That's what I love about New York: everyone's from a different place.

New York, I Love You

Paris, je t'aime, is one of my favorite films. It is an excellent film comprised of short stories about love in Paris. The film explores all types of love and relationships; heterosexual, homosexual, family, broken love, love rekindled, love beginning. Even a story about love for Paris is explored. This successful film is spawning a whole franchise called the "Cities of Love." Jerusalem, Rio, and Shanghai will all be featured locations for the franchise. With a winning idea begun with Paris, je t'aime, the franchise's second film, New York, I Love You should have been just as a good. Unfortunately, it lacked a lot of the elements that made Paris, je t'aime so special.

The film suffered from a lack of representation. The film did not use New York to its full potential. New York has many distinct neighborhoods with their own love stories. In some of the stories, it was easy to tell the setting (Chinatown, Central Park, The Diamond District), while others were just random street corners or bars. Every neighborhood in New York is unique and many were not clearly represented. I didn't see Chelsea or Harlem to name a few. Part of the magic in Paris, je t'aime. is that there are captions to tell you where in Paris you are. If one is familiar with Paris, they can better visualize the location and place themselves in the story through the neighborhood.

A second lack of representation came from the kind of love shown. Almost all of the stories centered around heterosexual, Caucasian love. There were four non Caucasian characters. There was one story that didn't involve heterosexual love. New York City is the ultimate American melting pot. There is a plethura of different races and ethnicities existing in the city. New York has a homosexual population, that was not represented at all in the film. This film lacked the diversity New York prides itself on.

Finally, most of the stories didn't represent all the elements that make up love. Most of the stories were sweet and cute, which is part of love and just fine, but the film didn't really try to go beyond. Love is scary, exciting, tense, passionate and so much more. The film seemed to start and end at the attraction phase of love. The stories were very one-dimensional; unlike Paris, je t'aime, the individual stories didn't tell an overarching story about love.

For all the negativity I've written about the film so far, there were some memorable in a good way vignettes. Allen Hughes' segment with Bradley Cooper and Drea de Matteo was a bright spot. The initial feeling of excitement/uncertainty/self doubt when you are getting to know someone was captured well by these actors. The outbursts of smiles followed quickly by panic while on your way to meet this new person happens to most of us. This is one love story you're truly cheering for.

The Natalie Portman-directed segment was my favorite. The only segment not about heterosexual love, the short story was about a little girl and her father. The catch, people think the father is actually the girl's "manny," as he is Latino and she is white. The two actors were sweet together and highlighted how love can be colorblind and how ignorant people can be.

New York, I Love You lacked the love and spirit of it's predecessor. Paris, je t'aime set up the perfect foundation for New York, I Love You but the writers and directors decided to ignore that. I hope the other "Cities of Love" films will learn from New York, I Love You's extreme mistakes.

Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada"

Meryl Streep can do no wrong. She truly is a chameleon and the greatest actress of all time. No question. Her turn as ice queen/powerhouse editor Miranda Priestly earned her a rightfully deserved Oscar nomination. With her dagger-like eyes and slightly pursed lips, she can shatter spirits. Her lack of a raised voice when furious makes her employees feel like failures. Truly, Streep is a goddess.

Netflix Queue

The Brothers Bloom-I missed this in theaters.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-Keeping up with my exploration of classic horror.
Dog Day Afternoon-This is in my Netflix Instant queue. Since "Friday Night Lights" isn't controlling my online viewing life anymore, I need to start making a dent in the Instant queue. This film has been at the top of my queue since I started it.

Now you are king, and you will be a truly great king.

Where the Wild Things Are

My greatest fears did not come true. This wasn't a disappointment, far from it. This classic story was given a fair and respectful adaptation and honorable and imaginative expansion. I don't remember the book too vividly but I remember reading it as a kid. It left enough of an impact on me that if the film had been a disappointment, I would have died a little inside. This was no child's tale; it was very dark. There were some disturbing images and some heavy themes that could be difficult for a child to swallow.

Max is a victim of divorce. His mom works long hours and doesn't have as much time for him as he'd like. He has no friends and looks to his older sister for company, but she's busy with her own social life. As well, his mom has started to date, which means she has even less time for Max. Max's loneliness leads to his violent outbursts. He expresses his frustrations by destroying his sister's room when she left him to be with her friends and biting his mom when she has her new boyfriend over. He runs away from his inevitable consequences and finds the Wild Things.

As the film's tag line says, there is a little wild thing is all of us, and Max is no exception. Each of the Wild Things represents a part of Max. KW is all the love Max is capable of having, Judith is Max's bossiness, and Ira is Max's intelligence. Alexander is Max's loneliness, Douglas is Max's potential compassion, and the Bull is Max's inner quiet observer. The Wild Thing most like Max is Carol. Carol is emotional, impulsive, and volatile. He doesn't know how to deal appropriately with sadness and loss, exactly like Max. They choose destruction instead of talking; they do not consider how their actions will affect others.

Max experiences a role reversal when he arrives at the island of the Wild Things. He becomes their king, their patriarch, their parent. This role reversal enforces the film's most prevalent theme, family. Max believes that being the king will be an easy job. He can say and do whatever he wants and his "children" will follow him. But being the head of the family isn't easy. When he can't keep his promises, feelings get hurt. When he spends more time with a Wild Thing, jealousies grow. When he can't keep his family together, his "children" get angry at him and blame him for everything, much like a child could do in a divorce situation. Max has his epiphany after he's hidden with KW from Carol and he sees how messed up everything is. He tells KW he wishes they had a mother. Max realizes being a parent is terribly difficult and family is hard work. He needs to not think so selfishly. His mom sacrifices so much for him, more than he realized up until this moment. Now he knows he is ready to go home.

The film looked exactly the way it needed to look. The combination of puppets, costumes and CGI worked. It looked both realistic and magical. The actors chosen to do the voices of the Wild Things were perfect. Catherine O'Hara brought her slight insanity into Judith while Forest Whitaker's voice was its usual soothing tone as Ira. One could see the actor's smiles through the CGI Wild Things' smiles. Max Records as Max delivered a great performance. He captured Max's ferocity and inner conflict. The role was a complex and could be daunting, but Records successfully portrayed an ultimately wounded little boy.

The film captured the essence of the story and expanded on it beautifully. Spike Jonze took on an astronomical task, with high expectations and lots of pressure. He certainly delivered.

Jeremy Sisto in Waitress

Few things consistently make me squeamish. Watching people with eating disorders, needle use, and Jeremy Sisto in Waitress. He is one of the most unlikeable male characters in a movie I've ever seen, more than some murders or all around bad guys. He is killing his wife, Jenna, slowly inside. He is absolutely odious. Hearing him beg his wife for sex makes me want to vomit and when he tells her she better not love their baby more than him, that he's still her main priority, makes me want to die. On top of all this, he harasses her in public and hits her. He is less than a human being and it takes good acting to make audiences hate a character so much.

Netflix Queue

Gladiator-I saw it once when I was way too young and I had a tummy ache, so I wasn't giving it all my attention.
Whatever Works-I heard mixed things about this Woody Allen film and I despise Evan Rachel Wood but maybe this film might give me the push I need to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The Soloist-I love RDJ

Crikey.

Australia

So far I've written about films I enjoyed and now it's time to write the opposite. I am not the kind of person to sugarcoat my opinion about a movie. If I hated it, you're going to hear how much I hated it and why. I despised Australia.

Australia failed at deciding which genre it wanted to fall into. The beginning is almost slapstick comedy with Hugh and the drovers fighting or Nicole Kidman getting flustered. It moves into road movie, then romance, then World War II drama. Australia just can't sit still long enough to pick which one it wants to commit to. You get a taste of each genre but don't get to savor their most enjoyable flavors.

Nicole Kidman failed. I can't even begin to describe why, she was just bad. She seemed to rely on film stereotypes of "rich girl having to rough it." Over and over again she would look tiffed and make some kind of high pitched noise. Were they words or just noise, I don't know. Even when she was okay with roughing it, she was irritating.

The story failed. There is too much going on; maybe three different movies. Movie number one, the love story between Kidman and Jackman. Different backgrounds and aspirations that will cause conflict. Movie number two, the exploration of aboriginal traditions. The bulk of research appeared to be done on Wikipedia, I learned nothing new about their culture. Movie number three, the threat of World War II and subsequent Japanese bombing. Luhrmann just couldn't settle on what story he wanted to tell, so he decided to do all three at once. Admirable effort but ultimately a wreck.

The ending(s) failed. Sometimes I get annoyed when a film doesn't end in an appropriate place. Australia could have ended with Kidman and Nullah reuniting with Jackman, but Luhrmann had to include the tease of Nullah dying, then Nullah leaving to go on a walkabout. Again, Luhrmann had trouble picking what he wanted, so he just did everything.

I wanted to like this movie. I tried. It had film aspects that I enjoy: sweeping landscapes, Baz Luhrmann and delicious Hugh Jackman. But nothing in this film meshed together. This was an ambitious, passion project for Luhrmann. There was so much he wanted to say and do, but just couldn't find the right words. This was his first film in seven years and his earlier films are lovely, so I expected my breath to be taken away. Unfortunately I felt like Australia was a mugger and punched me in the gut while stealing my eleven dollars.

Maggie Gyllenhaal in Away We Go

This film was good; not great but good. I actually had difficulty with it until midway through, the always fantastic Maggie Gyllenhaal showed up. She played a family friend of the John Krasinski character. She was a shameless free spirit who doesn't believe in strollers. "Why would she want to push her children away?" Gyllenhaal owned the role and breathed life into the film that was fairly dull up until her entrance. She flipped the film on its back and I ended up enjoying the rest of it.

Netflix Queue

Adventureland-I hate Kristen Stewart and I don't like Jesse Eisenberg. But Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are the best additions to SNL in years, so I'll give it a shot.
The Godfather III-Might as well finish out the trilogy right?
Amores Perros-With my research in Mexican cinema, this title has showed up a lot.

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.