Author Archives: beatriceco

Cate Blanchett Discusses Her ‘Rumours’ Film And The State Of The World

She is quite indisputably one of the most celebrated actors of our time – and yet, Cate Blanchett has her mind on far more important matters affecting our world today.

Starring in the new Bleecker Street film Rumours, playing German Chancellor Hilda Orlmann alongside other fictitious world leaders during a rather bizarre G7 Summit, when I asked Blanchett, 55, what it was about this film’s character and story that made her want to take this on next, the two-time Oscar winner quickly cut me off by joking, “That made us want to end our careers? I thought I’d go out with a bang!”

(Left to right) Roy Dupuis, Rolando Ravello, Charles Dance, Cate Blanchett, Denis Ménochet, Nikki … [+] Amuka-Bird and Takehiro Hira in “Rumours”Bleecker Street
When I followed up that Rumours from filmmaker Guy Maddin is an apocalyptic tale, so that is perfect, Blanchett said, “Don’t you feel every second Wednesday feels like the end of days? There are so many conflicts around the world – what we’re doing with the climate. There’s an expression in Australia – I have had it up to pussy’s bow. I feel like we’ve all had it up to pussy’s bow with the failure of leadership. We feel so powerless, so it’s a great thing to be able to go into a cinema with a bunch of people and laugh at the absurdity of the situation that we’re in.”

In reality, Blanchett remains a Goodwill Ambassador with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). So, with elections happening all over the world right now, including within the U.S. in November, I brought up with Blanchett that even though Rumours is a comedy-horror satire, it can be perceived as a timely story that can be a wake up call for our society. Being one of the stars and an executive producer on this film, I wondered if Blanchett saw that, as well.

“Definitely! I mean, I think that’s totally the baggage that the audience will bring into the cinema with them. If you’ve looked at the outcomes of the G7, when the stakes are so high – they’ve never been higher – but yet, it’s like they’re speaking a foreign language that the average citizen can’t even unpick. It feels we’re so lost, in a way – and so, if anything will urge people to go out and vote, maybe it’s this movie. I don’t know! Look, you could call it a political satire but it’s also like an episode of Scooby-Doo. It’s so deliberately stupid. A stupid film for stupid times.”

Blanchett’s co-stars in Rumours also spoke briefly with me about their Hollywood movie star scene partner and getting to act alongside her on this project.(Left to right) Rolando Ravello, Takehiro Hira, Charles Dance, Cate Blanchett, Roy Dupuis, Nikki … [+] Amuka-Bird and Denis Ménochet in “Rumours”Bleecker Street

The actor Denis Ménochet, who plays French President Sylvain Broulez in the film, said of Blanchett, “Watching Cate work is incredible. She makes it effortless. She’s the best!”
Nikki Amuka-Bird, who plays British Prime Minister Cardosa Dewindt in Rumours, said, “You know, they sort of say don’t work with your heroes. This would be the case where I completely beg to differ. It was quite challenging because I am huge fan. I don’t think I’ve ever had the conversation with Cate – just blatantly going, ‘I’ve seen, I think, most of your movies and you are an absolute living legend.’ I think what’s great about her is she will dispel that kind of mythology about herself very quickly and she’s the first one to roll up her sleeves, get sunk in, try new things and really assert that we were doing this as a team and everyone’s voice and everyone’s part was as valid. So, it was just really lovely not only to work with her but really get to play and feel that she was bouncing off us all and encouraging everybody, as well.”

(Left to right) Denis Ménochet, Rolando Ravello, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Charles Dance, Cate Blanchett, … [+] Roy Dupuis and Takehiro Hira in “Rumours”Bleecker Street
The actor Roy Dupuis, who plays Canadian Prime Minister Maxime Laplace, said of Blanchett, “For me, it was just like playing with a very, very, very, very good actress that was there for the right reasons – to tell the story. So, it just makes you better.”
This year also marks the 25th anniversary of one of Blanchett’s early acting roles, playing Meredith Logue in the 1999 film, The Talented Mr. Ripley.Cate Blanchett and Matt Damon in the 1999 film, “The Talented Mr. Ripley”Paramount Pictures
After reminding Blanchett of the film’s anniversary, which also starred young Hollywood newcomers at the time – Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law – she said, “Films like that don’t get made anymore. The types of film the late, great Anthony Minghella made – they don’t get made like that anymore in those ways. It was so beautiful. It was made at the time of another time. There was a kind of sense of intelligent nostalgia in there. I am quite nostalgic for those experiences and I met such great actors – the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman. We hung out for three months in Italy together and we got to know each other, and it’s a beautiful film. There was a Ripley made with Andrew Scott, who I worship as an actor. It was great but it was so different.”
As I concluded my conversation with Blanchett, I asked if she has noticed her creative mindset evolving towards her interests in the projects and stories that she chooses to take on within her career today.Cate Blanchett attends a screening of “Rumours” during the 68th BFI London Film Festival at BFI … [+] Southbank on October 13, 2024 in London, England.Dave Benett/WireImage
Blanchett said, “It’s very hard. I find it in the moment, with the world in such a state of flux, to know where to apportion one’s time because the biggest luxury is time, right? I have four children and I have a garden, and I feel in a way, I’m more productive in my garden than I am anywhere else. Sometimes, it’s those small things that are really important. This film is a small, low budget endeavor but it somehow feels really big and it was super important to me, and felt like the only way to tackle all of these issues that are swirling and things that I’m concerned about in my head. It felt like the right way to kind of approach it because it’s so ridiculous and overwhelming. It feels like in timing, in a way, one’s career is built out of.”

Meta partners with Hollywood’s Blumhouse to test out its AI movie generation model

NEW YORK : Facebook owner Meta said on Thursday it had teamed up with Blumhouse Productions, the Hollywood company behind popular horror films such as “The Purge” and “Get Out,” to put its new generative AI video model Movie Gen to the test.The announcement comes after Meta unveiled Movie Gen, which it said can create realistic-seeming video and audio clips in response to user prompts, earlier this month. Meta claimed the tool could rival offerings from leading media generation startups such as OpenAI and ElevenLabs.In a blog post, the social media company said Blumhouse had selected filmmakers Aneesh Chaganty, The Spurlock Sisters and Casey Affleck to try out Movie Gen and use clips generated by the tool in their short films.Chaganty’s film would appear on Meta’s Movie Gen website, while films from Affleck and The Spurlock Sisters were forthcoming, Meta said.Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum said in a statement that artists remain the lifeblood of the industry and innovative technology can aid in their storytelling. “We welcomed the chance for some of them to test this cutting-edge technology and give their notes on its pros and cons while it’s still in development,” Blum said. “These are going to be powerful tools for directors, and it’s important to engage the creative industry in their development to make sure they’re best suited for the job.”With the partnership, Meta is signaling how it aims to collaborate with creative industries, whose members have largely recoiled in response to the arrival of generative AI technologies over concerns around copyright and consent.Several groups of copyright owners have sued major tech companies, including Meta, over the unauthorized use of their works to train generative AI systems. Meta has argued its AI training is protected by the copyright doctrine of fair use.However, Meta and other tech companies have shown they are willing to pay for certain types of content for AI. Aside from the Movie Gen partnership, Meta said last month it had struck deals with actors including Judi Dench, Kristen Bell and John Cena to give voice to its Meta AI chatbot.Similarly, Microsoft-backed OpenAI has been meeting with Hollywood executives and agents this year to discuss possible partnerships involving its video generation tool Sora, which it first showed off in February.No deals have been reported to have come out of those talks yet, though Lions Gate Entertainment said in September that it had struck a deal with another AI startup, Runway.

‘MadS’ Shudder Review: Faux One Shot French Zombie Horror Film Is Impressive

Doing a scene in one take or making it look like a scene has been done in one uncut take is more difficult than it looks or sounds. So, you can only imagine what it must take to do an entire film that is either done in one shot or made to look like it is. Some of the most popular examples that come to mind are Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman, Sam Mendes’ 1917, and James Nunn’s action extravaganzas, One Shot and One More Shot. Now, many have criticized that, given how the “invisible cuts” in these movies are pretty visible, the whole one shot gimmick feels like a distraction rather than an efficient way to give viewers an immersive experience. Well, that’s where films like Victoria, One Cut of the Dead, and Boiling Point come into play, as they have achieved the aforementioned effect by doing the film in one long, uninterrupted take. MadS is, as far as I know, the first proper zombie/vampire horror flick to enter this subgenre of films. How does it fare? Let’s find out.

David Moreau’s MadS opens with the son of a rich dad, Romain, doing hard drugs at some remote shack on the outskirts of the city. As he drives back home in his posh-looking convertible, he runs into a badly bandaged woman who is seemingly on the run from someone or something. Her tongue has been cut off, so she can’t say what’s up with her. All she has with her is an audio recorder filled with files about some kind of experiment. Since Romain is drugged out of his mind and trying to drive the woman to a hospital, he can’t make head or tail of what she is trying to convey. To make things worse, the woman suddenly pulls out a sharp object from the glovebox, stabs herself to death, and then spews her blood onto Romain. That throws the option of taking her to the hospital out of the window because it looks like Romain has murdered a woman. Hence, he drives home, cleans himself up, and after his girlfriend, Ana, arrives, he attends a party. And that’s when Romain begins to realize that he is undergoing some strange physiological changes.

Multiple outlets have claimed that MadS is a zombie movie, but everything about the nature of the ghouls made it feel like a vampire movie. Now, regardless of what kind of transformation the virus is leading to, the main question is: What is Moreau trying to say through this outbreak? Well, for the most part, I thought that the experimental drug that the kids were copiously consuming was causing them to turn into ghouls. So, naturally, I thought that Moreau was condemning the consumption of “experimental” drugs and how the thirst for a new high can lead to something catastrophic. But then I realized that it’s probably not the drug, but the tainted blood of the bandaged woman that’s the reason for the outbreak, which has been spread by Romain after attending a party full of people. That’s when I assumed that it was a COVID-allegory movie and Moreau is trying to remind us about how our inability to stay home (especially if we’re a non-essential worker), despite being sick, led to so many deaths. However, the involvement of the government and private armed forces made it seem like a metaphor for fascism and how easily the cost of a life can be reduced to nothing during times of crisis.

MadS can totally be about all the aforementioned topics, or it’s just an experiment to see if a faux one shot zombie/vampire horror can actually be pulled off. While I think that Moreau doesn’t really succeed in presenting a compelling set of characters or a cohesive narrative with themes and arcs, he does a pretty good job with the faux one shot gimmick. Eagle-eyed viewers will see through the illusion and point out the “invisible cuts” in the journeys of Romain, Ana, and Julia—well, at least most of them. But to the untrained eye, the transitions will look seamless. I think the first act is perfectly thrilling and suffocating as Moreau and his team chart Romain’s devolution into a ghoul. However, the next two acts don’t really build on it in terms of the set pieces or the horror of the situation. They kind of just happen. Since there’s not much to care about the characters due to the weak writing, the audience becomes a passive observer of the gory events of the film, and I feel that’s antithetical to the whole point of the film. I want to reiterate that the filmmaking on display is impressive, but there’s nothing more to it but the gimmick.

MadS is low on dialogue, thereby pushing its young cast to express so much through their face and body language. Milton Riche does all the heavy lifting in the first act as he clues in the audience regarding the kind of confusion and paranoia that his character is facing. The amount of times he hits his face to bring himself to his senses must’ve left a bruise on his face. And his transformation into a feral beast that lusts for blood and guts is nothing short of beautiful. After Riche exits the scene, the proverbial baton is passed onto Laurie Pavy. I don’t think it’d be insulting to say that Pavy channels Isabelle Adjani’s performance in Possession to convey the fear and manic liberation that Ana feels while turning into a ghoul. The way she commits the most heinous crimes known to man and instantly regrets her actions is pretty delightful to watch. Since Moreau doesn’t infuse much variety into Ana’s arc, the character does become a little one-note after a while. But that doesn’t stop Pavy from swinging for the fences. Lucille Guillaume gets the responsibility to take the movie over the finish line, and I think that she is brilliant. The panic and desperation of Julia is palpable due to Guillaume’s gut-wrenching performance. I wish we got to see more of her. The rest of the supporting cast, background actors, and stunt actors are great.

MadS definitely starts out strong and then kind of fizzles out towards the end. But even when it is fizzling out, it manages to do some impressive stuff with its cinematography and “invisible” editing. If you have stayed away from zombie horror films because of the blood and gore, I think this is a good gateway into the genre because there’s enough dismembered body parts and bodily fluids to scare you, but not enough to make you shut off the film. The one shot gimmick is fine. I think it is at its most impactful during the first act, and as the “invisible” cuts become more and more noticeable, it loses its sheen. Still, it’s an impressive feat. MadS is worth watching for the performances alone. Milton Riche, Lucille Guillaume, and Laurie Pavy have truly poured their hearts and souls into this. This is the first time that I’m seeing them on the screen, and I hope they’ve got a bright future ahead of them. And if this leaves you yearning for more zombie films, here are some recommendations: Go Goa Gone, Shaun of the Dead, all the George A. Romero zombie films, [REC], I Am Legend, Train to Busan, The Cured, Anna and the Apocalypse, Overlord, The Dead Don’t Die, Blood Quantum, and #Alive.

Related

‘The Shadow Strays’ Movie Ending Explained & Summary: Is 13 Dead? Will There Be A Sequel?

Netflix’s Indonesian action film The Shadow Strays is definitely the most violent film I’ve seen all year. I suppose when 70% of a film is gore, then there’s nothing more to it than just CGI blood and some insanely long action sequences that keep giving even when you’re full. The Shadow Strays tells the story of a 17-year-old assassin, 13, who is part of a global mercenary group called “The Shadows.” You know, your typical action epic premise. 13’s first mission is to obliterate a Yakuza group, alongside her tutor Umbra. The first 10 minutes of the movie are spent watching 13 ripping through these men without any fear or worries. It’s like watching an animated character that’s never meant to lose. However, when she ends up accidentally killing a geisha at the scene, 13 is completely disoriented. So, Umbra has no choice but to put her on the bench, so to speak. For two long weeks, 13 finds herself taking medication to “deal” with her emotional problem, but she doesn’t hear back from her trainer. This leaves her stressed out and more emotional than if she were actually doing any work (tsk tsk). 13 keeps having dreams about an incident from her childhood; it’s something that keeps waking her up every morning in a cold sweat. She then goes full throttle into her daily routine, yet something’s permanently bothering her. 13 notices that a young boy and his mother get tormented in the building by a gang of drug dealers. She doesn’t like how it looks, but she’s obviously not meant to interfere. However, when the young boy’s mother is killed off, 13 decides to take it upon herself to look after him. Let’s see how that turns out for her.

Spoiler Alert

What Happens to Monji? 

The young boy named Monji tells 13 that his mother had drug problem and the men that were troubling them killed her. The men had been Monji’s mom’s clients. They beat him up and killed her because she likely wanted out. 13 takes Monji to see his mother’s grave to make him feel better. They split up at night, but the next day when she goes looking for him in his apartment, he’s nowhere to be seen. Instead, she finds a young man named Jeki linked to the crime syndicate that killed Monji’s mom. He leads her to a man named Haga, who has taken Monji away, presumably to put him to work for the syndicate. Jeki tells 13 that the people she’s trying to mess with are terrible people, and she really can’t do anything by herself. Obviously, he doesn’t know she’s an assassin; he just thinks she’s just really strong. 

Now Haga is friends with a detective named Prasetyo and Ariel, the son of a to-be governor. As you can imagine, it’s a group of criminals who’ve got the law on their side. Anyway, as you can imagine, this is a powerful group of people to mess with; however, 13 really doesn’t care. She’s stuck on one thing only: saving Monji. Her first kill of the three is Haga, the drug dealer and club owner. It’s an instant death in all honesty, but she still doesn’t have Monji. Jeki helps her out of there because now the gang will think he’s on her side, considering he brought her there. This is also because the cops have shown up from the sheer ruckus created by 13. Jeki says bye-bye as soon as they’re out of reach, but 13 knows they’re going to meet again. In the meantime, Umbra and another fellow from her team are sent on another mission. What Umbra doesn’t know is that they’ve been assigned to kill their own agents who have gone “stray.” Umbra meets an agent named Volver who is pregnant, but the guy with Umbra, Troika, doesn’t hesitate in killing her. Instead, he tells Umbra that she shouldn’t go soft. This is the kind of training they have as an assassin group. 

Prasetyo, the cop, shows up at Jeki’s home with a group of masked people. They’re there to get 13, but as we know, she’s not there. Jeki looks after his old grandmother, and she’s the only family he has, but he’s got no information for Pras, so what does the guy do? Threaten his grandmother. But of course, 13 won’t stand any injustice, so she shows up and kills all of Pras’ men. Eventually, there’s a chase, and when Pras catches 13, she bites his ear clean off and then squishes his eyeballs Game of Thrones style, leaving him dead. Whoops, two down, 1 to go. Now 13 learns that Monji is with Ariel and his dad, and she won’t stop until she has the boy with her. 

Why Did Ariel Kill Monji’s Mom? 

It turns out Monji’s mother was blackmailing Ariel because he once slept with her. I suppose Ariel wanted the boy to pay for the sins of his mother (yuck). So he ended up beating the little kid, which makes 13 even angrier than she already was. Anyway, Ariel’s dad realizes that they can use 13’s skills and tells her that she can have the boy if she helps him kill a man. At the mission, Jeki’s in the car with the dad and a bleeding and bruised Monji. Jeki pleads with the dad to take Monji to the hospital, but he doesn’t agree, and Monji dies right there. Jeki calls out to 13 immediately, even though the dad tries to shut him up, and when 13 hears him, all hell breaks loose. Now the other team realizes that she’s there to kill them, so they decide to kill Ariel’s crew, including his dad. The old man gets brutally shot in the same car as Monji. As you can imagine, some crazy action follows, but 13 emerges victorious, killing Ariel too. Jeki drives her off with Monji’s body, and the two of them actually become friends. However, before they can actually say anything to each other, their car’s hit, and they wake up in the middle of nowhere. 

What Happens to Umbra? 

Now it’s 13’s boss who is here to set the record straight and yell at her for messing up their whole system. He has to clean up after her, and he’s not happy. She shouldn’t even be involved in this at all. There’s a big fight between Umbra, the man, and 13, which leads to the man’s death. Umbra’s also shot by the guy because she hesitates to kill 13. Here’s when we get the big reveal. Umbra was the one who killed 13’s mother and then “saved” her or recruited her to become an assassin. Before Umbra takes her last breath, she tells 13 that her real name is Nomi, so I suppose it’s in a way setting her free from this assassin life. Nomi then buries Monji and sits by his grave. 

Will There Be A Sequel?

During The Shadow Strays’ ending, another group of assassins come after 13. It’s “14” and her gang. However, a strange man shows up and kills them all too. This happens to be Master Burai, the guy who trained Umbra. He asks 13 if she killed Umbra, but before she can answer, I suppose he can see the respect in her eyes for his pupil, so he decides to take responsibility for her. The end of the film leaves an opening for a sequel because now Burai and Nomi are a team. She also knows her name, so there’s a chance we could get a backstory of some sort. 

The Shadow Strays’ ending implies that Monji was to Nomi what Nomi was to Umbra. Though the assassins are trained to be heartless, their emotional side always comes through. Nomi went after Monji’s kidnappers because she felt like she needed to protect a child who was as vulnerable as she was when her own mother died. Though she couldn’t really remember exactly what happened back then, she can probably remember the emotional impact of the situation, and I guess in a way, she doesn’t want Monji to end up like her, or worse, in the wrong hands. The end of the film feels like a full-circle moment for Nomi because she finally knows her name and is free from the life of an assassin, the two things she was struggling with at the beginning of the film. 

Related

This New Netflix Film Is The Best Age-Gap Romance Of The Year

From left: Laura Dern as Katherine Loewe and Liam Hemsworth as Owen Brophy in “Lonely Planet.”Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/NetflixWatching a good rom-com should be like “finding hope in a big mess.” In “Lonely Planet,” Netflix’s latest romance, 30-something Owen Brophy (Liam Hemsworth) believes the same sentiment applies to his Moroccan tryst with 50-something Elizabeth Lowe (Laura Dern). Within this paradigm, romance is supposed to be the antidote to the complicated realities of life; however, like with love, the fantasy of what could be does not often match reality as is.The reality is that these days, rom-coms themselves are often more messy than hopeful. And they aren’t the endearing kind of mess that makes a leading love interest more relatable or a fated relationship feel more attainable. Advertisement

Instead, the genre is muddled with low-budget, underwritten cable clichés (Hallmark’s new lineup of holiday movies will begin to air this week) and higher-budget, overproduced stories that just aren’t that good. Some of this year’s biggest rom-coms in the latter category have also featured an age gap, like Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine in their underwhelming adaptation of “The Idea of You” for Prime Video and Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron in their generic Netflix film “A Family Affair.”While Dern and Hemsworth are the latest big names to join this trend, their movie stands out as the best of streaming’s recent age-gap romances because it engenders more hope than mess (even though it’s definitely still a little messy). The film, written and directed by Susannah Grant, takes place during an international writer’s retreat outside Marrakech at a stunning hotel with picturesque patios overlooking the Atlas Mountains. Elizabeth, a best-selling novelist in an undefined genre, arrives for the retreat post-breakup and on deadline. Owen, a finance bro, is present as a plus one. His girlfriend, Lily Kemp (Diana Silvers), is a new writer whose first book, a “glorified beach read,” hit the bestseller list and catapulted her career to a level that led to her invitation to this retreat, and she’s still green enough to bring her boyfriend along. While Elizabeth is only there for space and time to finish her book, Lily is there to network and explore a new country. Owen isn’t quite sure why he agreed to go. He doesn’t love traveling. “People always say it’s going to be this transformative experience, you know. Go to a new, exotic place. Meet the new, exotic you. But you get there, and you’re not new or exotic. You’re just you,” he laments to Elizabeth during one of their early interactions set against the blue-painted walls of Chefchaouen.Advertisement

“That’s true,” Elizabeth says with an air of writer-ly wisdom before quoting French novelist Gustave Flaubert, who said, “The point of travel was to make us modest.”There isn’t much modesty about “Lonely Planet.” Like “The Idea of You” and “A Perfect Marriage,” it takes place within an inaccessible world of privilege. The characters aren’t boyband members or movie stars, but they are successful, celebrated writers being treated to an exclusive and luxurious all-expense paid vacation in North Africa. Laura Dern as Katherine Loewe and Liam Hemsworth as Owen Brophy in “Lonely Planet.”Anne Marie Fox/NetflixHowever, unlike those films that take place within a heightened reality of fame and focus on the intersectionality of motherhood and sexuality and parenthood and independence, “Lonely Planet” separates itself completely from those topics. Elizabeth — as far as the viewer knows — doesn’t have kids, and the movie doesn’t even directly address the age gap between the two characters, even though the two-and-a-half decades that separate them is probably the biggest gap of the three. The result is that, unlike the escapist vacation the movie portrays, it somehow manages to feel more real than its counterparts. While very few specifics are revealed about Owen or Elizabeth’s lives, the conversations they share while getting to know each other fuel their muted infatuation in a realistic way. Their banter — sometimes forced, sometimes clunky, sometimes clever — is imperfect in a way that feels probable, as do their edited self-descriptions of the messy parts of their lives. Elizabeth’s ex-partner said she wasn’t a loving person worth sharing a life with, and Owen unhappily works in finance to make deals for bosses who aren’t trustworthy. Advertisement

Like two people meeting for the first time, Owen and Elizabeth curate what and how much of themselves to reveal. With each unexpected encounter, exchange of words and shared commiserating look, their relationship progresses from new acquaintances to casual friends to allies among a literary crowd they choose not to fit in with. Additionally, between their age gap and the presence of Owen’s girlfriend, a romantic relationship isn’t inevitable or even probable. Their relationship could be simply defined as unexpected friends. While supportive of each other when thrown together on a trip, they don’t have the chemical propulsion that means they must become lovers. So when Owen and Lily’s relationship predictably cracks because she is outgrowing it and he doesn’t know who she is anymore, it’s not because of Elizabeth. But their separation opens the door for her even though it’s not a door she has to step through. But, I’m glad she does. Dern and Hemsworth have unexpectedly intriguing chemistry, and it was fun to see them leave the confines of the retreat to explore Morocco. The beautiful and curated settings of an area that appears less frequently on screen offer a fun escape for the viewer. Support Free JournalismConsider supporting HuffPost starting at $2 to help us provide free, quality journalism that puts people first.Can’t afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. We hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.It’s also refreshing to see an age-gap love story where the older partner actually looks significantly older. While Dern is characteristically chic and stunning in her role, she is also visibly older than Hemsworth’s character, even though this difference and what it means for any shared future is never addressed. While the avoidance of the realities that await them at home is believable when getting to know each other as strangers thrown together for a glorified vacation, the lack of information they share after they embark on their tryst throughout Morocco is less believable, revealing bigger plot holes and a lack of character development that weigh down the final quarter of the movie. Are they two characters sharing a life-changing, short-lived romance, or two characters headed toward a shared future? The answer is unclear. Advertisement

These shortcomings become the most pronounced in the movie’s climax and resolution, which I won’t spoil, but they are underwhelming, and the ending of the movie feels inconsistent as a result. However, despite these weaknesses, I still enjoyed watching “Lonely Planet” more than either of the age-gap movies that preceded it. While it’s not a novel addition to the rom-com genre, it’s not a total mess, and that alone makes it stand out among the sad state of the rom-com genre today. One could even argue that there’s enough that feels different to spark hope in a future with better rom-coms, at least better age-gap ones.RelatedNetflixFilmromance moviesrom coms‘We Live In Time’ Wastes The 1 Thing That Makes It InterestingMichael Rainey Jr. Never Expected His ‘Power’ Role To Go So Far: Fans ‘Hated Me So Much’What Conspiracy Theorists Are Getting Wrong About The Diddy Case’The Apprentice’ Is The Movie That Trump Doesn’t Want You To See

Alvin Rakoff, veteran director of British TV and film, dies aged 97

Alvin Rakoff, prolific director and producer of scores of film and TV productions including Requiem for a Heavyweight, Passport to Shame and A Dance to the Music of Time, has died aged 97. His family announced his death in a statement, saying Rakoff “passed away … surrounded by his loving family in the same, beautiful old house in Chiswick he had bought back in 1971”.Born in Toronto in 1927, Rakoff came from a family of east European Jewish immigrants to Canada, but came to the UK in 1952 after turning his back on the family shop and committing to a career in show business. Having worked as a writer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Rakoff was quickly accepted on the BBC’s directors’ training course and moved swiftly on to make a string of successful TV dramas.Rakoff soon made his mark: his 1954 drama Waiting for Gillian won a National Television award and in 1957 he cast a then unknown Sean Connery in the lead role in the British version of the successful American TV play Requiem for a Heavyweight. A year later he made his feature film directing debut with the Diana Dors thriller Passport to Shame.View image in fullscreenRakoff specialised in TV plays and dramas, nearly all of them made in the UK which had become his permanent home. The Terence Rattigan-scripted Heart to Heart was part of the Europe-wide broadcast The Largest Theatre in the World in 1962, and Call Me Daddy, starring Donald Pleasence and Judy Cornwell, won an Emmy in 1967. (Rakoff remade it as a feature film in 1970 with Peter Sellers as the businessman who blackmails his secretary, played by Sinéad Cusack.)In the 1970s and 80s Rakoff embarked on large-scale, starry projects: The Adventures of Don Quixote in 1973 featured Rex Harrison and Frank Finlay; John Mortimer’s A Voyage Round My Father starred Laurence Olivier in 1982; and Mortimer’s Paradise Postponed was aired over 11 episodes in 1986. In 1997 he was one of two directors on the mammoth A Dance to the Music of Time, adapted from Anthony Powell’s novel series.In a statement, Stephen Fry said: “Alvin Rakoff was a giant of film, theatre and TV. His Midas touch with spotting and fostering talent introduced the world to some of the last century’s greatest stars.” Dame Judi Dench said: “I have such wonderful memories of Alvin … A very endearing person.”Wendy Craig, who starred in Heart to Heart opposite Kenneth More and Ralph Richardson said: “He was inspiring to work with, as well as patient and kind and totally dedicated to writing and directing drama … he will be much missed by all who knew him and had the pleasure of working with him.”Rakoff published two volumes of memoirs, I’m Just the Guy Who Says Action and I Need Another Take, Darling in 2021 and 2022. He was married twice, to actor Jacqueline Hill from 1958 to her death in 1993, and to Sally Hughes in 2013, who survives him.