Wes Bentley
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SFIFF58: Shira Piven on Mental Illness in ‘Welcome to Me’
Kristen Wiig continues to flex her dramatic chops in her latest starring vehicle Welcome to Me, in which she plays Alice, a woman with borderline personality disorder who wins the lottery and becomes a multi-millionaire overnight. With the means and opportunity to finally break from her carefully regimented lifestyle, consisting of medication, therapy and endless […] More
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SFIFF58: Week 1
The New Girlfriend Written & Directed by François Ozon France, 2014 The latest from prolific French auteur François Ozon opens on a somber note as Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) recounts her lifelong friendship with the deceased Laura (Isild Le Besco), whose untimely death has left her grieving husband David (Romain Duris) alone with their infant daughter. […] More
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‘Interstellar’ is a bumpy, exhilarating ride
Interstellar begins at an indeterminate point in Earth’s future, when blight and drought are pushing humanity to the breaking point. “This world is a treasure, but it’s been telling us to leave for a long time now,” laments engineer-turned-farmer, Cooper (Matthew McConaughey). He’s a practical man who set aside dreams of space travel in order to provide for his family, and yet his powerful intellect keeps him sneaking glances skyward. When he and his precocious daughter, Murph (Mackenzie Foy), decipher mysterious signals directing them to random GPS coordinates, Cooper is only too eager to indulge his curiosity. More
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American Horror Story, Ep. 4.03, “Edward Mordrake (Part One)” movingly explores character emotions
Despite having a premise that would appear to push the high camp of this season even further, “Edward Mordrake (Part 1)” features some of the most touching and genuinely emotional moments seen in the season thus far. Though the elements of camp are certainly still present, “Mordrake” sees the season moving into more emotionally resonant territory.
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American Horror Story gets a teaser for its upcoming season, titled ‘Freakshow’
While FX has garnered acclaim over the years for shows such as Justified and Louie, it has also gained a number of fans for its show American Horror Story. Co-created by Ryan Murphy, the anthology style show has received both critical and commercial acclaim, with many anticipating its upcoming fourth season. Titled Freakshow, the new […] More
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Sundance 2014: ‘The Better Angels’, produced by Terrence Malick, releases a trailer
Despite a limited filmography, filmmaker Terrence Malick is a recognised force in the modern cinema landscape, with many critics praising his efforts. His involvement in a movie automatically brings a certain level of interest to it, and it is no different with features where he’s attached as a producer. The newest such film is The […] More
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TIFF 2013: ‘Pioneer’, from ‘Insomnia’ director Eric Skjoldbjaerg, releases a new clip
Norwegian filmmaker Eric Skjoldbjaerg quickly rose to critical acclaim with his 1997 debut feature Insomnia, even catching the eye of Hollywood, who remade the film in 2002 with credit to Skjoldbjaerg. Having made only three more feature length films in the ensuing span, many fans of the filmmaker were excited to learn that he was […] More
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Overly portentous ‘The Time Being’ falls flat despite its lofty ambitions
A passionate starving artist is at the center of The Time Being, an overly portentous new drama that doesn’t see such a central figure as being too stereotypical. No, this is a movie about how Art is Serious, so serious, in fact, that focusing entirely on one’s work trumps trivial matters like work, family, friends, and more. Though the movie is packed with pretty images, thanks entirely to the skill and craft of its fairly overqualified cinematographer, The Time Being is a mostly limp portrait of the artist as inwardly selfish and ambitious. More
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‘The Time Being’, with Frank Langella and Wes Bentley, releases its first trailer
With a career spanning nearly 50 years, and spreading through film, television, and the stage, veteran actor Frank Langella has found success and acclaim in every medium. Any project he is involved in thus garners a certain level of interest simply due to his presence, and the same held true for The Time Being, the […] More
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TIFF 2012: ‘The Time Being’ a gimcrack drama that contrives its own importance
The Time Being Directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain Written by Nenad Cicin-Sain and Richard N. Gladstein USA, 2012 It seems like Wes Bentley is stuck in some kind of inauspicious circle. In 1999, he, like every other benefactor in the film, was elevated to instant recognition when Sam Mendes’ American Beauty burst onto the scene (at […] More
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TIFF 2012: First clips from ‘The Time Being’ establishes power dynamic of the movie
Ever since his breakout role as Ricky Fitts in 1999’s American Beauty, Wes Bentley has always been an actor worth looking out for. The same can be said for veteran stage and screen actor Frank Langella, who has always proved a compelling presence regardless of the quality of any given project. At TIFF 2012, one […] More
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‘The Hunger Games’ is a fine, gripping dystopian effort that overcomes its influences
The Hunger Games Written for the screen by Suzanne Collins, Gary Ross and Billy Ray Directed by Gary Ross USA, 2012 In the dystopian, totalitarian nation of Panem, a wealthy capital city rules over an impoverished nation of districts. As penance for a previous rebellion, every year sees each district forced to enter two adolescents […] More