30 Day Film Challenge: Day 23

Day 23: Your Favorite Thriller/Mystery Film

The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)

There was a reason why I was obsessed with Psycho Movie Killers in high school and why, every day, I made that obnoxious sucking noise with my lips that my man Hannibal Lecter does in the beginning of this film. To this day, whenever I see this film is starting on TV, I have to stop everything and watch up until Hannibal and Clarice's first encounter.

2007 Diva Cup Awards: Best Actress

Before I get started, let me just say that this was am incredibly hard choice to make in narrowing this down to 5 nominees. If you think Sophie had a hard choice to make, then you have no idea the mental anguish I went through in my elimination process. I don't understand why people keep saying that all the good female parts are gone because I consistently find Best Actress a hell of a lot more interesting than Best Actor (that could also be the actressexual in me). There were 8 genuinely strong, terrific performances that floated around my Top 5 for awhile and I literally had to toss a coin to decide between number 5 and 6.

And the nominees are...

Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose
At once, both an outstanding, once-in-a-lifetime performance and an extremely polarizing one which has no doubtedly caused friendships to fail and caused deeply committed actressexuals to divide into heavily debated and vilified camps. For me, Cotillard's performance is one of a true movie star, going for broke with the up and down nature of the role- something Crawford and Davis in the 40's no doubt would have done.
Key Scene: "Marcel! Oh Marcel!"

Jodie Foster as Erica Bain in The Brave One
From my original rant: "[The Brave One] felt less like a vigilante film than one in which all of the security and complicity that Jodie Foster's Erica Bain has known before a brutal attack which killed her fiancee and left her in a coma has suddenly been erased. At first it is fear that replaces the security, but eventually it becomes an unleashing of one hell of a violent streak. She doesn't know where it comes from, but becomes a part of her all too quickly and easily (there is a great voice over that Erica gives while leaving one of the scenes of her crime in which she questions herself as to why she didn't just show them the gun so they would back off instead of shooting them straightaway). As this woman with a mission, Jodie Foster gives a career-best performance."
Key Scene: Discovering the drug smuggler Terrence Howard has been trying to convict for years in the elevator.

Nicole Kidman as Margot in Margot at the Wedding
Kidman's never been known as a "funny" lady (just go see Bewitched and The Stepford Wives for proof), but in Margot at the Wedding the most risk-taking (and possibly finest) actress of this decade finds the bitter and uncomfortable humor in her absolutely awful character.
Key Scene: The speaking engagement at the library

Ellen Page as Juno MacGuff in Juno
Page has the unenviable task of turning Cody's delicious dialogue into something that both sets Juno apart as a character and makes her a real human being. That she pulls it off without so much as breaking a sweat is further proof of the brilliance of this performance.
Key Scene: The abortion clinic

Tang Wei as Wong Chia Chi in Lust, Caution
This is a film debut?! Forgive me if I'm a bit stunned, because in Lust, Caution Wei absolutely shines with a kind of maturity most actresses in their 30's haven't yet achieved. I can't wait to see what she does next.
Key Scene: Easing into her "role" with Mrs. Yee

If Only There Were Six: Julie Christie, Away From Her No, this is not revenge against all the Cotillard-bashers who instead championed Christie. You don't know how much I wanted to include this one. This is, as a matter of fact, the direct result of a coin toss which allowed a certain actress in and Christie out. That doesn't mean I don't like Christie's performance any less- in all of its subtleties, it's one of monumental impact.

Rest of the Top 10: Carice van Houten, Black Book...Amy Adams, Enchanted...Nikki Blonsky, Hairspray...Keira Knightley, Atonement

BRONZE
Jodie Foster, The Brave One

SILVER
Tang Wei, Lust, Caution

GOLD
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

Celebrity Photography

During the past week, both Vanity Fair and the New York Times unveiled their celebrity portfolios for the Oscar season and, for some reason, they have inspired polar opposite feelings in me. The Vanity Fair portfolio, released first, used the films of Hitchcock as an inspiration and couldn't be more beautiful. The New York Times portfolio, on the other hand, are pretty in an avant garde sort of way, but as celebrity photographs, they are horrible.

This revelation got me thinking about what the difference between "good" and "bad" celebrity photography is. I don't consider myself an expert or anything in the field, but I believe that photographing celebrity, at the very least, involves using everything you can to make the celebrity as good looking possible. The picture should revolve around them and their persona. For example, you wouldn't see Greta Garbo or Bette Davis back in the day fighting with any object or the background to be the focus of the picture; on the contrary, the photographer often concentrated just on close ups of their face or profile.

To show what I mean, here are my thoughts on various pictures from both portfolios.

Beautiful. Yummy. Tantalizing. As soon as I saw both James McAvoy and Emile Hirsch clean shaven and all gussied up in 50's fashion, I totally wished that this remake of Strangers on a Train would actually happen. I also love McAvoy's leer...so sexy.

And this is the epitome of bad celebrity photographing. What the hell was the photographer thinking with this shot. Paul Dano looks like one of those damn aliens from Signs, he is so fucking creepy. I just wish my eyes had never seen this horrific photo and that it can be erased from my mind Eternal Sunshine style.

This photo could have been all sorts of amazing, but instead of highlighting McAvoy's lovely face the bonehead photographer covers it with a shadow.

Jennifer Jason Leigh looks like such a monster here it's frightening and Keira Knightley is justifiably scared. Great homage to Rebecca.

And this is supposed to be a photograph of whom? You're guess is as good as mine. (Okay, apparently it's Jennifer Jason Leigh but there's no way you can tell through that thicket of woods).

Damn, Marion Cotillard is fine. And she is the perfect Marion Crane in Psycho. That last shot of her dead is absolutely chilling- her eyes are absolutely vacant.

In this one, Marion looks either A) constipated and trying to go or B) like she's just lost her breath from the harsh wind and she has to do an embarrassingly loud gasp to catch her breath.

Who is this distinguished older lady? I would seriously have no idea with all that hair covering her face if they hadn't put a caption underneath reading "Julie Christie."

Oh, excuse me, I didn't realize Seth Rogen had a small role in Rambo.

What a beautiful ensemble photo. Josh Brolin, Casey Affleck and Ben Foster are looking good, Tang Wei is to die for and the ever classy Julie Christie and Eva Marie Saint are as glamorous as always.

This is probably the best of the New York Times photos, but that's really not saying much. Look what they have to work with.

Wow, they somehow managed to make the 80-something year old Hal Holbrook look 20 years older with this photograph. How on earth do you do that?

Again, who the fuck is this? (Sienna Miller, apparently, but I probably wouldn't have been able to tell anyways).

Jodie Foster is one classy broad and I love this take on The Birds. Who knew behind that rough exterior she looked so damn hot (even while being terrorized by random birds).

Short Rants on "Michael Clayton", "The Brave One", "3:10 to Yuma" and "La Vie en Rose"

I'm not exaggerating when I say that yesterday I literally spent most of my day at the movie theater catching up with three films (the first time I've ever done that). And then today I caught another film on campus that I had been dying to see for months. While none of the films blew me away, the performances in them were, to borrow from that immortal Bogie line, the stuff that dreams are made of. Here is my rundown on the films I've seen.


Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy, 2007): If Michael Clayton isn't exactly a groundbreaking film in the legal thriller genre, the film and director Tony Gilroy deserve credit for delivering a fresh and interesting legal thriller that doesn't feel like a TV show or a vapid John Grisham adaptation. George Clooney plays the title character, a "janitor" (he cleans up the messes) at one of the most prestigious law firms in the country who is told to clean up the controversy caused by Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), the firm's top lawyer, who seemingly had a meltdown during a deposition. Their client, U-North, has been fighting a lawsuit for six years against people claiming their chemicals have killed people and it seems that Arthur's acquisition of documents proving their guilt has prompted him, realizing he's fighting for the bad guys, to go "mad." Clooney is, as always, solid and charismatic as Clayton, proving yet again that he's just getting better as he's getting older, but the film belongs to Wilkinson, ripping into that Chayefskian opening monologue with all the disgust and gusto one can imagine, and Tilda Swinton as an amoral attorney at U-North who gets involved in some dirty deeds. Whereas the strength of Wilkinson's performance lies in his grandiosity, Swinton relies on the quiet intensity of her character- a nervous, flustered mouse who somehow finds the strength she needs to be a good lawyer when it's absolutely necessary...and then falls apart whenever she's not.


The Brave One (Neil Jordan, 2007): I'm not quite sure why this movie got steamrolled the way it did: sure, it's a bit contrived (the cell phone going off in the convenience store), kind of racist (everyone who attacks Jodie Foster is either black or Latino) and the ending is a little ridiculous (but, in its defense, would we really have wanted Jodie Foster to atone for what she has done by going to jail?), but I feel there is more to this film than the "Jodie Foster is a vigilante" label that it has received. To me, it felt less like a vigilante film than one in which all of the security and complicity that Jodie Foster's Erica Bain has known before a brutal attack which killed her fiancee and left her in a coma has suddenly been erased. At first it is fear that replaces the security, but eventually it becomes an unleashing of one hell of a violent streak. She doesn't know where it comes from, but becomes a part of her all too quickly and easily (there is a great voice over that Erica gives while leaving one of the scenes of her crime in which she questions herself as to why she didn't just show them the gun so they would back off instead of shooting them straightaway). As this woman with a mission, Jodie Foster gives a career-best performance. She's no stranger to this genre (Panic Room, Flightplan, The Silence of the Lambs, even The Accused to an extent), but this time she just hits it out of the ballpark. Want proof? Watch her in that elevator scene where she finds the drug smuggler her police officer friend (Terrence Howard) has been trying to convict for years and look at her face as she sizes the douchebag up....Brilliant with a capital "B."


3:10 to Yuma (James Mangold, 2007): I'm not a huge fan of Westerns--I can probably count on one hand the ones I truly love--but James Mangold's remake of 3:10 to Yuma is certainly one of the best I have seen in a long while. It's not an especially deep Western in the manner of The Searchers or Unforgiven, but it is, however, one hell of a good time. Russell Crowe plays an outlaw who is finally captured by the law and is escorted by Christian Bale and couple of other men to meet the 3:10 train to the Yuma prison. But, Crowe's gang of outlaws (now led by Ben Foster) is constantly on their tail trying to free Crowe. The location shooting, as it should be with a Western, is beautiful and even if the violence is amped up for a blood hungry audience, it's still exciting and intoxicating. Bale is merely adequate as Dan, a down on his luck farmer trying to repay his debt, which is rather a shame because he is such a brilliant actor that he almost seems wasted here. On the other hand, Crowe delivers one of his finest performances to date as bastardly villain Ben Wade and Ben Foster gives a star making performance as the slightly effeminate, totally crazed outlaw trying to save his object of affection Crowe from the law.


La Vie en Rose (Olivier Dahan, 2007): It's such a shame that Dahan's biopic of French chanteuse Edith Piaf is such a mess because it probably could have been a really great film if it had been handled better. Not only is it drowning in biopic cliches, but it's also edited in a seemingly random matter that jumps around from Edith as a young girl to singer in New York to young woman on the streets to on her death bed that really distracts from her life (and still left me confused about a couple of points in her life). La Vie en Rose's saving grace, however, is the immaculate performance of French actress Marion Cotillard as Piaf. I'm in such awe after witnessing this portrayal that the only way I can describe it is to borrow the words of Stephen Holden in his review of the film for The New York Times: "Marion Cotillard's feral portrait of the French singer Edith Piaf as a captive wild animal hurling herself at the bars of her cage is the most astonishing immersion of one performer into the body and soul of another I've ever encountered in a film." Cotillard is so intune with Piaf that even though she is lip syncing to her songs, she makes it feel like she is actually singing them herself (a tougher feat than would imagine). Plus, those last five minutes or so where Cotillard/Piaf premieres her song "Non, je ne regrette rien" (which translates to "No, I regret nothing") at the Olympia while juxtaposing with her as a child and then on her deathbed is one of the most alternately breathtaking/horrifying scenes I've seen all year.

My Ratings:
Clayton: ****
Brave One: *** 1/2
3:10 to Yuma: *** 1/2
La Vie en Rose: ***

Random Top 10: Films I'm Most Excited to See This Fall

Now that the summer is over and my Hairspray fanaticism has died down a bit, it's time for my favorite part of the year: Oscar Season. Over the next four months we get bombarded with intelligent, well-made pictures all fighting it out to win the Oscar next year. Since there are so many great films coming out this fall, I wanted to share which ones I'm most excited for. Here we go:

10. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson) Comes out December 26th

I love Paul Thomas Anderson's films. He's only made three films (Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love) but they are all really great. Hopefully, his new film There Will Be Blood won't be the exception. Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano play a father and son going through some serious family issues in turn-of-the-century Texas. And since Day-Lewis plays an oil prospector, maybe there will be some sort of commentary about the situation today.

9. Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton) Comes out December 21st

Since this is a musical, it probably should be a little higher on my list, but there are a couple of reasons why: 1. I'm not familiar with the show. I know the premise and gimmick and everything, but I don't know the score or anything. 2. I'm not a huge Sondheim fan. I know that's practically blasphemy but there are some of his songs that just don't impress me. These reasons won't stop me from seeing it, however.

8. Lust, Caution (Ang Lee) Comes out September 28th

After Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain, I am a big Ang Lee fan. Is there nothing this man can't tackle? Now he's moving on with this sexy spy thriller set in WWII-era Shanghai. It sounds really good, but what really has me intrigued is the NC-17 rating it received.

7. The Savages (Tamara Jenkins) Comes out December 26th

I love dysfunctional family dramedies and The Savages appears to be the best one coming out this fall. Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman star as brother and sister caring for their ailing father.

6. The Brave One (Neil Jordan) Comes out September 14th

Jodie Foster is always a joy to watch and with an awesome director (Neil Jordan, who did the amazing The Crying Game) and that great trailer, this one will be hard to miss.

5. Leatherheads (George Clooney) Comes out December 7th

Three Reasons: 1. I love anything dealing with the 1920's- such a fantastic period in history. 2. George Clooney hasn't disappointed me as a director 3. John Krasinski + vintage 1920's 3-piece suits = my ass in the seat

4. American Gangster (Ridley Scott) Comes out November 2nd

I loved The Departed and if this is even half as good as that film, it will still be worth the admission. Plus, these posters are just kick ass.

3. Atonement (Joe Wright) Comes out December 7th

I couldn't get through the book, but I'm betting that director Joe Wright, Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and the rest of the cast will make this one a can't miss.

2. Rendition (Gavin Hood) Comes out October 19th

Jake Gyllenhaal. Reese Witherspoon. Meryl Streep. Peter Sarsgaard. Alan Arkin. What more do I have to say?

1. I'm Not There (Todd Haynes) Comes out November 21st

I've already ranted on this film before, but I'm still super excited about this film. I'm not completely sure why, but I think it has something to do with Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and Richard Gere playing Bob Dylan in the same film that's got me hooked. Plus, this trailer is amazing.