While the first teaser was a terrific taste of some of the tremendous acting we'll be getting this December, the latest trailer for Denzel Washington's Fences is another home run, offering even more glimpses of this intense family drama.
Washington steps into the director's chair for only the third time in his career – not counting the episode of Grey's Anatomy he helmed earlier this year – to adapt August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a struggling Pittsburgh family. Washington plays the lead role (which he also played in the Tony-winning revival in 2010), a former baseball prospect who spends his days picking up garbage. Filled with bitterness at his station in life, he has trouble relating to his wife and sons. Viola Davis (who also won a Tony for this role) plays his wife and judging by the incredible monologues they both get, they might both be accepting Oscars come February.
Superproducer Scott Rudin (The Social Network, Broadway's The Book of Mormon) brings the adaptation to the big screen on Christmas Day, with numerous awards nominations sure to follow.
About Kip Mooney
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.
