AMO AMOR

They are finally making one of my favourite books 'On The Road' into a movie. I have mixed feelings about this. I read Jack Kerouac's On The road in my early twenties and loved it. It affected me in a way all good books should. It planted a seed in my soul.  The gypsy in me wanted to follow in Jack's footsteps and travel everywhere and anywhere. Kerouac's writing style founded the beat generation. You could describe it as literary jazz or spontaneous prose. I even have a tattoo that was inspired by this book (though I often just claim it as my own idea). There's a section in the book where Jack begins to question his nomadic lifestyle. He decides to settle down on the border of Mexico. He meets a beautiful mexican girl and tries for a normal life. Although it ultimately doesn't work out he experiences love and happiness. In a moment of confusion and doubt he asks his mexican lover 'What do you love'? "I LOVE LOVE" she replies. I remember when I read that line my heart skipped a beat. Michael had already read the book and said 'I knew you'd love that bit'. And I did. I love love. Oh I do. it's so cheesy to say but love is everything isn't it. Not just romantic love...love of family, love of life, and the love you feel in your soul. When I think about all the things I want to do, all the people I know and all the love I have to give, I look at my tattoo and think of that mexican girl in 1950's america. She loves love. And so do I.

A fluffy black dress with flounces and lace.....

This is pretty exciting. Clint Eastwood is directing Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Edgar', a biopic about the famous and controversial founder of the FBI J Edgar Hoover. What an interesting person to depict. Hoover was instrumental in creating the federal bureau of Investigation and was also privately gay and a cross dresser. Leo always seems to be Scorsese's go to guy of late so it's nice to see him work with the likes of Christopher Nolan in Inception and now Clint Eastwood. I like Leo more and more these days. I think he went through a bit of an awkward phase where he was neither that gawky teen or the man he is now. I loved him in Inception and I also thought his performance in Shutter Island was brilliant. Clint Eastwood's subtle direction will work well with Leo. I really can't wait to see this.

I can't wait to see this....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM0A_yg8XjU

Take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine...

As I mentioned below, Franco Zeffirelli is one of my oldest favourite directors. If you have a lazy Sunday afternoon free and feel like watching some real classics then rent a couple of these gems:

Romeo And Juliet (1968). This is the first Zeffirelli film I saw and I think I saw it at school for English class. The wonderful thing about his Romeo and Juliet is that his lead characters were played by actual teenagers. So often Romeo and Juliet are portrayed by adults (Baz Luhrman's amazing adaption hadn't come out yet and he followed suit with Leo and Claire). Olivia Hussey who plays Juliet is the picture of innocence and untouched beauty. It makes the tragedy all the more realistic when it is played by such sweet young things. I remember the Capulet ball scene so well. I always wanted Juliet's orange velvet dress.

Have you seen kenneth Branagh's version of Hamlet? Don't. it's an exercise in vanity that is so exhausting you would have literally wasted about 8 hours of your life. Instead see Zeffirelli's version with the surprisingly good Mel Gibson. Hamlet is such a great play but I almost prefer it as a film as it's not so weighed down with the monologues. Helena Bonham Carter is lovely as poor Ophelia and Glen Close is also great as his Mother. 

And finally a real tear jerker that is just so beautifully told. The Champ with John Voight. Want to see where Angelina gets her looks? The Champ tells the tale of Billy Flynn an ex boxer who makes a comeback in an effort to make a better future for his son T.J. Ahhh I honestly well up thinking about it. Aside from all of Franco Zeffirelli's amazing Opera's- he is one of my favourites. Even in his interviews he brings emotion and joy to every word he speaks. I would love to see the world through his sumptuous eyes.

Deck the halls with bells of Polly.

Christmas time makes me think of one thing.....CHRISTMAS MOVIES. Despite being a bit of a Grinch at Christmas, I do love Xmas movies. I love them!!! They are so bad that they are good.
One of my favourites is 'The Santa Claus'. Ha ha it is so terrible. Another one I love is Jingle All The Way with Arnie and Sinbad! I know! Awful! Jingle all the way's entire premise is 2 dads fighting over getting the must have Xmas toy 'Turbo man'.  And that's it. For 2 hours!
Aside from those embarrassing movie pics I also love 'It's A Wonderful life'. I watched it last year in London with the biggest It's A Wonderful Life fan and it was lovely. If you don't like that movie then you are not human.
Coupled with my love of Christmas movies is my love of Jesus movies and that also brings me to my director of choice today: Franco Zeffirelli. I will post another ramble about him after this as there are many movies you need to see if you haven't. He is the master. One of his best films is Jesus Of Nazareth.
I think this was actually a made for Tv movie. I remember seeing it when I was very very young. They played it over two nights around Christmas time. I cant remember my exact age- maybe 6 or 7 years old but I was not old enough to put all the pieces of the Jesus puzzle together. I must have known about Jesus because I remember telling my pal Jessica he wasn't real. A bit harsh yes but she had just blurted out that Father Christmas wasn't real so I hit back with the Jesus backhand. I was 5.
Anyhoo. I watched the first part of Jesus Of Nazareth and was just mesmerised by both him and his stories. Essentially Jesus was a fascinating man and with or without your beliefs, the story of his life is brilliant. The film did was long and on the second night finished quite late. My Mum was having a dinner party and I was allowed o stay up in her room and watch my Jesus film. I have such a vivid memory of watching the ending. I remember walking out of Mum's room howling. I was hysterical. Mum asked me what was wrong and I screamed "THEY ......KILLED............. HIM WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH". Perhaps Mum didn't think about the actual trauma one might feel when seeing this lovely man be tortured after 4 hours of being nice to everyone.
I have since seen this movie and love it still. So yes. Christmas movies and Jesus movies go hand in hand for me.
Fingers crossed they play some goodies this year.

xxx

I know I know....enough Javier

Here's a nice little interview with Javier about the upcoming film Biutiful which I just can't wait to see. Interesting thoughts on filimg in actual locations. I would love to work on something where a tiny crew infiltrates an area without having too much of an impact. Hard thing to do though. Alejandro Innarritu is such an amazing director. His films are always so gritty and quite taxing to watch: 21 grams, Amores Perros and the not so great Babel. I'm happy to see he's returned to filming in his native Spanish.

http://www.seefilmdifferently.com/article/sfd8c4ea50a?cmpid=ID1360_63_2_23_210_124_1_14_1_3

A timely reminder we live in a bubble sometimes.

This is awful. The director of 'The White ballon' Jafar Panahi has been jailed in Iran for 6 years and banned from making any movies for 20 years. He is an outspoken supporter of the opposing green movement in Iran and has been charged with collusion and propaganda.
He isn't allowed to speak to the press and no one can get to him. How scary and awful.
We are so lucky we live in a country where we can speak our minds and be free to create and share our thoughts and ideas- both artistically and politically.
I'll be watching this story with interest.

There are amazing people out there writing scripts. Give them a call.

Current list of sequels in the making.
Can you actually believe Hollywood is becoming so shiteous and depserate!!!!!
Bad Santa 2
Shakespeare In Love 2
From Dusk Till Dawn 4!!!
Clerks 3!!!
Swingers 2
Amnityville Horror 2.
Cop Land 2
Shall We dance 2!!! (RUBBISH film with Richard Gere and J-Lo???!!!)

Get a life America.

I Thor't this looked pretty good. Ha ha ha. I'm hilarious.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi26843161/

Marty, Bob, Al and Joe

I'm pretty excited about this. Martin Scorsese is set to direct Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in 'The Irishman'. This could go either way but fingers crossed it's one for the pool room. These guys could fall into the trap of doing an 'act off' but I have faith in them. They are the masters.
Ohhhh I'm excited Im excited!
You talkin' to me?, Say hello to my little friend and.....fuck (Joe Pesci's famous lines just seem to be swear words)
Come on Martin!

Congratulations

Well done Jacki Weaver. She has been nominated for a Golden Globe for her incredible performance in Animal Kingdom.

Savvy?

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi161323033/
Will this be any good? Im not sure. Ian Mcshane is in it. Penelope is in it (but speaking english and I only like her in spanish). Mmmm I don't know.
Then again...............

Movies make me happy.

*(&($*(£$*&(&@)&$)&NERD$(£*&$)&$)(&@)($*)@(

There's something very important I realised when I saw this movie. The world is divided into 2 categories Nerds and Non- Nerds. This movie will make that divide very very clear. Nerds will like this A lot. I liked it....A LOT.
Now with most nerd things I like, I go into the film with a catalogue of knowledge and background. With Tron I am very much a historical novice. I knew it was based on a game but that is it. I had no idea there was a film TRON made in 1982 that also starred Jeff Bridges. I also didn't know just how popular it was. All I knew is the preview looked pretty radical. The thought of seeing something so fantastical in 3D at IMAX was too good for me to miss.
Now I'm not a fan of 3D most of the time. The thing is, I like 3D when the world is completely outside of my reality. Avatar was great in 3D. But I don't like it when some scenes are just shot in 3D to add to an otherwise ordinary world. I find it distracting and unnecessary. The world of Tron is completely suited to it.
Tron is about a kid Sam Flynn who discovers that his long missing Dad has created a digital universe that exists through a portal that you enter in a video game arcade. Sam's father has been missing for 20 years.  When Sam accidentally enters the portal and finds himself in the world his Dad created he is faced with 2 versions of his Father and the challenge: survive the game and get home. What ensues is a fast paced super duper hand clapping exciting world that can only be seen to be believed.  The electro frisbee fights are super! Ohhhhh and the AMAZING motorcycle speed races..wow!
It's very cheesy. But in a film like this, I turn my nerd dial up and my cheese intolerance right down. I love to get swept up in imaginary worlds. Tron makes you feel like you are in a video game.
 Jeff bridges digitally de-aged face is at times quite strange to look at but in this completely ridiculous world, it still worked for me. There were glimpses of Bridges infamous 'Dude' character too. it made me wonder if he was secretly doing a nod to Lebowski.
Hilarious  mini role by Michael Sheen as a sort of white haired Nick Cave type riddler. What roles Michael is getting these days!
See this if you are nerd.
Don't even bother if nerd blood doesn't run through your veins.
Nerd out.

Just watch.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/12/12/magazine/14actors.html#index

And the award goes to........

It was the AFIs last night and some great people won awards for their efforts in 2010. As much as these awards don't really hold much weight to audiences, amongst the industry it is a nice chance to acknowledge work well done. I was really pleased to see Jane Chapman win for Best Costume Design. Her work (both as costume designer and as production designer) in Bright Star was just exquisite.
As for all those clever things connected to Animal Kingdom...well done!
A special mention to my little fav Ben Mendhelsohn. Ben you restored my faith in Australian cinema and pulled out a performance worthy of all the accolades coming your way. You are a gem.xxxxx

Real Mike.

Mike Leigh looks like he's come up with another winner. Always nice to see something real amidst all the crazy fantasy films I get caught up in. Don't you just want to hug Jim Broadbent!!!
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony/anotheryear/

Random list of People I'd love to work with.....

Bless!

Film of the Day is one of my absolute favourites. It's called Etre et Avoir. To be and to have. It is about a tiny school in rural France that is run by the beutiful Mr Lopez. There are about 20 students ranging in age from 3yrs to 12yrs. The film follows Mr Lopez in his last semester before he retires. I remember seeing this at the cinema and crying tears of joy. The simplicity of  it is exquisite. The children remind you of all that is good in this world. And Mr Lopez is a true gift. I urge you to find this gem and watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDcqQuoWnFI&feature=related

More than meets this guy.

Michael Bay has finally admitted that Transformers 2 was an absolute shit fest. I'm glad he's done so. It gives me hope for the 3rd one. Transformers 2 was unwatchable. I remember actually considering a walk out. I loved the first one and had just recently watched a rubbish Twilight sequel and a boring Harry Potter instalment. Things in Polly's teenage world were dark. Check out the Trailer for the latest Transformers. Thoughts? Michael Bay promises it's darker and without all the Hammy jokes. Fingers crossed you big American douche bag!
P.S Don't tell Michael Bay I called him a douche. Megan Fox told him what she thought and is no longer in the movie. You can't be pretty AND opinionated in
Hollywood Megan!
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2861996057/

I hope one day my Job kisses me goodnight.

If my life was a film it'd be a cross between Shakespeare and Woody Ellen. Go Figure.

ooooh!

The silliest thing the Twilght franchise did was insist on rushing production of 'New Moon'. Twilight director Catherine Harwicke pulled out as she thought it was too soon after the first movie and sensed it was all a bit rushed and rubbish. And she was right. New Moon was such a disappointment. Catherine looks like she's moved on to something brilliant. This captures her signature angst and beautiful portrayal of dark young twisted creatures....human and otherwise.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1379965209/