Page 16 – Establishing Shot

An Interview with Composer Eli Denson

Posted on November 7, 2024 by Noni Ford

Eli Denson

Noni Ford speaks with composer and Jon Vickers Scoring Award winner Eli Denson about his new score for the Gloria Swanson classic Queen Kelly, his advice for aspiring composers, and more.

I had an opportunity to talk over Zoom with Eli Denson, the winner of the Jon Vickers Scoring Award who wrote a full score for the Erich von Stroheim film Queen Kelly. The premiere of Denson’s score will be at IU Cinema on November 9, with musicians playing live from the pit during the screening. This interview has been shortened for length.

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Death Becomes Her (1992) and Its Impeccable Mixture of Comedy and Visual Effects

Posted on November 4, 2024 by Jesse Pasternack

Original poster for Death Becomes Her

Jesse Pasternack explains how Robert Zemeckis’s cult comedy achieves its laughs and special effects.

Death Becomes Her (1992) is one of Robert Zemeckis’s best films because it expertly melds two of the most famous sides of himself as a director. They are, respectively, his exceptional ability to use film form to create humor and his use of visual effects. His combination of great comedy and innovative technology produce memorable results in this movie.

Death Becomes Her is about a vain actor named Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) and her rival Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn). Angered by Sharp’s resurgence as an author and afraid of getting old, Ashton takes a potion given to her by the mysterious Lisle von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini). The potion gives her immortality, but she has to reckon with its side effects as well as a realization that Sharp has also taken the same concoction.

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Monthly Movie Round-Up: October 2024

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Establishing Shot

A woman and man sit and talk at a diner — Left to right: *Bob Trevino Likes It, The Seventh Victim, Infernal Affairs*, *The Bride of Frankenstein*

A woman sits in a chair while looking at a poisoned drink on a table in front of her — Left to right: *Bob Trevino Likes It, The Seventh Victim, Infernal Affairs*, *The Bride of Frankenstein*

Every month, Establishing Shot brings you a selection of films from our group of regular bloggers. Even though these films aren’t currently being screened at the IU Cinema, this series reflects the varied programming that can be found at the Cinema and demonstrates the eclectic tastes of the bloggers. Each contributor has picked one film that they saw this month that they couldn’t wait to share with others. Keep reading to find out what discoveries these cinephiles have made, as well as some of the old friends they’ve revisited.

Jesse Pasternack, contributor | Infernal Affairs (2002)

Infernal Affairs is probably best known to western audiences as the film that Martin Scorsese remade into The Departed (2006). But this Hong Kong crime classic is excellent in its own right, especially in terms of its structure. While it may lack much of the dark comedy and quotable dialogue which help make The Departed so entertaining, it remains a brilliant film.

This movie is about two moles on different sides of the law. Lau Kin-Ming (Andy Lau) is a mole on the police force for crime boss Hon Sam (Eric Tsang). Chan Wing-yan (Tony Leung) is an undercover cop who has gained Hon’s trust. After a drug bust, both Hon and Lau are tasked by their respective bosses with finding the mole they each suspect has infiltrated their organizations. They race to do so as their efforts to live double lives weigh on them.

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When Ford Met Zedd…

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Establishing Shot

Image of a skull with text next to it that says "Hey boyfriend, coming my way?"

Still from Whoregasm

Underground Film Series curator Pragya Ghosh contextualizes the controversial and provocative work of filmmakers Nick Zedd and Charles Henri Ford.

In the dark days of fall, when the veil between the real and the magical seems to be the perfect time to go back to the land of mythologies, I would like to imagine a dark dreary fall evening in New York, when Nick Zedd stumbles into Charles Henri Ford in the smoky underground bars that dot the Lower East Side — Ford, back in New York after his long sojourn in Nepal, and Zedd, a part of underground cinema after releasing films like They Eat Scum (1979), Thrust in Me (1984), and Whoregasm (1988). Having coined the term “Cinema of Transgression” and releasing a manifesto about it, Zedd and others of his ilk used shock value and black humor in their works, and who better to understand transgression than Charles Henri Ford? I would love to imagine what that meeting might have been like: the conversation about surrealism, myths, Paris, New York, the government, police, taboos, consumerism, and the transgressive nature of their work. Filmmaker, author, and artist — the three words that could be used to describe them both — it would have been a heady meeting. In lieu of a real-life meeting (which may or may not have happened, New York is a big city and I would like to imagine it happened), two of their films, Johnny Minotaur and Whoregasm, will be screened together at IU Cinema; think of it as the conversation that (never) happened.

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Friday Night Frights presents: Candyman (2021)

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Establishing Shot

A man in paint-splattered coveralls stands in front of a wall marked with paint

For as long as residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood were terrorized by a ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand. A decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy moves into a luxury condo in the neighborhood, now gentrified beyond recognition. With his painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini-Green old-timer exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman, unknowingly opening a door to a complex past that unleashes a terrifying wave of violence that puts Anthony on a collision course with destiny.

Go behind the scenes of 2021’s Candyman with writer-director Nia DaCosta’s interviews with the Chicago Tribune and the AU Review. You can also check out IU Cinema’s exclusive interview with DaCosta — who made history as the first Black female director to debut at the No. 1 weekend spot at the domestic box office with this film — from when she visited campus in 2019. Acclaimed by the New York Times, the AV Club, RogerEbert.com, TheWrap, and more, see Candyman at IU Cinema this Wednesday!

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“Our Mission is Simple”: Why The Raid: Redemption is One of the Best Action Movies of All Time

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Jesse Pasternack

Original poster for The Raid: Redemption (2011)

Jesse Pasternack looks at what makes The Raid: Redemption such a jaw-dropping action spectacle.

I have followed the same routine when I watch a movie so I can write about it since I was in high school. I get a journal and something to write with (sometimes a pencil, other times a pen) and take copious notes. I almost always take nine to ten pages of notes before I write a piece like this for any outlet to organize my thoughts and make sure I did not miss anything.

But, for perhaps the first time since I was a teenager, I didn’t do that for a piece. Instead, I only took three pages worth of notes as I watched The Raid: Redemption (2011). It was so engrossing that most of my notes used words like “love,” “amazing,” or, in one case, “great” written in all capital letters after a particularly thrilling fight sequence. Not many films can do that to me but, then again, most films do not possess the superb simplicity, perfect pacing, and incredible fight choreography that make The Raid: Redemption one of the best action movies ever made.

This movie is about Rama (Iko Uwais), a rookie cop in an elite tactical unit. He joins a squad of 20 other officers to execute a raid on an apartment building to arrest feared drug lord Tama Riyadi (Ray Sahetapy), who runs it as a type of fortress. But after their cover gets blown, Rama and his colleagues will have to bloodily fight their way through dozens of henchmen and Riyadi’s brutal lieutenant Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian) as Riyadi’s top adviser, Andi (Donny Alamsyah), harbors a secret.

Iko Uwais as Rama

A large part of why The Raid: Redemption works is because of the primal power of its simplicity. Its straightforward premise is something that you could describe in a single sentence, and its characters expertly fulfill classical archetypes like the hero, the villain, and the henchman. This gives it a sense of clarity which makes every beat of its story shine in the best, most uncomplicated way.

Writer-director Gareth Evans also tells that story with a perfect pace. He knows exactly when to introduce a new plot point or an unexpected twist. This helps the film move along at a steady clip so that your interest in it never lessens.

But, more than anything, The Raid: Redemption is one of the best action movies ever made because of its amazing fight sequences. They feature the actors and stunt performers using pencak silat, which is a visceral and Indonesian form of martial arts. They possess a kinetic and intense beauty which is very exciting to watch. In particular, a sequence where Mad Dog fights a sergeant named Jaka (Joe Taslim) has a brutal elegance that helps make it one of the best I have ever seen.

Jaka (Joe Taslim) fights Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian)

Billy Wilder once advised screenwriters to “grab ‘em by the throat and never let ‘em go.” The Raid: Redemption does this for the entirety of its 105-minute running time. It’s a movie that can absorb the attention of anyone, and continues to do so over a decade after it first came out.

The Raid: Redemption will be screened at IU Cinema on October 29 as part of the Blockbuster Futures conference.