Time machine required for Beethoven Gig.

Immortal Beloved
Director: Bernard Rose
Starring: Gary Oldman.
Have you seen this movie? See it please.
Just a taste of it's tragic Love and beautifulness......
A Letter from Beethoven to his 'Immortal Beloved':
Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits - Yes, unhappily it must be so - You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life - Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men - At my age I nedd a steady, quiet life - can that be so in our connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mailcoach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once - Be calm, only by a clam consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.
ever thine
ever mine
ever ours

Faith Restored

Animal Kingdom
Director: David Michoed
Starring: Ben Mendhelson, Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton, Sulliivan Stapleton, Jacki Weaver, James Frencheville, Anthony Hayes.
I saw this movie shortly after returning from O.S. I had been very negative about Australian cinema for a while and was just about ready to give up on watching anything. Which was sad as I know so many of the people in the industry and see talent around every corner. It just doesn't seem to fall into the right hands and the funding bodies don't seem to have faith in good solid dramatic scripts that don't involve taking the mickey out of us. And then along came 'Animal Kingdom'. What a movie. I was literally on the edge of my seat for the entire film. The performances were incredible! Jacki weaver as the Matriach of the movie's crime riddled family made me squirm. Her long held kisses with her sons were simply chilling. Guy Pearce's measured collective cop was brilliant. I always enjoy watching his performances and think it's great he still comes home to perform in Australian films. But for me the performance that stuck with me long after the film finished was Ben Mendelsohn's.
He was completely terrirfiing. What got me was so much of his character's terror and power was completely restrained. A simple glance, an uncomfortable silence, even a harmless gay joke all harnessed his gripping power over his family. I really loved this film. Im not going to go into the plot as it is best to just watch it. I could almost go as far as saying it is my favourite film of 2010 so far (no batman's this year yeah?). Congratulations to everyone involved. The rewards will keep coming and will be well earned.

Toothache.

Marathon Man
Director: John Schlesinger
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider.
I watched this movie with my Mum who recommended it. She is a Laurence Olivier fan and loves to tell me how she got his autograph at the theatre in London when she was young.
Marathon man is a great murder mystery about a young history graduate who gets caught up in a jewel heist that is connected to Nazi war crimes and it's survivors. Again, I'd rather not go into the plot too much. I knew very little about this film watching it and I think the less known the better. Laurence Olivier is frightening in it. I've never been a huge fan of Olivier. I would have loved to see him on stage but generally I find his performances too theatrical for the screen. I did love him in Wuthering Heights however. I have always been slightly enamoured with his marriage to Vivien Leigh as she is one of my all time favourites. They must have been such a powerhouse couple. I would have loved to have seen them together in their hey day- very Brad and Ange. I read a funny story about Olivier: When presenting at the Oscars in 1984, he forgot to name the Best Picture nominees. He simply opened the envelope and proclaimed, "Amadeus". Ha ha ha. So silly.
Dustin Hoffman is such a great actor. I really love so many of his films. One of my absolute favourite performances by him is in 'Kramer vs Kramer. I suggest you see it if you haven't already.

Amo Amor

How Exciting. There is talk a movie version of one of my favourite books 'On The Road' is going to be made. Viggo Mortenson and Amy Adams are linked to it. I'm a big fan of Viggo. I read 'On The Road' when I was about 21 and it was a compelling read. Kerouac's most famous novel beautifully captures the feeling of being swept up in the time and the surroundings. It made me want to get in a car and drive across America. I have a tattoo inspired by this book but I like to claim it as my own. "I LOVE love" said a wayward mexican girl to Jack. I can't wait for this film. I don't quite know how Jack's tripped out monologue will translate to screen but I'm excited all the same.

Sorry Wicket.

Ok so the next film I watched is up there with the best. As I have mentioned I was recently working on a film and had little to no time to watch films. After working close to an 80 hour week in 6 days I woke up quite early on Sunday morning. I was in a very very "Im doing whatever I want today" mood. So what did I do? Watched Return Of The Jedi of course! It rules EVERY TIME. Every time I get to the end I am ready to forgive Darth (Who I secretly love the whole time and dont care who he kills) and feel so so sad when he dies. In later years my Favourite of the Trilogy is definitely 'Empire Strikes Back' but as a kid 'Return Of The Jedi' was it. The Ewoks were pretty much my favourite things ever and it actually PAINED me that I couldn't have one. My Mum did get me a big soft toy Wicket but I accidentally set him on fire.

I love this poster.

There Will Be Daniel.

Daniel day Lewis has been cast as the villian in the upcoming sherlock Holmes 2. How Rad. It will be good to see him in something a little more light-hearted. He's brilliant.

You should listen to your friend Billy Zane. He's a cool guy.

Titanic
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Leonardo Dicaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates.
I'm not sure what possessed me to rent this movie. I think I was thinking about the biggest movies of all time and couldn't remember what all the fuss was about with this one. When I saw Titanic I did love it. I loved Leo, I loved Kate and I got completely wrapped up in the tragedy of it all. I remember going to see it with my Mum and leaving the cinema with a killer headache. I often get headaches in sad films. I remember being terribly upset that the life boats didn't go back and pick up more people. I also remember dyeing my hair red shortly after seeing it as I loved Kate's long red locks. That was a mistake. I recall holiday snaps at my pals house in Taupo. I was sunburnt with Kate Winslet red hair so I actually looked like a tomato. Oh that song....the Celine Dion song. I think that is quite possibly one of the worst songs of all time. It is Ear rape.

Titanic

Frozen Bulldog.

Sherlock Holmes
Director: Guy Ritchie.
Starring: Robert Downey Jnr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams.
This was the second time I saw this film. I went to see it at the cinema in London last year. I saw it by myself and while I usually love seeing films alone, I remember wishing I could have shared this one. it is such a fun movie. 'Fun' is a bit of a naff word but it really is quite silly, very over the top and fun! Robert Downey Jnr is such a winner. I am so glad that man has made a comeback. I loved him in the 80's. Less than Zero is such a great film. Even some of his smaller performances early on were great. Remember him as the douch-bag bully in Weird Science? Or as the crazy reporter in 'Natural Born Killers'?. I also really liked him in Zodiac, although I did not like that film. I'm rambling. I need to get back into the swing of 'Pollywood land'. Low and Behold even Jude Law was good in this film. I find him quite hard to watch. He is a bit like Dorian Gray without the painting. He was a beautiful young man who's lifestyle seems to be written all over his now not so beautiful face.
Oh and a little side story: There is an old man who drives the boat across the river near the end of the film. He kind of looks like a skinny Father Christmas. Well his name is Raymond Emanuel and he was a homeless man living on the streets of London. Guy Ritchie spotted him one day and thought he looked like an interesting character. Raymond explained that he had recently become homeless after taking care of his sick Mother and spending every cent he had on medical bills. Guy cast him in the film and since then Raymond has secured a flat and an agent. Isn't that so RAD!!!

Mrs Bickle

I have just come up for air after spending the last 3 months working on 'The Killer Elite' here in Melbourne. I am very behind and have a list of films to write about. I have neglected Pollywood and the backlog of films is a bit overwhelming. It is also a bit problematic because my initial responses to films often change over time. I really wanted this blog to be a day by day review of films as I watch them. But I cant complain. I have been living in fantasy land for 3 months, working with some amazing cast and crew, learning loads and having a ball. Working with Robert De Niro was a highlight of course. I don't know if I can put into words how amazing that man is. I found it hard to contain my excitement and kept thinking of all the brilliant performances he has pulled out over the years. I could go on about Bobby D. I'm not going to. Im going to look over the list and give a brief overview of the films I have seen. There are a few........ Oh and P.S The Australian cast on TKE were incredible. Man there is some talent in this country. We should try and hold onto some of it.

Roads? Where we're going we dont need any roads.

Did you know that in the original script for Back to The Future there was no Delorean and Marty was going to time travel in a Fridge! Imagine that! Tee hee.

Parting of the Nerd seas.

Ha ha ha. This made me giggle. On any film, I always seek out anyone who worked on the Star wars films. I recently met one of the make-up artists and he had some rad stories. He explained how many of the prosthetic creatures were still played by humans (despite most of it being CGI). As a treat to Star wars nerds, many of the casting calls for these roles were put to super duper nerdy Star wars club members They didn't, however, think to cast people who actually knew what it felt like to wear a giant prosthetic head all day. Apparently many a nerd had panic attacks and often on set you would see one either drop to the ground or run around in circles screaming "Get it off". ha ha ha. How funny. He also explained that NO ONE was allowed to touch R2 D2. At all times there had to be a 2 metre gap between yourself and R2. On a few occasions R2D2 would go a bit crazy and his controls wouldn't work (He was operated much like a remote control car with a little person inside). R2 would buzz around in all directions and people would be literally jumping out of his way so they wouldn't break the 2 metre rule. I can just see this god like robot parting great seas of people wherever he went. So silly and fun.

Dear Rusty. I know what you did. You brute.

Robin Hood
Director: Ridley Scott.
Starring: Rusty Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong.

I have read some really interesting articles about this film and also worked with people in the UK who worked on it. This film had a lot of issues in pre production and now that I've seen it, it truely does reek of a troubled script.
It just didnt seem to know what it was. This movie was originally going to be a story about The Sheriff of Nottingham. After many many re-writes they decided to concentrate on how a soldier of England's battered army became Robin Hood. Russell Crowe is still so watchable. He is such an ARSE. I have heard some nightmare stories about him and would never want to work with him but I can watch any of his movies. Cate Blanchett shines as Maid Marion. That woman is a blessing to cinema. 90% of hollywood's actresses need to take a leaf out of her book. Her face moves! Her beauty is original and with that comes a subtlety and softness to her acting. I can't differentiate most other actresses style or facial expressions. She isnt afraid to be real and in this film she stood out for me. The chemistry between our two leads almost worked. They are strong personalities on and off the screen and I felt a mutual admiration. I bet she didnt take any of his shit. The battle scene at the beginning was great. Aside form that, I found myself checking my phone-not a good sign. It ended with me not really caring a whole bunch about what happens next. I dont think Ridley and Rusty can recreate the magic of Gladiator. Best move on boys.

Dream Big.

It has been a long time since I have sat down and dedicated some time to Pollywood. As I mentioned before I have been too busy working on a film to make one. Im working on 'The Killer Elite'. It's a big old action Thriller with Jason Stratham, Clive Owen and ROBERT DE NIRO. Before I tell you about the film.......I cant go past ROBERT DENIRO. About 10 years ago I told my Mum that I had decided I wanted to work on movies. I remember she asked me who would be my ultimate actor to work with and I replied "Robert De Niro". As my Dad always says "Be careful what you wish for, it may come true.". Well I wished for De Niro and I got him! It I cant wait to see him work. I would be happy to meet the guy so I'm really over the moon that I will actually witness James 'Jimmy' Conway, Jake La Motta , Vito Corleone and Travis Bickle!!!! Weeeee.
So yes, Im working crazy hours and have very little time or energy to see many films. I have seen a few and will write a brief review. I'm deciding whether I should write about 'The Killer Elite'. I should be careful not to spill any secrets. Jeepers I know a few! I must say that the Australian cast have been so much fun. We have a pool of talent here. Trust a film from overseas to pick out winners like Ben Mendelsohn, Michael Dorman, Billie Brown and Aden Young.
So. Here are some of the films I've managed to squeeze into my wkends.
You talkin to me?
Are you talkin to me?