Trumbo by Jay Roach, 2015 (R)

with Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg

In 1947, successful screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) and other Hollywood figures get blacklisted for their political beliefs.

An interesting look into the Hollywood world during the Cold War, through the life of Trumbo, one of the most prolific Screenwriter of the Cinema history. It is definitely the story of an impossible fight against a government which had lost their way, which finally was won through perseverance and dare.
The performances are excellent. The mix of historic footage and reenactment are smooth and subtle. The portrayal of the nature of people, when put on a stand is quite fascinating, and the movie doesn't hesitate to describe the different positions public people took during this dark time, which feels honest for once.

Hitchcock by Sacha Gervasi, 2012 (PG-13)

with Anthony Hopkins (Thor, 360), Helen Mirren (The Debt, RED), Scarlett Johansson (We Brought a Zoo, The Avengers, Scoop, The Horse Whisperer), Danny Huston (You Don't Know Jack, Robin Hood, The Conspirator), Toni Collette (The Hours, Little Miss Sunshine), Michael Stuhlbarg (Hugo), Michael Wincott, Jessica Biel (Total Recall, Playing for keeps), James D'Arcy (Cloud Atlas), Ralph Macchio (My Cousin Vinny), Kurtwood Smith (RoboCop), Richard Portnow

Iconic filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock struggles with his marriage, the censors and the financiers of his 1960 film Psycho in this biopic. Driven to prove he still has an edge, Hitchcock crafts what would become one of the greatest thrillers of all time.

"The Girl" was to The Birds what "Hitchcock" is to Psycho, two different moments of Hitchcock life, and somehow a continuity. The interpretation of Helen Mirren is quite close to the interpretation of Imelda Staunton as Alma Reville, Both versions of Alfred Hitchcock are creepy. The only thing that changes is the perceptions of the actresses towards him, which in both movie are tough undeniably, but sort of forgiving in Hitchcock, while you pretty much think of Hitchcock as a serial killer in The Girl. Fascinating anyhow, because of the complexity of Hitchcock himself, but also as it describes the creation of a new genre, as well as the 1960s industry insider's look...

watch trailer:

Los años desnudos (Clasificada S) by Dunia Ayaso, Félix Sabroso, 2008 (NR)

with Candela Peña, Goya Toledo, Mar Flores, Luis Zahera, Antonio de la Torre, Tomás Álvarez, Jose Luis Ayuso, Jorge Calvo, Julio Velez, Ana Wagener, Susana Estrada

The new liberalism of the post-Franco years provides the backdrop for this dark comedy centered on the experiences of three actresses (Candela Peña, Goya Toledo and Mar Flores) working in Spain's soft-core porn industry as the country emerges from years of repressive rule. Although each of the women comes from a different background, they all share the common experience of exploitation at the hands of an opportunist hiding behind the veil of art.

This is a strange movie, based on the stories of actresses of the post-Franquism. It gets to be funny, sexy, really light and shallow, and at the same time, heavy and sad. Because the movie starts with a point and finishes with the opposite, you get to feel uncomfortable from letting yourself be bluffed by the appearances. It has an unusual format, the three women are not particularly making you love them, but somehow, because they are a representation of an era, "cine del destape", their symbol is stronger than themselves and the movie remains in your mind. As a woman, I guess it traumatized me quite a bit, not so much because of the women, but because of what it tells about men... Fortunately, the "cine del destape" only lasted as long as the Spanish transition, from 1975 to 1982.

watch trailer:

You got the lead role, but I stole the movie!

Hi, just a few thoughts that have been in the back of my mind for a few years actually. What about those movies that were supposed to make a point, highlight a main character, but turned out to shift their focus onto a secondary one, sometimes because of the script, sometimes because of historical circumstances, sometimes because of the brilliant performance of the actor.

Grease by Randal Kleiser, 1978 (PG)
Betty Rizzo (Stockard Channing)
Olivia Newton-John was the perfect girl gone bad, pretty, cute, her journey would give her all the sympathy of the audience, but the edgy role of Betty, her sense of fashion, her issues being a woman who faces the complicated choice of having a child, her non-acceptance of the status-quot finally made her a universal figure, and in a way, her role didn't age compared to the other characters of Grease.


Girl: Interrupted by James Mangold, 1999 (R)
Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie)
Winona Ryder again is a cute victim of the system, but Angelina Jolie as the smart one who never fits in reminds far more of the impressive performance of Jack Nicholson in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and is the one that truly makes you question the system. She is also quite fascinating and manipulative, takes completely over the shot, while Ryder fades into the walls of the hospital, almost transparent.


The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan, 2008 (PG-13)
The Joker (Heath Ledger)
Christian Bale is at his second movie directed by Nolan, his character is established already, and somehow, as we know the hero, we get our attention towards the bad guy. And Batman always have really cool bad guys, but he exploded. And died, which by unfortunate circumstances did an amazing advertizing for himself and the movie, which got the attention at the awards. Interesting tragic turn of events.


Vicky Cristina Barcelona by Woody Allen, 2008 (PG-13)
Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz)
Scarlett Johansson was quite the muse of Woody Allen at the time, being the protagonist of his two previous movies Match Point and Scoop. But in this one, first she had to face an actress on the rise Rebecca Hall, and most of all, the fire of Spanish actress Penelope Cruz at her best as an Almodovarian character. Her "Joder!" made me unanimous about considering her as a great actress, and her wild spirit completely overshadowed the two (too) plain American actresses.


Four Weddings and a Funeral by Mike Newell, 1994 (R)
Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas)
Andie MacDowell was the perfect American, supposedly politically incorrect for the high class society of England, I actually liked her a lot, with probably the help of Hugh Grant being so much in love with her, and us as an audience projecting. Never the less, the script for Kristin Scott Thomas was so good, funny and dark at the same time, that it was impossible not to notice her. And when she finally raised the veil on her actual emotion, she was so beautifully broken I felt it was sort of unfair she had such a minor role. I really believe she was making the movie, perhaps with John Hannah.


Albert Nobbs by Rodrigo García, 2011 (R)
Hubert (Janet McTeer)
Glenn Close's character was so stiff there was a need for a similar and opposite one that would shake her up. Janet McTeer did so well she became the woman that made a point in the movie. Hubert is the modernism, the forward-thinkingness (?) that needed that society, where women didn't have much of a chance to become rich without the help of a wealthy family. She is light and optimism, despite the sad turn of events, something to look up to. And still, now that the condition of women has changed and we don't need to hide as men to achieve higher goals, there is still in her character a normalization of love that most of our society hasn't accepted yet. Perhaps this character will remain for a long time an unconventional one, hopefully not too long tho.


Any more characters you thought stole the movie?

The Girl by Julian Jarrold, 2012 (TV-14)

with Sienna Miller (Casanova), Toby Jones (Snow White and the Huntsman, The Hunger Games, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Imelda Staunton (Another Year, Harry Potter), Penelope Wilton (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Carl Beukes, Sean Cameron Michael, Adrian Galley

Sienna Miller and Toby Jones star in this unsettling depiction of the schizophrenic relationship between iconic director Alfred Hitchcock and the leading lady he wanted to possess: Tippi Hedren, the frosty blonde he cast in The Birds and Marnie.

As I was mentioning in the previous post, right before starting reading my first X-Men comic books, I was actually watching The Birds, probably my first Hitchcock by then. I watched it with closed shutters with a bunch of other kids in youth camp, and we all got traumatized for a while of birds. Anyway, this movie is about Tippi's experience shooting The Birds, and Marnie, which turned out to be as traumatic as the movie itself. The scenes that were so scary in the movie were actually pretty real, and she was strained by this director who somehow had a very manipulative behavior towards her. Sienna Miller is absolutely beautiful and amazing as a woman who tries not to give in or give up, just stand until she breaks, truly believable. Toby Jones plays perfectly a repulsive but brilliant mind and dark genius. This was made for TV (although really well produced) and pretty much came out around the same time as "Hitchcock" with Helen Mirren, which now would be interesting to watch. Definitely, this movie changed the vision I had of the director of some of the sickest (and best) scary movies of all time.

Watch Trailer:

read about "Dial M for Murder"

My Best Fiend, Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski by Werner Herzog, 1999 (NR)

with Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, Mick Jagger, Justo González, Eva Mattes, Thomas Mauch

In the 1950s, a teenage Werner Herzog was transfixed by a film performance of the young Klaus Kinski. Years later, they would share an apartment where, in an unabated, 48 hour fit of rage, Kinski completely destroyed the bathroom. From this chaos, a violent, love-hate, profoundly creative partnership was born. In 1972, Herzog cast Kinski in Aguirre, Wrath of God. Four more films would follow. In this personal documentary, Herzog traces the often violent ups and downs of their relationship, revisiting the various locations of their films and talking to the people they worked with.

What a man Klaus Kinski. So much energy and wildness. The portrayal of Herzog is an interesting one, it feels like he had this beast that sometimes he knew how to control, sometimes left him to himself, but with that responsibility that he had to direct a whole crew, it seems that the most difficult part was actually to get the most out of the genius. He sometimes tells things with such an indifference that it is as if he was accustomed, blasé. There are little moments where you can see also how much they loved one another, knowing that they were getting the best out of each others. Beautiful moments of sensitivity, carnage and danger, chaos of emotions, this documentary allows to see very closely how infinite was the energy of Klaus Kinski, a fascinating man...

Watch Trailer:

The Oscars 2013: Reviews

Hi,
today is not about writing as much as it is about gathering. I hope you watched the Oscars. It was a nice ceremony, with great performances from the whole cast of "Les Miserables" (which I still have to watch, specially for the performance of Anne Hathaway who won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role), Adele for the soundtrack of "James Bond: Skyfall" (which I also have to see, at least for the opening credits, I was told they are almost videoart!), Barbra Streisand and Shirley Bassey, YES, with "Goldfinger". The host could have not been there, it wouldn't have changed much of the ceremony...
Anyway, going back to where we came from, the gathering. I am putting a list of movies I had the chance to see which won Oscars this year.

Best Picture: Argo
Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio (Argo)
Best Film Editing: William Goldenberg (Argo)

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Best Production Design: Rick Carter (Production Design); Jim Erickson (Set Decoration) (Lincoln)

Best Actress in a Leading Role (So happy about it): Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Best Writing - Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

coming soon
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
although it could have been Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell (Les Misérables)
Best Sound Mixing: Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes (Les Misérables)

Best Animated Feature Film: Brave

Best Directing: Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)
Best Music - Original Score: Mychael Danna (Life of Pi)
Best Visual Effects (couldn't be more accurate): Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott (Life of Pi)

Best Costume Design: Jacqueline Durran (Anna Karenina)

coming soon
Best Documentary Feature: Searching for Sugar Man

Best Foreign Language Film: Amour

Best Music - Original Song: "Skyfall" (Skyfall) Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
Best Sound Editing: Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers (Skyfall)

Have fun! And send your feedback on the Oscars...
Isabelle D.

Hollywood Ending by Woody Allen, 2002 (PG-13)

with Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris, Deconstructing Harry, To Rome with Love), Téa Leoni (Tower Heist), Mark Rydell, Debra Messing, Treat Williams (127 Hours, Hair), George Hamilton, Barney Cheng, Tiffani Thiessen, Erica Leerhsen
Duration: 114 minutes

Woody Allen stars as down-on-his-luck film director Val Waxman, who needs just one good picture to restore his once-thriving career. But when he gets an offer to make a big movie, his paranoia causes him to go psychosomatically blind.

I watched this movie again like I needed more chocolate. This movie is absolutely delicious. It is cute, funny, makes fun of French taste for cinema... Definitely one of my favorite Woody Allen. The cast works very well, although I always wonder how Woody Allen always ends up with the most beautiful and smart woman of the film, must be the privilege of acting in a movie written and directed by you!

Watch Trailer:

Theater experience...

These last days, I haven't been able to watch any movie... The reason for it is that I was litterally working 24/7 on a new play, which started this Thursday. I was creating the video-projection with live camera and videoart to be projected during the performance. The only thing I took the time to watch, just because I am addicted, was Dexter and Homeland... So, basically, for this play, there was different kind of surreal things to create, such as a goldfish with wings, in it's fishbowl, floating with a red parachute. Or, a lot of blood leaking from the top of the stage, or a magical forest with its leaves growing, or even a blackbird prisoner in a padlock, or the main actress looking like she is seeing herself in mirrors while hundreds of flower bouquets are dangling above. Anyway, Of course, this implies a lot of shooting, editing, special effects, animation and so on. But when you are working in the production of a film, once you did all that, you're done. You can come to the premiere and enjoy the show. There comes the difference. At that point where everything is created, it has to live with the actors, blend in a new form of language of storytelling. So you have to decide where that particular mirror goes, where the fishbowl does appear, or in a case i didn't explain, bookshelves on the chest of one of the actor. Oh well, this is technical but a few more days in the theater and we will be good. Oh, the set is not ready on time, the projector doesn't spill wide enough to cover the whole stage, oh, the live camera is so far from the projector we are missing cables... Alright, minor details, we'll get through it... Then comes the lighting designer, the sound designer and the queue to queue with the director, which will take another full day. At night, no night, render, adjustments, editing editing editing...
And finally at the premiere, instead of sitting back and relaxing, you are hungry, tired, stressed and go from one end of the show to the other with the pressure of missing the timing and launching the bird instead of the fishbowl...
The comfort of it all, the audience, the live element, the teamwork, the crew and cast, and eventually the idea that you will finally get it right after three representations.
So I haven't been able to watch movies lately, but soon enough, the rhythm will come back!

Cinema is growing old

When you see someone in a painting from the previous centuries, you do not think about whether they are dead or alive, they have a timelessness to them that freeze them in time. Nevertheless they are. I usually watch contemporary movies, movies for the oldest from the 80's. Recently, I came to discover more classics, even going to the black and white ones. You see the life of characters in motion, with their youth, and in a way, it only looks like a period piece, played by comtemporary actors. Well, perhaps they speak a bit differently, perhaps the style is sometimes odd, the lighting artificial, the technology poor. But still, they remain very much alive.
Then there are those actors we all know died, in tragic incidents, or getting older, they are separated from their role, and become these persons, with lives of their own, and they happened to die, just like everyone else.
Lately, I have been watching intensively the whole retrospective of the movies staring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. I think I've already watched five of them. They were in chronological order, so I saw them evolve, both in their acting, but also how the cinema industry was evolving as well. And then it stroke me. They are growing up, growing older, and eventually, all these people in the movie died, they all did, it was too long ago. But they are so alive, still, almost like the painting from the previous centuries. But this is a first, a document that is as alive as you and me, with people speaking, moving, laughing... Cinema is growing old, the first generation is already dead, so is the second one. We are creating those memories, documents of our past which seems more and more palpable, as if we could finally travel in time. It is beautiful, and sad at the same time. They gave their emotions, we feel attached very much to them, as if they were alive, close enough, growing old, but slowly, reachable. I would have loved to meet Katharine Hepburn, she looks like she was a wonderful lady, very creative, very devoted to cinema, with ideas that belong so well to our present time, almost as if we all were born too late, she was early, but she belongs here, now.
But all this is a fading image in a screen, it is the magic of cinema, the feeling for an hour or so that you are traveling, sharing, loving new people in a very intimate way, all characters of a bigger and longer story, humanity.