its perfectly adequate parts, or it may end up looking like yet another understandable but possibly ill-advised attempt to supersize a TV franchise.
"Saul" may yet become every bit as vital as "Breaking Bad" was at its height, but I couldn't deny that there was a slightly airless quality to the new drama's first few installments. Could that be because viewers of "Breaking Bad" know, more or less, where Saul will end up? (It's worth noting that "Breaking Bad's" third season felt a bit forced at times for similar reasons: The writers had to make the end of the season dovetail with events depicted in Season 3's first episode, and thus those installments, whatever else they did right, felt especially constrained at times.)
In any event, there's time for Gilligan and Gould to complicate things in fruitful ways. The second half of "Breaking Bad's" run was much better than the first because it was so much more knotty and unpredictable. There were terrifically painful and sometimes funny collisions between Jesse's doofus-thug naivete and Walter's ambition and stupidity. Once the show made Gus Fring's whipsmart discipline a more permanent presence and added the volatility of big drug cartels to the mix, "Breaking Bad" arrived at something beautifully explosive and controlled. Toward the end, the show's aesthetic rigor was balanced by the witches' brew of complicated emotions its characters were trying (and sometimes failing) to tamp down. By the end of the ride, watching "Breaking Bad" was like witnessing the controlled demolition of a volcano -- it was dangerous, deliberate, amazing and gleefully reckless all at once.
To be clear, "Better Call Saul" doesn't have to create the particular mixture that "Breaking Bad" did and reproduce that product with 99 percent purity. It'd be wrong for the show to try, and it'd be wrong for any of us to expect another Heisenbergian tale. But for now, what we've got are a whole bunch of similarities: A lead character who, underneath the bad haircut and cheap clothes, feels cheated and misunderstood; a man whose way of life involves minimizing the bad things that he does and that other people want to get away with.
I'll keep watching, of course. But there are times, truth be told, when "Saul" seems a little too much like its lead character: Slick, smart, desperate, driven to please and a little bit afflicted by flop sweat.
"Better Call Saul's" first two episodes air 10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8 and 10 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9.
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Eccentric Baby Name Ideas 'Girls' Fans Will Love
The HBO show "Girls" is back, and whether you love it, hate it, or couldn’t care less, you’ve got to admit that it has probably the most interesting, eccentric, original roster of character and cast member names ever seen on TV.
First of all there are the four main characters, who each just happens to have a strikingly alliterative name: Hannah Helene Horvath, Jessa Johansson, Marnie Marie Michaels, and Shoshanna Shapiro, played by actresses named Lena, Jemima, Allison and Zosia. And guys named Adam and Ray and Elijah played by Adam and Alex and Andrew.
OK, so most of those are fairly normal -- Hannah a classic biblical name, Jessa an offshoot of Jessica, and Marnie a somewhat retro 70s name that fell off the popularity list in 1977, but may see something of a revival thanks to the "Girls" character and to the fact that it was recently picked for her daughter by singer Lily Allen (mother also of Ethel).
But then we also have:
Shoshanna
![shoshanna prada]()
Shoshanna is the Hebrew parent name of Susannah, meaning both or either lily and/or rose. Well used in the Jewish community, its appearance on this show, with its friendly nicknames like Shosh, might extend its usage.
Zosia
This is a Greek variant of Sophia that was given to his actress daughter by playwright David Mamet. Her middle name is Russell, after maternal grandfather Russel Crouse, an eminent Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright.
Jemima
![jemima kirke]()
British-born Jemima Kirke bears a name that is far more frequently heard in the UK than in the US, due its unfortunately lingering Aunt Jemima associations. Kirke has sisters named Lola and Domino, a daughter name Rafaella Israel and a son named Memphis.
It becomes even more interesting when we get to secondary characters and their portrayers, such as these:
Beatrix
Beatrix Lavoyt is one of the kids Jessa babysits. Her sister’s name is Lola, showing that the writers are well aware of what Brooklyn hipsters might name their daughters. Beatrix has not hit the national pop list, but is Number 140 on Nameberry.
Booth
![girls jorma taccone]()
Booth Jonathan (which sounds like a name reversal) is a conceptual artist Marnie meets at her gallery job and has a brief fling with. His name is about as preppy as a surname name can be, associated in the past with writer Booth Tarkington (born Newton Booth).
Desi
Desi is Adam’s acting partner and Marnie’s bandmate. It’s never explained whether his name is a short form of Desiderio (as in Lucy’s husband), Desmond, or just plain Desi.
Clementine
![natalie morales]()
Clementine, played by Natalie Morales, is the girlfriend of Desi. The aristocratic name of the wife of Winston Churchill, Clementine is a great Nameberry fave -- even though it doesn’t even appear on the Social Security Top 1000. Ethan Hawke, Claudia Schiffer and Rachel Griffiths have all chosen it for their daughters.
Jasper
Jasper is Jessa’s older manic friend from rehab, who follows her to New York. The name Jasper, thanks in part to the Twilight franchise, has been a recent success story, climbing up to Number 248 nationally, and an astounding Number 8 on Nameberry.
Dot
Dot is the daughter of Jasper, with whom she reconnects in one episode, and is played by Oscar hopeful Felicity Jones. Dot is an adorable Dorothy nickname cum middle name -- if you can ignore the dot.com connection.
Laird
![jon glaser girls]()
Laird is Hannah’s neighbor, a recovering addict. The Scottish word for lord, Laird is rarely heard in the US, though Sharon Stone did use it for one of her sons.
Soojin
Soojin is Marnie’s art gallerist friend who hires her as an assistant. Spelled Soo-jin or Su-jin, this is a Korean name with several meanings that was a Top 5 name in South Korea in the 1980s.
And other cast members:
Ebon
![marni and desi]()
Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays Desi, an acting cast mate of Adam’s and a musician in Marnie’s band. Ebon is a fairly obscure Hebrew boys’ name -- Eban and Eben are far more familiar.
Jorma
Jorma Taccone, who plays Booth Jonathan, was named after Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. He has been quoted as saying, “I grew up in Berkeley and my parents were hippies, obviously, since my name is Jorma.” Jorma is the Finnish version of Jeremiah.
Sakina
Sakina Jaffrey, daughter of noted Indian actress and food writer Madhur Jaffrey, appears in one episode as a gynecologist. Her name relates to the Arabic word Sakinah, meaning peace and serenity.
Shiri
![lena dunham controversy]()
Shiri Appleby plays Adam’s ex-girlfriend Natalia. Appleby has an Israeli-born mother, and her name means “song of mine” in Hebrew.
Zuzanna
Polish-born Zuzanna Szadkowski, known for her role in Gossip Girl, has sometimes gone by the simpler name Susan. But we love the Slavic Zuzanna (nn Zuzu) -- which takes us back around to Shoshanna!
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First of all there are the four main characters, who each just happens to have a strikingly alliterative name: Hannah Helene Horvath, Jessa Johansson, Marnie Marie Michaels, and Shoshanna Shapiro, played by actresses named Lena, Jemima, Allison and Zosia. And guys named Adam and Ray and Elijah played by Adam and Alex and Andrew.
OK, so most of those are fairly normal -- Hannah a classic biblical name, Jessa an offshoot of Jessica, and Marnie a somewhat retro 70s name that fell off the popularity list in 1977, but may see something of a revival thanks to the "Girls" character and to the fact that it was recently picked for her daughter by singer Lily Allen (mother also of Ethel).
But then we also have:
Shoshanna
Shoshanna is the Hebrew parent name of Susannah, meaning both or either lily and/or rose. Well used in the Jewish community, its appearance on this show, with its friendly nicknames like Shosh, might extend its usage.
Zosia
This is a Greek variant of Sophia that was given to his actress daughter by playwright David Mamet. Her middle name is Russell, after maternal grandfather Russel Crouse, an eminent Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright.
Jemima
British-born Jemima Kirke bears a name that is far more frequently heard in the UK than in the US, due its unfortunately lingering Aunt Jemima associations. Kirke has sisters named Lola and Domino, a daughter name Rafaella Israel and a son named Memphis.
It becomes even more interesting when we get to secondary characters and their portrayers, such as these:
Beatrix
Beatrix Lavoyt is one of the kids Jessa babysits. Her sister’s name is Lola, showing that the writers are well aware of what Brooklyn hipsters might name their daughters. Beatrix has not hit the national pop list, but is Number 140 on Nameberry.
Booth
Booth Jonathan (which sounds like a name reversal) is a conceptual artist Marnie meets at her gallery job and has a brief fling with. His name is about as preppy as a surname name can be, associated in the past with writer Booth Tarkington (born Newton Booth).
Desi
Desi is Adam’s acting partner and Marnie’s bandmate. It’s never explained whether his name is a short form of Desiderio (as in Lucy’s husband), Desmond, or just plain Desi.
Clementine
Clementine, played by Natalie Morales, is the girlfriend of Desi. The aristocratic name of the wife of Winston Churchill, Clementine is a great Nameberry fave -- even though it doesn’t even appear on the Social Security Top 1000. Ethan Hawke, Claudia Schiffer and Rachel Griffiths have all chosen it for their daughters.
Jasper
Jasper is Jessa’s older manic friend from rehab, who follows her to New York. The name Jasper, thanks in part to the Twilight franchise, has been a recent success story, climbing up to Number 248 nationally, and an astounding Number 8 on Nameberry.
Dot
Dot is the daughter of Jasper, with whom she reconnects in one episode, and is played by Oscar hopeful Felicity Jones. Dot is an adorable Dorothy nickname cum middle name -- if you can ignore the dot.com connection.
Laird
Laird is Hannah’s neighbor, a recovering addict. The Scottish word for lord, Laird is rarely heard in the US, though Sharon Stone did use it for one of her sons.
Soojin
Soojin is Marnie’s art gallerist friend who hires her as an assistant. Spelled Soo-jin or Su-jin, this is a Korean name with several meanings that was a Top 5 name in South Korea in the 1980s.
And other cast members:
Ebon
Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays Desi, an acting cast mate of Adam’s and a musician in Marnie’s band. Ebon is a fairly obscure Hebrew boys’ name -- Eban and Eben are far more familiar.
Jorma
Jorma Taccone, who plays Booth Jonathan, was named after Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. He has been quoted as saying, “I grew up in Berkeley and my parents were hippies, obviously, since my name is Jorma.” Jorma is the Finnish version of Jeremiah.
Sakina
Sakina Jaffrey, daughter of noted Indian actress and food writer Madhur Jaffrey, appears in one episode as a gynecologist. Her name relates to the Arabic word Sakinah, meaning peace and serenity.
Shiri
Shiri Appleby plays Adam’s ex-girlfriend Natalia. Appleby has an Israeli-born mother, and her name means “song of mine” in Hebrew.
Zuzanna
Polish-born Zuzanna Szadkowski, known for her role in Gossip Girl, has sometimes gone by the simpler name Susan. But we love the Slavic Zuzanna (nn Zuzu) -- which takes us back around to Shoshanna!
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Follow Us On Twitter | 
Contact HuffPost Parents↧
Sean Penn Is Adopting Charlize Theron's Son
Sean Penn has filed papers to adopt Charlize Theron’s son. As Gossip Cop reported, Theron herself adopted Jackson, now 3, in 2012 when he was a few months old. Penn’s legal documents request permission to become the boy’s adoptive father.
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New Reality Show Shines the Light on Judaism
A few months ago, a publicist friend asked me if I knew anything about the upcoming Christina Milian reality show. I did not and I shrugged it off as something I would have no interest in. Don't get me wrong: Christina Milian is a beautiful Cuban-American singer who has many adoring fans, but I... well, I have eclectic musical tastes.I do however tune in to The Wendy Williams Show frequently enough and Wendy is a fan of Christina's. In her "hot topics," the talk show host has discussed the singer, her divorce and the adorable child she now raises, but what piqued my interest one morning, when Christina herself was Wendy's guest, was something that the host asked. "Your sister is converting to Judaism?" Suddenly, I looked up from whatever work I was doing at the time and determined that I had to find out more. I was intrigued to say the least. Liz Milian, Christina's sister and a popular chef in Los Angeles, was now going completely kosher and is in the midst of an Orthodox Jewish conversion. I watched the clips online where she visits a very Charedi (super religious orthodox Jewish) community and the one where Rabbi Block of Congregation Toras Hashem comes to kasher Christina's house where she is temporarily residing. Like a Pavlovian dog, I was panting for this particular story. I immediately began scouring the Internet for a way to get in touch with Liz and when I finally did and got a response -- well, as Liz would say when we first spoke -- Baruch Hashem! (which means "Thank God" and was her response to my "How are you?") I was thrilled.
It is not often that orthodox Judaism is showcased on television in a positive light. Having grown up with two parents who became frum and having gone to orthodox Jewish schools myself, I am really intrigued by those who are able to show a love for this type of religious observance. It doesn't matter where I sit on the continuum of religiosity myself at present; I find it inspiring when in documentaries like Brave Miss World (which can be found on Netflix), the newly observant are able to articulate how beautiful they find the religion to be. I may have a tendency towards skepticism these days personally, but I will admit that there is nothing alluring to me about an angry atheist on a reality show (I haven't seen one yet except maybe Penn Jillette on The Celebrity Apprentice, but in that particular venue, he didn't really showcase his staunch atheism). I have heard a few podcasts about atheism and they didn't make me warm and fuzzy inside, but when a famous Israeli embraced her Jewish roots and took on full observance after years of investigating the rape she was victim to (in Brave Miss World), I understood her choice and I was touched by her convictions. While doubters exist, you don't have to be a major believer to root for the believer. Liz Milian, who dated a boy and fell in love with his religion, really sees the beauty in a religion that its own adherents sometimes question. To see that zeal on display is - as Andy Cohen of Bravo TV would say - "good for the Jews." Liz stars alongside her sister Danielle and the famous Christina each Sunday on E! (10 PM EST) in the reality series Christina Milian Turned Up. Following is my interview with Liz whose conversion process is a new scenario for the E! channel:
SW: I am always really interested in WHY people choose this religion, especially in full observance form! I heard you mention that you fell in love with religion through an ex- boyfriend. Can you explain that to us?
LM: As a child, I actually came to my mom and told her I wanted to be Jewish. She said 'no you just like Hanukkah' and suggested maybe I take a while to figure it out. My boyfriend post high school was part of a Jewish family - His father was Israeli and they were reform Jews who used to have me over for holidays. The interesting thing was that his mom had gone through an orthodox conversion. He ate traif (non-kosher foods) and had his version of Shabbos, but he spoke so passionately about being Jewish and it made me question...I literally knew nothing from the Christian bible and religion is about how your main route is God. It wasn't until I started dating a more recent ex boyfriend, Joshua, who was from a modern orthodox Jewish Persian family, that I became seriously interested in Judaism. He would have to leave suddenly and it was "good Shabbos I have to leave now." I knew it was the challenge of challenges, but Judaism is something I wanted to explore. The message I got was "that's all very interesting but if you want to do anything about being Jewish, it has to all come from you on your own." I went with Joshua to a party of Persian friends and one girl there was talking about conversion - orthodox conversion, which I know is "the only way to go" - and she was saying how hard it was. Listening to this, I talked to another girl who was sitting there and she said "You wouldn't make it, it's way too challenging. You can't eat this and you can't wear or do that...." I wasn't dissuaded though and I got Rabbi Block's number. I got nervous and I didn't call him for a week or two, but then I did and I got very involved in the whole process.
SW: We see Rabbi Block on the show. On the first episode, he came to check out the contents of Christina's refrigerator and chucked most of the meat. Who is he, does he have a shul?
LM: He is at Congregation Toras Hashem. In the valley or anywhere in LA, people know him. It's crazy! One time, I was at the doctor being examined and he asked me where I was converting - oh Rabbi Block, we all know Rabbi Block!
SW: So how did the Kashrut rules work out in Christina's house? We see that her daughter is vehemently opposed to ridding the house of bacon!
LM: They abide by it in the house and I have had some situations where Christina thought that the blue labels were for meat and mixed things up.
SW: Your family talks about your conversion as if it is a phase. Language about you "finding yourself" is used, but you seem committed:
LM: I started the process and my family assumed it was going to be a phase, and when I really had to take the holidays off around my mother and sister's birthdays, my family realized how serious I was (not to mention that one of those holidays was Yom Kippur which consists of fasting and praying all day long). My mom saw a lot of changes in my lifestyle. She can clearly see that I dress very differently and have given up certain clothing. As a chef, I also decide not to take certain jobs because I will only cook kosher.
SW: Are you single? Any hopes of reconciling with the ex-boyfriend that introduced you to Judaism or is that totally separate?
LM: (Laughs) During my conversion process I turned to the rabbi and wondered where Josh had been, but ultimately, we decided not to be together because he knew that religiously he could not go any further. Rabbi Block has asked me what kind of guy I would want. I definitely need someone who is cool and understanding of my background. I think that the show really took a perspective that certain people are going to judge you by where you come from and I found that in the community initially, it was in one ear and out the other (about who my sister was and where I come from). Now, people are realizing that I'm going to be on TV - Like I was at a family for Shabbos and during lunch someone mentioned they loved watching the Housewives and had seen the commercial for our show during an episode of Housewives. I thought that was really funny for a Shabbos meal!
SW: On the show, you are in the process of converting. Have you converted yet?
LM: I am far into the process - with meeting with the beit din (the religious courts) - but my rabbi had 2 weddings in his family, Baruch Hashem, and is now in Israel. When he returns, I go to the mikvah, (where one immerses in the waters and says the blessings) and convert. So God willing, as soon as Rabbi Block comes back from Israel!
SW: What were the major challenges of filming this reality show, which showcases your relationship with mom and sisters, while radically changing your lifestyle?
LM: I created some guidelines. In an upcoming episode, we take a trip out-of-town that has no kosher food and the only orthodox guy in the neighborhood ended up making the food for me. I obviously avoided nudity. I was very careful to avoid being touched by men to the best of my ability. When you're getting miked up, that is a very difficult thing to explain: 'Sorry, you can't touch me. I'm shomeret negiah. I can't be touched or touch men.' Everyone on the crew was very careful and respectful. I feel that there are Shomeret negiah issues constantly. People are trying to walk up to you and hug you. What do I do? It's a very complicated predicament. I also find now that on social media, people can write crazy things. I've found that even people you thought you knew can be anti-Semitic and I just attempt to set the record straight on what's not true. Some of my Jewish friends have called me crazy, jumping to the extreme. It's also interesting that my sister Danielle has converted to Catholicism, like to be opposite me almost, although her husband has a Catholic family. Another challenge was not being able to attend Danielle's daughter's baptism because it took place inside of a church which I am not allowed to enter. However, my family knows that during my conversion I am under intense scrutiny to show and prove my commitment to the religion I love and that I am not going to compromise my beliefs or waiver in my commitment. As children, we went to Christian camps but we were definitely not that religious...yet we were spiritual. So Danielle may have found an opposing side to my Jewish side.
SW: Were you hesitant about participating in this project at all or were you "all in" from the beginning?
LM: I was definitely, without a doubt, hesitant that it might affect me and that everything I do is a representation of my family and faith. I decided to go ahead and show the solid commitment and the love for this religion as well as all that is involved in my decision. Interestingly, when we were walking in a Jewish, highly religious neighborhood, Christina was heightened to this very sensitivity of mine. She turned to me to ask and make sure that this footage was not going to harm the Jewish community in any way. I thought that was so interesting and Christina has been very supportive. Danielle, who has been more skeptical at times and has challenged me, is also showing support. I came out with my sisters to a club and she said "would you go up to a guy who is wearing a kippah in this club?" Of course I thought it was hilarious because there are no guys wearing kippahs in the club!
SW: You are a professional chef. Can you tell me a little about your work? And I assume everything is Kosher certified?
LM: I do private work and depending on who I am working with, there will be certain shylas (questions that one has to bring to a rabbi). I cooked for Christina when she was on Dancing with the Stars and that's the way it was. No traif. People are amazingly pretty understanding of the situation. For instance, Tamar Braxton hired me and I told her about kosher and she said "that's fine." She considered it to be healthy as many consider it to be, as sort of a diet plan for themselves. I tell them that it's better for you and explain that it's detailed in the Noahide laws ("not to eat the flesh with the life").
SW: And some say that it's better for digestion to separate milk and meat... who knows? The show has been likened to the Kardashians because it is all about your famous sister's relationship with her family. What would you like the takeaway to be from the show, about your family and about you personally?
LM: The show portrays us as strong, independent women and I want other women to learn from this that it is possible for anybody. Families need to stay strong. You will go through all different types of situations with your family and family members will take different paths that you never anticipated. Nevertheless, families need to stay strong and remember, God is your constant. You'll always come together and come back to each other if you trust in God. Another takeaway: Family is crazy! If I am able personally to benefit the Jewish community in some way (due to this show), bring a check to my shul or to a Jewish organization (for those greatly in need, etc), I will be tremendously grateful! It would be amazing if I could help the Jewish community in some way.
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Sundance So Far: 'The Bronze' Is No 'Whiplash,' But 'It Follows' Makes Up For It
HuffPost Entertainment has landed in Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival, which kicked off Thursday night with the premieres of the new Nina Simone documentary and the comedy "The Bronze." We're in the thick of Day 2, with the inaugural press screening of "Z for Zachariah" this afternoon and the world premiere of "The End of the Tour" on Friday night. In the meantime, here's what we've seen so far:
"The Bronze"
Written by Melissa Rauch and Winston Rauch
Directed by Bryan Buckley
Starring Melissa Rauch, Thomas Middleditch, Gary Cole, Sebastian Stan, Cecily Strong and Haley Lu Richardson
![the bronze]()
The opening film at last year's Sundance was "Whiplash," which is now a Best Picture nominee. Don't expect the same fate for "The Bronze." "Big Bang Theory" star Melissa Rauch does her best to keep it ticking, but there's not much gold to be found in this raunchy comedy. Playing Hope Greggory, a salty Olympic gymnast who managed to win the bronze medal despite a career-ending ankle injury, Rauch dons an acerbic Ohio accent that will make you chuckle even when the script isn't that funny -- which is most of the time. We first meet Hope masturbating to footage of her Olympic competition, and the rest of the film is like a clock chugging toward the feel-good lessons we know this remorselessly self-absorbed character will learn.
Hope begrudgingly accepts her estranged trainer's $500,000 offer to coach the town's next star gymnast (Haley Lu Richardson, a true delight). Knowing the new golden child will trump her fame, a predictable sabotage ensues as Hope's patient father (Gary Cole) attempts to drill home how vainglorious his irresponsible daughter has become. Some of the jokes along the way don't land, particularly a recurring bit about the pet goldfish her dad obsesses over. Thomas Middleditch amplifies his skittish "Silicon Valley" role as a twitching gym manager with a crush on Hope, and Sebastian Stan plays the pompous gold medalist who deflowered her years earlier. The problem is that the script's pendulum doesn't swing wider than foul-mouthed humor and inevitable lesson-learning. There are laughs; they just don't come frequently enough because some of the gags feel repetitive, no matter the gifted comedic timing Rauch possesses. There is at least one scene worth the labor, though: a gymnastics-inspired assignation that is easily one of the most inventive sex scenes in film. It almost redeems some of the movie's lesser qualities, in part because it'll make you wonder why you hadn't already contemplated the twisty coitus in which Olympic gymnasts would engage.
"What Happened, Miss Simone?"
Directed by Liz Garbus
![nina simone]()
Nina Simone's life took her from the segregated South to Carnegie Hall, from the civil-rights frontlines to new chapters in Africa, Switzerland, Paris and Holland -- and it's all on display thanks to engaging footage in Liz Garbus' new documentary. Unfortunately, there's an energy to Simone's restless spirit that doesn't quite translate to this conventional film. Revealing concert footage, including Simone's debut at the Newport Jazz Festival, captures the singer's tribulations, but it's cobbled together in a paint-by-numbers fashion that's informative but often unengaging.
What the film does manage to do is make fascinating ties to factions of the civil-rights movement, particularly the same events depicted in "Selma." Simone's initial ambition was to become the first black classical pianist to play Carnegie Hall; when that didn't happen, she made it her mission to use music to advance equality. She befriended Martin Luther King Jr. but didn't subscribe to his nonviolent mantra. Her persona became increasingly confrontational, as reflected in some of the protest songs that got her blacklisted from certain radio stations. That leads to the documentary's most fascinating portion, which examines Simone's battles with depression, domestic abuse and self-worth. This woman raged all her life, and the film captures that candidly. You'll earn a great deal about the lady who put a spell on American culture -- you just won't always be captivated while you do it.
"Aloft"
Written and directed by Claudia Llosa
Starring Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy and Mélanie Laurent
![aloft]()
"Aloft" is a tale of grief, but it isn't until the final moments that we understand why its characters mope so much. For the 80 aesthetically pleasing minutes that precede that, Claudia Llosa’s movie, her first in English, is an exercise in capturing an ostensibly poetic tone that masks the banality of everything occurring onscreen. It isn't that this movie is lacking substance -- it's that it traffics so desperately in it that everything comes out hollow. "Aloft" is weightless: Its characters' connections are sometimes unclear, and their emotional journey even less so. Once the non-linear story comes together, you'll no longer care about the questions you spent most of the movie asking.
In the timeline that opens the film, Jennifer Connelly is a farm worker raising two young boys, one of whom is terminally ill. A tragic accident wracks her with grief and she abandons her home life. In the present day, her son (Cillian Murphy, whose pastel eyes are not expressive enough opposite Connelly's signature surliness) ventures with a documentarian (Mélanie Laurent, who played Shosanna Dreyfus in "Inglourious Basterds") to see his mother for the first time in years. By that point, she's a mystical healer living in an igloo of sorts, which is fitting given the tundra in which most of the film occurs. Its frosty locales make for some fine cinematography, but the movie's iciness is ultimately a hodgepodge of uninteresting symbolism (Murphy's character is obsessed with falcons) and unfittingly low stakes. It's hard to tell whether Llosa, who also wrote the script, intends the takeaway to be some sort of philosophical reckoning, but this is a movie that you won't want to think about no matter how much it insists you do.
"It Follows"
Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell
Starring Maika Monroe and Keir Gilchrist
![it follows]()
Before the first credit appears, "It Follows" announces its start with the thuds of a score that pulsates down your spine. With the opening shots, it takes little time to temper your expectations for the lo-fi production value -- and even less time to understand that the film is all the scarier because of it. After Jay, 19, sleeps with the guy she's seeing for the first time, she discovers he's passed along the most terrifying STD imaginable: a zombie haunting that ends only by having intercourse. "It Follows" traces Jay and four friends as they attempt to rid her of the ominous huntsmen only she can see, acting almost as a cousin to last year's sleek chiller, "The Babadook."
Director David Robert Mitchell, who found a cult audience with the 2010 coming-of-age indie "The Myth of the American Sleepover," finds significant influence in "Halloween." Rich Vreeland, known by the pseudonym Disasterpeace, channels John Carpenter's ominous score, and cinematographer Mike Gioulakis pans across modest brown homes in sleepy suburbia. Just when the camera sits at a distance from the action, Mitchell switches to extreme closeups that compound the sense of dread. Sinister perspective shots and 360-degree pans will have you gripping your seat.
"It Follows" doesn't boast any splashy visual effects; there's hardly any gore or violence. The only marked relation to standard horror movies is its twist on the virgin-dies-first tropes of the '70s and '80s. It's in that minimalism, both visually and plot-wise, that the movie employs its jolts. Maika Monroe ("The Guest"), playing Jay, does a wonderful job calibrating her terror, and it's a treat to see "United States of Tara" alum Keir Gilchrist, whose telling eyes should have made him a much bigger star than he is. This is horror at its simplest -- the way it's meant to be.
"James White"
Written and directed by Josh Mond
Starring Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi, Ron Livingston, Mackenzie Leigh
![james white]()
Josh Mond met Christopher Abbott while producing the crafty creeper "Martha Marcy May Marlene," a breakout of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The two became friends, and now Abbott is at the center of Mond's powerful first feature film. "James White" is a remarkable accomplishment for both. Even though the film chronicles a few short months, we get a real sense of the years that contributed to its central characters' journeys.
There are no traces of the hypersensitive Brooklynite Abbott played on "Girls" -- his titular character does live in New York, but his aimlessness and somewhat aggressive proclivities make him all id. Opening with his father's funeral, we learn James was unaware his dad had remarried. His parents' separation doesn't do much to curb the grief his mother (Cynthia Nixon) feels, and neither does the cancer that's flared up in her body again, requiring James to share a care schedule with nurses. We watch as James attempts to get his life in order, which is all his mother really wants from her unemployed and unreliable son. To describe this film as an unconventional coming-of-age would be too empty. There are no lessons to be learned, only a self-destructiveness that must be realized. Abbott, preparing for a Kit Harington lookalike contest, is the perfect actor to do it. Soft eyes meet rough edges, particularly opposite the fragile performance of an increasingly frail Nixon. Their rapport as mother and son is a romance that Mond captures without a hint of preachiness. A vulnerable scene toward the film's end, in which James describes the future his mother likely won't live to see her son exact, requires a great deal of nuance from the two actors. Like the entire film, they master it.
Mond's fondness for extreme closeups can distract from scenes' potency now and then, but he knows how to administer gritty ambiance while retaining the film's many comedic touches and overarching humanity. The thing to marvel at is the film's simplicity, though. During a vacation James takes to escape the travails of city life, he and his friends drop acid and wander through a shoe store, gazing at the florescent sights with the awe of hypnotized zombies. It is an uproarious moment, and one of the most realistic LSD trips depicted onscreen, partly because of the uncomplicated acting -- Abbott plays drunk and/or stoned quite convincingly -- and partly because Mond knows where to place the camera so that the characters' whimsical interactions tell as much of a story as their heavier moments. It's one of many memorable scenes in a fantastic film about wading through life's chapters.
"The Bronze"
Written by Melissa Rauch and Winston Rauch
Directed by Bryan Buckley
Starring Melissa Rauch, Thomas Middleditch, Gary Cole, Sebastian Stan, Cecily Strong and Haley Lu Richardson
The opening film at last year's Sundance was "Whiplash," which is now a Best Picture nominee. Don't expect the same fate for "The Bronze." "Big Bang Theory" star Melissa Rauch does her best to keep it ticking, but there's not much gold to be found in this raunchy comedy. Playing Hope Greggory, a salty Olympic gymnast who managed to win the bronze medal despite a career-ending ankle injury, Rauch dons an acerbic Ohio accent that will make you chuckle even when the script isn't that funny -- which is most of the time. We first meet Hope masturbating to footage of her Olympic competition, and the rest of the film is like a clock chugging toward the feel-good lessons we know this remorselessly self-absorbed character will learn.
Hope begrudgingly accepts her estranged trainer's $500,000 offer to coach the town's next star gymnast (Haley Lu Richardson, a true delight). Knowing the new golden child will trump her fame, a predictable sabotage ensues as Hope's patient father (Gary Cole) attempts to drill home how vainglorious his irresponsible daughter has become. Some of the jokes along the way don't land, particularly a recurring bit about the pet goldfish her dad obsesses over. Thomas Middleditch amplifies his skittish "Silicon Valley" role as a twitching gym manager with a crush on Hope, and Sebastian Stan plays the pompous gold medalist who deflowered her years earlier. The problem is that the script's pendulum doesn't swing wider than foul-mouthed humor and inevitable lesson-learning. There are laughs; they just don't come frequently enough because some of the gags feel repetitive, no matter the gifted comedic timing Rauch possesses. There is at least one scene worth the labor, though: a gymnastics-inspired assignation that is easily one of the most inventive sex scenes in film. It almost redeems some of the movie's lesser qualities, in part because it'll make you wonder why you hadn't already contemplated the twisty coitus in which Olympic gymnasts would engage.
"What Happened, Miss Simone?"
Directed by Liz Garbus
Nina Simone's life took her from the segregated South to Carnegie Hall, from the civil-rights frontlines to new chapters in Africa, Switzerland, Paris and Holland -- and it's all on display thanks to engaging footage in Liz Garbus' new documentary. Unfortunately, there's an energy to Simone's restless spirit that doesn't quite translate to this conventional film. Revealing concert footage, including Simone's debut at the Newport Jazz Festival, captures the singer's tribulations, but it's cobbled together in a paint-by-numbers fashion that's informative but often unengaging.
What the film does manage to do is make fascinating ties to factions of the civil-rights movement, particularly the same events depicted in "Selma." Simone's initial ambition was to become the first black classical pianist to play Carnegie Hall; when that didn't happen, she made it her mission to use music to advance equality. She befriended Martin Luther King Jr. but didn't subscribe to his nonviolent mantra. Her persona became increasingly confrontational, as reflected in some of the protest songs that got her blacklisted from certain radio stations. That leads to the documentary's most fascinating portion, which examines Simone's battles with depression, domestic abuse and self-worth. This woman raged all her life, and the film captures that candidly. You'll earn a great deal about the lady who put a spell on American culture -- you just won't always be captivated while you do it.
"Aloft"
Written and directed by Claudia Llosa
Starring Jennifer Connelly, Cillian Murphy and Mélanie Laurent
"Aloft" is a tale of grief, but it isn't until the final moments that we understand why its characters mope so much. For the 80 aesthetically pleasing minutes that precede that, Claudia Llosa’s movie, her first in English, is an exercise in capturing an ostensibly poetic tone that masks the banality of everything occurring onscreen. It isn't that this movie is lacking substance -- it's that it traffics so desperately in it that everything comes out hollow. "Aloft" is weightless: Its characters' connections are sometimes unclear, and their emotional journey even less so. Once the non-linear story comes together, you'll no longer care about the questions you spent most of the movie asking.
In the timeline that opens the film, Jennifer Connelly is a farm worker raising two young boys, one of whom is terminally ill. A tragic accident wracks her with grief and she abandons her home life. In the present day, her son (Cillian Murphy, whose pastel eyes are not expressive enough opposite Connelly's signature surliness) ventures with a documentarian (Mélanie Laurent, who played Shosanna Dreyfus in "Inglourious Basterds") to see his mother for the first time in years. By that point, she's a mystical healer living in an igloo of sorts, which is fitting given the tundra in which most of the film occurs. Its frosty locales make for some fine cinematography, but the movie's iciness is ultimately a hodgepodge of uninteresting symbolism (Murphy's character is obsessed with falcons) and unfittingly low stakes. It's hard to tell whether Llosa, who also wrote the script, intends the takeaway to be some sort of philosophical reckoning, but this is a movie that you won't want to think about no matter how much it insists you do.
"It Follows"
Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell
Starring Maika Monroe and Keir Gilchrist
Before the first credit appears, "It Follows" announces its start with the thuds of a score that pulsates down your spine. With the opening shots, it takes little time to temper your expectations for the lo-fi production value -- and even less time to understand that the film is all the scarier because of it. After Jay, 19, sleeps with the guy she's seeing for the first time, she discovers he's passed along the most terrifying STD imaginable: a zombie haunting that ends only by having intercourse. "It Follows" traces Jay and four friends as they attempt to rid her of the ominous huntsmen only she can see, acting almost as a cousin to last year's sleek chiller, "The Babadook."
Director David Robert Mitchell, who found a cult audience with the 2010 coming-of-age indie "The Myth of the American Sleepover," finds significant influence in "Halloween." Rich Vreeland, known by the pseudonym Disasterpeace, channels John Carpenter's ominous score, and cinematographer Mike Gioulakis pans across modest brown homes in sleepy suburbia. Just when the camera sits at a distance from the action, Mitchell switches to extreme closeups that compound the sense of dread. Sinister perspective shots and 360-degree pans will have you gripping your seat.
"It Follows" doesn't boast any splashy visual effects; there's hardly any gore or violence. The only marked relation to standard horror movies is its twist on the virgin-dies-first tropes of the '70s and '80s. It's in that minimalism, both visually and plot-wise, that the movie employs its jolts. Maika Monroe ("The Guest"), playing Jay, does a wonderful job calibrating her terror, and it's a treat to see "United States of Tara" alum Keir Gilchrist, whose telling eyes should have made him a much bigger star than he is. This is horror at its simplest -- the way it's meant to be.
"James White"
Written and directed by Josh Mond
Starring Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi, Ron Livingston, Mackenzie Leigh
Josh Mond met Christopher Abbott while producing the crafty creeper "Martha Marcy May Marlene," a breakout of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The two became friends, and now Abbott is at the center of Mond's powerful first feature film. "James White" is a remarkable accomplishment for both. Even though the film chronicles a few short months, we get a real sense of the years that contributed to its central characters' journeys.
There are no traces of the hypersensitive Brooklynite Abbott played on "Girls" -- his titular character does live in New York, but his aimlessness and somewhat aggressive proclivities make him all id. Opening with his father's funeral, we learn James was unaware his dad had remarried. His parents' separation doesn't do much to curb the grief his mother (Cynthia Nixon) feels, and neither does the cancer that's flared up in her body again, requiring James to share a care schedule with nurses. We watch as James attempts to get his life in order, which is all his mother really wants from her unemployed and unreliable son. To describe this film as an unconventional coming-of-age would be too empty. There are no lessons to be learned, only a self-destructiveness that must be realized. Abbott, preparing for a Kit Harington lookalike contest, is the perfect actor to do it. Soft eyes meet rough edges, particularly opposite the fragile performance of an increasingly frail Nixon. Their rapport as mother and son is a romance that Mond captures without a hint of preachiness. A vulnerable scene toward the film's end, in which James describes the future his mother likely won't live to see her son exact, requires a great deal of nuance from the two actors. Like the entire film, they master it.
Mond's fondness for extreme closeups can distract from scenes' potency now and then, but he knows how to administer gritty ambiance while retaining the film's many comedic touches and overarching humanity. The thing to marvel at is the film's simplicity, though. During a vacation James takes to escape the travails of city life, he and his friends drop acid and wander through a shoe store, gazing at the florescent sights with the awe of hypnotized zombies. It is an uproarious moment, and one of the most realistic LSD trips depicted onscreen, partly because of the uncomplicated acting -- Abbott plays drunk and/or stoned quite convincingly -- and partly because Mond knows where to place the camera so that the characters' whimsical interactions tell as much of a story as their heavier moments. It's one of many memorable scenes in a fantastic film about wading through life's chapters.
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How Sherri Shepherd Responds To Critics Who Said 'You Can't' And 'You're Too Fat' (VIDEO)
From standup comic to talk show host to Broadway star, Sherri Shepherd has had a whirlwind career that continues to evolve. From a young age, the entertainer says she was told "You can't do that" -- but she did it anyway. In an interview for Oprah.com's "Who Am I" web series, Shepherd shares how she became so fearless.
"I've always been a person who says, 'Run towards that very thing that you fear because there's amazing blessings on the other side,'" Shepherd says. "I don't know whether that's smart or not. I think it's pretty smart, because I find that when I run towards the things that scare me, it makes me stronger."
Plenty of people have told Shepherd "no," but she never let that stop her. "From the moment my mother said, 'Don't touch that, don't do that, you can't do that.' From the time my family said, 'You want to be a standup comic? You can't do that. That's not for us.' When people said, 'You'll never be an actress because you're too fat.' It's always really nice to look back and look at those people who always said, 'You can't,' 'Who do you think you are?' 'It can't be done,' and go -- 'I did it.'"
Taking the easy route just isn't Shepherd's style. "If it's something I can do with my eyes closed I tend not to go for it." But when a project has her "quaking in my boots," she knows it's worth doing. "And then I tend to go, 'Yeah, I think I want to try it. And then after that I go, what did you get yourself into? Why are you doing this?'"
That fearlessness recently took Shepherd to Broadway, where she took on the role of the evil stepmother in Rodger and Hammerstein's "Cinderella." Not even a wardrobe malfunction could unnerve Shepherd. "My skirt split all the way in the back and I kept feeling air on my butt," she says. "But on Broadway you don't get to go, 'Excuse me, cut! Can we fix my skirt?' So I put my hand behind my dress, I held that bustle together, and I sang and I danced my heart out."
More "Who Am I": Rosario Dawson on transitioning from actress to an exciting new role in business.
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"I've always been a person who says, 'Run towards that very thing that you fear because there's amazing blessings on the other side,'" Shepherd says. "I don't know whether that's smart or not. I think it's pretty smart, because I find that when I run towards the things that scare me, it makes me stronger."
Plenty of people have told Shepherd "no," but she never let that stop her. "From the moment my mother said, 'Don't touch that, don't do that, you can't do that.' From the time my family said, 'You want to be a standup comic? You can't do that. That's not for us.' When people said, 'You'll never be an actress because you're too fat.' It's always really nice to look back and look at those people who always said, 'You can't,' 'Who do you think you are?' 'It can't be done,' and go -- 'I did it.'"
Taking the easy route just isn't Shepherd's style. "If it's something I can do with my eyes closed I tend not to go for it." But when a project has her "quaking in my boots," she knows it's worth doing. "And then I tend to go, 'Yeah, I think I want to try it. And then after that I go, what did you get yourself into? Why are you doing this?'"
That fearlessness recently took Shepherd to Broadway, where she took on the role of the evil stepmother in Rodger and Hammerstein's "Cinderella." Not even a wardrobe malfunction could unnerve Shepherd. "My skirt split all the way in the back and I kept feeling air on my butt," she says. "But on Broadway you don't get to go, 'Excuse me, cut! Can we fix my skirt?' So I put my hand behind my dress, I held that bustle together, and I sang and I danced my heart out."
More "Who Am I": Rosario Dawson on transitioning from actress to an exciting new role in business.
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A Character From 'The Walking Dead' Spinoff May Be Coming To The Series
"The Walking Dead" just got crazier.
According to a report by Nerdist, a character from the "Walking Dead" spinoff is coming to the original series. The character is said to have a six-episode story arc on the next season of "Walking Dead" and will then be seen in the new show.
The spinoff is slotted to be a prequel to the series, so it is not yet known how the new character will meet Rick Grimes and his group. But, as Uproxx points out, flashbacks would allow AMC to bring back past "Walking Dead" characters. And there are definitely a lot to choose from.
In addition to this news, there has been an outbreak of character rumors about the spinoff recently. A purported leaked script revealed a storyline surrounding the C.D.C., giving Noah Emmerich's Edwin Jenner the potential to return, and various tweets from actor Juan G. Pareja gave rise to the thought that his character, Morales, could be back.
Of course, one past character who has already come back in "Walking Dead" is fan-favorite Morgan. Though, as actor Josh McDermitt pointed out to HuffPost Entertainment, he may not be joining the group as soon as we all think.
"Walking Dead" returns Sunday, Feb. 8, on AMC.
According to a report by Nerdist, a character from the "Walking Dead" spinoff is coming to the original series. The character is said to have a six-episode story arc on the next season of "Walking Dead" and will then be seen in the new show.
The spinoff is slotted to be a prequel to the series, so it is not yet known how the new character will meet Rick Grimes and his group. But, as Uproxx points out, flashbacks would allow AMC to bring back past "Walking Dead" characters. And there are definitely a lot to choose from.
In addition to this news, there has been an outbreak of character rumors about the spinoff recently. A purported leaked script revealed a storyline surrounding the C.D.C., giving Noah Emmerich's Edwin Jenner the potential to return, and various tweets from actor Juan G. Pareja gave rise to the thought that his character, Morales, could be back.
Of course, one past character who has already come back in "Walking Dead" is fan-favorite Morgan. Though, as actor Josh McDermitt pointed out to HuffPost Entertainment, he may not be joining the group as soon as we all think.
"Walking Dead" returns Sunday, Feb. 8, on AMC.
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Brad Paisley Knows the Secret of Success
If you're a young person who hails from West Virginia, where so many people live below the poverty level the U.S. Census Bureau ranks it sixth in the nation, having goals -- or what hit recording artist Brad Paisley calls dreams -- is crucial.
![2015-01-20-2015PerformanceMorgantownWV500byBenEnos11615.jpg]()
The West Virginia boy whose own dreams propelled him to superstar status kicked off the final leg of his "Country Nation World Tour" in Morgantown, W.Va., over the weekend. There, at a press conference, the Glen Dale native said, "dreams are very important things."
Paisley's dream consisted of two things: "to someday be a member of the (Grand Ole) Opry," he told reporters before he took the stage again Saturday night, "and to have a tour bus." Suffice to say that Paisley's dreams have been fulfilled. "This (life) is exactly -- it's way more than I expected -- but it's exactly what I was going to do," he said.
The key to making those dreams come true was imagination. "I could imagine it," he said. "If you can't imagine it, then you're not going to do it." While it might seem surprising now, back in his college days, Paisley lacked self-confidence. Still, he didn't let that drag him down. "Everybody can hopefully fantasize about success," he said. "You have to... see the goal."
To do that, it's important for today's young people to know themselves and their abilities. "I was never going to win the Nobel Prize for mathematics," Paisley said, using himself as an example, "because I had no ability."
He did, however, recognize his gifts early -- Paisley wrote his first song at age 12. Even with natural musical talent, he admits, "By no means was it easy. I had to work really hard to get better."
The credit for getting better goes to his home state. He says that "coming from a place where people are very supportive" really helped him. "That's one thing about West Virginia; it may not have it all, bu ... (our) communities are a very supportive place and we stick by our own," Paisley added.
He found that to be true when famous musicians mentored him, providing training at the Wheeling Jamboree. "I wouldn't be here without it," Paisley said. "If I was born somewhere else, I don't know necessarily what I'd be."
Paisley says successful people have two things in common. First, "they don't take no for an answer, no matter what. They . . . plow past the roadblocks." Second, they "capitalize on their strengths and make the most of what they're good at," Paisley added, encouraging today's youth to "find your gifts and then use them to do good things."
The West Virginia boy whose own dreams propelled him to superstar status kicked off the final leg of his "Country Nation World Tour" in Morgantown, W.Va., over the weekend. There, at a press conference, the Glen Dale native said, "dreams are very important things."
Paisley's dream consisted of two things: "to someday be a member of the (Grand Ole) Opry," he told reporters before he took the stage again Saturday night, "and to have a tour bus." Suffice to say that Paisley's dreams have been fulfilled. "This (life) is exactly -- it's way more than I expected -- but it's exactly what I was going to do," he said.
The key to making those dreams come true was imagination. "I could imagine it," he said. "If you can't imagine it, then you're not going to do it." While it might seem surprising now, back in his college days, Paisley lacked self-confidence. Still, he didn't let that drag him down. "Everybody can hopefully fantasize about success," he said. "You have to... see the goal."
To do that, it's important for today's young people to know themselves and their abilities. "I was never going to win the Nobel Prize for mathematics," Paisley said, using himself as an example, "because I had no ability."
He did, however, recognize his gifts early -- Paisley wrote his first song at age 12. Even with natural musical talent, he admits, "By no means was it easy. I had to work really hard to get better."
The credit for getting better goes to his home state. He says that "coming from a place where people are very supportive" really helped him. "That's one thing about West Virginia; it may not have it all, bu ... (our) communities are a very supportive place and we stick by our own," Paisley added.
He found that to be true when famous musicians mentored him, providing training at the Wheeling Jamboree. "I wouldn't be here without it," Paisley said. "If I was born somewhere else, I don't know necessarily what I'd be."
Paisley says successful people have two things in common. First, "they don't take no for an answer, no matter what. They . . . plow past the roadblocks." Second, they "capitalize on their strengths and make the most of what they're good at," Paisley added, encouraging today's youth to "find your gifts and then use them to do good things."
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Fall Out Boy Singer Pete Wentz Opens Up About His Battle With Bipolar Disorder
For the millions of people who have been touched by some form mental illness, Pete Wentz has a message for you: It's OK to open up.
The Fall Out Boy singer joined HuffPost Live's Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani earlier this week, where they discussed mental health stigma and the common misconceptions about what it means to treat the disorders. While many who struggle with mental illness believe that they'll be on medication or in therapy forever, Wentz stressed that everyone's journey is different.
"I think that the idea there's a 'one-size-fits-all' [treatment] is one of those myths," Wentz said. "Everybody figures themselves out in a different way. And I think there's no shame in talking about that kind of stuff. It's not something you should feel scared ... talking about."
Check out the full HuffPost Live clip above to hear more about Wentz's battle with bipolar disorder and for more on mental health, click here.
Have a story about mental health that you'd like to share? Email strongertogether@huffingtonpost.com, or give us a call at (860) 348-3376, and you can record your story in your own words. Please be sure to include your name and phone number.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
The Fall Out Boy singer joined HuffPost Live's Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani earlier this week, where they discussed mental health stigma and the common misconceptions about what it means to treat the disorders. While many who struggle with mental illness believe that they'll be on medication or in therapy forever, Wentz stressed that everyone's journey is different.
"I think that the idea there's a 'one-size-fits-all' [treatment] is one of those myths," Wentz said. "Everybody figures themselves out in a different way. And I think there's no shame in talking about that kind of stuff. It's not something you should feel scared ... talking about."
Check out the full HuffPost Live clip above to hear more about Wentz's battle with bipolar disorder and for more on mental health, click here.
Have a story about mental health that you'd like to share? Email strongertogether@huffingtonpost.com, or give us a call at (860) 348-3376, and you can record your story in your own words. Please be sure to include your name and phone number.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
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Patrick Dempsey's Wife Jillian Fink Files For Divorce
Patrick Dempsey’s wife, Jillian Fink, has filed for divorce after 15 years of marriage.
"It is with careful consideration and mutual respect that we have decided to end our marriage,” the couple said in a statement, People reported. “Our primary concern remains the well-being of our children, and we ask with profound gratitude that you respect our family's privacy at this very sensitive time.”
Dempsey and Fink have three children together: 12-year-old daughter Tallulah Fyfe and 7-year-old twins Sullivan Patrick and Darby Galen.
Fink, who filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, is seeking joint custody of the three children, as well as spousal and child support, TMZ reported.
The couple reportedly does not have a prenup. Dempsey, 49, is estimated to be worth about $40 million.
Dempsey and Fink, a hairstylist and makeup artist, married in 1999. The couple is said to have met several years earlier in Fink’s hair salon. The union was the second marriage for the “Grey’s Anatomy” actor, who had previously been married to actress Rocky Parker.
"It is with careful consideration and mutual respect that we have decided to end our marriage,” the couple said in a statement, People reported. “Our primary concern remains the well-being of our children, and we ask with profound gratitude that you respect our family's privacy at this very sensitive time.”
Dempsey and Fink have three children together: 12-year-old daughter Tallulah Fyfe and 7-year-old twins Sullivan Patrick and Darby Galen.
Fink, who filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, is seeking joint custody of the three children, as well as spousal and child support, TMZ reported.
The couple reportedly does not have a prenup. Dempsey, 49, is estimated to be worth about $40 million.
Dempsey and Fink, a hairstylist and makeup artist, married in 1999. The couple is said to have met several years earlier in Fink’s hair salon. The union was the second marriage for the “Grey’s Anatomy” actor, who had previously been married to actress Rocky Parker.
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Mandy Moore And Ryan Adams Split After Almost Six Years Of Marriage
Mandy Moore and husband Ryan Adams are calling it quits after almost six years of marriage, People confirms.
"Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams have mutually decided to end their marriage," a rep for Moore told the magazine in a statement. "It is a respectful, amicable parting of ways and both Mandy and Ryan are asking for media to respect their privacy at this time."
The pop icon and alt-country singer tied the knot back in March 2009 in Savannah, Georgia. The couple has since remained notoriously private about their relationship, with Adams once hanging up during a radio interview when DJs continued to prod him about Moore.
The pair -- who have collaborated on songs including 2011's "Empty Rooms" -- did, however, publicly celebrate their five-year anniversary last year, sharing snaps of their party to Instagram.
"Celebrating love w the greatest friends and family last night," Moore wrote at the time. "Feeling incredibly grateful today."
"Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams have mutually decided to end their marriage," a rep for Moore told the magazine in a statement. "It is a respectful, amicable parting of ways and both Mandy and Ryan are asking for media to respect their privacy at this time."
The pop icon and alt-country singer tied the knot back in March 2009 in Savannah, Georgia. The couple has since remained notoriously private about their relationship, with Adams once hanging up during a radio interview when DJs continued to prod him about Moore.
The pair -- who have collaborated on songs including 2011's "Empty Rooms" -- did, however, publicly celebrate their five-year anniversary last year, sharing snaps of their party to Instagram.
"Celebrating love w the greatest friends and family last night," Moore wrote at the time. "Feeling incredibly grateful today."
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Kanye West Explains The Real Reason He Doesn't Smile
Kanye West is notorious for keeping a straight face in photos, and now we know the reason why. While at The Daily Front Row’s Fashion Los Angeles Awards, West revealed the reason he doesn't show his teeth is because of a book from the 1800s he came across while working on "Yeezus":
So there you have it. Smiling just isn't cool. If you need any more proof, just take a look:
Cool.
![459920514]()
Not cool.
![459920496]()
The difference is astounding.
West's significant other, Kim Kardashian, previously explained in an Instagram that the reason she doesn't smile is to prevent wrinkles. Aversion to smiling doesn't seem to be hereditary, though. The couple's daughter, North West, is clearly not afraid to show off those pearly whites:
I looked at all these people’s photos and they look so real and their outfits were incredible and they weren’t smiling and people, you know the paparazzi, always come up to me, "Why you not smiling?" and I think, not smiling makes me smile … When you see paintings in an old castle, people are not smiling ’cause it just wouldn’t look as cool.
So there you have it. Smiling just isn't cool. If you need any more proof, just take a look:
Cool.
Not cool.
The difference is astounding.
West's significant other, Kim Kardashian, previously explained in an Instagram that the reason she doesn't smile is to prevent wrinkles. Aversion to smiling doesn't seem to be hereditary, though. The couple's daughter, North West, is clearly not afraid to show off those pearly whites:
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Bill Maher Says 'American Sniper' Is About A 'Psychopath Patriot'
Bill Maher has addressed the recent controversy surrounding the Clint Eastwood film "American Sniper."
The film -- based on the autobiography of Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history -- broke box office records when it raked in $90.2 million over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. But it has divided viewers and critics alike in its exploration of war and patriotism.
On "Real Time With Bill Maher" on Friday, the host criticized the picture for what he views as a lack of nuance.
"'Hurt Locker' made 17 million because it was a little ambiguous and thoughtful," Maher said. "['American Sniper'] is just 'American hero! He's a psychopath patriot, and we love him.'"
The host then went on to criticize sections of Kyle's autobiography, including a part in which Maher says he writes, "I hate the damn savages," in reference to the Iraqis.
"Eisenhower once said I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can," Maher said. "I just don't see this guy in the same league as Eisenhower. If you're a Christian, 'I hate the damn savages' doesn't seem like a Christian thing to say."
The film -- based on the autobiography of Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history -- broke box office records when it raked in $90.2 million over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. But it has divided viewers and critics alike in its exploration of war and patriotism.
On "Real Time With Bill Maher" on Friday, the host criticized the picture for what he views as a lack of nuance.
"'Hurt Locker' made 17 million because it was a little ambiguous and thoughtful," Maher said. "['American Sniper'] is just 'American hero! He's a psychopath patriot, and we love him.'"
The host then went on to criticize sections of Kyle's autobiography, including a part in which Maher says he writes, "I hate the damn savages," in reference to the Iraqis.
"Eisenhower once said I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can," Maher said. "I just don't see this guy in the same league as Eisenhower. If you're a Christian, 'I hate the damn savages' doesn't seem like a Christian thing to say."
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'Boy Next Door' Star Ryan Guzman Says J.Lo Was His Best Onscreen Kiss
If Jennifer Lopez is looking for a new man, it sounds like she could set her sites on the dude she gets hot and heavy with in "Boy Next Door" -- cause he's a big fan.
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Miley Cyrus Admits She Can't Spell Boyfriend Patrick Schwarzenegger's Last Name
Miley Cyrus admitted that she has no clue how to spell her famous boyfriend's tough last name.
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Hilary Duff And Her Pup Have A Very Adorable Day
Hilary Duff carries around Beau, her French Bulldog, during a walk around her neighborhood on Jan. 21.
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Sundance So Far: Adam Scott & Jason Schwartzman's Fake Penises, Ethan Hawke's Latest Dad & 'The Witch'
Last time on Sundance So Far, we discussed "The Bronze" and other movies that opened the festival. Temperatures dropped to 18 degrees at sundown in Park City, Utah, on Day 2 of Sundance. Parkas were out and crowds were thick at some of the most anticipated films of the opening weekend. The press screening for "Z for Zachariah," filled up two hours before the film began, and Jason Segel stunned audiences as David Foster Wallace at the world premiere of "The End of the Tour." We'll write about both of those films shortly, but here are the other titles HuffPost Entertainment editor Matthew Jacobs and Los Angeles senior editor Sasha Bronner caught on Friday:
"Stockholm, Pennsylvania"
Written and directed by Nikole Beckwith
Starring Saoirse Ronan, Jason Isaacs and Cynthia Nixon
![stockholm]()
There is more than initially meets the eye in the post-kidnapping drama about a young woman, played by Saoirse Ronan (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”), who is returned to her home after being held captive in a basement for the majority of her life.
Taken from a park when she was 4 years old raised by her kidnapper (played by Jason Isaacs), the extent of what her character knows about the world can be held in the palm of her hand.
The film’s intentional use of claustrophobia does the trick. When Ronan sticks her head out of her bedroom window and, we presume, feels rain for the first time, you too feel her wonder and her innocence.
But this is not an innocent film. Cynthia Nixon, who plays Ronan’s mother, is understandably emotional when her daughter returns home and does her very best to help the family acclimate to their suddenly different circumstances (think “trust falls”). But the people of the town stare. And they discover that their missing daughter doesn’t know when her real birthday is, doesn’t remember them at all and actually thinks that her name is Leia -- “named after a Princess,” she tells her parents on her first afternoon home.
The psychological phenomenon Stockholm syndrome describes the common scenario of a captive feeling protective, loving and sympathetic to their captor. Ronan’s character visits the man who took her only once in jail and after telling him that she doesn’t know how to do anything in the real world, she also says she doesn’t know what the worst thing is that’s happened to her -- spending her life with him, or spending the rest of it without him.
When she asks if he regrets it, he answers that it takes the same amount of effort to run in place or to run a mile, and he would rather see the mile.
A startling twist (which, of course, we will not ruin for you) turns everything inside out. Filmmaker Nikole Beckwith presents a quiet and powerful debut feature that succeeds in redefining what captivity means as well as tilting the kaleidoscope of identity and love ninety degrees on its side.
Stay tuned: Saoirse Ronan gets more screen time at the festival -- she also stars in the 1950s drama “Brooklyn,” written by Nick Hornby, as an Irish-American immigrant attempting to choose between love and her place in the world. -- SB
*****
"The Overnight"
Written and directed by Patrick Brice
Starring Taylor Schilling, Adam Scott, Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godrèche
![overnight]()
Two delights of Friday's Sundance came in Patrick Brice's very funny "The Overnight." First, Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling, playing a couple looking for friends after moving to Los Angeles, smoke weed with another couple (Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godrèche) who invite them over for what appears to be an innocent playdate for their children. They are a riot as bumbling stoners who conjure up a candidness foreign to their lives as young parents during what turns out to be a quite propulsive gathering. Later, Scott and Schwartzman prance around naked for a solid chunk of the film, for reasons I'd rather you discover on your own. Just know that both actors wear prosthetics, and the size of the genitals on display is an uproarious part of the plot.
"The Overnight" is just bawdy enough to be something of a sex comedy, but it's nothing if not a tactful tale of a rowdy, confused couple befriending the innocent newcomers from their neighborhood park. The playdate -- billed as a simple pizza night at their palatial home -- turns into an all-night affair with increasingly bizarre results. There's a slight dip in the film's energy toward the end as the dramatic underpinnings of the foursome's lives unfold, but it doesn't take away from the sharp performances and clever writing this film boasts. Now where should we mail our smoke-out invitation for Scott and Schilling? -- MJ
*****
"The Witch"
Written and directed by Robert Eggers
Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Kate Dickie, Ralph Ineson, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson and Ellie Grainger
![the witch]()
Today's horror landscape is bleak. The reliance on gratuitous violence and uninventive scare tactics is more of a nightmare than any of the stories being depicted onscreen. Yet every year a few movies break through the gore to channel the worldly panic that horror is meant to showcase. This year, one of those is "The Witch," a movie that became one of Day 2's buzziest Sundance titles. (To wit: A24 is nearing a deal to distribute "The Witch.")
Set in 1630 New England, "The Witch" is a stylish chiller about a devoutly Christian family whose infant vanishes. Their crops fail and they begin accusing one another of occultism -- all while a witch creeps through the depths of the woods that surround their home. The movie seems talky at first, but let these irascible colonials work through their muddy family dynamics, from the mother's grief-stricken instability to the father's sympathy for her daughter after his wife accuses her of witchcraft. This is eerie filmmaking at its finest, which is all the more remarkable considering Robert Eggers is a first-time director. By the time their paranoia reaches peak levels, this family of six can barely stomach the sight of one another, so wracked with the panic that haunts their countenance. As if Mark Korven's strings-heavy score weren't enough eerie enough, know that the film is pieced together using actual journals (including specific conversations) that chronicled the witchcraft that took place in the 17th century. -- MJ
*****
“Ten Thousand Saints”
Written and drected by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Starring Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Emile Hirsch and Emily Mortimer
![ten thousand]()
Who doesn’t want to see Ethan Hawke as a burner, weed-selling, dysfunctional father with a heart of gold? Apparently no one, because the premiere of his new film “Ten Thousand Saints” was sold out Friday evening at the Sundance Film Festival. Hawke stars alongside Emily Mortimer, Hailee Steinfeld, Emile Hirsch and
Asa Butterfield, and is the center of an off-kilter family dealing with an actual tragedy and also the general tragedy of growing up.
Set in the 1980s, first in Vermont and then in the East Village in New York City, the film is dripping with teen angst, drugs and rock and roll. Actually, teen angst, weed, cocaine, mushrooms, plenty of huffing and punk rock, to be exact. There are Hare Krishnas, tattoos, protests in New York City and a genre of the hardcore punk scene called “straight edge” where abstinence and sobriety are encouraged.
The teen stars of the film are its strength, carrying their angst like a heavy duffle bag thrown in the corner of every room they enter. But there is a lot packed into the story and there may just be too many protagonists involved for many viewers’ tastes. We probably aren’t supposed to, but in some ways end up rooting the most for Hawke in all his flawed attempts at being a decent father.
Filmmaking duo Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini work as a team writing, directing and editing and are best known for “American Splendor” (2003), “The Nanny Diaries” (2007) and “Cinema Verite” (2011). The two were nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 for their writing of “American Splendor.”
The writing in “Ten Thousand Saints” gives Hawke room to make audiences laugh with his idea of good parenting and one of the most awkward father-son talks we have seen. In a surprisingly poignant moment, he reveals to his son (played by Butterfield) one of his observations about the world and about family: “Women make their decisions and men are just trying not to be men. The whole system needs looking over.”
Young Millenials will flock to the film if they are looking for an indie, hipster coming of age story with plenty of bad decisions and always, of course, the promise of love. -- SB
"Stockholm, Pennsylvania"
Written and directed by Nikole Beckwith
Starring Saoirse Ronan, Jason Isaacs and Cynthia Nixon
There is more than initially meets the eye in the post-kidnapping drama about a young woman, played by Saoirse Ronan (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”), who is returned to her home after being held captive in a basement for the majority of her life.
Taken from a park when she was 4 years old raised by her kidnapper (played by Jason Isaacs), the extent of what her character knows about the world can be held in the palm of her hand.
The film’s intentional use of claustrophobia does the trick. When Ronan sticks her head out of her bedroom window and, we presume, feels rain for the first time, you too feel her wonder and her innocence.
But this is not an innocent film. Cynthia Nixon, who plays Ronan’s mother, is understandably emotional when her daughter returns home and does her very best to help the family acclimate to their suddenly different circumstances (think “trust falls”). But the people of the town stare. And they discover that their missing daughter doesn’t know when her real birthday is, doesn’t remember them at all and actually thinks that her name is Leia -- “named after a Princess,” she tells her parents on her first afternoon home.
The psychological phenomenon Stockholm syndrome describes the common scenario of a captive feeling protective, loving and sympathetic to their captor. Ronan’s character visits the man who took her only once in jail and after telling him that she doesn’t know how to do anything in the real world, she also says she doesn’t know what the worst thing is that’s happened to her -- spending her life with him, or spending the rest of it without him.
When she asks if he regrets it, he answers that it takes the same amount of effort to run in place or to run a mile, and he would rather see the mile.
A startling twist (which, of course, we will not ruin for you) turns everything inside out. Filmmaker Nikole Beckwith presents a quiet and powerful debut feature that succeeds in redefining what captivity means as well as tilting the kaleidoscope of identity and love ninety degrees on its side.
Stay tuned: Saoirse Ronan gets more screen time at the festival -- she also stars in the 1950s drama “Brooklyn,” written by Nick Hornby, as an Irish-American immigrant attempting to choose between love and her place in the world. -- SB
*****
"The Overnight"
Written and directed by Patrick Brice
Starring Taylor Schilling, Adam Scott, Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godrèche
Two delights of Friday's Sundance came in Patrick Brice's very funny "The Overnight." First, Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling, playing a couple looking for friends after moving to Los Angeles, smoke weed with another couple (Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godrèche) who invite them over for what appears to be an innocent playdate for their children. They are a riot as bumbling stoners who conjure up a candidness foreign to their lives as young parents during what turns out to be a quite propulsive gathering. Later, Scott and Schwartzman prance around naked for a solid chunk of the film, for reasons I'd rather you discover on your own. Just know that both actors wear prosthetics, and the size of the genitals on display is an uproarious part of the plot.
"The Overnight" is just bawdy enough to be something of a sex comedy, but it's nothing if not a tactful tale of a rowdy, confused couple befriending the innocent newcomers from their neighborhood park. The playdate -- billed as a simple pizza night at their palatial home -- turns into an all-night affair with increasingly bizarre results. There's a slight dip in the film's energy toward the end as the dramatic underpinnings of the foursome's lives unfold, but it doesn't take away from the sharp performances and clever writing this film boasts. Now where should we mail our smoke-out invitation for Scott and Schilling? -- MJ
*****
"The Witch"
Written and directed by Robert Eggers
Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Kate Dickie, Ralph Ineson, Harvey Scrimshaw, Lucas Dawson and Ellie Grainger
Today's horror landscape is bleak. The reliance on gratuitous violence and uninventive scare tactics is more of a nightmare than any of the stories being depicted onscreen. Yet every year a few movies break through the gore to channel the worldly panic that horror is meant to showcase. This year, one of those is "The Witch," a movie that became one of Day 2's buzziest Sundance titles. (To wit: A24 is nearing a deal to distribute "The Witch.")
Set in 1630 New England, "The Witch" is a stylish chiller about a devoutly Christian family whose infant vanishes. Their crops fail and they begin accusing one another of occultism -- all while a witch creeps through the depths of the woods that surround their home. The movie seems talky at first, but let these irascible colonials work through their muddy family dynamics, from the mother's grief-stricken instability to the father's sympathy for her daughter after his wife accuses her of witchcraft. This is eerie filmmaking at its finest, which is all the more remarkable considering Robert Eggers is a first-time director. By the time their paranoia reaches peak levels, this family of six can barely stomach the sight of one another, so wracked with the panic that haunts their countenance. As if Mark Korven's strings-heavy score weren't enough eerie enough, know that the film is pieced together using actual journals (including specific conversations) that chronicled the witchcraft that took place in the 17th century. -- MJ
*****
“Ten Thousand Saints”
Written and drected by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
Starring Ethan Hawke, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Emile Hirsch and Emily Mortimer
Who doesn’t want to see Ethan Hawke as a burner, weed-selling, dysfunctional father with a heart of gold? Apparently no one, because the premiere of his new film “Ten Thousand Saints” was sold out Friday evening at the Sundance Film Festival. Hawke stars alongside Emily Mortimer, Hailee Steinfeld, Emile Hirsch and
Asa Butterfield, and is the center of an off-kilter family dealing with an actual tragedy and also the general tragedy of growing up.
Set in the 1980s, first in Vermont and then in the East Village in New York City, the film is dripping with teen angst, drugs and rock and roll. Actually, teen angst, weed, cocaine, mushrooms, plenty of huffing and punk rock, to be exact. There are Hare Krishnas, tattoos, protests in New York City and a genre of the hardcore punk scene called “straight edge” where abstinence and sobriety are encouraged.
The teen stars of the film are its strength, carrying their angst like a heavy duffle bag thrown in the corner of every room they enter. But there is a lot packed into the story and there may just be too many protagonists involved for many viewers’ tastes. We probably aren’t supposed to, but in some ways end up rooting the most for Hawke in all his flawed attempts at being a decent father.
Filmmaking duo Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini work as a team writing, directing and editing and are best known for “American Splendor” (2003), “The Nanny Diaries” (2007) and “Cinema Verite” (2011). The two were nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 for their writing of “American Splendor.”
The writing in “Ten Thousand Saints” gives Hawke room to make audiences laugh with his idea of good parenting and one of the most awkward father-son talks we have seen. In a surprisingly poignant moment, he reveals to his son (played by Butterfield) one of his observations about the world and about family: “Women make their decisions and men are just trying not to be men. The whole system needs looking over.”
Young Millenials will flock to the film if they are looking for an indie, hipster coming of age story with plenty of bad decisions and always, of course, the promise of love. -- SB
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Rihanna Just Dropped 'FourFiveSeconds,' A New Song With Kanye & Paul McCartney
Surprise! Rihanna released a new song on Saturday night: "FourFiveSeconds" with Kanye West and Paul McCartney. The acoustic track was teased by West on Wednesday at the iHeartMedia Music Summit. Listen at Rihanna's website: rihannanow.com. ("FourFiveSeconds" is also available at iTunes.)
Rihanna hasn't released a new album since 2012's "Unapologetic," but it's expected she'll put out a record this year. We can't wait.
— Rihanna (@rihanna) January 25, 2015FIRST GLIMPSE AT MY NEW MUSIC!!!---> http://t.co/8bsJSvxVp6
— Rihanna (@rihanna) January 25, 2015Rihanna hasn't released a new album since 2012's "Unapologetic," but it's expected she'll put out a record this year. We can't wait.
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Lena Dunham Dings Woody Allen, Discusses Campus Rape At Sundance
“America is at its most puritanical,” Lena Dunham proclaimed to a group of (mostly female) patrons at a Sundance panel discussion on Saturday afternoon. "People are forgetting that humor is a tool for debate and a tool for expression."
The panel, moderated by New Yorker critic Emily Nussbaum, was titled "Power of Story: Serious Ladies" and featured four women who have become some of the most powerful forces in comedy over the last five years: Lena Dunham ("Girls"), Mindy Kaling ("The Mindy Project," "The Office"), Kristen Wiig ("Bridesmaids," "Saturday Night Live"), Jenji Kohan ("Orange Is the New Black," "Weeds").
Maybe as a result, the initial conversation was tight-lipped. Dunham teased they were now all too seasoned to fall for "gotcha" questions -- like when Nussbaum asked what jokes they've cut from their shows for being over the line -- and that perhaps each woman was just too media-trained now. But that didn't stop her from making one buzzy comment about Woody Allen.
The panel had just discussed how fans often assume Dunham and Kaling are just like the characters they write or play. (Wiig joked that if she were anything like the characters she plays, she would be "really fucked up.") They agreed that male artists deal with this less, and Dunham decided to push the conversation further.
Saying she doubts that people like Woody Allen and Larry David walk around being mistaken for the characters they play, Dunham stated: "Woody Allen is proof that people don’t think that everything he does in his films is stuff that he does. Because all he was doing was making out with 17-year-old girls for years and we didn’t say a word about it. And then he did it. A bunch. No one went, 'Oh, Woody Allen is making out with a 17-year-old in "Manhattan"; I guess he’s a real perv.' And then lo and behold ..."
![lena dunham]()
After that, the room was more alive, but the general questions about being female powerhouses came and went, as did queries about if film or television is the better landscape for women at the moment. But each woman on the panel had a chance to discuss what political issue was most important to her.
After muttering under her breath that it was going to sound stupid, Wiig was first to answer the question. "I think it's important to know where your food comes from. The food in schools right now is the worst. The grade of meat they allow is below what supermarkets allow. I think it's terrible and it affects how we learn and it affects our health. Our health is our lives."
Kohan, whose show "Orange Is The New Black" is known for challenging our perceptions of gender and sexuality, stated, “Something I find myself railing against is fundamentalism in all its forms."
Dunham spoke out about reproductive rights and justice. "The idea that this is still something that women, in what I supposed to be the freest nation, are still fighting for every single day. And it's not just a political issue -- it's also a lot about class and race -- it is a part of all of these other forms of inequality and injustice in our country."
She also commended the Sundance documentary "The Hunting Ground," which focuses on the issue of campus rape.
"Women on college campuses are some of the most privileged women with the loudest platforms to tell their stories," she said. "Most of them are middle class and white. And they still can't be heard as survivors of sexual assault. So think about what that means. That is indicative of the fact that sexual assault is an epidemic and so many people are voiceless."
Pointing out that she realizes focusing only on campuses is ignoring so much other sexual assault in the nation, Dunham clarified, "I think campuses are a great place to start because that is where we are being educated and where we are told we are going to be safe."
Kaling was also concerned with a female issue. "So many girls who look up to me are young women of color who have been told that they are ugly," she said. "They feel that they are not normal. I think it's so important for us to help illuminate that they can be beautiful and objects of love and attention and affection. I feel sad when people say, 'You are the first person who made me feel that that is possible.'"
Fans can watch the entire panel below:
The panel, moderated by New Yorker critic Emily Nussbaum, was titled "Power of Story: Serious Ladies" and featured four women who have become some of the most powerful forces in comedy over the last five years: Lena Dunham ("Girls"), Mindy Kaling ("The Mindy Project," "The Office"), Kristen Wiig ("Bridesmaids," "Saturday Night Live"), Jenji Kohan ("Orange Is the New Black," "Weeds").
Maybe as a result, the initial conversation was tight-lipped. Dunham teased they were now all too seasoned to fall for "gotcha" questions -- like when Nussbaum asked what jokes they've cut from their shows for being over the line -- and that perhaps each woman was just too media-trained now. But that didn't stop her from making one buzzy comment about Woody Allen.
The panel had just discussed how fans often assume Dunham and Kaling are just like the characters they write or play. (Wiig joked that if she were anything like the characters she plays, she would be "really fucked up.") They agreed that male artists deal with this less, and Dunham decided to push the conversation further.
Saying she doubts that people like Woody Allen and Larry David walk around being mistaken for the characters they play, Dunham stated: "Woody Allen is proof that people don’t think that everything he does in his films is stuff that he does. Because all he was doing was making out with 17-year-old girls for years and we didn’t say a word about it. And then he did it. A bunch. No one went, 'Oh, Woody Allen is making out with a 17-year-old in "Manhattan"; I guess he’s a real perv.' And then lo and behold ..."
After that, the room was more alive, but the general questions about being female powerhouses came and went, as did queries about if film or television is the better landscape for women at the moment. But each woman on the panel had a chance to discuss what political issue was most important to her.
After muttering under her breath that it was going to sound stupid, Wiig was first to answer the question. "I think it's important to know where your food comes from. The food in schools right now is the worst. The grade of meat they allow is below what supermarkets allow. I think it's terrible and it affects how we learn and it affects our health. Our health is our lives."
Kohan, whose show "Orange Is The New Black" is known for challenging our perceptions of gender and sexuality, stated, “Something I find myself railing against is fundamentalism in all its forms."
Dunham spoke out about reproductive rights and justice. "The idea that this is still something that women, in what I supposed to be the freest nation, are still fighting for every single day. And it's not just a political issue -- it's also a lot about class and race -- it is a part of all of these other forms of inequality and injustice in our country."
She also commended the Sundance documentary "The Hunting Ground," which focuses on the issue of campus rape.
"Women on college campuses are some of the most privileged women with the loudest platforms to tell their stories," she said. "Most of them are middle class and white. And they still can't be heard as survivors of sexual assault. So think about what that means. That is indicative of the fact that sexual assault is an epidemic and so many people are voiceless."
Pointing out that she realizes focusing only on campuses is ignoring so much other sexual assault in the nation, Dunham clarified, "I think campuses are a great place to start because that is where we are being educated and where we are told we are going to be safe."
Kaling was also concerned with a female issue. "So many girls who look up to me are young women of color who have been told that they are ugly," she said. "They feel that they are not normal. I think it's so important for us to help illuminate that they can be beautiful and objects of love and attention and affection. I feel sad when people say, 'You are the first person who made me feel that that is possible.'"
Fans can watch the entire panel below:
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