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.