Saturday, January 17, 2009
Romantic Moments
As you probably know already, I love a list. And a movie. And a bit of romance. So, a list of favourite romantic moments is destined to end up in my blog. Before I started viewing the slideshow, I did a quick mental checklist of my favourites...and in no particular order: * the "way to go, Paula!" ending to An Officer and a Gentleman * "I will find you!" declaration in Last of the Mohicans * the kiss in the rain, Breakfast at Tiffany's * the fire-escape climb at the end of Pretty Woman * Colin Firth's lost-in-translation proposal in Love Actually. 2 out of 5 made this list, hmmm, although there are some other pretty special romantic moments in the list that I'd forgotten about. "Nobody puts Baby in the corner!" But sorry, not being together, dying, claiming bodies = tragic, not romantic. Labels: Breakfast at Tiffany's, Last of the Mohicans, lists. An Officer and a Gentleman, movies, Notting Hill, Pretty Woman
Monday, June 30, 2008
Get Smart, The Movie
 I resisted the urge to title this post, "Missed it by *that* much." Mostly because I reckon the movie adaptation of Get Smart didn't miss by much at all. In fact, I laughed, I grinned, I left the theatre in a damn fine mood...and isn't that what entertainment is all about? To be honest, I went to see Get Smart with low expectations. I loved the TV series and I couldn't envisage anyone else in the roles of Max and 99. I didn't want to see pale imitations, I didn't want the screwball original humour messed with, or to be drubbed over the head with the lines owned by Don Adams and Barbara Feldon. And you know what? They weren't, it wasn't, they didn't. This was an homage to the TV series, set in the present and with the original characters translated into the present. Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway were brilliant casting choices. Instead of a bumbling agent, this Smart was a skilled analyst but with no field experience. And 99 was a kickass agent who hated being teamed with the klutz. They had a real buddy chemistry and watching the movie I got the impression everyone was having a ball. Most of the humour -- or the stuff I found funniest -- was in the dialogue rather than the slapstick. Loved James Caan as the president and The Rock (forget his actual acting name) was excellent as SuperAgent 23. I've not enjoyed many of the recent spate of adaptations of TV series. Can't think of one off hand that I've enjoyed as much as Get Smart, and it put me in a warm 'n' fuzzy reminiscence about the TV series. I almost went to check the cable programs to see if it's currently showing, but I didn't. I think, along with Hogan's Heroes and F Troop, it's the kind of comedy best left in the past. I don't want to dim the memory of how uproariously funny I found them then. I suspect none might have aged well unlike, for example, MASH which has so much poignant human emotion underlying the humour. I'm the same with some of the romance in my keeper collection. I have a whole stack of Johanna Lindsey and M&B's from the 70s and 80s that I kept because of my unabashed love for them at the time. I want to maintain those feelings and so I won't pull them out for rereads, nor will I get rid of them. They're my touchstone to that time and to my introduction to romance. Oh, and in case you're wondering... Yes, the cone of silence and the shoe-phone do make an appearance. How could they not? Labels: movies
Monday, January 28, 2008
A Movie I Had To See
 When I saw JUNO described as in the vein of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, only better, I had to see it. If you didn't love LMS, if you want your movies grandiose and dramatic or packed with action and plot twists, then don't read on. JUNO is not the movie for you. Juno is a movie about Juno MacGuff, a 16yo schoolgirl dealing with pregnancy. I guess you might describe it as a YA romance, although it's more about Juno's journey than the romance. Kids are only 16 after all. So Juno (the girl, played awesomely by Ellen Page) is quite the character. If you read regencies you've probably seen a heroine or two described as "an original". Well, that's Juno in a nutshell. She's funny, sharp, real, marches to her own tune, but she's not all teenage angst and defiance (which is irritating enough in real life without having to watch on screen.) So, the movie. It's real, without being dark and confronting; funny, without being slapstick or grossout; and has an originality that makes it tough to compare with anything else. I just realised it was directed by Jason Reitman who wrote and directed the last movie I enthused about to everyone I saw for weeks afterward. Thank You For Smoking. Both are jostling for a position on my list of all-time favourites. Juno is up for Oscars in 4 categories -- Best Picture, Director, Actress and Screenplay -- and has won a swag of critics/reveiwers awards. (That's just so you know it's not just me who found it engaging.) All the cast is excellent. Jennifer Garner and Allison Janney are great in supporting roles, but it's Ellen Page who really owns the screen. There's this emotional climax scene where you see a close-up of her face and the camera focuses on this fine quiver of a nerve in her face -- talk about show don't tell! If you like some whimsy in your reality, a touch of quirk in your characters (without crossing the line into absurdity), subtle humour and clever dialogue, and a story built around character and quality acting, then do check this one out. It's not a movie that begs to be watched on the big screen (like, say, Atonement where the cinematography demands BIG.) Definitely one that could be enjoyed just as much on DVD. Labels: movies
Friday, October 19, 2007
Michael Clayton
 Being a bit of a fan of Mr Clooney and having heard Oscar-worthy performance whisperings, I decided to take myself to see Michael Clayton on opening day at out local cinema. I love going to the movies in the daytime when everyone else is at work. Popcorn and a row all to myself, no whisperers or seat-thumpers in the row behind, and I'm a happy camper. If you haven't heard, Michael Clayton is a legal thriller...although I think "thriller" is taking it a bit far. I'd call it legal drama, because this is a movie about character rather than plot. The movie tagline (see poster): The Truth Can Be Adjusted. A cool soundbite but not an accurate enacpsulation of the movie theme IMHO. The setting is a corporate law firm, but Michael Clayton (Clooney's character) is a "fixer" not a litigator. A garbage man, as it were, who's sent in to fix up messy situations. He's damn good at his job, but not so good at fixing his own life. When a bipolar colleague who's defending a chemical firm against a huge class-action suit develops a conscience, Clayton is sent to fix the ensuing mess. He ends up with tough decisions to make about ethics and loyalty, and you're not sure until the last scene which choice he'll make. I liked it--really liked it a lot--but I suspect plenty will find it too slow-paced and the plot not challenging enough. To me it was all about character, with the plot and the situations Clayton/Clooney comes up against all aimed at working that character arc. So I reckon it's a movie writers will love. Not one for the action buffs, no romance at all, you need to watch and listen and absorb. I need to see it again to work out the point of some of the scenes and character interactions and motifs; I reckon I missed significant detail even though I watched as hard as I could. Four and a half stars. Labels: movies
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Saturday Night At The Movies
Last weekend I craved taut, tense romantic suspense but couldn't find a movie with that vibe. This weekend son #3 did the choosing. His mission: a movie we could all enjoy. We = me, dh, two sons; 4 distinct tastes; 4 different visions of what constitutes a good movie.  So. He chose THANK YOU FOR SMOKING and, honestly, I haven't laughed so much in yonks. I'm even thinking this may shoot all the way to my Top Ten list. Loved the satire, the clever subversive humour, the use of narrator's voice--but then that could be because I loved our anti-hero narrator and protagonist, Nick Naylor (heh), charismatic spin doctor for the tobacco industry, brilliantly portrayed by Aaron Eckhardt (where has he been hiding all my life???) Nick describes himself as "You know the guy who can pick up any girl? I'm him. On crack." But then he also introduces himself like this: "Few people on this planet knows what it is to be truly despised. Can you blame them? I earn a living fronting an organization that kills 1200 people a day. Twelve hundred people. We're talking two jumbo jet plane loads of men, women and children. I mean, there's Attila, Genghis... and me, Nick Naylor. The face of cigarettes, the Colonel Sanders of nicotine." Loved the dialogue at the MOD Squad lunches. MOD=Merchants of Death, Nick's best mates being his colleagues working for the alcohol and gun lobbies. Nick(in narrator's voice) introduces Polly, the alcohol lobbyist, thus: "Polly works for the Moderation Council. A casual drinker by the age of 14, Polly quickly developed a tolerance usually reserved for Irish dockworkers. In our world, she's the woman that got the pope to endorse red wine." Loved the father-son arc, loved how the storyline played out, the irony of Nick's punishment (I love me some irony!), and the satisfying end which remained true to character. Loved all the performances from the secondaries...lemme think. There's Robert Duvall as Nick's big boss, William Macy as an anti-smoking senator, Sam Elliott as the originial Marlboro Man (now with lung cancer), Katie Holmes as a cleverboots journo, Rob Lowe as a bigshot Hollywood agent (the scenes in the offices of EGO are worth the rental alone) and Adam Brody as his assistant. Highly recommended if you appreciate smart dialogue, a clever script, great performances and humour that's heavy on the irony and not so much on the political correctness. "We don't sell Tic Tacs, we sell cigarettes. And they're cool, available, and *addictive*. The job is almost done for us."   Labels: movies
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