I love sports movies, i really do. But baseball never has been my thing. The trailer didn't make the film look appealing to me so this is one film I would have let go past, and perhaps downloaded or seen on TV one day.
But... I do love Phillip Seymoure Hoffman, and Brad Pitt makes very few bad choices... Plus, the reviews were right up there.
We were going to see a movie with friends, and I initially thought Id like to go see The Ides of March. But turns out it hasn't started it's run yet, so Moneyball it was.
So let me start with the premise. Based on a true story about Billy Beane, a Baseball Team's general manager who because of budget constraints, drafts players based on analytics.
The movie felt long, but the dialog was sharp and funny. The trailer did not portray the movie correctly I don't think, and I was surprised by how much we laughed throughout it. The writing is very good, fast paced and witty.
Brad Pitt is a superstar. He commands your entire attention whenever he is on screen. He does well here, I like him as an actor very much. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is also brilliant - he always is. The surprise of the film for me was Jonah Hill - a really good role for him, he really held his own, well done!
I think this film may go down as one of the best of the year, and while not astonishing (like i think Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy will be), was interesting, fun and great entertainment!
Above all, i think this is a film about leadership. I liked it a lot.
Rating 4/5
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Twilight Breaking Dawn
oh god, what's wrong with me?
I hate the books but i read them.
i hate the movies but i go see them.
the worst!
stupid story, stupid film.
0/5
I hate the books but i read them.
i hate the movies but i go see them.
the worst!
stupid story, stupid film.
0/5
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Pedro Almodovar's The Skin I Live In
I have been waiting for this movie to come to Australia, and it did indeed, closing the Brisbane International Film Festival tonight. Nick and I decided to forego the 'let's walk down the red carpet like the other people pretending to be fancy' and instead, jumped the rope and walked up the stairs into a 1/2 filled theatre. I went to buy myself a glass of wine, and in the 10 minutes it took me to do that, the cinema was jam packed! Every seat in the house!
My love affair with Pedro Almodovar and Antonio Banderas began way back with Law of Desire in 1987 and continued with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down.. Then hollywood called, and in my opinion, Banderas in English cannot compare with Banderas in Spanish.
Pedro Almodovar is a director without peer. I think he writes and directs the best roles for women in film - All About My Mother - a masterpiece and tribute to mothers - all kinds of mothers - showing that you do not have to have a child to be a mother and you do not have to be a woman to be a mother... No other director has the ability to portray the sympathetic villain with such beauty and empathy. In Tie Me Up... a man kidnaps a woman until she loves him. In Talk To Her, a nurse rapes a comatose patient because he loves her... Almodovar sees things differently, and thank God, he can make us see things differently too.
In the Skin I Live In, Dr Robert Ledgard loses his wife in tragic circumstances, and as a result, creates a synthetic skin that cannot be harmed. He experiments on a live person, and I cannot tell you any more than this, otherwise I will spoil the film.
Needless to say, the film is shocking and bizarre and with a whopping great twist that leaves you in complete disbelief. However, you have a sympathy for Dr Ledgard, you understand his pain and his drive. As violent and brutal as the films themes are, the film is also beautiful and moving.
Banderas is fabulous as Ledgard. His physicality is so powerful. The way he wears his clothes, the way he walks, and this might be strange, but I love his wrists and the way his watch sits (ok wierd, but i like Adrien Brody for the same reason). Elena Anaya as Vera is stunning, perfection. Marisa Paredes is also very very good as Ledgard's lifelong carer.
This movie belongs to Banderas though, and he is never better than with Almodovar.
I think this film is not for everyone, I think Almodovar is an acquired taste for people who may not culturally identify with him. You need to let your belief systems stay outside the cinema for a while. I for one, loved every bizarre minute of it.
4/5
My love affair with Pedro Almodovar and Antonio Banderas began way back with Law of Desire in 1987 and continued with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down.. Then hollywood called, and in my opinion, Banderas in English cannot compare with Banderas in Spanish.
Pedro Almodovar is a director without peer. I think he writes and directs the best roles for women in film - All About My Mother - a masterpiece and tribute to mothers - all kinds of mothers - showing that you do not have to have a child to be a mother and you do not have to be a woman to be a mother... No other director has the ability to portray the sympathetic villain with such beauty and empathy. In Tie Me Up... a man kidnaps a woman until she loves him. In Talk To Her, a nurse rapes a comatose patient because he loves her... Almodovar sees things differently, and thank God, he can make us see things differently too.
In the Skin I Live In, Dr Robert Ledgard loses his wife in tragic circumstances, and as a result, creates a synthetic skin that cannot be harmed. He experiments on a live person, and I cannot tell you any more than this, otherwise I will spoil the film.
Needless to say, the film is shocking and bizarre and with a whopping great twist that leaves you in complete disbelief. However, you have a sympathy for Dr Ledgard, you understand his pain and his drive. As violent and brutal as the films themes are, the film is also beautiful and moving.
Banderas is fabulous as Ledgard. His physicality is so powerful. The way he wears his clothes, the way he walks, and this might be strange, but I love his wrists and the way his watch sits (ok wierd, but i like Adrien Brody for the same reason). Elena Anaya as Vera is stunning, perfection. Marisa Paredes is also very very good as Ledgard's lifelong carer.
This movie belongs to Banderas though, and he is never better than with Almodovar.
I think this film is not for everyone, I think Almodovar is an acquired taste for people who may not culturally identify with him. You need to let your belief systems stay outside the cinema for a while. I for one, loved every bizarre minute of it.
4/5
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris
I don't belive there is a modern Director that tells the story of a city better than Woddy Allen - Manhattan, Annie Hall, Vicky Christina Barcelona and now Midnight in Paris.
Set in modern day Paris, a young couple - writer Gil (Owen Wilson) and his extremely dislikeable fiance Inez (Rachel McAdam) are in Paris together with her parents. Gil is in love with Paris, particularly Paris of the 1920s. Needless to say, Inez is not. I won't waste time talking about how unlikeable Inez is, but Rachel McAdam really does a good job of portraying this spoiled, American ignorant brat.
Walking along the streets of Paris at midnight, a vintage car pulls over and Gil is invited to join them for a ride. Night after night at midnight he gets in to the car to be transported to Paris of the 1920s - meeting Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway, Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, Salvador Dali, Gertude Stein, Man Ray, Henri Matisse, TS Eliot etc...
The film opens with the most beautiful montage of Paris - minutes... a sincere homage to a city that the Director obviously knows and loves.
The ensemble cast is outstanding. Owen Wilson (in the Allen persona) is the best I've seen him, Rachel McAdam was so annoying - very well played. Highlilghts for me were Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway, Alison Pill as Zelda Fitzgerald, Adrien Brody as Pablo Picasso. When Adrien Brody came on screen I heard some girls whisper "That's Adrien Brody" and after his first rant as Picasso, the theatre erupted in applause. I am a massive Brody fan, and he steals the show here - with only 2 minutes of screen time. Stoll as Hemingway is suitably intense, delivering some of the best lines in the script. Kathy Bates is also really good as Gertrude Stein.
And then of course there is Marion Cotillard as Adriana, a woman Gil meets and falls for in 1920s Paris. She is also looking towards the past - Le Belle Epoque... She, together with Penelope Cruz (who is not in this film) are - to me - goddesses! So beautiful, She plays her role with fragilility and grace. I love her.
At the end of the film the audience errupted in applause. This is something I've seen Australian audiences do only once or twice before.
This movie was exquisitely filmed, beautifully written, the cast well assembled and in my opinion flawless. I laughed throughout, but it was moving as well.
Lovers of Paris will love this film. For me, I have no feelings either way about Paris, but I love the way Woody Allen tells a story, and i have been a lifelong fan. I love the way he shows off architecture and hand selects every piece of music in his soundtracks. I love how his characters are flawed and insecure and strong at the same time. I love all the pauses in the dialogue, all the thinking you can physically see in his characters.
Like Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo when the film stars come to live, there is no explanation (like a dream) for Gil going back in time night after night. It just happens.
Loved it. 4.5/5.
Set in modern day Paris, a young couple - writer Gil (Owen Wilson) and his extremely dislikeable fiance Inez (Rachel McAdam) are in Paris together with her parents. Gil is in love with Paris, particularly Paris of the 1920s. Needless to say, Inez is not. I won't waste time talking about how unlikeable Inez is, but Rachel McAdam really does a good job of portraying this spoiled, American ignorant brat.
Walking along the streets of Paris at midnight, a vintage car pulls over and Gil is invited to join them for a ride. Night after night at midnight he gets in to the car to be transported to Paris of the 1920s - meeting Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway, Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, Salvador Dali, Gertude Stein, Man Ray, Henri Matisse, TS Eliot etc...
The film opens with the most beautiful montage of Paris - minutes... a sincere homage to a city that the Director obviously knows and loves.
The ensemble cast is outstanding. Owen Wilson (in the Allen persona) is the best I've seen him, Rachel McAdam was so annoying - very well played. Highlilghts for me were Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway, Alison Pill as Zelda Fitzgerald, Adrien Brody as Pablo Picasso. When Adrien Brody came on screen I heard some girls whisper "That's Adrien Brody" and after his first rant as Picasso, the theatre erupted in applause. I am a massive Brody fan, and he steals the show here - with only 2 minutes of screen time. Stoll as Hemingway is suitably intense, delivering some of the best lines in the script. Kathy Bates is also really good as Gertrude Stein.
And then of course there is Marion Cotillard as Adriana, a woman Gil meets and falls for in 1920s Paris. She is also looking towards the past - Le Belle Epoque... She, together with Penelope Cruz (who is not in this film) are - to me - goddesses! So beautiful, She plays her role with fragilility and grace. I love her.
At the end of the film the audience errupted in applause. This is something I've seen Australian audiences do only once or twice before.
This movie was exquisitely filmed, beautifully written, the cast well assembled and in my opinion flawless. I laughed throughout, but it was moving as well.
Lovers of Paris will love this film. For me, I have no feelings either way about Paris, but I love the way Woody Allen tells a story, and i have been a lifelong fan. I love the way he shows off architecture and hand selects every piece of music in his soundtracks. I love how his characters are flawed and insecure and strong at the same time. I love all the pauses in the dialogue, all the thinking you can physically see in his characters.
Like Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo when the film stars come to live, there is no explanation (like a dream) for Gil going back in time night after night. It just happens.
Loved it. 4.5/5.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)