Happy Birthday to
Cloris Leachman
85 today
Even in her mid eighties Cloris' career is still going strong, thanks at least in part to a lucrative stint on "Dancing with the Stars" and her recent chucklesome performance in New York, I Love you. Of course none of the films she has coming up in any way appeal to me, but it's good to see there's plenty of work out there for this clever character actress.
Showing posts with label Cloris Leachman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cloris Leachman. Show all posts
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Cloris Leachman
Thursday, 3 March 2011
New York, I Love You
2009. Dir: Various. Starring: Natalie Portman, Ethan Hawke, Chris Cooper, Cloris Leachman and Julie Christie. ●●●○○
It's difficult to review a collection of shorts like New York, I Love You, do you review each of the shorts as individual pieces, or try to assess the whole collection as a single entity? Luckily we have a template as this is a follow up to the critically acclaimed 2006 film Paris, Je T'Aime which presented a number of Gallic themed romances. Unfortunately New York doesn't live up to the high standards of his European predecessor.
The premise is relatively simple, 10 renowned directors (including Mira Nair and Brett Ratner) take a geographical area of the Big Apple and portray a love affair which somehow encapsulates the feel and atmosphere of the region whilst being linked by a mysterious French girl filming segments of life with her video camera. One of the main issues of the project is that none of the films seems to be uniquely presenting a way of life in the city, they're all stories that could easily be transplanted to an alternative zip code.
Three of the shorts stood out of the pack as worth watching.
Mira Nair is an old hand at the short film format, having worked on 8 and the 9/11 memorial collection. Here the chaste romance between Hasidic bride to be Natalie Portman and Jain divorcee Irfan Khan as they barter over diamond prices, cleverly highlighting the differences and ties between them over their irreconcilable faiths is fascinating and beautifully played.
Ethan Hawke, Maggie Q, Chris Cooper and Robin Wright have two very different conversations about hooking up with strangers in the city, with pull the rug under our feet consequences (alas the first meeting was rather ruined in the trailer) which blindside the audience in a surprising yet shocking way, and both involve the female taking charge of the sexual nature of their conversations reversing the usual gender expectations. Yvan Attal takes a lo-fi hand held approach to the direction allowing the actors room to breathe. Hawke himself probably takes the performance crown for the piece for this section and for his delightfully funny miming in the linking segments.
The final section, and the only one with a real sense of place, is Joshua Marston's Coney Island set two hander with Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman alternatively hilariously bickering and touchingly quiet as they walk to the seafront. The dialogue between them clearly illustrates the nature of their relationship and the underlying love between them. It's one of the few scenes that offers contrast and a lightness of touch missing from most of the other films.
Other scenes, such as the ponderous Shekhar Kapur segment (wasting John Hurt and Julie Christie) and the overtricksy opener with Andy Garcia and Hayden Christiansen (directed by Jiang Wen), are best avoided but as with all collections there's an unfortunate inconsistency in quality which combined with the drabness of the collection makes this tough to recommend.
Hopefully by the time we get to Shanghai, I love you some of those issues will be resolved.
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Just an average family (Out this week - 12/11/10)
It's certainly not a classic week with some right stinkers coming out of the studios this week. There are plenty of foreign language options this week though with China France and Mexico all presenting hig qulaity work. Film of the week is the Mexican option, a down to earth cannibal family drama We are what we Are.
Aftershock
Chinese film about the events leading to and following the Tangshen earthquake of 1976 which took the lives of 240,000 people. It's an unusual blend of domestic drama and spectace, being the first Chinese film made for IMAX screens.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Brilliantlove
Poetic love story set in a quiet corner of the UK. Watch a taxidermist and a photographer, squatting in a derelict garage, planning a future and taking drugs. Watch out for the sniffy Daily Mail review mind, because the leads have a lot of fairly realistic sex.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
My Afternoons with Margueritte
Gerard Depardieu stars in this sentimental French drama about a shy workman who befriends an octogenerian bookworm (Gisèle Casadesus) who teaches him her love of literature. Looks pleasant but not stretching.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Skyline
Surprisingly poorly advertised big budget alien invasion movie, with the population of LA being sucked off the streets. I really can't see this being a success which begs to ask why haven't they tried to sell it more?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
We are what we Are
When I first heard about this Mexican movie, reading it's premise was based on how a family cope after the sudden death of their father I thought, oh well sounds like it might work. But when the twist - they're cannibals - is revealed it suddenly becomes a lot more interesting. There's even a coming out subplot so what's not to love.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
You Again
Teen flicks are so hard to judge, a few weeks ago we had Easy A which was smart, sassy and comedic, unfrtunatley this Kristen Bell vehicle about standing up to your bullies looks like it misses. Although it does get some love due to it's female supporting cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Betty White and Cloris Leachman.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Friday, 12 February 2010
Out This Week (12/02/10)
It's an extremely busy week with 12 different titles competing for audiences, including 2 animations, 2 big budget action adventures, an all-star romantic hyperlink picture and this weeks film of the week: A Single Man
Anonyma: A Woman in Berlin
Hailed as a major turning point in World War 2 cinema, Anonyma looks at the occupation of Berlin following it's fall to the Russian Army, and the sacrifices and concessions a group of women had to make.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Battle for Terra
Looking suspiciously similar in plot to James Cameron's Avatar (humans conquering defenceless peace loving planet) this computer generated animation plays to a much younger audience and probably is less defensive about it's parallels to modern society. Cast includes supporting turns from Brian Cox and James Garner.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Beyond the Pole
Big screen adaptation of the cult British radio serial about the first organic, carbon-neutral expedition to the North Pole. The trailer looks hilarious, with some high class UK comic actors in the main roles. Worth going beyond the multiplex for.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
My Name is Khan
Bollywood superstar Sharukh Khan has been going all out to publicise his latest project, including interviews with Empire Magazine and on the massively popular Jonathan Ross show. Whether this will translate to a bigger audience will yet to be seen, but the trailer which highlights the personal journey a Muslim man makes to speak with the President following 9/11 looks like it has potential.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The lightning Thief
The first of 2 Greek themed adventure movies for 2010 (Clash of the Titans is coming in April) this one transplants the Greek legends to a 21st century setting with the teenage son of Poseidon rescuing the lightning bolt stolen from Sean Bean's Zeus. All very silly. Catherine Keener (Who should know better) and Uma Thurman take on supporting roles.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Ponyo
Ponyo on the cliff by the sea (to give it the full title) may not be getting the raves that director Hayao Miyazaki is used to but the animation is still divine and the story will entrance everyone who sees it. The English language cast includes a galaxy of big names such as Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin and Cloris Leachman.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
A Single Man
Finally bringing Colin Firth the awards attention he has deserved since his harrowing turn in the BBC film "Tumbledown" back in 1988. Firth excels as the gay university professor who has resolved to commit suicide but calmly lives his last day as normally as possible. Julianne Moore also has a plum role as his boozy neighbour.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●○○
Sukhmani
Finding anything about this Bollywood drama is really difficult. It was filmed in the Sabathu Army camp and concerns a family dealing with everyday issues against a backdrop of army life. The only trailers I've seen are song listing which doesn't sell it to me.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Takeshis'
It's taken nearly 5 years for Takeshi Kitano's surreal neo-noir to hit UK cinemas, which is odd as he's pretty much a known entity with a serious committed following. The film starts with a meeting between actor Beat Takeshi (himself) and his doppelganger (also Takeshi) and then slowly segues into masses of violence. Business as usual, then.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Valentine's Day
Big confession here. I know I have A Single Man as my film of the week, and I suspect Ponyo will be a much better second choice, but this is the film that I plan to see over the weekend. It's got an all star cast who all fall in love. What could be more wonderful than that?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Winter in Wartime
The second World War 2 film of the week - it never ceases to produce new storylines - revolves around a small boy in the Netherlands finding out his family are involved in the resistance and assisting an injured British soldier. Similar to a reverse Whistle Down the Wind.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
The Wolfman
There was a point when there were very high hopes for this Universal monster remake, but with Joe Johnston in the director's chair we should have known better. Still it should be the number one box office hit of this weekend. Anthony Hopkins and Benicio Del Toro play the world's least likely father son pairing and Emily Blunt gets to wear period dresses again.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
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