A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Bright Star

I need to start keeping a running list of film genres I am a sucker for. Like sports movies, I am a sucker for romantic period pieces. I love romance, I love history and I love extravagant costumes. Putting these three ingredients together satisfies my film palette. The latest romantic period piece I had the pleasure of seeing was Jane Campion's Bright Star. The film chronicles the last three years of the life of poet John Keats and his relationship with Fanny Brawne, a fashion designer of modest means.

I had my bitterness at Abbie Cornish for being "the other woman" in the Ryan/Reese breakup but she paid her dues with Stop Loss. The girl was brilliant. She brought Fanny to life. With a tense jaw or smiling with her eyes, she said so much more than could be articulated with words. Those who have experienced a first love (or any real, passionate love for that matter) saw a little bit of themselves in her. Being a combination of nervous and excited before seeing your love interest, feeling as though the sun rises and sets with them, and being completely devastated when it ends, whether you're ready for it or not. When Fanny learns of Keats death and has her necessary breakdown, I found myself ready to breakdown with her. She cries over how she can't breathe, and I sat in the dark auditorium unknowingly holding my breath with an invisible hand squeezing my heart and tears streaming down my cheeks. It wasn't until the credits rolled that I tasted air again.

Cornish and Ben Whishaw (as Keats) capture each first moment in a young relationship so accurately. When the characters kiss for the first time, it is very gentle, light, and innocent, much like many first kisses are. Once they've moved past initial awkwardness, they feel the chronic need to touch each other, much like couples in new relationships do. This film could not have been anymore spot on in the portrayal of young, first love. The two actors played off each other very well.

Paul Schneider was good as Keats best fried, poet Charles Armitage Brown. He was funny in a rude sort of way. He could have used a dialect coach; there was something very off about his Scottish accent.

The film is not setting itself up for an Oscar in the costume department or constructing lavish sets, like most period pieces do. Everything is very understated and modest. The set design and clothes do not go beyond the financial means of the characters that own them. The lavishness that is usually bestowed upon the costumes and sets went to the colors. The pinks, purples, and blues just popped. Those colors looked like jewels adorning the screen. It's really hard to write about, you'll just have to see the movie to understand what I mean.

When I heard Quentin Tarantino sent Campion a letter explaining how much he loved this movie, I knew I had to seen it. Go see it while it's still out and bring tissues. It is a cinematic gem.

Sarah Michelle Geller in Cruel Intentions

This is one of my cinematic guilty pleasures. It's by no means a great movie, but it's very entertaining, mainly because of Sarah Michelle Geller's character Catherine, a prep school mean girl. She plotted, schemed, lied, and snorted coke all through that movie. When she gets what's coming to her, you can't help but exhale relief. It takes talent to distance yourself from a beloved television character (Buffy Summers) and make the audience wish you would suffer a painful and public demise.


Netflix Queue

Away We Go-I opted to go for a walk around The Mall with my mom instead of seeing this, but I've heard good things about this indie road movie.
The Piano-Now that I've seen and loved "Bright Star," I feel compelled to see Jane Campion's most famous film.
Bowling for Columbine-I have a love/hate relationship with Michael Moore. His films are biased and embellished, but entertaining. He won his Oscar for this film about guns.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

Friday Night Lights

I am a sucker for sports movies. I completely buy into a team of underdogs, sports combating communism, or a team that rises above race relations. I don't care how Hollywood-ized these plots are, I love them. Give me Miracle or Remember the Titans over Citizen Kane any day. I'll even take We Are Marshall over Citizen Kane.

Despite my undying love for Hollywood-ized sports movies, I always found myself wishing they would make a film just about a sport. Throw in some underdogs or race drama, but don't make it the central conflict. Just focus on the sport. And that's why I love Friday Night Lights.

This film is about football. It's about how important it is in small-town Texas. How a town lives and breathes for football. A coach can have more influence than a high school principal. Football is King Arthur and the players are the Knights of the Roundtable.

The film portrays the fanaticism surrounding high school sports perfectly. The town of Odessa stakes it's reputation on wins and losses. The townspeople relive their successes and failures through the players. A single loss can have a coach's job security in jeopardy. This concept is completely foreign to me. But in such a small town, with high poverty, so little to do or hope for, I understand.

This film has no scenery chewing. Everything is very understated and mute, but that sometimes gets the point across better. These players want to win so badly. It's in their faces, their big eyes slowly filling with tears, and their heavy breathing as they take the field.

I haven't seen this movie for a long time, but it has always stuck with me. I recently started watching the show, which keeps the spirit and heart of the film alive, while including the necessary ingredients to make a good TV drama. Maybe the film awakened some inner sports fan in me I didn't think existed. Regardless, the film struck a chord with me and the show has quickly become one of my favorites ever.

A final, brief thought about why this movie is wonderful: the soundtrack. Explosions in the Sky conducted a beautiful score that is soothing, haunting, and uplifting.

Katie Holmes in Pieces of April

I am far from being a Katie Holmes fan, but I genuinely enjoyed her in this little gem. Holmes played April, the black sheep of a wounded family. She hopes to bring them all together and heal wounds by cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Of course, not all goes according to plan. We feel her genuine guilt for being a burden to her parents and her frustration over Thanksgiving conveys her desire to make amends. This wasn't a particularly groundbreaking performance but it represents a direction her career could have gone. Then she turned down The Dark Knight for Mad Money. Enough said.


Netflix Queue

Harlan County, USA-An award-winning documentary about a coal miner's strike.
Munich-One of my favorite movies that I haven't seen for a while.
Halloween II-Same reasoning for having "Scream 3" in my queue. I think this is as far as I'll go in the Halloween franchise.

You're the girl I make love to for up to four minutes a night.

Jennifer's Body

I had the opportunity to see a FREE sneak preview of Jennifer's Body last night, so of course I took it. I was skeptical, as Juno disagreed with me and the trailer looked silly in a bad way. But the key word is FREE and I'd be crazy not to turn down a free movie.

High school hottie, Jennifer (Megan Fox) becomes possessed by a hungry demon after a night with satanic indie band, Low Shoulder (lead singer played by Seth Cohen/Adam Brody). To satisfy her hunger, Jennifer prowls for high school boys. Will her best friend, low on the high school totem pole, Needy (Amanda Seyfried) stop her?

The film far exceeded my expectations. Megan Fox, who couldn't act her way out of a paper bag in the Transformers movies (but loved in "Holiday in the Sun") delivered an enjoyable performance. She nailed the sarcastic, dead pan, insulting teenager who is too hot for her own good. I think that's how Megan Fox is in real life, which made this performance pretty easy for her. With a few acting classes and the right roles (maybe a filter for her diarrhea of the mouth), she could establish herself as a decent actress, as well as a hottie. Amanda Seyfried was delightful as usual, and Johnny Simmons was great as Needy's boyfriend, Chip. He gave a sweet and honest portrayal of a small town teenage boy navigating his way through his first real relationship. The most memorable performance went to Adam Brody. FINALLY, he's broken out of his OC bubble. I was expecting to watch Seth Cohen, but Seth Cohen was not in this movie. I saw a douchy, selfish, witty indie rocker who will do anything to make it big. I love the OC but I'm more than happy let Seth Cohen rest in peace. Finally, there was a lovely appearance by Diablo Cody alum J.K. Simmons.

I was incredibly nervous about the script. Juno overkill made me dislike that movie and I certainly didn't want to see Juno the horror film. Diablo Cody has greatly matured as a screenwriter. There was still the catchy, witty, almost out of this world dialogue I expected, like "you're green jello" meaning jealous. But it wasn't beaten to death. There was dialogue that real people would say. Cody doesn't need to rely on slang to write a memorable movie.

Jennifer's Body is incredibly self aware and kitchy, but much better than it needed to be. At first I couldn't believe what I was watching and thanking my lucky stars that I didn't have to pay for this movie, but eventually found myself laughing hysterically, especially during scenes too close to reality for comfort, like during what might be Chip and Needy's first time and Needy appears uncomfortable (she's imagining Jennifer destroying a victim, great juxtaposition), Chip asks if his dick is too big. High-larious.

Ben Affleck in State of Play.

I just watched this last night and the most memorable thing about it was Ben Affleck. He played Congressman Stephen Collins whose mistress has just been murdered and her death is being investigated by journalist Cal (bear Russell Crowe). I am looking at Ben Affleck, IMDb says Ben Affleck is Stephen Collins...but where is Ben Affleck? You see no trace of his previous roles, he has come into his own. He's like a fine wine, he's maturing with age (cliche) and experience. He approaches the role in a very honest way, devastated about his loss but he has something to hide. He commands your attention, like a good politician does.

Netflix

Scream 3-I've been trying to educate myself on classic horror films, so I saw Scream...then Scream 2...might as well finish out the trilogy.
A Life Less Ordinary-Danny Boyle's one of my favorite directors so I'd like to see as much of his work as I can.
Brothers-Jim Sheridan is directing the American adaptation due out in December which is a surefire Oscar film. This is the Danish original by Susanne Bier.

You had me at hello.

An assignment for one of my classes was to write a blog. I have an online diary, which is kind of like a blog...but not really. I have thought about starting a film blog for the longest time but for some reason never got around to it. Excuses, excuses.

Well now's the time. I am starting a film blog (with the occasional comments on TV). I am not concerned with readers, though they are always welcome. This is for me, to express myself, investigate film, and work on my writing. Practice makes perfect. So here goes...diving into the blog abyss...feet first...oh boy.

I've got an idea for how I want each post to go.
1. A review/commentary/general thoughts on a film I have recently viewed or have strong feelings about (positive or negative).
2. A brief description of a random great performance by an actor or actress (maybe animal).
3. My updated Netflix/Netflix Instant Queue (Doesn't change that much so this won't be too frequent).
4. Anything interesting I learn in my film classes or through study/my research assistantship.

That's it. I can't wait to get started. Not tonight, because I'm watching One Tree Hill.