Posts Tagged ‘Michael Shannon’

Short Take: Emotionally taxing and anxiety-inducing, but clearly one of this year's best films

Director: Jeff Nichols

Screenwriter: Jeff Nichols

Cast: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain

Length: 2h

Synopsis: Curtis (Shannon) is a husband, father, and construction worker whose main concern is providing for his family. Recently, however, he’s been experiencing vivid nightmares involving terrible storms that compel him to expensively modify the storm shelter behind his rural home. With his worries seemingly unfounded, his efforts cause his wife (Chastain), friends, and community to suspect that he’s succumbing to psychosis just like his mother did when he was young. The project takes a financial and emotional toll that threatens his marriage and way of life, but he just can’t shake the feeling that another kind of catastrophe lies just over the horizon. He tries desperately to seek help, but finds that the only way to ease his anxiety is to finish creating that which is meant to protect what he’s so close to losing. What happens after it’s finished, however, will end up challenging him the most.

Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: The quality of the performances alone make the film worth viewing

Director: Floria Sigismondi (Début)

Screenwriter: Floria Sigismondi (Début)

Cast: Dakota Fanning (Twilight Saga: New Moon, Push), Kristen Stewart (Twilight Saga: New Moon, Adventureland), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road; My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done)

Length: 1 hour 45 minutes

Synopsis: The film details the rise and fall of the first major female rock band, The Runaways, mainly through the eyes of the band’s lead singer, Cherie Currie (Fanning).  The band forms in the mid 1970s when a determined young Joan Jett (Stewart) befriends a Svengali-like music producer Kim Fowley (Shannon).  After discovering Cherie in a nightclub, they cultivate the band’s rough, energetic sound.  They travel around the country doing small shows and when the band finally takes off, the girls, still in their teens, struggle to cope with their life of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Read the rest of this entry »

Actor Enver Gjokaj, a man who Marisa says is one to keep an eye on because of his impressive range

We here at Movie-Thoughts find it very interesting to keep tabs on actors throughout their careers, especially from the time when they make their big break to when they become a full-fledged star. Below is a list of 7 actors and actresses from movies and/or television shows that our writer Marisa Carpico contests are worth keeping a close eye on, because you’re bound to see more of them in the future. Some names you might recognize, as they’ve been in the professional acting arena for several years, but they might not have thus far had the kind of notoriety that propels the gifted few into the “A” Class of Hollywood.

————————————————————————————————

Lea Michele: Glee fans will know her as the borderline-obnoxious overachiever, Rachel from Fox’s hit show, but before she lusted over the cute quarterback, she lusted over the cute rebel in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Spring Awakening.  As a successful Broadway actress with plays like Awakening, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, and Les Misérables on her résumé, Michele clearly has talent.  Her abilities are on display in every episode of Glee where she lends her incredible vocals to tracks like “Don’t Stop Believing” and “My Life Would Suck Without You,” both of which had strong performances on the Billboard Top 100 Chart.  However, though her singing is certainly excellent, her acting is just as interesting.  During her show-stopping performance of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from Funny Girl during the “Sectionals” episode, Michele lent the song an energy and abandon that made her character’s desperate need for fame evident.  Michele’s skill at bringing Rachel to the point of unbearable, but always making her vulnerable and talented enough to keep viewers from hating her is likely what garnered her a Golden Globe nomination.  The big challenge for Michele in 2010 will be to find roles that show off more than just her vocal talents. Read the rest of this entry »