But every once in a while there's a curve ball, a new entrant that I had never heard of: In Search of a Midnight Kiss.
Although it reads a little douche-y in that navel-gazing hipster vein, reviews suggest otherwise. Plus, with NYC as the star attraction—the essence of romance—how bad could it be?
Flash forward to next year, hopefully the star-studded ensemble New Year's Eve won't be another one of Garry Marshall's cinematicturkeys. I won't miss it, if for no other reason than that the ever-elusive Michelle Pfeiffer has a role (and we know she doesn't grace movie screens very much anymore). [sigh]
It's a cold, rainy Christmas Eve in Dallas; not the magical prelude to a white Christmas that we had last year, but a textbook winter scenario (80 degrees one day, 40 degrees the next) in Texas.
Always love this time of year, in part, because the weather elements and cinematic offerings dovetail so nicely, lending themselves to movie-watching—at home and in the theater.
This past week I caught three films—Easy A (thank you, Redbox), The Fighter (big kisses, Angelika), and Tron: Legacy (in IMAX 3D)—that couldn't be more different but shared an interesting flashpoint: a make-or-break central performance, which definitely could influence overall enjoyment of the films around them.
In case of Easy A, Emma Stone is the knowing, twinkling star of what is essentially a pretty contrived, tepid comedy. That's not to discount the few flourishes of genuine wit or firecrackersupportingactors, but it's the lead actress's innate charm that is this movie's saving grace, elevating ordinary into, if not extraordinary, then at least an enjoyable diversion.
In stark contrast to Emma Stone's winsome screen presence, Tron: Legacy's bland Garrett Hedlund sucks what little life there is in an already automotan-like movie-going experience. '80s childhood nostalgia aside, Disney's reboot didn't deliver much to recommend it, starting and ending with a vacuous central character *and* performer—a film-sinking combo. Why are Hollywood suits willing to bequeath hundreds of millions for special effects, without even bothering to ensure a decent screenplay that fully forms the lead character? (Nevermind a casting process that doesn't even value an actor with the chops to add nuance and pathos beyond a thin interpretation.)
A lot of critics have referred to Mark Wahlberg as "inert" in The Fighter. While it's true his character can be strangely passive, I actually thought Wahlberg made a well-judged play that proved: sometimes a self-contained central character can be like a centrifugal force, which galvanizes more combustible, less stable surrounding elements. His Mickey Ward grounded a film world that easily could've devolved into a baroque, blue-collar cavalcade.
After seeing glimpses of Sean Penn's tough upbringing in the 'Tree of Life' trailer, it's beginning to click why that jerk is such a humorlessmalcontent.
But seriously, how gorgeous does this film look and *feel*? Even the 'Tree of Life' poster, in our ridonkulously photoshopped era, has the bravado to show cracks and imperfections on a newborn baby's foot. Just beautiful...
Terrence "takes-his-sweet-time-between-films" Malick is a brilliant surveyor of landscapes, both recognizably human and alien, so best believe this cinephile will be front-and-center opening night!
'Rabbit Hole' doesn't open in Dallas until Christmas Eve -- count me in (sorry, family) -- but Lionsgate, ever a benevolent distributor (aside from the 'Saw' films), has given us not one but two gorgeous, color-gradiated stocking stuffers to tide us over.
Though it's hard to imagine Nicole Kidman topping Cynthia Nixon's stage incarnation, I'm just grateful for the bumper crop of thornydomesticdramas coming down the pike (and the tasty indierockballads previews to that genre of films inevitably introduce).
24 hours after the credits rolled, and, my God, does 'Black Swan' ever stay with you. (But with such a cavalcade of baroque beauty on display—the titular performance sequence alone is master class—that was to be expected.)
During dinner the other night with friends, one of whom is a movie critic who reviewed the very film in question last week, we talked Darren Aronofsky's filmography; his delirous directorial style that skews heavily toward uncomfortable narrative zones (remember the final scenes of 'Requiem for a Dream'?) but manages to hold viewers' attention rapt, dangerously close to grand-guignol excess.
Another wonderful thing about Aronofsky is that he gives juicy parts, big and small, to terrific, underused actors, including a personal fave of mine who gave a bitch-goddess star turn if there ever was one.
Faye isn't the only one lounging pool-side, exhausted, surrounded by scattered papers.
I'm midway through Dunaway's autobiography, 'Looking for Gatsby,' and just reached the apex of her career: Her Oscar-winning role in 'Network' (i.e. my favorite movie of all time). This photo is on the back cover, and it's a perfect snapshot of 70's Hollywood.
After back-to-back readings of Jane Fonda's 'My Life So Far' and Mia Farrow's 'What Falls Away,' it's interesting how the careers of these, arguably the top three zeitgeist actresses of the late 60's/early 70's, intersected——perhaps even bifurcated——each other's.
Fonda, for instance, recalls how Dunaway's breakthrough in 'Bonnie & Clyde' set her on edge. Farrow, meanwhile, snagged the lead in 'Rosemary's Baby,' which made her a movie star, after Fonda turned it down. Years later, Dunaway laments a futile audition for the Daisy Buchanan role in 'The Great Gatsby,' a part already promised Farrow. Fonda was Sidney Lumet's only other choice to play Diana Christensen in 'Network' (full circle).
Best Speech: Mariane Seldes, hands down. She was literally speechless! (And, you know, brevity is the essence of wit.)
Worst Speech: That weirdly smug Memphis composer with the straw hair. (He popped up *during* the end number, too!)
Best Dressed: Kristen Chenoweth & Jada Pinkett Smith, who proved that petite ladies can look dynamite in sparkly or ruffly strapless minis that put Amazonians to shame.
Best Number: The troupe from Fela!, especially the powerhouse vocals of the actress who played the titular character's mother.
Best Role Models for Aging: Helen Mirren, who graciously acknowledged theatergoers in the rafters, & Raquel Welch, both of whom looked sensational in person well into their 60s. (Angela Lansbury also looked great in her red dress.)
As the criminal complaint against Alessa and Almonte shows, "homegrown" terrorists are increasingly more determined and resourceful (if not sufficiently covert) to carry out jihadist machinations against the U.S., inside our borders. Has the enemy within (and our own permissive naturalization process) scared you yet?
partly due to soundtrack, partly due to dialogue (or monologue -- or written word -- as the case may be)
perfect line reading that hooks you and instantly elevate a film to must-see status.
The Brave One
"It is astonishing to find that inside you there is a stranger; one that has your arms, your eyes."
P.S. Jodie Foster looks incredibly sexy in her wet-hair-slicked-back, sheathed-in-a-bathrobe, holding-a-gun posture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Life can only be understood backward; it must be lived forward
"We're almost the same age. We're meeting in the middle." Benjamin: "I was thinking how nothing lasts. What a shame that is." Daisy: "Some things last."
Million Dollar Baby
"There's magic in fighting battles beyond endurance. It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you."
Losing Isaiah
"No matter what happens, I want you to know that we're always together"
Backdraft
"Is there something about these deaths that you're not telling me?"
Birth
"I understand that this is gonna sound crazy. I've met somebody who, uh...who seems to be...Sean."
21 Grams
"Who ever looks for the truth deserves punishment for finding it."
"God even knows when a single hair moves on your head"
The Long Kiss Goodnight
"What is you couldn't remember your real name? Your first kiss? Or your last goodbye?
And sometimes it's rooted in (or liberated by?) desperation:
But my all-time favorite, preserved in amber, remains:
"The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world"
Ever since the dawn of man, mobility has been central to our growth and freedom as a civilization. There have always been places to go and people to see, greener pastures, bluer skies and undiscovered lands. But what about the future of mobility?
G's funeral is tomorrow and, while packing up and getting ready to fly to SLC, it got me reminiscing about things she liked. Besides crossword puzzles, red lipstick and nail polish (or basically anything red), and Wendy's Frosties, she l-o-v-e-d big band music and watched the Lawrence Welk Show religiously.
Like Barbie before her, Lindsay has broadened her repertoire (or at least tried to), wearing many hats from acting to singing to fashion designing to...?
White-Zinfindel Lindsay:
Dexitrim Lindsay:
Coke-bloat Lindsay:
Meth-teeth Lindsay:
Crack-is-whack Lindsay:
Halcyon-haze Lindsay:
I-don't-even-know-what (lazy eye?) Lindsay:
At this point, it's almost couter-culture -- even a little baroque -- to be a Lohan aficionado. But like Brokeback Mountain, I just can't quit her!
The thing is, I *want* her to do well. Unlike Parasite Hilton and those ubiquitous, do-nothing slags on The Hills or any number of reality shows (zzz...), Lohan actually has oodles of talent. Talent to burn and charisma in spades...when applied correctly.
Lately though (as in the last 5 or so years), she seems more content to waste her God-given gifts on a desperate and futile quest to be some sort of pop-culture superstar. The problem there is that only lands you on the umpteenth cover of tabloids, in rehab (half a dozen times at last count, right?), and then turned out by Hollywood like some pariah, never to be invited back again.
But if the ever-ambitious Barbie can reinvent herself into a computer engineer and news anchor (her 125th & 126th careers!), surely Lindsay can at least find gainful employment that does not include club-hopping special appearances or ill-fates creative director turns.
Birthday wishes are in order for the lovely & amazing (not to mention criminally underrated) actress, author, activist, muse, lover, and prodigious earth mother, Mia Farrow, who turns 65 years young today.
There are many ways to sample and appreciate Mia, but for me it boils down to 3 iconic performances: Alice, The Purple Rose of Cairo, and, of course, Rosemary's Baby. How this woman has NEVER been nominated for an Oscar (or, for that matter, Nobel Peace Prize) is beyond me!
Up was, in my opinion, one of Pixar's minor efforts (although following on Wall*E's considerable heels is certainly no small feat) but, my God, has any opening sequence ever been simply as beautiful and poignant as Carl's & Ellie's?
This sublime seven-minute intro could function on its own as an amazing, free-standing, fully-drawn short film -- and blow away every long-form love story that came up against it.
But what can you say? I'm a sucker for real romance, even if it doesn't turn out exactly how you hoped.
...in my 32nd year of being single. Once again, I found myself on my own and going to my mother's annual turkey curry buffet."
Ah, Bridget Jones Diary. Possibly the last film Renée Zellweger did -- and sublimely I might add -- before she became an oddly pinched and supremely annoying screen presence. Which is such a shame if you consider her promising start and rather impressive streak of memorable performances (The Whole Wide World, Jerry Maguire, One True Thing, Nurse Betty) up until that point. How did it all go so wrong, Renée?
Incidentally, while I revisit Bridget Jones quite often -- hello, how can you not? It's brilliantly funny -- it's weird to think I'm in my 32nd year, alone and unmarried (but happily not single, thank God...and Tye) on this first day of a new year. Cheers to you, Bridge, and to a bright and lovely 2010!
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