The Story of the Actress Known as SEBERG

Jeri Jacquin

Coming soon from Amazon Original to Prime Video from director Benedict Andrews is the story of an actress who did not go with the grain named SEBERG.

It is the 1960s and hot off her success in director Otto Preminger’s film Saint Joan actress Jean Seberg (Kristen Stewart) finds equal success in the Jean-Luc Godard’s film Breathless. Returning to Hollywood preparing for an audition for the next film from her home in France, she says goodbye to a young son Diego (Gabriel Sky) and husband Romain Gary (Yvan Attal).

On the plane she sees a vocal skirmish between the flight attendant and Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie).  Getting off her plane she notices the group of civil rights leaders speaking to the press. She takes a moment to join the group raising her fist to symbolize black power and the press is there to take photos of it all.

Instantly taking notice of Jean at the airport are two FBI investigators, Jack Solomon (Jack O’Connell) and Carl Kowalski (Vince Vaughn) with photos of their own that start an investigation into her activities. Jack can’t discuss what he is doing with medical student wife Linette (Margaret Qualley) who doesn’t fit in with the FBI wives.

Jack and Carl begin surveillance on Jean sneaking into her home and bugging it. It doesn’t take long before they see and hear that Seberg starts an affair with the married Jamal. Wanting to find a way to make it work to their advantage, Jean refuses to stop associating or giving financial support to those working in the civil rights movement.

Jack realizes that as the investigation goes deeper, that Jean begins to show signs of stress fearing that she is being watched and listened in on in every aspect of her life. It continues for years as the COINTELPRO agents continue to create untrue stories about her to the point of despair.

This is a story of a time where only one rumor needs to be believed to ruin someone’s life.

Stewart as Seberg does an excellent job of portraying a woman who was living the life of a star without realizing that it only takes one thing to set her world on fire. A once vibrant woman is put through a ringer that takes away the light Hollywood once saw in her. Stewart portrays that from the very beginning to the very end. Her performance is one that I won’t soon forget, well done.

O’Connell as Jack is a man dedicated to his job but also sees that after time what they are doing to Seberg becomes brutal and unnecessary.  O’Connell’s character brings moments of sanity to an FBI doing insane things, especially by some of the others in the group. It is a solid performance and I cheered him at one point and so will you.

Vaughn as Kowalski is pretty much a vicious human being who has no problem being vocal about what everyone else in America is doing wrong. He feels it is his job to destroy anything that gets in the way of being a good American. He treatment of his own family is a perfect example of the unhinged attitude. Mackie as Jamal is taken with Seberg and does not think about the repercussions of his actions in the moment, but it becomes clear that he is surrounded by others who are not about to take what he is doing lightly. The relationship goes against what his group believes in every way.

Attal as Gary is a husband who isn’t about to make a scene learning that Jean is putting herself in danger. Trying to support her fears of surveillance, a decision must be made and it is not an easy one. Qualley as Linette is a wife who doesn’t fit into the stereotype of what an FBI wife should be. Learning that Seberg is the person her husband is investigating brings her own questions about his work. I was happy with Qualley’s moxy!

Other cast include Colm Meaney as Frank Ellroy, Zazie Beetz as Dorothy Jamal, Jade Pettyjohn as Jenny Kowalski, Ser’Darius Blain as Louis Lewis, James Jordan as Roy Maddow, Stephen Root as Walt Breckman, Celeste Pechous as Betsy Ellroy and Laura Campell as Mary Kowalski.

Amazon Prime offers television shows and original content included in its Amazon Prime subscription. Original programs such as CARNIVAL ROW, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, and THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL are hit shows. Coming soon is the next series with GOLIATH starring Billy Bob Thornton and it promises to another successful and intense series.

SEBERG is a sad story of a life that is plagued in a time where nothing was off the table in the ways of the FBI. If a behavior was found un-American then the group found ways to destroy a person through surveillance, rumor, innuendo and using the press to do their dirty work. It was a time of intolerance in secret.

Jean Seberg may have looked like she had everything together on the outside (which is the goal of being a Hollywood starlet), but her personal life became a shamble. Filled with failed affairs, relationships, and marriages, it is not surprise that her death would be as mysterious as she was.

The cast of SEBERG truly bring her story together in 102-minute time and done so extremely well. The cinematography, sets and costuming lend itself to luring the viewer into the 1960s. Stewart’s performance tie it all together beautifully.

In the end – actress, activist and adversary!

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Twists and Turns

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to 4K Ultra HD, Bluray and DVD from visionary writer/director Quentin Tarantino and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a film that can only be called ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD.

It is 1969 Los Angeles and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is having an identity crisis. Once the lead in his own television series, he also makes time to do roles in other television shows. Living in the Hollywood hills on the secluded Cielo Drive, he is driven around town by his stunt double and friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt).

Also living on Cielo Drive next door is actress Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and husband director Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha). She is living and loving life taking time to enjoy her career.

While working out life and where his career is going, Dalton has to take each phase like a scene with decisions that constantly plague him. Cliff is a little more free spirited and enjoys stunt work when he gets it and being a friend to Dalton. It is difficult for Cliff with a rumor that surrounds an incident in his life.

On several occasions he sees the young girl Pussycat (Margaret Qualley) hitchhiking through L.A. After dropping Dalton off on the set, he sees Pussycat again and offers her a ride. Strangely enough she is staying at the Spahn Movie Ranch where Cliff once shot scenes and she invites him to meet Charlie. Eager to see owner George Spahn (Bruce Dern), he is met with hostility by Squeaky (Dakota Fanning) and Tex (Austin Butler).

Dalton decides to go to Italy and do spaghetti westerns and returns home after six months with a wife and a need to simplify his life which includes having to let Cliff go as a driver. That doesn't stop these old friends from whooping it up one last time. That same night, Dalton's very pregnant neighbor Sharon and friends Jay (Emile Hirsch), Abigail (Samantha Robinson) and Voytek (Costa Ronin) are out celebrating as well.

What none of them could know was what would happen on Cielo Drive that hot night in 1969!

DiCaprio as Dalton is absolutely stunning in this role. He is a paranoid, dysfunctional, insecure chain smoking alcoholic who believes the worst about himself as an actor. That is what makes his performance brilliant in that he is not only able to pull all of that off, but kept me convinces for two hours and forty-five minutes. DiCaprio's acting within acting scenes is intense at times but so damn well done I forgot it was a scene within a scene of the movie itself. I will be thinking about this performance for a very long time.

Pitt as Cliff is laid back and happy with his life of being in the background of Dalton's career. This character that has a past that gets in his way yet not enough to bother him. His true love is pittie Brandy who is just as adorable as she wants to be and very protective of her human. Pitt gives the audience charm, rooftop abs (oh sorry, should I not have mentioned that?), that insanely memorable grin and a threshold of no-nonsense that is amazing up to the point where it isn't. I am crazy about every aspect of this character until the absolute…very…end and then I just fell head over heels once again for Pitt. There couldn't have been a better pairing than these two actors and honestly I never would have thought of it which is why I'm not a director.

Robbie as Tate gives a performance of a sweet and simple woman who loved music, friends, and sitting in a movie theatre watching herself not out of narcissm, but to experience the audience reaction. Her character portrayal of the actress was beautiful.

Olyphant as Stacey gets a chance to don western gear and I loved watching him dual it out, so to speak, with DiCaprio. Fanning as Squeaky portrayed someone I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley…ever. Butler, Madison and Beatty as the terrifying Manson trio are as frightening as they need to be and I'm leaving it right there.

A shout out to young Julia Butters as Trudi is epic in her two scenes with DiCaprio. My reaction to her was immediate and filled with smiles. Her character is smart, witty, and perceptive all trapped inside the body of an 8 year old. I want to be her when I grow up!

Other cast include Sydney Sweeney as Snake, Timothy Olyphant as James Stacy, Harley Quinn Smith as Froggie, Damian Lewis as Steve McQueen, Mike Moh as Bruce Lee, Lorenza Izzo as Francesca Capucci, Rumer Willis as Joanna Pettet, Scoot McNairy as Bob Gilbert, Clifton Collins Jr. as Ernesto, Michael Madsen, and Kurt Russell as Randy.

Also, Rebecca Gayheart as Billie, Lena Dunham as Gypsy, Nicholas Hammond as Sam Wanamaker, Mikey Madison as Sadie, Madisen Beaty as Katie, Julia Butters as Trudi, Luke Perry as Wayne Maunder, and Al Pacino as Marvin Schwarzs.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. The studios include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films and Sony Picture Classics. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.

The 9th film from Quentin Tarantino also includes over twenty minutes of additional scenes and an exclusive behind-the-scenes. The Bonus Material includes Quentin Tarantino's Love Letter to Hollywood, Bob Richardson - For the Love of Film, Shop Talk - The Cars of 1969, Restoring Hollywood - The Production Design of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, and The Fashion of 1969.

Also available in a limited 4K Ultra HD Collector's Edition with 7" vinyl record, collectible vintage poster and an exclusive new mini edition of Mad Magazine inspired by the film.

This is as brief of a review as I could possible do for this film because I really don't want to spoil any of it for anyone. I can say that I think I've seen a strong contender for an Academy Award nomination and many actors that could easily fill all the slots for Best Actor and Best Supporting nods.

What I love best about this film, and perhaps it shows my age, is that I remember all of it. The clothing, magazines, music, cars, the scenery, the places and the events of the era turned a light back on inside my head. All of it provided an emotional rollercoaster of staying in the story and trying not to let the eye candy distract.

The story, and oh what a story it is, came from the mind of Tarantino absolutely. Every scene was a wonder of where it was going and what would happen when we (meaning everyone in the theatre with me) got there. Dalton and Booth took us on the ride and I didn't fight on second of it. We wanted to know more about their personal issues and the six degrees of separation between every character we were introduced to. Trust me when I say this was definitely an experience.

Were there a few giggles? Of course! Tarantino has a twisted sense of that and he lets us in on it. Of course I caught myself giggling a few times to myself but that's my own personal twisted sense of humor.

Yes the film is 161 minutes long yet it is one of the best times I've had at the movies in a long time. Being in the desert of wanting-thirst for something amazing on screen, Tarantino has just given me a huge whiskey sour and I certainly wouldn't mind another.

In the end – it is a story of Hollywood Tarantino style!