Latest news with #BenShattuck
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Paul Mescal's 'sexless' gay romance The History Of Sound is branded 'Brokeback Mountain on sedatives' and 'too polite' by critics after nine minute Cannes ovation
Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor's new gay romance The History Of Sound premiered at Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday. The film was very well received at Cannes, receiving an impressive nine-minute standing ovation - but critics haven't been so convinced. Based on the short story of the same name by Ben Shattuck, The History Of Sound stars Paul and Josh as love interests Lionel and David. It follows their journey as they travel together to record the stories and songs of their countrymen during the shadow of the WW1. But as the first reviews for the film dropped on Thursday, critics branded the romance 'Brokeback Mountain on sedatives' as they complained about the lack of steamy scenes. Critics praised the performances of its lead actors, with one even calling it 'one of the most unabashedly romantic LGBTQ films in recent memory', but many instead branded it 'too polite' and 'monotonous'. Left unimpressed by the film, Owen Gleiberman for Variety said: 'The History of Sound,' which might be described as a minimalist 'Masterpiece Theatre'-on-the-frontier riff on 'Brokeback,' is a drama that mostly just sits there. 'It's far from incompetent, but it's listless and spiritually inexpressive. It's 'Brokeback Mountain' on sedatives.' Meanwhile Jo-Ann Titmarsh for The Standard rating 2*: 'For a film about music and harmony, alas this story is pretty monotonous. Ironically, it is not helped by the score. 'Mescal and O'Connor put in fine performances here, but the problem lies in the screenplay and direction, which allows little joy or change of pace to muscle their way in.' Nicholas Barber for the BBC said: 'The screenplay by Ben Shattuck is adapted from his own short story, and yet, with its leisurely pace and multiple endings, the film feels longer than its two-hour running time. 'It's left to the melancholy ballads of heartbreak and grief to provide the piercing emotion that is lacking elsewhere. The most romantic sequence has Lionel and David walking through the woods, harmonising exquisitely without any preparation, so it's a shame that such songs are missing for so much of this polite and polished film.' 'The accents and line-readings feel like painstaking expert reconstructions rather than the real thing and the love scenes are at half-throttle – as if they are there to be remembered sadly rather than experienced ecstatically in the here and now,' added Peter Bradshaw for The Guardian. 'Everything here is out of the top drawer of production value: but it never really comes to passionate life.' Richard Lawson for Vanity Fair agreed, saying: 'The tent stuff does, inevitably, bring to mind Brokeback Mountain, another restrained, handsomely staged drama of gay men in harsh times. But History of Sounds is on an even lower simmer than that film, asking its audience to sustain themselves mostly on loaded looks and hushed subtext. 'Too often the film's muted emotion feels more gimmicky than credible to Lionel and David's circumstances, particularly because Hermanus is so demure about sex; we barely even see the men kissing.' Ed Potton for The Times said: 'The last act has a disappointing inevitability, with little of the transcendent emotion of the first hour.' But other critics gushed over the performances of its stars and applauded its use of music to convey emotion. Pete Hammond for Deadline said: 'This may be Mescal's best work in films yet.' Added: 'The History of Sound belongs to Mescal and O'Connor, who both committed to it pre-pandemic well before either became Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning major stars. 'They stuck with it through all the delays and should be rewarded for their loyalty to Hermanus, who has made a film that will stay in your head for a very long time, it's that good.' 'A tender, decade-spanning love story, exquisitely told by director Oliver Hermanus, The History of Sound is yet another wonderful showcase for the considerable talents of Josh O'Connor and Paul Mescal,' James Mottram for Radio Times said. David Rooney for The Hollywood Reporter added: 'If you tap into History Of Sound's soulful undercurrents, the soaring spiritual dimensions of the music — in songs more often about people than Divinity — and the depth of feeling in Mescal and O'Connor's performances, this is a film of lingering melancholic beauty. 'The power of the music alone makes it one of the most unabashedly romantic LGBTQ films in recent memory.' THE HISTORY OF SOUND: WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING Nicholas Barber for the BBC says: 'The screenplay by Ben Shattuck is adapted from his own short story, and yet, with its leisurely pace and multiple endings, the film feels longer than its two-hour running time. 'It's left to the melancholy ballads of heartbreak and grief to provide the piercing emotion that is lacking elsewhere. The most romantic sequence has Lionel and David walking through the woods, harmonising exquisitely without any preparation, so it's a shame that such songs are missing for so much of this polite and polished film.' Rating: Jo-Ann Titmarsh for The Standard says: 'For a film about music and harmony, alas this story is pretty monotonous. Ironically, it is not helped by the score. Mescal and O'Connor put in fine performances here, but the problem lies in the screenplay and direction, which allows little joy or change of pace to muscle their way in. Rating: Peter Bradshaw for The Guardian says: The accents and line-readings feel like painstaking expert reconstructions rather than the real thing and the love scenes are at half-throttle – as if they are there to be remembered sadly rather than experienced ecstatically in the here and now. 'Everything here is out of the top drawer of production value: but it never really comes to passionate life.' Rating: Ed Potton for The Times says: 'The last act has a disappointing inevitability, with little of the transcendent emotion of the first hour.' Rating: Richard Lawson for Vanity Fair: 'The tent stuff does, inevitably, bring to mind Brokeback Mountain, another restrained, handsomely staged drama of gay men in harsh times. But History of Sounds is on an even lower simmer than that film, asking its audience to sustain themselves mostly on loaded looks and hushed subtext. 'Too often the film's muted emotion feels more gimmicky than credible to Lionel and David's circumstances, particularly because Hermanus is so demure about sex; we barely even see the men kissing.' Owen Gleiberman for Variety: 'The History of Sound,' which might be described as a minimalist 'Masterpiece Theatre'-on-the-frontier riff on 'Brokeback,' is a drama that mostly just sits there. It's far from incompetent, but it's listless and spiritually inexpressive. It's 'Brokeback Mountain' on sedatives.' Pete Hammond for Deadline: 'This may be Mescal's best work in films yet.' Added: 'The History of Sound belongs to Mescal and O'Connor, who both committed to it pre-pandemic well before either became Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning major stars. 'They stuck with it through all the delays and should be rewarded for their loyalty to Hermanus, who has made a film that will stay in your head for a very long time, it's that good.' James Mottram for Radio Times says: 'A tender, decade-spanning love story, exquisitely told by director Oliver Hermanus, The History of Sound is yet another wonderful showcase for the considerable talents of Josh O'Connor and Paul Mescal.' Rating: David Rooney for The Hollywood Reporter: 'If you tap into History Of Sound's soulful undercurrents, the soaring spiritual dimensions of the music — in songs more often about people than Divinity — and the depth of feeling in Mescal and O'Connor's performances, this is a film of lingering melancholic beauty.
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Ed Helms Read ‘Moby-Dick' on His Phone. On the New York Subway.
In an email interview, the actor ('The Office') explained why working in comedy drew him to exploring big mistakes, in a podcast that led to the book. SCOTT HELLER What books are on your night stand? 'The History of Sound,' by Ben Shattuck, and 'The Library Book,' by Susan Orlean. How do you organize your books? I don't. Books migrate between dignified shelves, unruly coffee tables and chaotic piles that sprout around my office like mushrooms. Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how). This might sound strange, but one of my favorite reading experiences was standing on the New York City subway, clinging to a pole with one hand and reading 'Moby-Dick' on my phone with the other. Sometimes I was so engrossed I'd get off the train and just plop down on a bench to finish a chapter. But honestly, nothing beats reading aloud to my kids in our little reading nook at home. What's the last great book you read? I've read a lot of good books, but the last truly great book I read was 'The Overstory,' by Richard Powers. What books are you embarrassed not to have read yet? 'Anna Karenina,' by Tolstoy. In my defense, someone gave me a Russian-language edition and I literally can't read it. Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel as if you were supposed to like, and didn't? 'A Walk in the Woods,' by Bill Bryson. I signed up for soulful reflections on a grueling 2,000-mile trek along the Appalachian Trail. What I got were some chipper musings about a leisurely stroll to a diner. Bryson is hilarious, but I still felt betrayed. Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? The Lorax. Were you a 'Captain Underpants' fan before playing the title role in the movie version? I was only dimly aware of the series before I signed on, but I immediately fell in love with its anarchic spirit. There's a wonderful undercurrent of pure childhood mischief in those books. What's your favorite book no one else has heard of? 'Longitude,' by Dava Sobel. It's a gripping, soulful history of the race to determine one's longitude at sea, which, I promise, is way more exciting than it sounds. In 'Snafu,' you ask readers to think of you as their 'unofficial history teacher.' Is there one who made a difference to you? My brother is a middle school history teacher, and one of the smartest, funniest people I know. He's my go-to for fact-checking and/or spirited debates. What is it about your personality that makes you fascinated by foul-ups? I think because comedy is rooted in pain and suffering, I've spent my whole life instinctively tuning in to moments when things go wrong. At this point, it's not so much a fascination as it is a reflex. Who's the most foolish figure unearthed in the research for the book, and why? One strong contender is the U.S. military engineer who, during the Cold War, proposed nuking the moon just to show the Soviets how tough we were. Not land on it. Not colonize it. Just … detonate it. The most heroic? Jimmy Carter. In 1952, long before he became president, he helped lead a dangerous cleanup of a partial nuclear meltdown at Canada's Chalk River reactor. He and his men risked their lives to contain the disaster, a quiet act of heroism that almost no one talks about today. Is there a recent event that seems likely to make it into a sequel to this book? DOGE. Have you ever gotten in trouble for reading a book? In fifth grade, I got caught carting around 'The Joy of Sex' at school. It made me wildly popular with my friends and significantly less popular with my teachers and parents. What's the last book you recommended to a member of your family? A.D.H.D. has touched my life in a lot of ways, so I've recommended 'Scattered Minds,' by Gabor Maté, to friends and family who've been curious about it. It's a moving, compassionate window into what living with A.D.H.D. actually feels like. What's the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently? In David Byrne's 'How Music Works,' I learned how profoundly music is shaped by the spaces it's performed in. Cathedrals, dive bars, stadiums: They don't just host music, they transform how we experience it. As a musician, this was a thrilling revelation, something I'd always felt on some level but had never consciously reflected on before. 'Humanity has demonstrated an uncanny ability to bounce back' from snafus, you write. Still feeling that way? Yes. But to your point, we also have a nasty habit of bouncing backward just as quickly. Sadly, human progress is not a straight line. It's more like a cosmic game of Chutes and Ladders. You're organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite? Oscar Wilde, Marcus Aurelius and Anne Lamott. That should make for a good mix of profound insight and hard laughs.
South China Morning Post
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Meet Dying for Sex star Jenny Slate's husband, Ben Shattuck: he's a painter, art curator and an author whose book The History of Sound has been adapted into a new film starring Paul Mescal
Jenny Slate, star of Disney+ series Dying for Sex, has long since made a name for herself, having had a career in Hollywood spanning two decades. But while Slate has found success in the industry as an actress, comedienne and producer, she says her most meaningful experience has been motherhood. The It Ends With Us actress welcomed her baby girl, Ida Lupine Shattuck, in February 2021 after revealing her pregnancy to fans only two months before her due date. 'I can say, without a doubt, that motherhood is for sure the most meaningful thing that has ever happened to me,' she said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight not long after the birth. 'I feel really lucky and happy.' Advertisement Hollywood actress Jenny Slate and husband Ben Shattuck. Photo: @benshattuck_/Instagram Slate, 43, who dated Marvel star Chris Evans in 2016, shares Ida with her husband, Ben Shattuck. The couple were first spotted together in 2019 and tied the knot two years later. So who is Jenny Slate's husband, Ben Shattuck? Read on to find out. He's a painter and art curator Artist and gallery curator Ben Shattuck. Photo: @benshattuck_/Instagram Ben Shattuck, 41, graduated from Cornell University in 2009. Coming from an arty background, Shattuck eventually took on the role of lead curator at his family's art gallery in Massachusetts, per Parade. He is also a painter whose works have been exhibited at the New Bedford Art Museum, Massachusetts, as per People. Shattuck is a writer too Ben Shattuck with some of his written words. Photo: @benshattuck_/Instagram
