Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 309, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 7, 2015 Page: 36 of 38
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Denton Record-Chronicle and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
ARTS & COMMUNITY
4D
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Denton Record-Chronicle
WEEKLY REVIEW
DVD REVIEWS
FILM REVIEW
f
1
II
C ■
I
if • *•
1‘y
k
,r
' r
LI
rw i i & V
L§V > > * K
^ .
*
mm
i
Ml u
i
r\
iii
I
I
■ -
l*
£ii]
l H
i _
WIC i
J
i(V>
^ I
!
'
Twentieth Century Fox
Melissa McCarthy is shown
as Susan Cooper, a CIA ana-
lyst, who volunteers to go
deep undercover in a scene
from the film, “Spy.”
r\!
-I V i T>r \ |% j -1,
Vi
‘ "
I
J
'*■ * *v!\f
a
Trl
TVJ
t...
y
V/?
:
McCarthy
sets her
sights on
007 in ‘Spy
4
*
ReGsw
►
*■
¥
SMC
j,
st
/«.
T.' ■%
’ - -jf -
s>
I
X;- £
” .
M
S.
l#jjL
life
j
V"
S
4
■ «
■*ta.
By Jake Coyle
AP Film Writer
Ridiculous questions about
the funniness and bankability of
women have clouded exactly
what’s going on here: Nobody is
abetter comedic actor right now
than Melissa McCarthy.
Spy
Rated R. 122 minutes.
She’s a combustible ball of
comic fury rolled up in Chaplin-
esque sweetness, equally capa-
ble of profanity-laced verbal vir-
tuosity as perfectly timed prat-
falls. In her latest, the espionage
comedy Spy, McCarthy dons a
host of identities, a closet full of
wigs and — in order to stay un-
dercover but really just to switch
things up — essentially changes
her entire performance midway
through.
It’s a globe-trotting tour of
McCarthy’s talent, throughout
which she’s practically always
kicking butt. Who was that dou-
ble-O-whafs-his-face, anyway?
Spy is the third collaboration
between McCarthy and director
Paul Feig, who first came togeth-
er on Bridesmaids, and fol-
lowed that up with the very solid
buddy comedy The Heat, with
Sandra Bullock. They’re soon to
embark on a female-led update
of Ghostbusters, too, which is
fitting because their partnership
is beginning to resemble that of
Bill Murray and Ivan Reitman.
Everything they’ve done,
starting with the sensation of
Bridesmaids, has been sur-
rounded with both justified
praise and tiresome overempha-
sis on the female-ness of their
enterprise. Spy, too, is in many
ways a great inversion of the
Bond world, casting men like
Jude Law as the eye candy on
the side while the center of the
movie is played out between
women: McCarthy and Rose
Byrne’s snobbish, high-couture
villain.
McCarthy plays Susan Coo-
per, a contentedly desk-bound
CIA operative accustom to aid-
ing far more elegant and suave
field agents like the tuxedo-clad
Bradley Fine (Law). While Fine
pursues supervillains at a Bul-
garia casino, she’s whispering in
his earpiece, monitoring above
from a drone and swooning over
his out-of-reach glamour.
Cooper, though, is far away in
a Langley headquarters cubical,
where the immediate concerns
are more humdrum: mouse
droppings and birthday cakes.
Feig lingers perhaps a tad too
long in the film’s first section, but
it’s to a purpose: Spy is in many
ways a workplace comedy about
the indignities a capable women
must suffer in a male-dominat-
ed profession.
When well-to-do arms deal-
er Rayna Boyanov (Byrne) outs
all of the CIAs field agents, Coo-
per volunteers to go undercover.
But the big promotion isn’t all
she dreamed of: When prepared
for her covert gig, she’s handed
no poison-firing Rolex or a
souped-up Porsche, but gadgets
hidden in fungal spray and hem-
orrhoid wipes. Her fake identity
isn’t much more exotic: Carole
Jenkins, mother of four.
Spy is the biggest budget for
Feig and the action sequences
are unexpectedly robust — per-
haps too much. While entirely
enjoyable, it ought to be a tad
funnier; the set pieces clunk it
up at times. It’s almost as if Feig
is actually gunning for Bond ter-
ritory. But with McCarthy in
tow, why not?
A
-V-
5e
m rf.
I***;
%.
: c < rj 21’'■***'- V
AT
V
.
_'
__
£s>
I-VI
.
V •
\
r«
' -
__
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection releases “The Bridge,” Bernhard Wicki’s award-winning foreign language film about German teens drafted into World War II.
Too young to die
Movie follows
German teens
into World War II
■--t 1-
vtV .
7
t ■
r *
*
Tl
/
L
f
1
i
* i
By Boo Allen
Film Critic
booa@att.net
This week, we begin in Ger-
*
V
many:
v
s
The Bridge
(★★★vy
Not rated, 103 minutes.
The Criterion Collection re-
leases this Blu-ray edition of di-
rector Bernhard Wicki’s 1959
Best Foreign Language Film
nominee, now with a new digital
transfer.
The film takes place in the
waning days of World War II, as
Wicki, called a “clear-eyed poet
of defeat” by Terrence Rafferty in
an accompanying essay, chroni-
cles seven 16-year-old boys
thrust into the fighting as little
more than cannon fodder.
Wicki begins by document-
ing the boys and their home
lives, as they almost all appear
eager to fight in the war, even
though their noticeable imma-
turity includes their short pants
and their hovering mothers.
Soon, the boys receive draft no-
tices and immediately go
through a single day’s training
before being assigned to guard a
bridge in their home town.
It's a place where they used to
play “cowboys and Indians” but
now must protect even if it is
scheduled to be demolished
soon after. Obviously, not every-
one makes it out alive.
Wicki subtly draws on war’s
irony, taking much from Gregor
Dorfmeister’s semi-autobio-
graphical novel that laid further
shame on some of his country’s
war-time practices.
Extras: A 23-minute March
interview with novelist Gregor
Dorfmeister; Fifteen minutes of
a 1989 German television inter-
view with Wicki; Ten minutes
with German director Volker
Schlondorff (The Tin Drum) on
the influence on him of The
Bridge, and a nine-minute 2007
“behind-the-scenes” featurette
from Wicki’s widow Elisabeth
Wicki-Endriss “Against the
Grain: The Film Legend of
Bernhard Wicki.”
Plus, a six page essay from
Terrence Rafferty.
%
A
j
r
>
w
w=-
r*.
m
i.
m
A
^ A
77 ■
W
■ v
V' "
L-
f
r
*
..
__
Pinnacle Films
In the Australian film “Healing,” convict Viktor Khadem (Don Hany) transfers to a minimum security prison after almost two
decades of incarceration for manslaughter. There, prison officer Matt Perry (Hugo Weaving) establishes a program to rehabili-
tate all sorts of birds of prey.
wide range of clips from Welles’
eventful private and public life,
always filled with beautiful
women and failed film projects,
all of which receive screen time.
Workman has ferreted out
footage from virtually every-
thing available from Welles’ out-
put, from his childhood projects
to his later day forays into docu-
mentaries and obtuse Shake-
spearean productions.
And, of course, Workman in-
cludes multiple interviews along
with ample footage from Welles’
Citizen Kane and The Magnif-
icent Ambersons. Every clip
leaves the viewer wanting more.
Rated PG-13, 94 minutes.
Extras: A nine-minute in-
terview with Workman.
find his hoped-for exoneration
and redemption.
Michael Ballhaus’ crisp cine-
matography ably captures the
glitz and gloss of the proceed-
ings as well as the era. With
George Wendt, Chris Cooper,
Patricia Wettig, Martin Scor-
sese, and blacklist victim Sam
Wanamaker.
Now available on demand
from Warner Archive.
Rated PG-13,105 minutes.
K
;
Let Us Prey (★A) Most of
this silly horror flick takes place
inside a police station where
rookie cop Rachel (Pollyanna
McIntosh) finds more than she
expected.
She sees a man, called only
Six (Liam Cunningham), hit by
a car. But he rapidly disappears.
When she brings in the driver,
an irresponsible local lad, Ra-
chel encounters obstruction
from her fellow officers and su-
pervisor.
Then, Six shows up looking
fine but acting silent, weird, and
sullen. Before long, expected su-
pernatural phenomena unfold,
taking director Brian O'Malley's
debut film from crime to drama
into unrewarding absurdity.
Not rated, 92 minutes.
Extras: An 11-minute “mak-
ing of” featurette.
T
■Jt
Healing (★★★) The title
says it all in this well-received
Australian drama that works on
two obvious levels.
Convict Viktor Khadem
(Don Hany) transfers to a mini-
mum security prison after al-
most two decades of incarcera-
tion for manslaughter. There,
prison officer Matt Perry (Hugo
Weaving) establishes a program
to rehabilitate all sorts of birds of
prey. Khadem fights against his
natural hot temper to work with
other convicts and, eventually,
with one majestic eagle he helps
return to flight.
During it all, various other
dramas play out, from family in-
trigues to prison violence. Direc-
tor Craig Monahan earned an
Australian Directors’ Guild
Award for his deft handling of
otherwise familiar material, and
Andrew Lesnie’s cinematogra-
phy brings out the visual attrac-
RK0 Radio Pictures
Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” is featured in the film “Magi-
cian: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles,” a docu-
mentary written and directed by Chuck Workman.
tiveness of Australia’s variegated
terrain, as well as the soaring
sights of owls, hawks, eagles, fal-
cons and other flying wonders.
Rated R, 112 minutes.
Extras: Eight minutes of de-
leted scenes; a 20-minute “mak-
ing of” featurette, and a photo
gallery featuring shots of the im-
pressive birds.
him.
Unfortunately, his often rev-
erential approach drains much
of the energy out of a handsome-
ly mounted production set in
1951. Hollywood director David
Merrill (Robert DeNiro) returns
to the U.S. after spending time
in France only to find himself
unwittingly implicated in a con-
gressional investigation into
communism.
Merrill confers with his ex-
wife Ruth (Annette Bening) and
even his son Paulie (Luke Ed-
wards) before proceeding. Even-
tually, he finds himself blacklist-
ed and struggling to find work.
In the end, he may or may not
Magician: The Astonish-
ing Life and Work of Orson
Welles (★★★V2) As tributes
and reminiscences pour in for
Orson Welles on the centennial
of his birth, it’s good to be re-
minded of his unparalleled
achievements and his exalted
cinematic position.
Chuck Workman wrote and
directed this documentary that
uses a variety of sources to docu-
ment Welles’ life and chronicle
his still-stunning body of work.
Workman pieces together a
Also on DVD and
streaming: The Duff, Red Ar-
my, Rich Hill, Serena, and The
Squeeze.
BOO ALLEN is an award-
winningfilm critic who has
worked for the Denton Record-
Chronicle far more than 20
years. He lives in Dallas.
Guilty By Suspicion
(★★V2) Veteran producer Irwin
Winkler (Goodfellas, Rocky,
The Wolf of Wall Street, The
Right Stuff) made his writing
and directing debut with this
sincere effort to document a
subject obviously important to
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View six places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 309, Ed. 1 Sunday, June 7, 2015, newspaper, June 7, 2015; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124824/m1/36/?q=112+cavalry: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .