at the cinemas
New Layout!! Deserves Capitalising d=
There are quite a few films out at the moment that I'm keen to watch. The first two I've seen, others hopefully soon.
The Family Stone
Watched this last Wednesday night and absolutely loved it. It's billed as romantic comedy, and the trailer suggests as much, but there are a lot of dramatic moments too and some serious developments. A certain scene brought tears to my eyes, others had me cringing for one character or another, while many more simply made me laugh with delight. As the movie's about a large family, it was a relief to sense just that - family - from the actors.
Shopgirl
Saw this at Cinema Nova and thought - "Now there's a movie I enjoyed that I normally wouldn't go see." It's a bit hard to elaborate why I enjoyed it, probably because it took an oft done theme - love and relationships - and managed to present it in a different light.
Broken Flowers
The resolutely single Don has just been dumped by his latest lover, Sherry. Don yet again resigns himself to being alone and left to his own devices. Instead, he is compelled to reflect on his past when he receives by mail a mysterious pink letter. It is from an anonymous former lover and informs him that he has a 19-year-old son who may now be looking for his father. Don is urged to investigate this "mystery" by his closest friend and neighbor, Winston, an amateur sleuth and family man. Hesitant to travel at all, Don nonetheless embarks on a cross-country trek in search of clues from four former flames. Unannounced visits to each of these unique women hold new surprises for Don as he haphazardly confronts both his past and, consequently, his present.
Only Bill Murray would be able to pull this off.
Russian Dolls
The sequel to The Spanish Apartment, which I've seen, and one I'm looking forward to watching. My 'Really Want' list of DVDs includes L'Auberge Espagnole, and from the looks of things, this sequel should make it to that list as well.
Good Night and Good Luck
The plot is intriguing - one man against a powerful US Senator, someone who dared to stand up to the government's claims of numerous Communists working as spies in the US government. Most intriguing of all is that this actually happened.
Walk the Line
In 1955, a tough, skinny guitar-slinger who called himself J.R. Cash walked into the soon-to-be famous Sun Studios in Memphis. It was a moment that would have an indelible effect on American culture. With his driving freight-train chords, steel-eyed intensity and a voice as deep and black as night, Cash sang blistering songs of heartache and survival that were gutsy, full of real life and unlike anything heard before. That day kicked off the electrifying early career of Johnny Cash. In the most volatile period of his life, he evolved from a self-destructive pop star into the iconic “Man in Black” - facing down his demons, fighting for the love that would raise him up, and learning how to walk the razor-thin line between destruction and redemption.
Hey, I just want to hear Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon sing. (Yes, they sang every note.)
North Country
Picture this: a young woman, suing her employers for sexual harassment, walks into a union meeting of hundreds of iron-ore miners - her co-workers. Clad in overalls and covered in dust, the men are angry. They scream, yell profanities and intimidate the woman, who stands at the microphone trying to state her case. The scene is from the new movie North Country, a fictionalised account of the landmark 1984 case Jenson vs Eveleth Mines, the first successful class action sexual harassment case in the US, which was settled in 1998. Charlize Theron plays Josey Aimes, a character loosely based on the real-life plaintiff, Lois Jenson.
Munich
Munich is a heart-rending account of the aftermath of the 1972 Summer Olympics, at which an extremist Palestinian group called Black September kidnapped nine Israeli athletes from the Olympic village, killing two others. Eric Bana delivers a muscular, brooding performance as intelligence officer Avner, who is recruited by Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir to oversee "Operation Wrath Of God". The secret mission requires Avner to disappear from sight and relinquish his identity, in order to travel across Europe assassinating the members of Black September responsible for the terrorist outrage.
There are quite a few films out at the moment that I'm keen to watch. The first two I've seen, others hopefully soon.
The Family Stone
Watched this last Wednesday night and absolutely loved it. It's billed as romantic comedy, and the trailer suggests as much, but there are a lot of dramatic moments too and some serious developments. A certain scene brought tears to my eyes, others had me cringing for one character or another, while many more simply made me laugh with delight. As the movie's about a large family, it was a relief to sense just that - family - from the actors.
Shopgirl
Saw this at Cinema Nova and thought - "Now there's a movie I enjoyed that I normally wouldn't go see." It's a bit hard to elaborate why I enjoyed it, probably because it took an oft done theme - love and relationships - and managed to present it in a different light.
Broken Flowers
The resolutely single Don has just been dumped by his latest lover, Sherry. Don yet again resigns himself to being alone and left to his own devices. Instead, he is compelled to reflect on his past when he receives by mail a mysterious pink letter. It is from an anonymous former lover and informs him that he has a 19-year-old son who may now be looking for his father. Don is urged to investigate this "mystery" by his closest friend and neighbor, Winston, an amateur sleuth and family man. Hesitant to travel at all, Don nonetheless embarks on a cross-country trek in search of clues from four former flames. Unannounced visits to each of these unique women hold new surprises for Don as he haphazardly confronts both his past and, consequently, his present.
Only Bill Murray would be able to pull this off.
Russian Dolls
The sequel to The Spanish Apartment, which I've seen, and one I'm looking forward to watching. My 'Really Want' list of DVDs includes L'Auberge Espagnole, and from the looks of things, this sequel should make it to that list as well.
Good Night and Good Luck
The plot is intriguing - one man against a powerful US Senator, someone who dared to stand up to the government's claims of numerous Communists working as spies in the US government. Most intriguing of all is that this actually happened.
Walk the Line
In 1955, a tough, skinny guitar-slinger who called himself J.R. Cash walked into the soon-to-be famous Sun Studios in Memphis. It was a moment that would have an indelible effect on American culture. With his driving freight-train chords, steel-eyed intensity and a voice as deep and black as night, Cash sang blistering songs of heartache and survival that were gutsy, full of real life and unlike anything heard before. That day kicked off the electrifying early career of Johnny Cash. In the most volatile period of his life, he evolved from a self-destructive pop star into the iconic “Man in Black” - facing down his demons, fighting for the love that would raise him up, and learning how to walk the razor-thin line between destruction and redemption.
Hey, I just want to hear Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon sing. (Yes, they sang every note.)
North Country
Picture this: a young woman, suing her employers for sexual harassment, walks into a union meeting of hundreds of iron-ore miners - her co-workers. Clad in overalls and covered in dust, the men are angry. They scream, yell profanities and intimidate the woman, who stands at the microphone trying to state her case. The scene is from the new movie North Country, a fictionalised account of the landmark 1984 case Jenson vs Eveleth Mines, the first successful class action sexual harassment case in the US, which was settled in 1998. Charlize Theron plays Josey Aimes, a character loosely based on the real-life plaintiff, Lois Jenson.
Munich
Munich is a heart-rending account of the aftermath of the 1972 Summer Olympics, at which an extremist Palestinian group called Black September kidnapped nine Israeli athletes from the Olympic village, killing two others. Eric Bana delivers a muscular, brooding performance as intelligence officer Avner, who is recruited by Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir to oversee "Operation Wrath Of God". The secret mission requires Avner to disappear from sight and relinquish his identity, in order to travel across Europe assassinating the members of Black September responsible for the terrorist outrage.