Where have we been?
Fair question. Not to get into too many details, but we decided to take a short break and then we each had our own little medical misadventures. Nevertheless, we’re back on our respective feet and ready to go!
In another day or two we’ll be providing you with our tribute to Robert Redford, specifically his legacy to the film industry through the Sundance Festival. But for now, enjoy Reel 88.
If you’ve been with us long enough you may remember all the way back to our 12th episode, when we gave you the backstage drama of Stage Door and All About Eve. Both of those shows were firmly set in the Broadway milieu. This time around we take on a more international flair.
We open with a look at Topsy Turvy, a 1999 British film written and directed by Mike Leigh. It’s played largely for comedy and it brings us the mostly-true story of how Gilbert and Sullivan managed to stage perhaps their best-known play, The Mikado.
From there we take a sharp tonal shift with the psychological drama Clouds of Sils Maria (shut up, I know I misspelled it in the cover art). Kristen Stewart is the American assistant to an internationally-famous star of stage and screen played by Juliette Binoche. As we move through the film, everyone is forced to confront questions about life, love, time, aging, culture in general and, once Chloe Grace Moretz appears on screen, the blurring of lines between actors, their roles, and their personal relationships. It’s a kind of All About Eve-meets-Persona story, and I’m really underselling how compelling it all is.
Oh—and Sean will be happy to learn that my stance on Kristen Stewart is softening a little bit.
A little bit.
COMING ATTRACTIONS:Â
In Reel 89, we look at a couple of self-aware adaptations. We’ll start with Adaptation (2002), then move on to Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005). Join us, won’t you?