'Black Mass' and Hollywood's "Cool Dude" Problem

This week I saw Black Mass, the new film from director Scott Cooper (Out of the Furnace). The film stars Oscar nominee Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton (The Gift), Benedict Cumberbath (Star Trek Into Darkness), Kevin Bacon, Corey Stoll (This is Where I Leave You), Peter Sarsgaard (Blue Jasmine) and Dakota Johnson (50 Shades of Grey). The film has been promoted as the "official" beginning of the Oscar season. Its mid-September release date puts it in a weird position, however. The Oscar season is long and fickle, meaning the film could be forgotten by time December hits. Black Mass' best contender is star Depp himself as notorious criminal James "Whitey" Bulger, whose performance in the film is being touted as a "comeback" but he still needs strong legs at the box office to retain the momentum. 

But why is the movie considered an Oscar contender? Johnny Depp is laughably phony in the lead role, desperately vying for street cred by cursing on screen and staring at people. But this is no less a caricature than his work in Dark Shadows or the later Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Black Mass is a standard gangster biopic, where bad guys do bad things but look cool doing it and then get caught and we're supposed to understand that they're bad. It features overwritten dialogue that tries hard to be macho-poetic, throwing in the F word and other profanity to sound hardcore. This movie is reeking of testosterone and toxic masculinity. The movie is deemed "important" because it has the veneer of a prestige mobster move but in fact it is just as hollow as any studio programmed rom-com or blockbuster.

Deepika Padukone: Bringing the Bollywood Heroine to the 21st Century

Deepika Padukone is a true Bollywood movie star. Her performances are celebrated, her films are major hits at the box office and she is very vocal about issues that Indians face today. Padukone has cemented a place for herself in Indian film industry. It's not just that she is successful both critically and financially. But her work is actively moving the industry forward with her portrayal of modern, opinionated and liberated women, who have agency, intelligence, strength and vulnerability.

Deepika Padukone debuted to smashing success with Om Shanti Om. I'm not a fan of the film but her work was noticed and it was clear she had star potential. After that, however, Padukone struggled to make a place for herself with small "girlfriend" roles or poorly reviewed performances. She had a hit with Love Aaj Kal and did decent work in Lafangey Parindey, but she wasn't really taken seriously.

'The Perfect Guy' and My Love for 80s/90s Trashy Thrillers

I took myself to see The Perfect Guy. And it was awesome. It reminded me of those trashy thrillers from the 80s and 90s. Over the top, lurid, violent, exploitative, black and white morality--it's all good. The Perfect Guy is tame compared to others like it. There's always a woman in peril, some evil guy obsessed with her. Or maybe there's a sensitive guy with a femme fatale out to consume him. Some people ;like to consider these just Lifetime movies, but I'm like who cares? These movies make money and there's an audience for them. Here are some of my favorite ones in all their vaguely anti-feminist and ridiculous glory:

Basic Instinct
In some ways, Basic Instinct is the ultimate trash thriller. I mean, the story is so bizarre and the scenes so over the top delicious that you feel icky after watching it. Sharon Stone defined her career with this film for better or worse. This is a dirty descent to the underworld that pissed off a lot of people but in its own way it's a classic.

Diversity in Hollywood Simply Cannot Be "Organic"

Sometimes it's hard to reconcile my disappointment with the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera and my enjoyment of mainstream Hollywood. I try to blame the system, not the players. But it's frustrating to see the people of power and privilege continually close their eyes to the big problem in their industry.

When white male filmmakers talk about the lack of diversity, they tend to bring up two major points: one that their decision to hire straight white men is nothing more than them picking the best man for the job because being straight, white and male is remarkably conducive to imagination and creativity. The other thing is that they think diversity needs to be organic to the story being told. FYI, both of those things are utter B.S. and total cop outs.

'Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation,' Opera and Alfred Hitchcock

Finally I got to see Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation and the movie did not disappoint. In fact, it's already become my favorite of the series with its brilliantly conceived action set pieces, complicated script and easy to love main cast. But perhaps the reason why I liked this so much is its deliberate homages to my favorite director, Alfred Hitchcock.

Rogue Nation explicitly references two classic Hitchcock thrillers: North by Northwest and The Man Who Knew Too Much. But the film on the whole is a general "wrong man" thriller homage about a guy on the run from his own government and is out to prove himself right. While most people generally think of James Bond 007 as the major influence of modern spy thrillers, Rogue Nation goes to the Hitchcock template for suspense building.