Tyler Perry’s latest go as the titular lady puts her once
again at the center of a Halloween adventure. When young Tiffany leaves for a midnight
Halloween party in the woods, its up to Madea, Aunt Bam, and Hattie to save her
from the same monsterous fate that befell the group of teens from the original Madea
Halloween.
Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, and Laurence Fishburne star as
three friends and former soldiers who reunite to burry one of their sons who
just died in battle himself. Instead of the standard Arlington National
Cemetery funeral, the three men take the casket on a bittersweet road trip of
sorts out to the coast to New Hampshire, reminiscing and coming to terms with
their shared memories of the vietnam war along the way.
We Said: ““We were all
something once. Now we’re something else,” says [the character] Sal at one
point during the film. Last Flag Flying embodies these
simple words as it examines the lives irrevocably changed by war.” Rating: 3 out of 5
Inspired by the true story of the creation of Wonder Woman,
this new film focuses on the eponymous Professor and the two women who isnpired
his greateest work, his wife Elizabeth, and their mutual lover Olive, who
together perfect the lie detector test, and bring one of the greatest comic
book characters of all time to life.
We Said: “It feels like Professor
Marston and the Wonder Women is trying to do too much without quite
enough; it is, by the filmmaker’s own admission, creating a narrative for which
little historical data exists. And although the movie does a good job
contextualizing Wonder Woman’s iconography and presenting a different kind of love
story onscreen, it also cuts too many corners in its formulation to feel like
the origin story this story truly deserves.
” Rating: 3.5 out of 5
It is honestly kind of a marvel that DC Comics is letting
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women be released. In this year, when Wonder
Woman is one of the only bona fide smashes at the box office, has dominated
cultural conversation for months, and has proved once and for all that Chris
Pine is the No. 1 Chris, it’s shocking that DC Comics is allowing Professor Marston
and the Wonder Women to make its way to theaters. With all of its
scintillating sexual content, context about the battled past of the Wonder
Woman character, and positive presentation of polyamorous love, Professor
Marston and the Wonder Women is certainly a thought-provoking film experience—but
it sure isn’t family-friendly.
Most glaring is the underdone character development, and
it must be mentioned that writer and director Angela Robinson has said in interviews
that there was no explicit documentation regarding a romantic relationship between Elizabeth
Marston and Olive Byrne, who in the film are presented as being lovers for
years. This is Robinson’s interpretation of the relationship between Wonder
Woman creator Dr. William Mouton Marston and Elizabeth and Olive, and while it
provides much of the film’s eyebrow-raising sexual content, if you want 100%
historical accuracy, you won’t find it here. And anyway, that's not really the point.
The film focuses primarily on the Marstons: William (Luke
Evans) is a psychology professor at Harvard Radcliffe College, the women’s
sister school to Harvard University that existed because the Ivy League at the
time wouldn’t admit anyone but men, and Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) is his wife
and research partner. She has a law degree and a master’s degree but Harvard
University refuses to accept her into their PhD program, so she applies her
deep intelligence and acerbic wit to her husband’s work.
They’re working on many things—a theory about human
behavior that links together dominance and submission; an early version of the
lie-detector test—but their married dynamic is mostly centered around William’s
respect for his wife and Elizabeth’s resentment of social norms at the time. It’s
a push-pull that is mostly defined by Elizabeth’s mercurial moods, and things
only seem to get more intense when they meet Olive (Bella Heatcoate), a
22-year-old taking William’s psychology course. She applies to be the Marstons’s
research assistant, and Elizabeth is immediately threatened, driving Olive to
tears with her brusque “If you fuck my husband, I’ll kill you.”
Still, the attraction William feels for Olive is obvious
to anyone, and as the three pursue their research together, a sort of kinship
develops between them all. But Olive doesn’t return William’s lustful gazes—she’s
doing some longing of her own toward Elizabeth. And through a series of events
and altercations, including a spanking incident during a sorority pledging
ceremony and an early version of the lie-detector test, there are admissions between
the three that shape their lives to come, for better and for worse.
“What we want can never happen because the world won’t
let it,” Elizabeth says, and that statement is underlined throughout the film
when numerous parties, from Olive’s fiancé to suburban neighbors to family
values groups, object to how William, Elizabeth, and Olive choose to live, and
how their polyamory informs the creation of the Wonder Woman character. But
while the film very effectively portrays the uphill battle the three of them
faced when living their lives together, it is less successful in actually
developing these characters fully on an individual basis and then growing them
together as a romantic unit.
The film uses William’s defense of the Wonder Woman
character before a review board as a framing device, and Evans is clearly the
protagonist here; his research is the couple’s primary motivation, he’s the breadwinner
in his marriage to Elizabeth, and he pursues Olive first. Practically
everything centers around William, and it becomes repetitively disappointing
that he is so often the one urging the women together. They can’t be honest
with what they want unless he encourages them; they don’t tap into their sexual
desires until he provides them with an outlet; they don’t realize their
lifelong devotion to each other until he almost commands it. While the script
solidly reiterates how the Wonder Woman character was born out of a desire to condition
children into accepting and respecting strong women, it also focuses so much on
William to the detriment of Elizabeth and Olive.
Does Olive have a defining characteristic aside from
being submissive? If there is something, this film doesn’t uncover it.
Heathcote is a striking figure in the corset, thigh-high boots, cuff bracelets,
and coil of rope that would inform the Wonder Woman character design, but she’s
given too little to do. She loves Elizabeth despite the woman’s constant undermining
and belittling, and is defined only by her devotion to others, not herself. And
the flip side of that is Elizabeth, who Hall excellently performs as a “grade-A
bitch,” as William describes, but who is similarly problematically presented.
She goes from being a foul-mouthed shit-stirrer and female warrior to a
resentful and disgruntled secretary attacking everyone and everything around
her, and while the movie makes clear how the patriarchy drove her to that
point, that doesn’t legitimize her cruelty to her husband or to her lover. You
can understand why someone would admire her, but not why they would love her.
The character shortcomings are most disappointing because
the film is intentional in other ways that are impossible to ignore: the sex
scenes are sensual without being exploitative; no character is objectified
because of their gender; and the matter-of-fact handling of pornography and
BDSM-inspired kink ensures that the movie isn’t titillating for the wrong
reasons. But ultimately, it feels like Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
is trying to do too much without quite enough; it is, by the filmmaker’s own
admission, creating a narrative for which little historical data exists. And although
the movie does a good job contextualizing Wonder Woman’s iconography and
presenting a different kind of love story onscreen, it also cuts too many
corners in its formulation to feel like the origin story this story truly
deserves.
We're happy to offer our DC readers the chance to attend a free advance screening of Professor Marston & the Wonder Women. The film stars Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, and Bella Heathcote in the incredible, unusual story of Wonder Woman's origin!
SYNOPSIS: In a superhero origin tale unlike any other, the film is the incredible true story of what inspired Harvard psychologist Dr. William Moulton Marston to create the iconic Wonder Woman character in the 1940's. While Marston's feminist superhero was criticized by censors for her 'sexual perversity’, he was keeping a secret that could have destroyed him. Marston’s muses for the Wonder Woman character were his wife Elizabeth Marston and their lover Olive Byrne, two empowered women who defied convention: working with Marston on human behavior research -- while building a hidden life with him that rivaled the greatest of superhero disguises.
The screening takes place tomorrow, Tuesday October 10th at 7:00pm at Regal Majestic in Silver Spring. If you'd like to attend, simply go to the Annapurna Pictures screening site here and download one pass good for you and a guest. Please note that all screenings are first come first served, and you will still need to arrive early to ensure receiving a seat. Enjoy the show!
Professor Marston & the Wonder Women opens October 13th.
Annapurna has launched a really smart marketing campaign for biopic Professor Marston and the Wonder Women. While it's been playing the festival circuit, they've also made the move to appeal to the comic book fans at San Diego and New York Comic-Con, which makes sense considering the film centers on William Moulton Marston, the man who created Wonder Woman. And this couldn't be a better time to push the campaign a bit further, with Gal Gadot hosting SNL and a new Justice League trailer out there.
A final trailer for Professor Marston and the Wonder Women continues to play up the story's sexy, unconventional, and feminist origins. Luke evans plays Moulton, a Harvard psychology professor who was inspired by the polyamorous relationship with his wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) and their lover Olive (Bella Heathcote) to create Diana Prince, who would become one of the greatest heroes in comic book history. He took the best qualities of both women to create his ideal vision for the character. Marston is also credited with creating the lie detector test, so to say his life was unusual is an understatement. You can also imagine how controversial Marston's lifestyle was in the 1940s and '50s.
I'm really looking forward to this, as someone who has always felt Marston short-changed for his contribution to DC Comics. He should be mentioned in the same breath as Jerry Siegel, Joe Schuster, and Bob Kane, and maybe this film will help that to happen. Directed by Angela Robinson, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women opens October 27th.
Annapurna has not been shy about their marketing for biopic Professor Marston & the Wonder Women. The first teaser hit just as Wonder Woman was storming theaters, on the way to becoming DC Films' highest-grosser ever. And now this week as Comic-Con looms near, with expectations of more news about the Amazonian goddess, they've dropped a brand new trailer. Given the story's real-life ties to Wonder Woman's origins it's tough to blame them for this approach.
Directed by Angela Robinson (D.E.B.S.) the film stars Luke Evans as unconventional Harvard psychologist Dr. William Moulton Marston, who is inspired by the women in his polyamorous relationship to create Wonder Woman. That's right. He also invented the lie detector. Homeboy led a life. Bella Heathcote and Rebecca Hall play Marston's muses, whose traits he combined to create a hero that young girls could look up to. Connie Britton and Oliver Platt co-star.
Professor Marston & The Wonder Women opens October 27th, and I believe it will have some kind of presence at Comic-Con.
This is how you make the best of another company's success. Following on the heels of Wonder Woman's stellar debut, Annapurna has debuted a brief teaser for a biopic you've probably never heard of, but tells the rather unusual true story of the comic book character's origin: Professor Marston & the Wonder Women.
Directed by Angela Robinson (The L Word) and starring Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote, Connie Britton, and Oliver Platt, the film centers on the remarkable life and career of William Moulton Marston. Marston was a Harvard psychologist who invented the lie detector and also created the Wonder Woman character, who he based on his wife Elizabeth and the other woman in his life, Olive, who was part of a polyamorous relationship before such things were cool. Trend-setter!!
The film opens later this year, but you can bet A24 is going to want to capitalize on Wonder Woman's success as much as possible.
