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metronews.ca WEEKEND, July 19-21, 2013
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Big Star shines in new rockumentary Almost famous. New film tells the story of a band that achieved success posthumously Big Star’s 1972 debut, #1 Record, did not turn the Memphis quartet into what their name implies; the album didn’t even come close to charting at the position that its title suggests. They would, however, eventually influence the next generation of alternative rock music, but this initial burst of self-imposed tragic and comic irony would go on to haunt the band. Director Drew DeNicola wanted to get away from this disparity when making the new documentary, Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me. “The sensibility of these guys wasn’t a commercial Drama
one, even if they thought so. The Big Star name was slightly tongue-in-cheek,” he says. “It wasn’t even in the DNA of the band. It wasn’t even in that music for it to be successful at that time.” Tongue-in-cheek or not, Big Star was perpetually in the right place at the wrong time. They played the type of guitar pop that earned them comparisons to The Beatles at a time when the biggest bands were inflated and gimmicky (think: Kiss or ELO). They got a record deal, and the label declared bankruptcy before their second album could leave the warehouse. Founders fled in frustration and one died in a car crash before Big Star achieved posthumous popularity in the ’80s. DeNicola and codirector Olivia Mori wring out a Action/Comedy
Third time’s the charm?
As Big Star began to go down, their music got weirder, culminating in an artsy off-kilter masterpiece called Third. Band leader Alex Chilton pulled stunts like inviting the homeless in to sing background and replacing drum tracks with a deflated basketball.
sweet story of the participants who tried so hard to make it work for the band. “I don’t like to dwell on the whole element of, ‘They didn’t make it,’” says DeNicola. “I’d just like to dispense with that and talk about the story of the people in the band and the music,” he added. Metro World news
Big Star’s guitar pop earned them comparisons to The Beatles. handout
Drama
THE BEST ACTION COMEDY OF THE YEAR .” “ THE PERFECT CAST! “
- MARIA SALAS, TERRA TV
Pieta
Red 2
Unfinished Song
Director. Kim Ki-duk
Director. Dean Parisot
Stars. Lee Jung-jin, Cho Min-soo
Stars. Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker
Director. Paul Andrew Williams
••••• It’s a good thing Pieta wasn’t released earlier this month, for it might be best described as an anti-Mother’s Day film. Shocking and sadistic, this award-winning South Korean drama details a cold, crippling loan shark whose solitary life is interrupted by a woman claiming to be his long-lost mom. Fans of veteran Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-duk can expect brutality and violence while others may shun the sheer depravity of the characters. steve gow
- BILL ZWECKER, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
Stars. Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave
•••••
•••• •
RED (short for Retired, Extremely Dangerous) was a surprisingly fun and funny star vehicle for a group of aging actors. Hoping to catch lightning twice, this sequel reunites characters from the original film with an expanded cast and international locales. Poor pacing muddles an already convoluted plot that tries valiantly to balance the addition of Catherine ZetaJones, Anthony Hopkins and Lee Byung-hun. But it’s the interplay between leads Willis, Parker and especially Malkovich that keeps the film on its feet. RED 2 isn’t as good as its predecessor, but it’s still an entertaining slab of action and comedy.
Terence Stamp is a dour, impatient man facing the imminent death of his wife (Redgrave) when he realizes he didn’t bring her much happiness. He’s overwhelmed by guilt and he turns his self-hatred on his son. He tries to stave off loneliness by joining the seniors’ singing group she had belonged to. Singing helps him release emotion he can’t express otherwise and he starts to come to life again. This is the sweetly sentimental film the English do so well.
ian gormely
EVEN BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL AND ‘RED’ WAS TERRIFIC!”
anne brodie
BASED ON CHARACTERS CREATED BY
VIOLENCE, NOT RECOMMENDED FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
DIRECTED WARREN ELLIS AND CULLY HAMNER WRITTENBYWARREN JON HOEBER & ERICH PARISOT ELLIS AND CULLY HAMNERHOEBERJON HOEBERBY& DEAN ERICH HOEBER
WRITTENBY DIRECTED BY DEAN PARISOT WRITTEN HOEBERDIRECTED & ERICH HOEBER WARREN ELLIS ANDWARREN CULLY ELLIS HAMNERAND CULLY JONRed2Movie.ca HOEBER & ERICH PARISOT BY DEAN PARISOT BY JONHOEBER BY DEAN BYHAMNER
BASED ON CHARACTERS
BASED ON CREATED CHARACTERS BASED ON CHARACTERS BY CREATED BY CREATED BY
WRITTEN
DIRECTED
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STARTS TODAY
Check Theatre Directory for Locations & Showtimes. ENTERTAINMENT ONE
NEWSPAPERS: EDMONTON METRO DATE: FRI JULY 19 ARTIST: AS
PHONE: 416 862 8181 SIZE: 4.921”x5.682” FRHP 4C EXT. 271
FILE NAME: ONE_4X5_0719.1EM