FILM 1969: SHOPLIFTERS

FILM 1969: SHOPLIFTERS 

TRIVIA: The original title of the film, Manbiki Kazoku, literally translates as Shoplifting Family.

First Japanese movie to win the Palme d'Or since The Eel (1997) in 1997.

Official submission of Japan for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 91st Academy Awards in 2019.

FILM 1843: SAFE HAVEN

FILM 1843: SAFE HAVEN

TRIVIA: This is the first Nicholas Sparks film adaptation to have an actual antagonist.

This is the 8th film adapted from a Nicholas Sparks novel and the second one to be directed by Lasse Halström, the first one being Dear John (2010).

Keira Knightley was offered the role of Katie. Knightley chose to star in Begin Again(2013) instead.

Covered on episode 105 of the podcast How Did This Get Made.

FILM 1759: I, TONYA

FILM 1759: I, TONYA

TRIVIA: Allison Janney had seriously trained to become a figure skater throughout her childhood and adolescence. However, when she was 17, she accidentally walked into a sliding glass door and gravely injured her right leg. In 2014, during an interview on "Fresh Air," Janney told interviewer Terry Gross that her leg came close to being amputated. "I lost like three-quarters of my blood. I lost an artery and cut tendon....I was in the hospital for like seven--seven, eight weeks. I missed my first year of college. You know, and after that, of course, I didn't really--I didn't skate for a very long time."

Although Margot Robbie trained extensively for the role, she wasn't able to perform a triple axel, nor could a skating double be found as very few women figure skaters are able to perform the jump, producer Tom Ackerley stated, "There has been only six women since Tonya who have done a triple axel, even if there was one who was doing it today, she'd be training for the Olympics and couldn't risk doing it for the film." The jump was accomplished with the use of visual effects.

To prevent damaging her hair, Margot Robbie wears wigs as Tonya Harding. Surprisingly, the hair team used beer to achieve the "crunchy" permed look when regular hair products didn't produce the desired result.

Nancy Kerrigan stated in interviews relating to her Dancing with the Stars (2005) appearance that she wouldn't be seeing the movie despite not knowing how much of it would feature her, saying "I already lived through that."

Steven Rogers' script was featured on the 2016 Black List of the most-liked, unproduced scripts of the year.

Margot Robbie is five inches taller than Tonya Harding.

I, Tonya marks the third film Margot Robbie has features in in which breaking the fourth wall is a prominent part of the plot. The other two being The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and The Big Short (2015). On I, Tonya and The Big Short her characters (Tonya Harding and, basically herself) speak to the audience, whereas her character in The Wolf of Wall Street (Naomi Lapaglia) does not.

PODCAST: DIRTY JOHN

I decided to start listing recent podcasts that I’ve listened to. This week I finished Dirty John. I totally binge-listened to this and finished it within a few days. Here’s some info:

Dirty John is an investigative journalism podcast hosted by journalist Christopher Goffard and created by Wondery and Los Angeles Times.

The podcast was downloaded over 10 million times within 6 weeks of release.

The podcast was named Dirty John which was one of John Meehan's nicknames given to him by his classmates during his time at the University of Dayton. Other nicknames from this time included Filthy John, or just Filthy. The exact nexus of these nicknames was never divulged during the podcast.

Dirty John is a true crime story focusing on the life and exploits of John Meehan. L.A. Times Journalist Christopher Goffard first heard of Meehan when he learned that the police were investigating a possible murder in Newport Beach. Upon investigating, Goffard discovered a bizarre web of deceit and abuse.

The main focus of the story is Meehan's relationship with businesswoman Debra Newell, who he met via Internet dating, as well her immediate and extended family. The podcast deals with themes of abuse and manipulation, as well as the behaviours of those being abused.

MY VERDICT:

I absolutely loved this podcast, it reeled me in immediately and was extremely well written and paced. The ending (which I won’t spoil) is even more shocking because of the way the story is expertly structured.

It was especially interesting to me because I too have been in a relationship with a manipulative and talented liar and a lot of the things that were said about John rang true for me. It was a cathartic experience to hear these tales and know that my troubles are over and that I wouldn’t be fooled by someone like this again.

Every podcast I listen to I compare to Serial, mostly because it was the first one I really listened to but also because it’s still one of the best, this was not quite as good as Serial but still very interesting and enjoyable to listen to.

https://wondery.com/wondery/shows/dirtyjohn/

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-dirty-john/

FILM 1664: AUDRIE & DAISY 

TRIVIA: The twenty-fourth Netflix original documentary.

FILM 1470: WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE?

A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."

TRIVIA: Nina Simone was born on February 21, 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, USA as Eunice Kathleen Waymon. She was married to Andrew Stroud and Donald Ross. She died on April 21, 2003 in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.

Sixth of seven children. She Studied at Julliard School of Music in New York.

Her professional name is a combination of Nina ("little one"), from an Hispanic boyfriend, and Simone from French film actress Simone Signoret.

In 1995 she was given a suspended eight-month jail term after firing a scatter-gun at a pair of noisy teenagers playing next to her home in Bouc-Bel-Air near Aix-en-Provence. That same year she was fined $US 5,000 for leaving the scene of a car accident that had occurred in 1993.

SIMONE STANDARDS: Throughout her career, Simone assembled a collection of songs that would later become standards in her repertoire. Some were songs that she wrote herself, while others were new arrangements of other standards, and others had been written especially for the singer. Her first hit song in America was her rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart. During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later, in 1987, after it was featured in a 1986 Chanel No. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was also created by Aardman Studios. Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne me quitte pas" (a rendition of a Jacques Brel song) and "Feeling Good" on I Put a Spell On You (1965), "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966).

"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good", and "Sinner Man" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have remained popular in terms of cover versions (most notably a version of the former song by The Animals), sample usage, and its use on soundtracks for various movies, TV-series, and video games. "Sinner Man" has been featured in the TV series Scrubs, Person of Interest, The Blacklist, and Sherlock, and on movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair, Miami Vice, and Inland Empire, and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli and Timbaland. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his album 808s & Heartbreak. The 1965 rendition of "Strange Fruit" originally by Billie Holiday was sampled by Kanye West for "Blood on the Leaves" on his album Yeezus.

Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album tracks that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder.

The following single, a rendition of the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody", also reached the UK Top 10 in 1969. "The House of the Rising Sun" was featured on Nina Simone Sings the Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song in 1961 and it was featured on Nina at the Village Gate (1962), predating the versions by Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan. It was later covered by The Animals, for whom it became a signature hit.

Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title "High Priestess of Soul". She was a piano player, singer and performer, "separately and simultaneously". As a composer and arranger, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz, and folk, and to numbers with European classical styling. Besides using Bach-style counterpoint, she called upon the particular virtuosity of the 19th-century Romantic piano repertoire—Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and others. Onstage, she incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element. She compared it to "mass hypnosis. I use it all the time". Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman.