Every day, Opening Acts highlights the best pieces of writing on film, television, and literature published around the Internet. Please share if you like what you see.
For your reading enjoyment …
1. The Best Films And Books About Music To Watch Out For In 2015, by Kitty Empire. Empire lists the material about music to make you stand up and take notice this year.
“A radically different view of the 1980s comes from Straight Outta Compton (due out in the US in August), a biopic about the rise of hard-hitting Cali rap crew NWA… ‘I don’t know any other movie where you can mix gangster rap, the FBI, the LA riots, HIV and fucking feuding with each other.’.”
2. Australia Day 2015: Margaret Pomeranz’s Top 10 Australian Films. The Sydney Morning Herald reported what veteran critic Margaret Pomeranz’s top 10 Australian films were as the nation celebrated its day of federation.
“This exquisitely made film from Peter Weir (Gallipoli) defined for me the tragedy of war as well as the naivety of the young men who enter into that arena. With sublime performances and haunting music it was an emotional punch to the gut.”
In related news, Pomeranz’s on-screen partner for 25 years David Stratton was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia.
3. Adam Scott and Jason Schwartzman on Their Sundance Comedy ‘The Overnight’, and Prosthetic Penises, by Jada Yuan. Yuan interviews the pair about the unavoidable.
“I feel like the prosthetics were great for the movie, because they … each had their own function in the movie. One, my coming out, prosthetically, is sort of a plot twist, or a plot escalation, which is, this night is going further. This isn’t just a pizza party anymore.”
4. An Unblinking Look at Sexual Assaults on Campus: ‘The Hunting Ground,’ a Film About Rape Culture at Colleges, by Brooks Barnes. Barnes discusses the impact of this Sundance film.
“Though the subject has been explored in depth by some publications, the response testified to the power of film. At the premiere on Friday, audience members repeatedly gasped as student after student spoke on camera about being sexually assaulted.”
5. France, Birthplace of Cinema, Is Losing Film Production to Its Neighbors by Claire Barthelemy. Barthelemy investigates how French films are increasingly seeking funding from neighbouring countries like Luxembourg.
“Twenty-two percent of filming for French movies was completed beyond its borders in the first nine months of 2014. In 2012, a particularly devastating year in terms of production flight, the rate was 50 percent for projects with budgets between €10 million and €20 million.”
