#sam shepard

ROGER CLARKasBradleyin:
Buried Child
BySam Shepard
Directed byPaul Mullins
Performed atThe Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in September of 2018

When I first learned that Michael Shannon would be appearing in McCarter’s Berlind Theatre in Sam Shepard’s Simpatico(now through October 15), I determined on the spot that we should also reference his significant film career while he was here in residence, especially since I had shown two of his very best as part of the Second Chance Film Series I used to curate for the Princeton Adult School. So in collaboration with Princeton’s Garden Theatre, McCarter will be screening 99 Homes (2015) this Saturday, September 23 at 4pm, followed by a discussion between me and Chris Collier (of the Garden) and a special guest appearance by Michael himself.

Michael Shannon has appeared in over 80 films in a career that started when he was a teenager, usually as a featured actor in a role that you remember afterwards, but don’t necessarily recall his name (like Nocturnal AnimalsandMidnight Special, to name two recent examples, or even as General Zod in the blockbuster Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice). But every now and then, he gets to play the central character with his name above the title, as was the case with 99 Homes—a film that is just as topical today as it was when it was first released in 2015. Shannon is Rick Carver, a realtor in Orlando, whose specialty is not selling properties, but seizing those occupied by foreclosed owners. His co-star is another of my favorite actors, Andrew Garfield (The Social Network,The Amazing Spiderman2, and the recent but sadly overlooked Hacksaw Ridge), who plays a Florida handyman whom Rick recruits to assist in his foreclosure racket.

99 Homes is a harrowing morality tale, with Shannon channeling a reptilian Gordon Gekko. Director Ramin Bahrani is interested in how material circumstances can affect our moral decisions, and how the need for money, security, and status can force terrible choices on people. And for a totally different side of Shannon’s gallery of intense and often unhinged characters, you should also try and catch 2012’s Take Shelter, written and directed by his favorite collaborator Jeff Nichols, which the Garden Theatre will be screening on September 28.

To bring Michael Shannon fans up to date, his newest film, The Shape of Water, just won the Golden Lion (first prize) at the Venice International Film Festival last month, so look for it in theaters this winter. And for TV viewers who still can’t quite remember where they’ve seen him before, let me remind you: the 56 episodes of Boardwalk Empire (2010-14) where his portrayal of the conflicted FBI agent Nelson Van Alden remains indelibly etched in our memories.

William W. Lockwood, Jr.
McCarter Special Programming Director

The screening of99 Homes will take place on Saturday, September 23 at 4pm at McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place in Princeton, NJ. For tickets and more information, visit www.mccarter.org

Resurrection(1980). A woman enters the afterlife briefly after a car crash that kills her husband. But she survives - and finds herself possessing strange powers.

This movie is absolutely bananas, but Ellen Burstyn really is incredible in it. 5/10.