Mark Rylance Archives - Awesome Friday!

12 June 202212 June 2022

Podcast: Hustle & The Phantom of the Open (w/ special guest co-host Rachel Ho)

Greetings programs! It’s time for a new episode of the Awesome Friday Podcast! This week we’re looking at a pair of sports movies: Hustle, the love letter to basketball from Adam Sandler, and The Phantom of the Open, the true story of the man who shot the worst round of golf in British Open History, starring Mark Rylance.

This week Simon had some commitments that couldn’t be avoided, but luckily our friend Rachel Ho was able to join me in his place. Rachel is an award-winning critic based out of Toronto; she co-hosts the podcast Contra Zoom and writes for Exclaim, POV Magazine, and That Shelf. This episode was a blast to record, and we hope you enjoy it!

There are streaming links powered by JustWatch a little further down this page, and the episode should be live wherever you listen to podcasts (including on this page) now.

Join us!

20 March 202220 March 2022

Podcast: Spider-Man: No Way Home & The Outfit

Welcome back to Awesome Friday, on a Sunday! In this week’s episode, we speak at length about a little movie you might have heard about from last year, Spider-Man: No Way Home, which has finally come to home video. Then it’s onto a new release from Focus Features, The Outfit, a single location mystery thriller starring Mark Rylance and Zoey Deutch. Join us!

4 January 20228 January 2022

Review: ‘Don’t Look Up’ is angry at the right things, but lacks focus

Climate change is real. I can’t believe this is a thing that we still have to debate in the 2020s, but there is a not-insignificant portion of people –or at least people in positions of power– who seem content to let it happen in the name of high-profit margins, and have found a multitude of ways to distract the populace into either ignorance or obliviousness.

This is also the plot of Adam McKay’s new film Don’t Look Up, which presents a world not unlike our own that happens to have a planet-killing comet headed directly toward it and a and of scientists unable to convince the world to do anything about it. Subtle, this movie is not. Of course, subtly isn’t a requirement for a satire in the form of a pitch-black comedy, but you know what is? Humour. Unfortunately, this movie isn’t humorous either.

12 October 202011 October 2020

Review: ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ uses American’s past to hold a mirror up to its present

The topical period piece is hardly a new phenomenon. Examining our past such that we might examine our present is a function of art, and if executed well a surefire way to be on everyone’s mind come awards season.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 tells the story of the aftermath of the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. During that event, several groups came to the city to protest the war in Vietnam. Thousands of people protested for days before violence broke out, and the situation devolved into what we now know to be a police riot. The film picks up the following year when eight men, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale are on trial for conspiracy to incite a riot.

Aaron Sorkin has been developing this film for years, but it’s hard to imagine a world where the timing of its release could be better.

23 September 20208 October 2020

‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ Trailer: Aaron Sorkin does courtroom drama

In 1968 8 men –Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale– were charged with conspiracy and inciting a riot following the massive anti-Vietnam War protest at the Democratic Convention.

With the government wanting to send a message to protesters following what would later be classified as a police riot, this would become the trial of the year and a big moment in 1960s America. Aaron Sorkin has been working on this screenplay for ever a decade, and now has brought it to screen as director as well. Let’s take a look.

24 July 2017

‘Dunkirk’ Review: Christopher Nolan’s best film to date

It has been three days since I saw _Dunkirk_ and I cannot stop thinking about it. That alone should be enough to tell you that the movie is great and that you should see it, so if an affirmation that it is worth seeing is what you are looking for you can stop reading now. Let me say this clearly and concisely right up front: _Dunkirk_ is Christopher Nolan’s best film to date and you should absolutely seek it out on the biggest screen you can find.

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