One of the most anticipated movies of 2017 opens in just a few weeks. Kathryn Bigelow, the Oscar-winning director of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, brings her eye for intensity to Detroit, a film centering around the 1967 riots that devastated the city.
In anticipation, Annapurna Pictures has released a cast video, which includes clips from the film and interviews with the impressive cast. John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) stars as one of the officers called to the Algiers Motel, where much of the film takes place. He spoke about the pressure of playing a real-life person who witnessed the frightening events of that night.
The rest of the cast complimented each other both on their talent, and how quickly they bonded, essential for a movie that spends a lot of time in confined quarters. One cast member said he wept after Bigelow yelled "Cut," since filming got so intense.
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
