Latest news with #Badlands'
Japan Times
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Times
‘The Brothers Kitaura': A sordid tale of filial impropriety
Corpse disposal is a complicated business even at the best of times. All the more so if you're as hapless as the eponymous protagonists of 'The Brothers Kitaura.' Masaki Tsujino's sophomore feature, which won the Critics' Picks Competition at last year's Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, is a tale of desperation compounded by incompetence and self-interest. When its characters find themselves in over their heads, they keep digging. At the start of the film, older sibling Sota (Masaaki Nakano) is in a state of arrested development: unemployed, work-shy and still living with his elderly father, Goichi (Taka Takao). He may be in his 40s, but Sota acts like an eternal teen, sleeping in late, getting up to no good when he's home alone and leaving his dad to do all the cooking. So when the latter threatens to turf him out in favor of a potential marriage partner, the ungrateful son chooses fight over flight, leading to an altercation that ends with Goichi lying dead on the kitchen floor. Unaccustomed to having to clean up his own mess, Sota enlists the help of his estranged brother, Akira (Hirota Otsuka), who's already in a bit of a pickle himself. Once the family's high-flier, the younger Kitaura is now facing personal ruin after an email blunder led to him getting fired for sexual harassment, then served divorce papers by his wife. You'd think he wouldn't want to add 'accessory to murder' to his list of problems, but he's more concerned about his job prospects than doing the right thing. I mean, who's going to hire the brother of a convicted killer, right? This is a much more acerbic film than Tsujino's debut feature, 'A Tale of the Riverside' (2020). Reviewing that movie for The Japan Times, Mark Schilling noted that all of its characters were ultimately likable, but Sota and Akira are too busy squabbling among themselves to earn the audience's sympathy. They're paragons of a very middle-class brand of mediocrity. Thanks to the financial safety net their father provided, both have reached middle age without ever having to take much initiative. Their attempts to get rid of their benefactor's corpse — a symbolic act, if ever you wanted one — are predictably pathetic. 'The Brothers Kitaura' features some impressive displays of ineptitude (as when the brothers try to squeeze the body into an obviously undersized suitcase), punctuated by extended bouts of bickering and inertia. After unintentionally offing his father, Sota's first reaction is to drape a towel over the dead man's face and retire to bed. The film recalls an earlier generation of movies about patricide, such as Terrence Malick's 'Badlands' (1973) and Kazuhiko Hasegawa's 'The Youth Killer' (1976), except in this case, the kids aren't exactly young themselves. Tsujino's script could probably have done more with this: Although there's an element of social critique here, it mostly takes a backseat to the bumbling neo-noir shenanigans. These are entertaining, although the obviously cash-strapped production struggles to pull off some of its big set pieces. Tsujino's background in shōgekijō (small-scale theater) also manifests itself in an unfortunate tendency to let scenes run on for too long, in the manner of an improv comedy skit that doesn't know when to end. But when the curtain finally falls on this sordid family affair, it's a delicious kiss-off.
New York Times
18-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
The Jets aren't banking on free agency — they're banking on Aaron Glenn
The Almost Jets. It's a yearly tradition, stories about how close the New York Jets came to signing certain big-ticket free agents, how they were in it until the very end. (Or, in the case of Anthony Barr, had him until he changed his mind.) Joe Caporoso has been tracking these 'Almost Jets' for years. Caporoso — the founder of 'Badlands' on Patreon, which houses a group of popular Jets podcasts, including one he co-hosts — lists Tyreek Hill, Kirk Cousins, Odell Beckham Jr., Lee Suggs, Antoine Winfield, Alvin Kamara and Dont'a Hightower as some of his favorites. Advertisement But that hasn't been a thing this offseason; the Jets haven't been getting involved with the top free agents. This time of the NFL year is an exercise in over-indulgence, and the Jets have only really over-indulged on two players: quarterback Justin Fields (two years, $40 million) and cornerback Brandon Stephens (three years, $36 million). They haven't been mentioned as contenders for any other top free agents — it seems they simply aren't wading in those waters. Their approach has been … boring. Jets fans, accustomed to the team's shopping sprees on big-name players, have been underwhelmed. But the Jets were never going to go all-out in Aaron Glenn's first offseason. Their strategy, instead, has been to shop in the bargain-bin for younger players (most of their free agency class is 28 or younger) that were either highly drafted, have flashed talent in past seasons or possess the physical/athletic traits Glenn desires. At the NFL Combine in February, both Glenn and new general manager Darren Mougey insisted the Jets are not rebuilding. 'Every decision that me and Mougey make is to win and to win now,' Glenn said. And Mougey: 'Every decision AG and I make since we've gotten here and moving forward is with the goal of winning now and from now on.' Glenn has said as much privately to Jets players too. In a recent interview, linebacker Quincy Williams said that Glenn told him, 'I came here to win, not to rebuild' — notable considering Quinnen Williams, Quincy's brother, tweeted 'another rebuild year for me I guess' after the team announced Aaron Rodgers was on the outs. It would be hard to look at the moves and think the Jets were trying to win at a high level in 2025. And maybe they're not. But there is another way to look at the moves the Jets have made this offseason: They are banking on Aaron Glenn. More specifically, they're banking on Glenn's (and his staff's) ability to coach and develop young talent — and, in many cases, untapped potential. Advertisement If you look at how the Lions did things when Glenn was hired as Dan Campbell's defensive coordinator in 2021, perhaps the Jets' approach this offseason wouldn't have come as much of a shock. That summer, the Lions bargain-hunted on defense. Their big ticket signings were near-minimum contracts given to players such as Alex Anzalone, Charles Harris, Quinton Dunbar, Corn Elder and Dean Marlowe. Detroit's investment instead was in the NFL Draft, picking four players who developed into part of the core of an improved defense: tackles Alim McNeill and Levi Onwuzirike, defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu and linebacker Derrick Barnes. During Glenn's four years as DC, the Lions prioritized building through the draft, and it worked. In 2024 — despite a rash of injures — Detroit's defense had its best season under Glenn, and most of the core players (Aidan Hutchinson, Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, Terrion Arnold, Jack Campbell, Onwuzirike and McNeil) were drafted and developed over the last few years. The Lions only splurged in free agency on two defensive free agents: cornerback Cameron Sutton in 2023 (three years, $33 million) and defensive tackle D.J. Reader in 2024 (two years, $22 million). It could be argued the Jets have a better core of talent on offense and defense in 2025 than the Lions did in 2021 — cornerback Sauce Gardner, wide receiver Garrett Wilson, running back Breece Hall, linebacker Jamien Sherwood, a solid and young offensive line, defensive ends Will McDonald and Jermaine Johnson, plus the Williams brothers. But this is still a roster full of holes, and a team that is not particularly close to Super Bowl contention. Nine of the 13 notable free agents the Jets have added this offseason are 27 or younger. None are 30. Six were drafted in the first four rounds in 2021 — led by Fields, picked 11th by the Bears. Stephens, safety Andre Cisco, center Josh Myers, tackle Chukwuma Okorafor, defensive end Rashad Weaver and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi are coming off down seasons, but all have shown flashes of talent or been productive in the past. • Stephens (27) allowed the second-most receiving yards of any defensive back in 2024 with zero interceptions; but had two interceptions and 11 pass deflections in 2023. • Cisco (25 on Sunday) had zero picks or forced fumbles in 2024; he forced five turnovers in 2023. • Myers (26) allowed the second-most pressures of any center in 2024; in 2023, he ranked 14th among all interior offensive linemen in ESPN's pass-block win rate metric. • Okorafor (27) left the Patriots after getting benched in Week 1 last year but started 55 games for the Steelers from 2020-23. • Weaver (27) has zero sacks since 2022 — but that year, he had 5.5 sacks and 15 QB hits. • Nnadi (28) only played 20 percent of the snaps for the Chiefs in 2024, but before that had long been a quality run stopper and a starter on three Super Bowl winners. Advertisement There are a few others who fall more into the unproven/untapped potential bucket, like tight end Stone Smartt (26) and wide receiver Tyler Johnson (27), both of whom could earn significant roles at positions of need. Smartt is a quarterback-turned-tight end who came on strong late last season; from Weeks 14-17, he had 13 catches for 164 yards, 10th-most yards among all tight ends during that span. Johnson has bounced around the league since the Buccaneers drafted him in 2020 but came on strong for the Rams last year. He had 26 catches for 291 yards and one touchdown, and didn't drop any of his 41 targets. He also has caught 13 of 19 contested-catch targets in his career. A few other free agents — including rotational defensive tackles Jay Tufele and Byron Cowart, and special teamer Kris Boyd — will have clearly defined roles. And then there's Fields, the biggest gamble on talent of the Jets' offseason as a 26-year-old former first-round pick at the sport's most important position. Glenn battled with Fields a few times over the years when Fields was in Chicago; in five starts against Glenn's Lions, Fields had three 100-yard rushing games and the Bears won two of the five matchups. Fields also completed only 57 percent of his passes in those games, with five touchdown passes and three interceptions. And that's the rub: It will be up to Glenn — plus offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand and quarterbacks coach Charles London — to tap into Fields' potential, improve him as a passer and develop him into a more consistent quarterback. The Jets didn't invest heavily in proven commodities in free agency because this is an organization banking on its coach to make good on his promise, to develop unproven or discarded players into productive members of the Jets. Plus, while they still have roster holes, the NFL Draft will provide another opportunity to fill them. And then it will be on Glenn and his staff to prove that this team doesn't need to spend money in free agency to build a winner.
Boston Globe
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
One fix for ailing movie theaters? Becoming nonprofits.
'I couldn't imagine living in a town without a movie theater,' she said. Wilson wasn't the only one who felt this way, and after a community-wide campaign the Triplex reopened in November 2023 in a much different form. No longer is it dependent on ticket and popcorn sales. The Triplex has become a nonprofit organization relying on donations, grants and plenty of volunteer labor. And instead of leaning on the next Hollywood blockbuster, the Triplex focuses on what the community wants to see. Advertisement 'In an independent theater, you can show what you want,' said Gail Lansky, vice president of the Triplex's board. 'You can show retrospectives. You can show foreign films. You can do film festivals. Free Saturdays for kids.' Certainly not all nonprofit theaters are doing well, but the model has worked, at least so far, in places like the Berkshires, where a devoted and well-heeled clientele is willing and able to support the arts. Two nearby nonprofit movie theaters in New York, the Moviehouse in Millerton and the Crandell Theater in Chatham, have attracted sizable fan bases. Across the country, more than 250 movie theaters are nonprofits, said Bryan Braunlich, executive director of the Cinema Foundation, a movie-industry group that provides research for cinemas. 'We are definitely seeing a trend of communities rallying around their local theaters,' he said. And movie theaters have needed saving. Since 2019, the number of screens operating in the United States has declined 12 percent, to 36,369 as of 2023, said David Hancock, chief analyst in media and entertainment at the research firm Omdia. The popularity of at-home streaming over the past decade was a factor. Before the pandemic, audience numbers were already waning, but COVID-19 nearly dealt the industry a death blow, as consumers got used to staying home and became pickier about what movies they went to a theater to see. Advertisement 'People certainly came back, but much more slowly,' said the Triplex's former owner, Richard Stanley. 'Ultimately, I saw the handwriting on the wall and decided I had to close.' When a theater shuts down in town, it's not just a problem for film buffs. Because of their unique architecture, with sloped floors and few windows, they are hard to convert to other purposes and often leave prominent spaces empty. Becoming a nonprofit allows theaters to draw on different revenue sources, like film festivals, and the hope is that a theater catering to the people of a town will build a loyal and supportive base. This doesn't happen overnight. That was the case with the Belcourt Theater in Nashville, Tennessee. A community group had raised millions of dollars to operate and renovate the 1925 movie palace, which briefly served as the main stage of the Grand Ole Opry. 'All of us who work in the theater remember the days when we'd show 'Badlands' to four people, and now we show 'Badlands' to 150 to 200 people,' said the Belcourt's executive director, Stephanie Silverman, referring to director Terrence Malick's debut feature from 1973. Those who rallied around the Triplex are hoping for the same. When the Triplex theater opened in 1995 on the site of a burned-down lumberyard, nearby shopping centers had sucked the life out of Main Street and Great Barrington was struggling economically, said Stanley, Triplex's former owner. Main Street is a very different place today, largely because of an influx of tourists and weekenders, and the Triplex 'was a very pivotal, really core thing that brought people to town,' said Betsy Andrus, executive director of the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce. Advertisement By 2023, two other multiplexes in the Berkshires, in Lanesborough and North Adams, had already shut down. But Wilson believed there was hope for the Triplex. She called Stanley to ask if there was some way to reopen the theater. 'I asked what we could do, and he said, 'Well, pay me $1 million and you can buy the theater,'' she said. Nicki Wilson, president of the Triplex Theater's board, and Ben Elliott, a theater manager, at the venue in Great Barrington, Mass., on Dec. 4, 2024. BRYAN DERBALLA/NYT Wilson didn't have $1 million to spare, but she did have plenty of friends. In April 2023, she invited her neighbors to her living room to discuss saving the theater. The group, which called itself Save the Triplex, created a GoFundMe page and a website to raise money. The response was overwhelming, said Hannah Wilken, who had spent many weekends at the Triplex with her friends as a teenager and was involved with the fundraising. Even people who hadn't been to the theater since before COVID felt a visceral connection to the place. 'We just started getting inundated with people saying: 'I want to help. I want to donate. Sign me up,'' Wilken said. Actress Karen Allen, who owns a fiber-arts store in town, turned over memorabilia from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' which she starred in, for an auction. A major boost came when photographer Gregory Crewdson donated $225,000, after selling copies of a signed limited edition of his work. Within a few months, the group had raised $246,000 — enough to pay the first year's mortgage. Stanley liked the idea of keeping the Triplex alive as a nonprofit run by the town's residents and gave Wilson's group a five-year mortgage to buy the theater. Advertisement The campaign has benefited from the large and devoted Berkshires arts community, which regularly draws celebrities to town. Bill Murray showed up at the Triplex to discuss 'The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,' the Wes Anderson film in which Murray played the title character, and Joan Baez was there for a showing of a documentary on her life. Arlo Guthrie discussed the 1969 movie 'Alice's Restaurant,' which had been filmed nearby. Not all the events have made money, but enough have done well to keep the Triplex going. Movie theaters remain a dicey business, and for the Triplex to survive long term it will need a lot more money. The four screening rooms need major renovations. And although an active board oversees the theater's operations, it had just two paid employees until this month. (A third manager starts later this month, and the theater also pays the people who sell tickets and popcorn.) Wilson, the board's president, hopes to hire more people, but for now the theater still depends largely on volunteers. 'The challenges are real,' said Lansky, the board's vice president. 'Everybody knows that an independent theater cannot rely on tickets and concessions alone.' Nonprofit theaters also tend to be a low priority for film distributors, Hancock of Omdia said. That means they can't always show the latest Hollywood blockbuster and must find other ways to keep up audience enthusiasm and a continuing commitment from the community members to donate money and volunteer their time, he said. 'The model can work, but only if the cinema is valued by the local community,' Hancock added. Still, those behind the Triplex's revival believe an audience is out there. Sitting at home and watching movies on Netflix just isn't the same thing, said Ben Elliott, a manager at the theater and one of its few paid staff members. Advertisement Elliott grew up in Great Barrington and regularly visited the Triplex as a child. One of the things he missed during COVID was the sound of conversations in the lobby after a movie ended. 'Being together in a physical space is something that's becoming rarer and rarer, and holding on to that, I think, is important for communities across the country,' he said. 'It's also, for us, the most viable way to keep a theater open.' This article originally appeared in .
