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Contending at the Water Cooler

Contending at the Water Cooler

著者： Clarence Moye Megan McLachlan Joey Moser
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 A weekly look at the entertainment landscape from The Contending.The Contending, Megan McLachlan, Joey Moser, Clarence Moye アート
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  • Rebecca Hall On the Importance of Listening for ‘Peter Hujar’s Day’ [Podcast]

    Rebecca Hall On the Importance of Listening for ‘Peter Hujar’s Day’ [Podcast]
    2025/12/23

    Two people sitting alone in a room talking is the basic premise of Ira Sachs’ marvelous new drama, Peter Hujar’s Day. Some contemporary audiences might not be used to such a simple concept, but the performances from Ben Whishaw and Rebecca Hall (and Sachs’ direction) are an exercise in how communication can be balanced by nuanced listening. Wouldn’t you just die to have Rebecca Hall listen to you speak about your day?

    Would you be able to take in someone speaking about their day like Hall does as Linda Rosenkrantz? The famed journalist wanted to capture an ordinary day in the life of an artist in New York City in 1974, and it’s surreal to hear Whishaw’s Hujar casually mention names like Susan Sontag, Allen Ginsburg, and William S. Burroughs. Without seeing any of these other people, Sachs’ writing allows these titans of the literary and artistic worlds to become everyday people again. Sachs’ film is not a biopic as much as a sliver of time in the life of two friends and two people creating something wholly unique with one another.

    Hall has always brought a bold intelligence to all of her characters, but because Sachs’ script requests her to listen so much, you are drawn in by how her Linda observes and absorbs Peter’s words. She almost instructs the audience how to take in information. As the camera initially spends so much time on Whishaw, Linda primarily asks questions in response to color Peter’s stories more deeply before the interview settles evolves into a conversation between two friends. At one point, Peter asks Linda how much tape is left and suggests that he is worried that what they are doing isn’t good. ‘It’s all good,’ she says. ‘No, you’re not boring me.’ It’s a line that could be seen as comforting a friend, but she’s also working as a journalist.

    After we talk about Hall adjusting her voice to sit further back in her register, we discuss how her physicality becomes more relaxed as the day wanes into night. Because she loves the era so much, it was easy and exciting for her to research and settle into this period. I originally wondered if Linda was concerned if Peter was telling her the truth about his day, and then I thought…would it matter? While Whishaw spiritedly takes the opportunity to expel so much information, it’s entirely thrilling to see how Hall consumes it and volleys back. We are so steeped in our own media and image that something like Peter Hujar’s Day is a breath of fresh air.

    Rebecca Hall is so luminous that she almost doesn’t have to say a word.

    Click here to listen!

    Podcast Music:
    Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
    Track: Here We Go! by cinematic alex
    https://tunetank.com/track/802-here-we-go/

    The post Rebecca Hall On the Importance of Listening for ‘Peter Hujar’s Day’ [Podcast] appeared first on The Contending.
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  • ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ Production Design Echoes Classic Movie Musicals

    ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ Production Design Echoes Classic Movie Musicals
    2025/12/22
    The Kiss of the Spider Woman production design team sits down to discuss their and Bill Condon’s vision for the Broadway adaptation. Looking at the Kiss of the Spider Woman production design, viewers may be initially unaware of its deep connection to classic movie musicals. Sure, many discerning viewers caught the references to Singin’ in the Rain baked into Jennifer Lopez’s show-stopping performance of “Gimme Love!,” but there are deeper cuts imbedded within the film’s extensive production design. Director Bill Condon, production designer Scott Chambliss, and set decorator Andrew Baseman are all students of classic Hollywood musicals. This extensive knowledge perfectly meshed with Spider Woman‘s main character, Molina (Tonatiuh), who escapes the terrors of prison life for the cinematic life of their inspiration, Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez). So, along with Singin’ in the Rain, we receive visual nods to other classic musicals such as Broadway’s Coco, Small Town Girl, The Band Wagon, and other MGM musicals. Not just nods, but in many cases, their sets are built in the same abstract manner of their inspirations. “For me, that was a huge part of the joy of designing this film was going into that vocabulary of design for film that is, to me, that the abstraction of that and the poetry that is within that abstraction gives you room to dream,” Chambliss explained. “When you remember these numbers, at least for me, I remember them as much more elaborate than they really are. They’re so suggestive. When I finally started seeing some of these musicals that I treasured since I was an early teenager on the big screen, I discovered, ‘Oh my god, there’s almost nothing in that set’.” Bizarrely, many younger critics faulted the film’s design because it looked inauthentic and artificial. But that’s the literal point. Molina’s recounting of Luna (and her alter ego, the Spider Woman) are all realized in deliberate homages to the sets of classic Hollywood musicals. As such, the production design needed to recapture those decidedly more antiquated, more sparse, and yes, more artificial appearances so prominently featured within the older Hollywood aesthetic. But the film doesn’t all take place in Molina’s fantasy world. Several scenes take place within the confines of Molina’s harsh prison reality. That offered Chambliss and Baseman a unique challenge. “It’s clearly two extreme opposites, and contrast is key. Focusing in on what exactly those contrasts are made up of is the task of production design itself,” Chambliss said. “For both [Baseman] and I, who love the old musicals that are part of the fantasy world of this movie, we came at the project with a lot of information and a rich history of learning about that period of musical filmmaking.” Here, in a conversation with The Contending, Chambliss and Baseman describe the vast influences of and challenges inherent in bringing Kiss of the Spider Woman to the big screen. They talk about writer / director Bill Condon’s influences and structure for the film. They also talk about the parallels between Molina’s prison cell and their outside apartment, which we do eventually see. Additionally, they reveal how Molina’s prison cell helps define their character. Finally, they reveal the inspiration for the gorgeous theater-set sequence that closes the film and how budget constraints ultimately led to something more artistic and visually stunning. Click here to listen to my chat with Kiss of the Spider Woman production design team of production designer Scott Chambliss and set decorator Andrew Baseman! Podcast Music: Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com Track: Here We Go! by cinematic alex https://tunetank.com/track/802-here-we-go/ The post ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ Production Design Echoes Classic Movie Musicals appeared first on The Contending.
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  • An Immediate Reaction to the Shortlisted Shorts with Brandon MacMurray [Bonus Podcast!]

    An Immediate Reaction to the Shortlisted Shorts with Brandon MacMurray [Bonus Podcast!]
    2025/12/18

    Ahhhh, the shortlists. Most of Film Twitter tuned into Tuesday’s announcement to see what feature films would get a leg up (Wicked: For Good) and what the new Best Casting category would look like. For people like me and ShortStick founder, Brandon MacMurray, we wanted to see what films made an impact in the short film categories.

    Across all three short film categories–Animated, Documentary and Live Action–nearly 500 films qualified, so parsing through so many shorts was no small feat. Brandon and I give our reactions to what we were happy to see and what we were bummed to find out didn’t make the cut. Alexander Farah’s tender, lovely One Day This Kid was both of our biggest disappointment in terms of omissions–stream it on Criterion Channel now!

    We chatted hours after the shortlists dropped, so these reactions are very fresh! Make sure you follow Brandon and his team over at Shortstick for predictions, interviews, and upcoming coverage of festivals throughout the year.

    Click here to listen!

    Podcast Music:
    Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
    Track: Here We Go! by cinematic alex
    https://tunetank.com/track/802-here-we-go/

    The post An Immediate Reaction to the Shortlisted Shorts with Brandon MacMurray [Bonus Podcast!] appeared first on The Contending.
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