Stephen Schaefer’s Hollywood & Mine
‘Emily in Paris’ is Darren Star’s latest female-centric creation, a sweetly romantic if occasionally bitingly funny look at, as Gene Kelly once had it, An American In Paris. Star’s American is Emily Cooper who through one of those miraculous bits of luck finds herself a non-French speaking rep for an American social media marketing company that has just acquired a prestigious Paris-based outfit. Emily is to be not just a liaison between her Chicago base and the Paris office but ‘help’ the French improve their social media standing. Emily is in Paris then with a mission – and she begins with her Instagram account where she chronicles her daily life, from the flat her company has rented for her, a charming six-flight walkup with a great view, to what she eats, whom she meets, what she sees. Whatever, really, strikes her fancy.
As Emily’s half-hour episodes fly by – there are just 10 in the first season – Lily Collins makes an adorable, empathetic guide. She encounters quite rude French people but why take it personally? Emily is boundlessly optimistic and why not! Like Star’s ‘Sex and the City,’ ‘Emily in Paris’ has costuming legend Patricia Field working wonders, making visual magic as Emily, in true leading lady fashion, wears a fab.u.lous. new outfit every day. There is the night she goes to the Opera, for a ballet, and we get ‘the Audrey Hepburn moment’ where Collins is so exquisitely gowned, so elegant and yet so endearing. It’s such a highpoint, a quiet piece of perfection that is just there, without comment. You wonder if they will ever try to match it.
There is another aspect about this series that’s worth mentioning — and that it is carried on the stylish but petite shoulders of Collins who is in virtually every scene. Emily’s journey requires that for several months Collins was working daily. It certainly adds to the drama, as in, Will she make it through unscathed, without sniffles, upset stomach, twisted ankle or any of the many possible calamities that can happen when you’re on new locations weekly, whether outdoors, in cars, whatever? I spoke with Collins – she’s British born and lives in LA and the daughter of rock legend Phil Collins. She was six when her parents split. These are excerpts from that phone interview.
Q: Lily, this is the first time you’re given a producer credit – and it’s a prominent title in the opening credits. What did that mean exactly?
LILY COLLINS: Darren was so encouraging. They were so understanding to include me in different conversations, everything from production design to location scouting to costumes. Every time we were about to shoot a new block of episodes, we’d go over the entire schedule — because as an actor I’m in every single scene. So it was a really rigorous schedule and they asked me as actor, as producer, what I felt worked and about different ideas I had. It was really meaningful and special to me to be embraced in that way and make my first experience as producer so incredible. And there’s so much for me to learn! And they never shy away from me asking questions.
Q: Who doesn’t want to go to Paris and be a clotheshorse! Please discuss.
LC: Emily’s clothes are just an extension of her personality. Emily is bold and bright and optimistic and also, as she says in the show, a little bit obvious sometimes – whether that’s with her emotions, her ideas. Or her outfits. Patricia Field is a genius mixing patterns, shapes, colors, all of the above.
And to have her allow me to be part of the creation of my character and all the other characters is so special. Each character has their own individual style. The American characters of Emily and Mindy [a Chinese heiress who is working as a nanny to be free from parental pressures] are so specific and the French characters are more understated. You know, that ‘Je ne sais quoi thing’! Patricia is just so good at creating outfits and styles that match the personality of the character. To express oneself through different outfits is really a playful thing aesthetically on camera as well. I think it is also an extension of each character’s personality and Patricia has done that in every job she’s ever done. She’s a genius at using clothing as that kind of extension.
Q: This is a show where there quite a lot of hot, cute guys. Did you get to pick each one? And what is the series saying about Emily’s relationships?
LC: I would talk to Darren more about the casting of it all because he did the casting. This show is more about a romance with oneself and Emily learning to love herself throughout her experiences. So when she leaves Chicago and ultimately breaks up with her boyfriend from Chicago, that was done because he wasn’t as giving in the relationship as she was. She ultimately knew he was someone who wasn’t for her. In terms of the other relationships –To live and experience things in Paris, romance is definitely a part of that. But it’s not what defines Emily’s ‘journey’ in finding herself.
Q: How well do you know Paris personally?
EC: I’ve been to Paris quite a few times. I was born in England and grew up there and so Europe is dear to me. Usually when I get to go for work it’s only for a few days for Fashion Week which is a lot of fun or a press tour. But I never got to experience it as a local and spend more than a week there. So for me to be able to have an apartment and really get to know the city in a different way and feel so personal with it was really, really special. Also, Paris has so many places to explore, so you need a good amount of time to be actually able to just get lost in the streets and find new things. For me it was so nice to live and breathe and get to explore new sides of the city in a way I’d never been able to before. It’s a very exciting personal experience.
Q: I certainly knew what Emily was going through trying to understand the language — I was (am) hopeless. How is your French?
LC: I used to study in school and was pretty fluent in French. I need to practice more. I tried to soak in as much when I was there. Hopefully in Season 2.
NEW DVDs:
WHOLLY ORIGINAL & UNDENIABLY POWERFUL Darren Aronofsky’s unrelenting and beautiful ‘Requiem for a Dream – Director’s Cut’ (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital, 2 discs, Lionsgate, Not Rated) celebrates its 20th anniversary with this 4K Ultra HD transfer supervised by the cinematographer Matthew Libatique who would get his Oscar for another Aronofsky effort ‘Black Swan.’ ‘Requiem’ is proudly, decidedly grim, a faithful adaptation of Hubert Selby, Jr.’s novel with the screenplay by Aronofsky and the author who is best known for ‘Last Exit to Brooklyn.’ 
A truly devastating depiction of the tentacles of drug addiction, ‘Requiem’ is led by Ellen Burstyn, the film’s sole Oscar nominee as Best Actress, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans. Special Features: ‘On Set: 1999,’ ‘Transcendent Moments: The Score,’ ‘Ellen Burstyn on ‘Requiem’’’ and ‘’Through Their Eyes: Revisiting ‘Requiem.’’’
OSCAR WINNING CLASSIC A stylish horror movie ‘Whiplash’ (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital, Sony Pictures Classics, R) isn’t actually a horror movie, at least in the conventional sense. This hit debut for writer-director Damien Chazelle (he would go on to Oscar glory with ‘La La Land’) definitely scores as a thriller. A Julliard-like musical conservatory is ruled by a talented but abusive teacher (J.K. Simmons, Oscared as Best Supporting Actor) and Miles Teller’s Andrew Neyman, a would-be jazz drummer, is in his sights for continual punishment.
‘Whiplash’ is actually an expansion of Chazelle’s short – it’s here on this new 4K Ultra HD along with an optional commentary. There’s also an audio commentary by Chazelle and Simmons, video from Toronto International Film Festival’s premiere with Teller, Simmons and Chazelle, a deleted scene and a short ‘Timekeepers’ where famous drummers discuss the craft.
A FRENCH TWIST A medical forensic procedural that is huge hit in its native France ‘Balthazar Series 2’ (DVD, 3 discs, 10 episodes, AcornTV, Not Rated) revolves around forensic pathologist Raphaël Balthazar (Tomer Sisley) who seems to have a natural connection with the dead. The cases this season are certainly varied, including a death from a new strain of the bubonic plague (how timely these French are!) and a triple homicide during a bucolic camping outing. (Bubonic Bucolic! Repeat 3 times.) Balthazar remains haunted by the unsolved murder of his wife a dozen years earlier. Balthazar teams with Chief Inspector Hélène Bach (Hélène de Fougerolles), a mother with marital issues, as he engages in a new romance – even as his late wife’s investigation is re-opened and the two try anew to track her killer. In French with English subtitles.
BOLDLY NEVER STOPPING In Eugene O’Neill’s ‘Long Day’s Journey into Night,’ the troubled father James Tyrone continually berates himself for reprising a beloved, popular swashbuckling role instead of getting out of this rut and testing himself with new roles. That’s certainly not the case with Patrick Stewart who returns to his career-defining role as Jean-Luc Picard in the CBS All Access ‘Star Trek Picard Season One’ (CBS Blu-ray, 3 discs, 10 episodes, Paramount, Not Rated). After 7 seasons as Picard on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Stewart has stretched playing Macbeth and Beckett on Broadway and London’s West End.
The ‘Picard’ has 2 hours of special features. Among them, ‘Make It So’ about revitalizing the character, episodic behind-the-scenes featurettes on all 10 episodes, a study of the actors and characters who board La Sirena for the season, a look at the origins of the aliens via Lead Creature Designer Neville Page alongside Make-Up and Prosthetics departments and a tour of the series’ main stages by production designer Todd Cherniawksy. Plus co-writers Jenny Lumet and Kirsten Beyer discuss the featured ‘Short Treks’ episode.
A MOST DEADLY EGYPTIAN CRUISE Revisiting ‘Agatha Christie Death on the Nile’ (DVD, AcornTV, Not Rated) in its 2003 ITV Studios version with David Suchet reprising the portly Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, it’s clear that the carefully plotted construction behind this glamourous 1935 boat trip is as neatly and tightly devised as a Swiss watch’s internal mechanisms. Emily Blunt, a few years before ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ marked the real start of her ascension to stardom, is Linnet Ridgeway, the British heiress who has ‘stolen’ the handsome, poor fiancé of her impoverished friend Jacqueline De Bellefort (Emma Griffiths Malin) – who is equally impoverished. As the newlyweds board the boat for a Nile honeymoon cruise, there is Jacqueline like a harpy, screaming for justice, a social harasser. Suchet remains the definitive Poirot. This version, like the famous all-star 1977 film with Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow and Peter Ustinov’s Poirot, is spectacular in its costumes, production values and pacing. This ‘Nile’ precedes Kenneth Branagh’s new ‘Nile,’ with Armie Hammer, Gal Gadot, Letitia Wright, Sophie Okonedo and Branagh back as Poirot. That debuts Dec. 18.
WONDER TWINS INDEED The ‘Wonder Twins’ at the center of ‘Double Cross’ (DVD, UMC, Not Rated) are Erica (Ashley A. Williams of ‘Black Boots’) and Eric (Jeff Logan, an internet fitness guru) who take it upon themselves to clean-up their neighborhood which has seen a rise in sex trafficking. Erica, a doctor, sees her ER being taken over by the sex trafficking ring as they start kidnapping little girls. With her twin she decides something has to be done. But what – when the police have targeted the twins – can they do? It turns out, a lot in this UMC series. Written and occasionally directed by Christel Gibson. Series 2, fans already know, is currently in production.
NATHAN LANE TRIUMPHS Originally a series set in late 19th century the rebooted ‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels Season One’ (DVD, 4 discs, 10 episodes, Showtime-CBS DVD, Not Rated) is set in the ‘Golden Age’ of 1938 Los Angeles (shades of the rebooted ‘Perry Mason’!) where the city’s first Chicano detective Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto) and his partner Lewis Michener (Broadway’s biggest star Nathan Lane) puzzle over a case that coincides with LA’s freeway construction, a swarm of Nazi spies and popular radio evangelism.
Emphasis here on the city’s traditions of Mexican-American folklore with supernatural deities battling each other. With Natalie Dormer (‘Game of Thrones’) as Magda, a supernatural demon who believes mankind is inherently evil. The series has not been renewed. Special Features: Introduction, ‘The Many Faces of Magda’ and ‘The Devil is in the Details, Parts I & II.’
SCARY ASYLUM The 8-part ‘Sanctuary’ (DVD, 8 episodes, 2 discs, Sundance Now, Not Rated) originated on Sundance Now and is adapted from best-selling Swedish author Marie Hermanson’s ‘The Devil’s Sanctuary.’ Matthew Modine is particularly well-cast as the manipulative doctor who supervises twins Siri and Helena (both, not surprisingly, played by Josefin Asplund). Siri is a patient in the Alps’ sanitorium and Helena is asked to visit. We can immediately say, “No. No go’ – but then where would be for another 7 episodes? Helena all too quickly realizes that her situation is not one of escape but survival.
A CHILD-CENTRIC CLASSIC Already filmed multiple times for motion pictures and scored as a Broadway musical, Francis Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel ‘The Secret Garden’ (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Code, STX, PG) has been given yet another update, jumping from turn of the 20th century to 1947. Yes, there’s still the young orphan girl who lives now with her uncle and discovers a magical garden on his estate.
The name cast – Colin Firth and Julie Walters as Lord Craven and his servant Mrs. Medlock– is naturally secondary to young Dixie Egerickx as Mary Lennox who transforms from crabby kid with the magical powers of the garden. Bonus Features on the various characters, the film’s magical realism in its production design and execution, the transformation of the novel in this adaptation.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2I0hP1H
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