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UPI
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
Movie review: 'Life of Chuck' affirms joy in dark times
1 of 5 | Tom Hiddleston and Annalise Basso dance in "The Life of Chuck," in theaters Friday. Photo courtesy of Neon LOS ANGELES, June 2 (UPI) -- The Life of Chuck, in theaters Friday, is a surreal and beautiful portrait of a life well lived. The film, adapted by Mike Flanagan from the Stephen King novella, portrays the life of Charles Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) in three chapters in reverse order. Near the end of his life, Charles appears on billboards that read "39 Great Years! Thanks Chuck." Schoolteacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) sees those ads and wonders who Charles is and what happened in those 39 years. The ads escalate before Charles actually appears; not since Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia has a movie character made such a grand entrance. For a while, Charles becomes a mysterious figure in a world in crisis. But the film focuses on how regular people cope with their limited knowledge of world events. Marty's ex-wife, Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan) is a nurse trying to hold a hospital down and reaches out to reconnect with her ex-husband. Marty also makes friends with a stranger, Sam Yabrough (Carl Lumbly), walking from place to place. What people talk about during political and environmental upheaval is poignant. They wonder whether the chaos has led to more marriages or divorces, because they're considering if more people pursue love or give up on commitments. Other people are just too dazed to have a deep conversation. Earlier in Charles' life, on a lunch break on a business trip, he stopped for street drummer Taylor Frank (The Pocket Queen) and started dancing. Though the choreography is enhanced by dance legend Mandy Moore, the scene represents a sincere moment between strangers. The pair are both doing what comes naturally and they happen to complement each other. They need not speak for Taylor to guide Charles, or for Charles to inspire a new beat. As a child, young Charles (Cody Flanagan, Benjamin Pajak and Jacob Tremblay) goes to live with his grandparents (Mark Hamill, Mia Sara) after his parents die in an automobile accident. As an adult, he's already thought about his grandmother dancing in the kitchen, giving context in this segment. By sixth grade, Charles is old enough to start asking questions. He's experienced the fragility of mortality earlier than most and is inevitably going to experience more before his own. He is living with an elderly couple, and even if he wasn't, death touches all of our lives. There are several motifs that recur in each chapter: Dancing, the cosmic calendar representing all of existence as if it were months of the year, Walt Whitman poems and a locked room upstairs all appear in some way. These give specificity to patterns that recur at various stages of life. Some of Charles' adult motivations are explained in childhood, but other feelings are not impacted so linearly. There is a supernatural element to the story, but it is subtle and does not overshadow the film's celebration of real life. The mysterious aspect is unveiled at the end, more as a garnish to the human story than a twist ending. Although Charles' life has specific circumstances, they are universal enough that the film serves as a Rorschach test for any viewer. Different aspects of The Life of Chuck will resonate with different people, and the film potentially gives peace and healing, if not definitive answers. Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
A sprinkling of sublime for TE Lawrence's grave
There is that 'great man' moment in David Lean's cinematic masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia when Peter O'Toole's Lawrence is trying to persuade his sceptical Bedouin lieutenant (Omar Sharif) that it is indeed possible to cross hundreds of miles of waterless desert and take the fortified port of Aqaba, held by the Turks, from the landward side. 'Aqaba is over there,' he says, pointing into the furnace. 'It's only a matter of going.' That journey in 1917, the crossing of the uncrossable, of what Sharif's character calls the 'Devil's Anvil', was the defining moment for Thomas Edward Lawrence. His legend grew from life ended not with a Turkish bullet or a last drop of stagnant water but at the age of 46 with a
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
Jordan Pavilion: Weaving Possibilities
Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai Guide to Japan Global Exchange Travel May 13, 2025 The pavilion introduces Jordan's history and culture, with the theme 'Weaving Possibilities.' The main exhibition room is a circular visual space enclosed in cedar from the Nara Prefecture village of Kamikitayama. Twenty-two tons of sand were shipped from the Wadi Rum Protected Area, the desert setting where Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker were filmed. Visitors can sit on the sand to enjoy a 360-degree journey through Jordan's history from Mesopotamian times. The Jordan pavilion is located in the Empowering Lives zone. ( See the official map for details.) The Jordan marks its national day on Wednesday, May 7, at the Expo National Day Hall. (Originally published in Japanese. Reporting and text by Uchiyama Ken'ichi and Photographic assistance by Kuroiwa Masakazu of 96-Box. Banner photo © .) Osaka Kansai Expo
Leader Live
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Tom Cruise reveals chance encounter in London takeaway led to Rain Man role
Speaking at BFI Southbank on Sunday, Cruise told interviewer Edith Bowman that he and his younger sister, Cass Capazorio, had spotted Hoffman while getting food in the capital. The 62-year-old told the crowd: 'She said, 'You've got to go over and say you love him.' 'She doesn't usually do stuff like that and I don't walk up to people and introduce myself, but she was so pushy. 'She said, 'If you don't, I'm going to.' 'He had his hat on and was ordering takeout. 'I stood next to him and said, 'Excuse me, Mr Hoffman, I'm sorry…' and he looked at me and said, 'Cruise!' 'That's how I met him. 'As I was leaving, he said, 'I want to make a movie with you,' and I said, 'That would be nice'. 'A year later he sent Rain Man to me.' The 1988 film became one of Cruise's breakthrough dramatic roles, with eight Academy Award nominations and four wins, including best picture and best actor for Hoffman. Cruise also recalled an early visit to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, where he was driven by a studio driver who had once worked with British filmmaker Sir David Lean. 'I always ask drivers what movies they've worked on – and one said he drove David Lean during Lawrence of Arabia,' Cruise said. 'He started telling me stories and eventually took me to the parking place where he used to drop him off.' Sir David is considered one of the most important figures of British cinema, behind epics such as The Bridge On The River Kwai and Lawrence Of Arabia. Cruise also revealed how he turned down an immediate sequel to Top Gun after the film's 1986 release. 'The studio wanted me to make Top Gun immediately – they were talking about the sequels,' he said. 'I said no. As a young artist, I felt I wanted to develop my talent in different areas. 'I wanted to understand myself more and challenge myself more with different types of movies.' Cruise was appearing at BFI Southbank as part of a special event celebrating his career and marking the upcoming release of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.
South Wales Guardian
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
Tom Cruise reveals chance encounter in London takeaway led to Rain Man role
Speaking at BFI Southbank on Sunday, Cruise told interviewer Edith Bowman that he and his younger sister, Cass Capazorio, had spotted Hoffman while getting food in the capital. The 62-year-old told the crowd: 'She said, 'You've got to go over and say you love him.' 'She doesn't usually do stuff like that and I don't walk up to people and introduce myself, but she was so pushy. 'She said, 'If you don't, I'm going to.' 'He had his hat on and was ordering takeout. 'I stood next to him and said, 'Excuse me, Mr Hoffman, I'm sorry…' and he looked at me and said, 'Cruise!' 'That's how I met him. 'As I was leaving, he said, 'I want to make a movie with you,' and I said, 'That would be nice'. 'A year later he sent Rain Man to me.' The 1988 film became one of Cruise's breakthrough dramatic roles, with eight Academy Award nominations and four wins, including best picture and best actor for Hoffman. Cruise also recalled an early visit to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, where he was driven by a studio driver who had once worked with British filmmaker Sir David Lean. 'I always ask drivers what movies they've worked on – and one said he drove David Lean during Lawrence of Arabia,' Cruise said. 'He started telling me stories and eventually took me to the parking place where he used to drop him off.' Sir David is considered one of the most important figures of British cinema, behind epics such as The Bridge On The River Kwai and Lawrence Of Arabia. Cruise also revealed how he turned down an immediate sequel to Top Gun after the film's 1986 release. 'The studio wanted me to make Top Gun immediately – they were talking about the sequels,' he said. 'I said no. As a young artist, I felt I wanted to develop my talent in different areas. 'I wanted to understand myself more and challenge myself more with different types of movies.' Cruise was appearing at BFI Southbank as part of a special event celebrating his career and marking the upcoming release of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.
