I am bored.

I am Love
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Marisa Berenton

I get so disappointed sometimes. I think it's my fault. I think I get carried away and imagine what I would like a film to be before I see it. 

The title of this movie 'I am Love' got me straight away. 'Ahhhhh' I thought....a movie about someone who encompasses love so totally that it takes over them and they are simply defined as 'love'....ohhh it sounds brilliant! I then saw the poster and thought it must be about a woman (Tilda Swinton) who IS love but is stifled and miserable. In many ways it is I guess. But I am Love is such a bizarre exercise in what I think is acute narcissism more so than love. Tilda Swinton fascinates me. I don't know if I love her or hate her. I sometimes flinch at the sight of her and find her androgynous confidence almost disarming. I also think she is beautiful. I loved her in Orlando. I despised her in The Beach (I despised that whole film. UGH). 

 I Am Love tells the story of the wealthy Recchi family, whose lives are undergoing sweeping changes. Eduardo Recchi owns a famous fashion house and it is time to pass his beloved company on. Much to the surprise of his family, he hands the reins to not only his son but also to his Grandson Edo. Tilda plays Edos's graceful mother Emma. Emma's life takes a turn when she falls quickly and deeply in love with Edo's friend and business partner Antonio, and embarks on a passionate love affair that changes her family forever. Oh even my description of it makes me excited for the film this could have been. But no. I came out bored and listless. I didn't feel for one single character- least of all Swinton who I was so ready to love. Her so called plight seemed more a chance to exert her sexual confidence and subject us to overly stylised, painfully self absorbed love scenes. 

I liked the food. I liked the macaroons. 

But  I didnt like I am Vain......I mean I am Love.

I want to see this...I didn't realise it's a David Fincher film...

Gosh I love a good movie title. Here are some Goodies.... (Oh that reminds me...Goonies)

Saturday Night Fever

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

A Clockwork Orange

The Big Lebowski

The Proposition

Reservoir Dogs

The City Of Lost Children

Pulp Fiction

Ghostbusters

Immortal Beloved

La Haine

Se7en

Edward Scissorhands

Virgin Suicides

The Cook, The Thief, His wife & Her Lover

Terminator

Etre et Avoir

Coffee and Cigarettes

The Motorcycle Diaries

West Side Story

Jailhouse Rock

Before Night Falls

Shallow Grave

Jaws

Napoleon Dynamite

Live Flesh

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

City Of God

The Dark Knight

STAR WARS.

Wow I could go on. I might add to this later when I'm more awake.

This looks funny. I need a laugh.

Coeur

Maybe I'll make a 'pollyood' stencil.

Exit Through The Gift Shop
Directed by Banksy.
Oh please see this film. I missed it in London, missed it in Melbourne and luckily caught it in NZ. What a great little doco. If you know Banksy's work you will love it.  If you dont know his work, it doesn't matter. This film made me want to find my mark and plaster it all over the world. It made me want to scale the side of some New York building and paint whatever I want on the side of it. It made me feel rebellious and I loved it. Bansky is definitely an amazing artist for our generation. Two thumbs up for this one. Maybe two fingers up too...just while I'm feeling naughty.

DREAM team,

Exciting news:
Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, and Robert de Niro are in talks to join director Martin Scorsese for his new film, The Irishman!
The script, written by Steve Zaillan, is based off the book I Heard You Paint Houses, which chronicles the life of mob hitman Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran!

Saw the trailer...Looks great.

Movie in my head.

Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go. Herman Hesse

Sophia's next film. Bet it's beautiful.

Oh.My.God. No no no no.

Drink From me and live forever.

Dracula

Director: John Badham

Starring: Frank Langella
I really enjoyed this version of the classic tale of Dracula. It's rather like a classic british soap opera but with a vampire. Think Wuhtering Heights, Or Brideshead Revisited... but with blood. I have never seen Frank Langella in his early roles. I loved him in Frost/Nixon. He's a got such an endearing face. He cuts a dashing Vlad and I recommend any Dracula fans to check out this slighty kooky but equally chilling version. 

Bring back Catherine Hardwicke.

Eclipse
Director: David Slade
Starring: Miss Pout and Mr Perfect.
Here's the thing. I like Twilight. I want to like Eclipse.
I have always loved getting caught up in a series. I remember the joy I felt reading the Harry Potter books.  I was so excited to see the films. Even though each Harry Potter film seems to be getting worse and worse I will still see it on the first day and I will still clap my hands rapidly when the Warner Brother's symbol flashes across the screen with some signature Potteresque twist. I wish I felt the same about the Twilight series.
I'm a kid at heart.  I truly feel like my love of all things 'make believe' is something that keeps me going. It fuels my soul. Twilight panders to this. It's cheesy, it's predictable and it's somewhat nauseating but it's also whimsical, romantic and quite beautiful. The books got me hooked pretty early on. I love vampires, always have. I could rant about how I have loved them for decades. I could claim that I am a bigger fan than any pre-pubescent Edward nerd. But I won't (I just did, I know). For the next generation the Twilight saga has a clever premise: Stephanie Meyer has brought the vampires down from their castles in Transylvania and hid them amongst us. It helps that they are absolutely beautiful.
So why aren't I happy? I want to come away from these filmswith the feeling  I get after a radical comic book flick. I want to punch the sky and clap my hands and crash my car into target or kmart where I can can buy the toy, drink bottle and backpack.
But these films just don't seem to totally get it! I enjoy them. But I don't love them. I always feel a slight taste of disappointment when I see Bella pout her way through another close up. And Edward is beginning to annoy me! What is happening? I LOVE Edward.
I enjoyed Eclipse more that New Moon. I don't want to talk about New Moon.
I think Taylor Lautiner is doing a decent job with Jacob. The more I see the Cullens, the more I think they are miscast. Rosalie isn't beautiful enough. Esme isn't fierce enough (I'm Tyra banks) and Alice's wig is just awful!
Am I picking apart a silly movie? Should I just skim over the cliches and enjoy it?
I'm really trying to.
God knows how they will go with the last book.

Ballet Teachers beware: If you are mean to a 5 year old you can change there destiny.

I'm looking forward to seeing Darren Aronofsky's latest film The Black Swan. Im not sure what I think of it so far. There are pros and cons:
Pros.
*It's Darren Aronofsky! His last film was The Wrestler and now he's making a film about ballet.
*It's about ballet. And we all know I still physically ache watching ballet and regret with ALL my heart that I am not a prima ballerina.
*Vincent Cassel is in it. I'm such a fan. I didn't really enjoy his last double feature Meserine but he is in some of my favourite films.
Cons.
*Natalie Portman. She most definitely looks the part. She is such a pretty thing. But I actually find her quite boring to watch. I think she looks very sweet and is probably a lovely person but I found her unbelievable in Closer, suitably cardboard in Star Wars and way too overwrought in Goya's Ghosts. She may be perfect for this role. Who knows.
*I'm also not a huge fan of Mila Kunis as a dramatic actress. She's adorable but her filmography includes Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Date Night,  Max Payne and Robot Chicken. I'm all for giving someone a go in a new genre but this may be a big jump for her.

Hopefully Natalie and Mila can pull it off. If anyone can squeeze a great performance out of an actor....Aronofsky can.

Thank you to you. Thank you for taking time to read my rants and send me rad msgs with films that you love and any nerd info. I really appreciate it and think you are Radical. Means alot.xxx

Add caption

U.S.A(pes)

The Girl Who Played With Fire

Director: Daniel Alfredson

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist

I didn't end up going to The White Ribbon. I got the times wrong and it was booked out There must be a lot of Haneke fans in Wellington. I had seen everything else at the theatre so the only option was ' The Girl Who Played With Fire'. I saw the first in the Millenium series (3 films based on the hugely successful books by Stieg Larsson) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. (See review in older posts)

I felt a little more prepared this time. When I went to see the first film I was horrified to say the least and came away feeling drained and jilted. This time I felt a little more like Lisbeth Salander: ready for anything that was hurled my way. 

The second film picks up where the last left off. Lisbeth finds herself caught up in a series of murders, linked to her family and her abominable caretaker Nils Bjurman. This time she is determined to fight them alone and ostracizes herself from her once friend (and lover) Mikael Blomkvist.  Mikael is also involved in these latest killings as the victims were about to uncover a seedy underage sex ring. As with all my rambling reviews, I don't want to give too much away. There are no huge revelations this time but secrets revealed in the first are explained in more deatail and I dont want to spoil it. 

This sequel wasn't as shocking as it's predecessor but it also lacked the compelling mystery that drove the 'Dragon Tattoo's story forward. What I liked about this film was her. Lisbeth Salander is quite possibly one of the greatest contemporary characters in film. She is so good to watch. She is difficult, frustrating, stubborn and toxic. She's a vigelante and yet you are on her side every bit of the way. She is boyish, beautiful, injured and flawed. She's a woman prepared to use violence to achieve her ends. Lisbeth has no  faith in the authorities and is someone who, we gradually learn, has been the victim of a colossal miscarriage of justice. I want to see the third and final film in this series. But do I want to see what happens next? Not really. I just want to see her. Lisbeth makes this movie good but she also makes you want it to be much better.

Oh and one final thing. They are remaking this film in America. So now America are not only remaking every single film I grew up with, they are remaking films I saw this year. WHY can't an American audience watch these versions?  HOW do you make this film without it's signature Swedish style? You can't take the frenchness (made up word!) out of a film like Amelie. You can't take the German excellence out of 'The Lives Of Others'. And you can't and shouldn't remake these films! I'm sick of it. If you are too stupid and uncultured to see a film with subtitles then you miss out! Gosh you make me angry Hollywood! I can't WAIT to see how you butcher 'Let The Right One In.'

I should set Lisbeth onto you. God knows she'd force you not to F**k with her story.

And I'm done.

   

Dear Mr Haneke. Off to see 'The White Ribbon'....should I be scared? You still owe me an apology for 'Funny Games'.