MEDIA APPEARANCE: Quoted in Reel Chicago for the short film "Trained"

Back in April, I was approached by filmmaker Yuri Rutman about viewing and reviewing his Chicago-set short film Trained, an erotic drama starring himself and actress Jenny Diamico. I get independent requests like that often and I enjoy receiving them. Being granted a chance to see the unseen films and champion them with fair review is an honor. To see Trained continue to gain attention has been a pleasure and I’m pleased as punch my words can help with that. Rutman and Trained were featured in an August 30th Reel Chicago article written by Daniel Patton. A few quotes from my Medium review were included.

Just as the Reel Chicago article states,Trained becomes available tomorrow on ShortsTV, the world’s only Short Film Channel and official distributor of the Oscar-nominated Short Films that reaches an estimated 33 million homes. Be one of those homes that gives that channel and Yuri’s work a shot.

THE FULL REEL CHICAGO ARTICLE MY FULL REVIEW OF "TRAINED"

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GUEST EDITORIAL: 8 Great Films about Writers and the Writing Lifestyle

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8 Great Films about Writers and the Writing Lifestyle

There’s nothing like a great movie about writing to blast your mind out of an episode of writer’s block. Nobody will appreciate these movies as much as a writer will. Here are some great films about writers and the writing lifestyle

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Midnight in Paris

Owen Wilson stars as a vacationing writer who finds himself transported back in time to meet famous authors of the 1920s. “This is a great film for any writer, but especially fans of authors such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Wilson plays a successful screenwriter who is having trouble completing his first novel,” writes Cynthia Kehoe, culture editor at Academized and Paper Fellows.    

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Barton Fink

Barton Fink is a satirical look at Hollywood writers and writer’s block in general. “John Turturro stars as a playwright whose dream of becoming a Hollywood writer runs up against not just writer’s block, but untrustworthy people and the morbid reality of death. It’s a great black comedy about the difficulty of being a struggling writer and its effects on a person’s mental health,” recommends Annette Shain, movie writer at State of Writing and Australian help.

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Stranger than Fiction

Will Ferrell stars as a man who begins to hear a voice narrate his life and starts to suspect he may be a character in someone else’s novel. The lesson to take away from this film is that you shouldn’t ever get hung up on a bad first draft. The key is to write and rewrite until you’re happy with your creation. “Sometimes a novel, or a character, takes on a life of its own and you end up with something completely unexpected. That’s just one of the joys of writing fiction, unless you’re Will Ferrell’s character, that is,” says William Simpson, lifestyle blogger at Big assignments. 

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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

This movie is all about the true story of Jean-Dominic Bauby, the famous editor of French Elle. Mathieu Almaric stars in this film that chronicles the journey of a man who suffers full-body paralysis in his forties. Together with his nurse, he comes up with an ingenious language made up only of eye movements and writes a novel. If you’ve ever felt like you were facing challenges in completing some writing work, watching this movie will inspire you to keep going. 

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Julie and Julia

Amy Adams stars as a woman on a mission to blog about her attempt to make every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook. This is a great movie if you’re a blogger who is looking for some inspiration. It’s a movie about battling past a period of discouragement. In the beginning, only her mother reads her blog, but through her persistence she builds a loyal fanbase. A great film about how to stay positive and consistent as a blogger seeking a following. 

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The Ghost Writer

This film stars Ewan McGregor as a writer selected to ghostwrite the remainder of the British prime minister’s memoirs. Ghostwriting might not seem like an exciting premise for a movie, but things take an intriguing turn when dark secrets come to light. McGregor’s character discovers that his predecessor died mysteriously after unveiling some sketchy links between the prime minister and the CIA and is forced to make some difficult decisions. 

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Almost Famous

Patrick Fugit stars as a 15-year-old aspiring journalist named William Miller in this coming of age film. He’s given the assignment of his young life: covering a famous rock band as they go on tour, for Rolling Stone. It’s a great film about being determined to finish an assignment despite facing a ton of obstacles. Miller shrugs past doubts about being too young and does what is necessary to complete his writing. 

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Capote

This is a film about the famous author, Truman Capote, portrayed by Philip Seymour-Hoffman, as he travels to a small town to investigate a gruesome mass killing. One theme about writing that is not explored often is the interactions between a writer and his subjects, and this film does an excellent job of diving into that. Capote struggles with his objectivity when he finds himself becoming close with one of the murder suspects. In fact, he loses his journalistic integrity in his quest to create a great story. Fortunately for his readers, and this film’s audience, the consequences he faces make for a compelling journey. 

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Conclusion

If you’re a writer, then you probably watch movies in a slightly different way than the average person. You can appreciate all the joys and pains that go into putting together a piece of writing worthy of becoming a film. There’s something fascinating about a film based around the life of a writer and the writing process. These films can give you some incredible insight into the mind of a writer and what it’s like to pour your life and energy out onto the page. These eight films all give a unique perspective into the life of a writer.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ellie Coverdale, a lifestyle writer at UK Writings and Essay Roo, loves reading and writing reviews of her favorite books. Her passion is the world of fantasy and magical beings, and you can find more of her articles at Boom Essays.

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GUEST EDITORIAL: 7 Practical Tips to Start Movie Review Writing as a College Student

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7 Practical Tips to Start Movie Review Writing as a College Student

Finding an interesting writing job that won’t take up too much of your time while you’re still a student is a great way to both earn and get some writing experience. If you’re thinking about starting to write movie reviews, it is a really great idea. Watching a lot of films and sharing your personal opinions about them: What’s not to love? If you want to learn more about how to begin, which aspects you need to pay attention to, and where to find websites you can write for, you have come to the right place. Here is everything you need to know.

Watching a movie from a new angle

Whether you’re about to review a movie you’ve already seen or not, the very first step you must make is to actually watch it (again). It’s crucial to approach this viewing in a different way than you usually would.

When you’re watching a film to relax or spend some fun time with friends, you don’t pay attention to every detail, which is what you will definitely need to do now. Try to look at a movie through the eyes of the critic, assessing the acting, a director’s vision, camera movement, plot quality – everything that makes each film experience on their own.

Providing technical details about a movie

Once you’ve seen the movie you are about to review, it’s time to move on to the writing phase.

The unavoidable part of every well-written movie review is dedicated to the technical information. Make sure to include these facts about the film you’ve just seen:

1. Film genre, date of release, movie length;

2. Names of the director and producer(s);

3. Main cast list (you can also include the actors who contributed in side roles if they’re important to the plot);

4. Budget;

5. Film ratings on popular websites such as IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, or Flixster.

Movie plot, characters, and their actions

The main portion of your movie review must be dedicated to what makes this film special when compared to others. Write a short plot description (preferably, without spoilers – if you must include them, make sure to announce them for the readers who haven’t seen the film yet), and give your opinion on the cast, acting, and scenario.

Are there any memorable quotes, powerful moments, or inconsistencies in the story? Let your readers know what you’ve noticed and how it affected your viewing experience.

Addressing music and visual and sound effects

Every movie has its own atmosphere and aesthetics. If a film is artistic and has a specific visual appeal to it, dedicate time to writing about costumes, setting, colors, and lighting.

However, even if a movie you’re reviewing is an action film set in the present time and simply represents one of the modern-time blockbusters, there are still some aspects to cover, and those would be music and visual and sound effects. These factors are what distinguishes this film from others from the same genre, or make it fit in with others seamlessly. 

Presenting your point of view and grading a movie

The conclusion of your review must include your personal opinion of a film, which you will form after taking into consideration every important aspect that made that film what it is. Your grade for a movie can be the same as in most popular movie review websites, or it can be completely different: This decision is up to you.

Either way, it’s your own approach and experience that counts in a movie review, so make sure to let your readers know whether you recommend watching a movie or not.

Learning from proven professionals

Some writers need no encouragement and examples, while others work best when they have some guidelines to follow. We’re all different, and we must follow what works best for our writing practices.

If you’re having a tough time writing your first movie review, consider contacting professionals. Best writing services experts can create whichever type of written assignment you need, giving you a vital headstart you can benefit from. Once you see how the qualified, experienced writers do it, you will feel a lot more confident about your own writing in the future.

Finding websites to write for

Some of the most popular websites that allow guest movie review posts are ScreenRant, Cineaste, POPSUGAR, Taste of Cinema, but you can always find your own partner websites by conducting a quick Google research. 

Some of these sites will offer pay per article, while others will let you benefit from the exposure you’ll get for writing for their community. Choose an option that works best for you, and let the new professional chapter of your life begin.

Conclusion

Writing movie reviews is in some ways similar to writing your college or university essays. Your writing should be concise, analytical, and very well researched, while you must also pay close attention to formatting and readability. However, that’s where similarities stop, and differences begin.

Follow the pieces of advice given in this helpful guide, and you will soon be able to create interesting, engaging content while spending your free time doing what you like: Watching movies and talking about them with your friends.

Whether you are a passionate movie buff or you just like to relax by watching romantic comedies or action films, writing movie reviews will be a fun and profitable activity while you’re still a student.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Freelance writer and contributor, Laura Buckler, wants each person to find their full potential and feels that life offers opportunities that are each and achievable. She is driven most by her own personal motivation. Follow her on Twitter.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: David Ehrlich's IndieWire Critics Survey on August 26, 2019

Notable and notorious IndieWire film critic David Ehrlich recently put out a social media call for film critic peers to join a weekly survey to discuss movie topics, answer questions, and highlight their work.  Representing Every Movie Has a Lesson, I, along with over 60 other emerging and established film critics including some of my fellow Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle members and Aaron White of Feelin’ Film, accepted the invitation to participate.  I'm honored by the opportunity, and I hope my responses are chosen each week.  

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THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the best movie of this summer?

To close the summer of 2019 and the begin a few weeks of festival coverage hiatus from these critics surveys, David Ehrlich went for the season-ending trophy designation. He called upon us writers, podcasters, and more to tell us which film was the best of the summer. Personally, I think it was a substandard and lemon-filled summer comapred to years past. Redemption came in the form is several late-breaking exemplars that landed in July and early August. I repped one of those little guys as my pick for this week.

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SHORT FILM REVIEW: A Sisterhood of Signatures

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A SISTERHOOD OF SIGNATURES— 3 STARS

One does not need millions of dollars to create an expression of personal passion. They need patience to see their vision through, a dedication to the project shared all involved, and the courage to put their work and themselves out there. Filmmaker Okema “Seven” Gunn harnessed all three of those values to make her short film A Sisterhood of Signatures and put them right back into the finished piece. She will proudly display her effort alongside the works of her inspirations and contemporaries as part of Chicago’s 25th Black Harvest Film Festival hosted by the Gene Siskel Film Center.

Young teenager Tiyah Owens, played with a quiet confidence by Maya Hooks, is learning little bits of the stresses of adulthood from observing her parents (Cynda Williams and Christopher A. Greer). Seeing and hearing them argue and debate over finances brings forth questions in Tiyah. With grace and compassion, each parent happily obliges to help her understand those rigors. The girl also gravitates to a trio of good friends. Jazmine (Jada Hamilton), Lupe (Hayley C. Alexander), and Sophie (Nicole Nedyalkova, a chatty scene-stealer) are fellow tweens who are quick to offer Tiyah social connection and support.

When Tiyah discovers a handwritten letter from her great-grandmother dating back to World War II in a family scrapbook, she becomes fascinated with its dramatic content and the origins of how it was made. Through her mother’s guidance, this leads Tiyah to discovering the power of cursive and its art of emotional expression. Tiyah begins to challenge her girlfriends to write pen-and-paper letters instead of texts and emails.

LESSON #1: THE SKILL OF CURSIVE HANDWRITING — Beginning with the overlay of calligraphy over the moving images on screen to open A Sisterhood of Signatures, we are reminded of the skill and beauty of written communication that came before keyboards and thumbed predictive text. The unique coordination and mechanics of penmanship are becoming fading skill and a lost art. Each cursive letter is a purposeful movement that takes time to perfect.

LESSON #2: THE INTIMACY OF A PERSONALIZED COMMUNICATION — Through seasonal chapters of this short film, we see the impact of Tiyah’s call for creativity and the rules these girls establish. Each experience improved connection with their casual and familial relationships. The find a different level of passion in their words and the bonds between the writers and recipients of their letters really open their lives. With patient camera work by director of photography Emmanuel Stewart that observes and absorbs the child actors conversing naturally and making stirring statements, we see the differences of the results that came from new effort.

LESSON #3: THE IDENTITY AND INTENT OF A SIGNATURE — In several narrated cutaways voiced by Maya Hooks and backed by music composed by Rob “Diggy” Morrison, A Sisterhood of Signatures goes one more lesson further with the enriching discoveries found by these impressionable teens. Harking back all the way to the era of slavery and the oppression of many who remain nameless, the girls learn both the ownership and responsibility of a simple signature. The meaningful power of one putting their name on something cemented intent and, most importantly, identity. This is an outstanding takeaway from Okema Gunn’s short film.

In seventeen simple and soulful minutes, Gunn’s female-centered story cuts to the core with calmness and intrinsic merit. To chronicle and distill a year’s worth of personal growth within this group of girls in this tidy amount of time is an extraordinary accomplishment for the writer and filmmaker. This short film models the kind of discussion starters our shared family times and friend spaces could use in this modern era of device dependency that touts connectivity with less actual relationship building. A Sisterhood of Signatures is a touching presence of solidarity and an admirable educational remembrance to have and share with others. Once again, all of this comes from patience, dedication, and courage to present a personal passion. Bravo, Miss Gunn.

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EVENT: Special 90th anniversary festivities for the Music Box Theatre

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Chicago’s famed Music Box Theatre, located near Wrigley Field in the Lakeview neighborhood, is nearly as old as its nearby ballpark neighbor. The historic venue opened its curtains on August 22, 1929 as the city’s first dedicated “talkie house.” The Southport Avenue gem is celebrating its 90th birthday this week with a special slate of outstanding programming that highlights both the rich history of film and the charm of the theater. Saying there’s something for everyone, from the casual fan to devout cinephile, would be an understatement. Follow the embedded links in this article for information and tickets.

On Thursday, August 22nd, festivities began with a screening of 1929’s Richard Wallace film Innocents of Paris, starring Maurice Chevalier, Sylvia Beecher, and Russell Simpson. On the next night, the Music Box hosts a special screening of Chicago-set Oscar winner The Fugitive. Director Andrew Davis will be in attendance for post-film Q&A. Now that’s a stellar get.

The weekend Saturday schedules features something soft followed by something raucous. First there is World City in its Teens: A Report on Chicago, a silent film showcase backed by house organist Dennis Scott. The boisterous noise that follows comes from a special four-film Dolly Parton “9 to 5er” mini-marathon complete with trivia and special cocktails. Hosts “Gaudy God” and “Uncle Aunt” take audiences through 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Rhinestone, and the Chicago special Straight Talk. Just as the event title suggests, it starts at 9:00pm and rolls until 5:00am.

Sunday has pair of events, one for young eyes and one for the mature crowd. A midday Mary Poppins Sing-a-Long precedes the indie horror flick Society hosted by director Brian Yuzna. After a night off, Tuesday is all about the drama and two 35mm features, Pawel Pawlikowski’s masterful Ida and Terrence Davies 2011 heart-breaker The Deep Blue Sea, starring Rachel Weisz and a pre-Avengers Tom Hiddleston.

The final two days of the birthday parade hit up the crowd favorites. The clanging and banging of beefy science-fiction metal arrives on August 28th harking back to the theater’s history of daily double features during the 1980s. Hosting the highly anticipated audience duo in the form of The Terminator at 7:00pm followed by Robocop at 9:15pm. The slate closes on Thursday, August 29th with a grand 70mm print of Back to the Future Part II. The Zemeckis sequel glowing on the large format will be playing for the first-time at the Music Box. A schedule like this fits any time and place, all made better by this special place. See you folks this week!

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: David Ehrlich's IndieWire Critics Survey on August 19, 2019

Notable and notorious IndieWire film critic David Ehrlich recently put out a social media call for film critic peers to join a weekly survey to discuss movie topics, answer questions, and highlight their work.  Representing Every Movie Has a Lesson, I, along with over 60 other emerging and established film critics including some of my fellow Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle members and Aaron White of Feelin’ Film, accepted the invitation to participate.  I'm honored by the opportunity, and I hope my responses are chosen each week.  

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THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the best performance in a Richard Linklater movie?

After a small pause in early August, the IndieWire Critics Survey returned in time for the the release of Where’d You Go, Bernadette from renowned Texas filmmaker Richard Linklater. I count as a very positive fan of his work with the Before Trilogy and Boyhood on the drama side and Everybody Wants Some!! and School of Rock on the comedy end. When it comes to the best, I pick the biggest transformation of range that came from Jack Black in Bernie. What a stunner of a character shift from an actor compared to his usual.

THE FULL INDIEWIRE ARTICLE THIS WEEK

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SPECIAL EVENT: Previewing 2019's Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con

Rosemont’s Donald E. Stephens Convention Centers hosts the eighth Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con.  The four-day event highlights all the pop culture fun possible from stages, big screens, small screens, game screens, game boards, and all the collectibles in between.  The Chicago edition begins Thursday, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 25th. Yours truly from Every Movie Has a Lesson has been granted press credentials to cover and access the event.  I’m a first-timer, so I hope to be amazed and present a glimpse or two inside the celebrated gathering!

The top attraction for Wizard World is always their expansive constellation of celebrity guests available for various fan opportunities.  This year’s lineup is no disappointment, headlined by the likes of John Travolta (of the upcoming film The Fanatic), Shazam! himself Zachary Levi, and the beloved science fiction magnet Jeff Goldblum.  Below is a slideshow sampling of some of those illustrious faces and personalities.  

The list of guest interactions triples when you add the esteemed comic book artists and writers in attendance as well.  See the website for the full guest list and clickable specifics on each person.  Earmark who you need to see this weekend!

For even more immersion, Wizard World Chicago is hosting an array of programs and panels on several topics, from Game of Thrones afterthoughts and the state of DC Comics Movies to trivia and cosplay groups and forums.  Check out that full schedule and layout here.  The same interaction comes in commerce form too with the impressive roster of vendors offering their wares and unearthed treasures for fans of all likes and kinds.  Scout ahead with the exhibitor list here.

The hours for Wizard World Chicago are as follows: 

Thursday, August 22, 4:00-9:00pm

Friday, August 23, 12:00-7:00pm

Saturday, August 24, 10:00am-7:00pm

Sunday, August 25, 10:00am-4:00pm

The Donald E. Stephens Convention Center is located at 5555 N River Rd, Rosemont, IL. Guests can map their route from here. Tickets and passes of various levels are available online or at the door. Steer to their site for any frequently asked questions or further background information. For you parents out there, children under ten are free with a paid adult. Make it a family event and come to Rosemont!

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EDITORIAL: The Best Films to Ever Show on TV

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The Best Films To Ever Show On TV

Watching movies has always been an experience that’s best shared with others. You can watch it with your family or friends, and even while you’re watching alone, you’re sharing this experience with the characters you see on screen. These days, you don’t have to travel all the way to a movie house or rent out tapes as many TV channels show reruns of some of the best films that you can watch with your loved ones in the comfort of your own home.

To know about films and movies that will be shown on TV, OnTVTonight is a guide that you can check. Among different genres of entertainment, here are some of the films that top the list, which you can check out when you’re having a movie marathon:

Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame was released earlier this year, but it has gone over the mark of other top grossing movies in the past years. With a whopping ticket sales of $1.2 billion on its opening weekend, Avengers: Endgame is possibly the most successful Marvel movie so far, in which it follows what happened after the disastrous events caused by Thanos’ snap from the previous movie, Avengers: Infinity War. This movie was much-awaited by Marvel fans and movie enthusiasts alike, and definitely didn’t disappoint its viewers with its flawless CGI, amazing plot, and the magnificent execution of the actors. 

Hugo

One of Martin Scorsese’s movies released in 2011, Hugo has proven to be different from other Scorsese movies that usually revolve around crime, money, and gangsters. Hugo was based on the novel by Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The movie is about a young orphan who lives alone in the Gare Montparnasse railway station in Paris in the 1930s. His job inside the railway station is to oil and maintain the station’s clock but, for him, his job is to protect an automaton and notebook left by his father, who unfortunately, died on a museum fire. In discovering the truth of whether Hugo’s father really left him a message, the story begins to unfold its mystery with the help of a toy shop owner and his granddaughter. In the hands of an excellent director like Scorsese, Hugo deserves to be named as one of the best films in terms of story and technical aspects. 

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Vertigo

As one of the most mysterious films of all time, Vertigo, released in 1958, remains as the symbol of the art of mystery and thrill in entertainment even until today. The movie revolves around Scottie, an ex-police officer experiencing vertigo from a traumatic crime chase, was hired to stop his friend’s wife from committing suicide. While doing his job, he inexplicably fell in love with this woman. Weird and unanticipated events start to unravel due to his strange obsessions, and these events marked director Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece. 

The Godfather 

Regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, depicts the story of an Italian mafia family in New York, set in the late 1940s, just after the Second World War. This film won three Oscars in 1972 and has been nominated in seven other categories. Because of its compelling plot, excellent direction, and superb performances, The Godfather is revered to be a classic and continues to serve as a standard that holds the bar for many crime films that have been created and will be created.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Quite ahead of its time, the movie 2001:A Space Odyssey, released in 1958, featured the peak of technology through a leap in space. The mystery and excitement brought about by this movie, along with its revolutionary plot, caught the attention of its audience. A Space Odyssey is about a mysterious space mission involving a group of astronauts led by Dr. Dave Bowman, who experienced a tragic journey through space when their ship’s computer system started to fail. Together, they faced a battle against their greatest mechanical works, which were otherwise created to help them. While it took years to make, the film successfully brought science fiction to film, considering that advanced CGI, cinematography, and movie instruments were still very limited during the time of its release. 

Conclusion

Being one of the best films is not just about a single element, but rather a combination of various factors that can affect the viewers’ perceptions, and even emotions. These films prove that a great movie experience doesn’t have to be something fancy and expensive, but sharing these movies with your loved ones can make it memorable and relatable.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Where'd You Go, Bernadette

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WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE— 3 STARS

Nearly three-and-a-half years ago when reviewing Everybody Wants Some!!, this writer identified two parallels between which filmmaker Richard Linklater always seems to operate. It was either “free-wheeling fun” or “poignant realism” with “scant middle ground.” Call them Party Linklater and Deep Linklater. The question mark skipped from the title of Where’d You Go, Bernadette can be placed in the sentence of which Linklater did we get? Welcome to the uncharted and unexpected “scant middle ground” where grandiose fiction is the party and odd eccentricity is the depth.

Neurotically charming, yet misshapen in many ways, Where’d You Go, Bernadette is wholly unique from the Texan and Hollywood outsider. The movie has the equal ability to disarm and disgust depending on your perspective or experience with the Maria Semple source material. Non-readers will float with the staccato blustering and the Antarctic kayak currents of fancy. Ardent fans will wonder where all the scintillating mystery went that gave merit to all the haphazard happenings beset on the family of narrator Balakrishna Branch, affectionately known as “Bee” and played by debuting talent Emma Nelson.

Bee is the uber-precocious 15-year-old daughter of a pair of brilliant-minded, attracted opposites. Her father is the Microsoft-backed tech innovator Elgin Branch, played by Billy Crudup, earning industry kudos and TED Talk stages with groundbreaking new mind-to-text recognition software. The extroverted and borderline workaholic is matched by his reclusive and agoraphobic wife and Bee’s titular mother, played by Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett and her bangs. Detailed by exposition-minded video essays viewed by characters on screen, Bernadette Fox was once the toast of Los Angeles and the most brilliant architectural design savant of her generation before professional disappointment burned and stomped over her creativity.

LESSON #1: “THE BRAIN IS A DISCOUNTING MECHANISM” — Bernadette’s own explanatory observations of self-diagnosis are fueled by empirical study, plenty of science, and a side of doubting bullshit. It’s true that the brain looks for risk and signals accordingly. To call it a design flaw for danger instead of joy, however, is where you squint at the woman’s nuttiness to a degree. Still, this background and Cate’s delivery of it all sheds light on the movie’s nervous system.

For years, Bernadette has buried herself in two projects: being a mom and endlessly tinkering with restoring a huge derelict old school building into the family’s home in the Seattle burbs. Anxiety has grown into to insomnia and a racing heart during social and domestic confrontations. Her most common clashes are anything requiring Bernadette to interact and keep up with the joneses of the hoity-toity private school Bee attends (something matching of Semple’s inspiration). That judgy crowd is led by the granola and snooty next door neighbor Audrey (Kristen Wiig) and her minion Soo-Lin (TV actress Zoe Chao) who works with Elgin.

LESSON #2: DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES ON FAILING LIVES — We learn a great deal about where Elgin and Bernadette stand in a dynamite sequence of two separated venting sessions. Elgin has approached a psychiatrist (Judy Greer) about how to deal with his wife. In a different location, Bernadette catches up with an old colleague (Laurence Fishburne) that she hasn’t seen in years. Deftly constructed with surgical editing from Linklater regular Sandra Adair, his lament combines with her rant. His conclusion is help while hers is to create, showing just how far apart the two former lovebirds are now.

Outside of her impressionable daughter, Bernadette’s verbose and unrestrained external monologue is received and filtered through “Manjula,” her unseen automated text-to-speech personal assistant service. Even with the prospect of an Antarctic cruise vacation for Bee on the horizon, all of the loose threads of Bernadette’s current course are unraveling to several breaking points. Everyone can see these potential disasters coming except her and the loyal Bee who considers her mother her best friend.

LESSON #3: LOVE SOMEONE’S FLAWS — The movie presents a family that still loves the mess that Bernadette has become. Her husband, for all his worry, remains a willing confidante. The nearly unconditional love between daughter and mother is tremendous. Mom defends her daughter’s independence and the resilient girl gives it right back in the face of the catty other moms. Accepting and inspiring familial love trumps every quirk or mistake and the film forces a great many syrup-coated steps to ensure that happens.

Showing off as much if not more unstable petulance as she did winning the Oscar for Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, Cate Blanchett bring a dizzying level of detail to her characterization of depressed pizzazz and wallowing pluck and play Bernadette Fox. There is never a wasted movement or breath with Cate. This is complete immersion and her vocal and physical expressions and actions of exasperation are fascinating to watch. Sure, maybe we’ve seen this level of difficulty before from the newly-minted 50-year-old, but the capability and brilliance she brings to these odd roles is nearly second to none. Put her right there next to Meryl Streep where her dedication to any and every challenge cannot be questioned.

Across from that celebrated star of rich and storied career heights is Emma Nelson, the rookie in her first movie. Experience be damned, she becomes the emotional linchpin of the whole darn thing. Every arc of personal improvement for Bernadette lifts one for Bee and the first-timer exudes mettle and moxie. Read a little local Chicagoland love from critic colleague Dann Gire of The Daily Herald on this Barrington, Illinois native. That girl is going places besides just her next year of high school.

Admittedly, Where’d You Go, Bernadette is tricky business for Richard Linklater. Semple’s best-seller is a uniquely mystery-driven collection of documents, emails, and transcripts, stuff not easy or clear to translate on screen without heavy narration or the wild visual creativity of something like Searching. Linklater and the Me and Orson Welles screenwriting team of Holly Gent and Vince Palmo bent and stripped away that hop-scotch of truth and “you never know everything” intrigue to fashion something more straight-forward and safe as a character piece narrative. In doing so, the resulting film skimps on opportunities to wreck more havoc in personal lives. The fits and spurts of how far to raise eyebrows comes out in the film’s unevenness. Luckily, the acting is steadfast and satisfying.

LESSON #4: TAKE A JOURNEY OF SELF-DISCOVERY — Critique aside, the clear goal for Linklater was to create or hone something more pleasant than a tawdry yarn of competing gossip. The third act of this movie takes a walkabout-ish excursion and turn for Bernadette and company brings aims positivity to elevate the doldrums of everyone’s downward spiral. Choose your journey to reinvigorate your soul. The Antarctica location doesn’t matter. It’s the fact you take one when you need it most.

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EDITORIAL: Hearing Fear: Why Music is Half the Battle in Horror Movies

(Image: New York Philharmonic)

Hearing Fear: Why Music is Half the Battle in Horror Films

(Image: live.staticflickr.com)

Horror films rely heavily on sound and music to set the tone. The film score and soundtrack of a horror movie can make or break its capacity to strike fear into the hearts of audiences.

Science of Fear

An episode of No Film School’s “It's Okay to Be Smart” suggests that the way we process sound in a more granular manner than sight stems from early human evolution. In the wild, our highly visceral response to sound helped us to detect and defend against predators. This is probably why the haunting score from Jaws composed by John Williams was very effective in convincing the world that sharks are out to get us. This terrifying bit of music gave Williams the first of his 22 Grammy Awards and the second of his five Oscars.

At the time Jaws was released, William’s orchestra approach was considered unconventional since most of the horror studios have shifted away from orchestra music since World War II. But the gamble paid off, as the iconic main theme perfectly matched the looming approach of a great white shark. This effective use of orchestra instruments in horror can also be heard in Stephen King’s The Shining which in addition used actual recordings of animals screaming to up the ante.

The Art of Uneasiness

The catharsis of a horror film—the death of an antagonist or the sudden revival of a monster—is nothing without the protracted, eerie build up throughout a film. You can hear this in the unnervingly morbid and minor dirges composed by Tyler Bates featured in films like Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects, James Gunn's Slither, and Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead.

Former Marilyn Manson guitarist Tyler Bates has worked on projects like The Exorcist series on Fox and Rob Zombie’s Halloween films. Bates credits two things in his work as a horror film scorer: spending his childhood years living in a haunted house, and his undying love for effects pedals. While the former provides him tons of inspiration for his work, it’s the pedals that have helped him shape the eerie sounds and unexpected riffs that have defined his film scoring career. His favorites include Earthquake Devices’ Rainbow Machine and the DigiTech Whammy, which are featured prominently in his work. His reverberating scores combined with masterfully timed pauses force the audience’s imagination to fill in what’s missing from the scene – striking fear from within.

Narrating Dread

For any film score to be effective, it must function as a wordless narrator that helps the director tell the whole story. More than just background music, horror music is a device that sets the stage for dread, even when accompanied by colorful or hopeful visuals.

The way Netflix’s TV series Stranger Things pays homage to the synthesizer phase of 80s horror is a perfect example. Composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein achieved the show’s infectiously retro score by using Roland’s Juno-106, Korg’s Mono/Poly, the ARP Odyssey, and the Sequential Circuits Prophet, a mainstay in the work of legendary director John Carpenter.

Speaking of legendary, the iconic slashing violin stingers from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho demonstrates how award-winning musician Bernard Herrmann masterfully plays with movie-goers’ sense of comfort. To this day, the squealing strings in the movie’s infamous shower scene evokes fear in a new generation of film fans.

Another notable collaboration between Herrmann and Hitchcock is the narrative scoring in Vertigo, which hooked viewers into the repetitive pattern of romantic obsession which the movie encapsulates. It enabled the protagonist to seamlessly transform in front of the audience’s eyes forcing viewers to relate to but also be repulsed by the changes in the character.

Music matters in horror arguably more than it does in any other film genre. If you want to get over a movie that traumatized you in the past, try watching it with the sound muted. But if you want to keep the fear alive, brace yourself and turn the volume all the way up.

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