2009. Dir: Rob Marshall. Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Nicole Kidman. ●●●●○
The question I asked myself as I walked into the cinema this week was: Is Rob Marshall the saviour of musical cinema or it's destroyer. I left the cinema with the same question. I simply do not know. I deeply suspect that he is neither, and in the fullness of time he will remian merely a footnote in the history of movies. That is not to say that Nine is a bad movie, it is very enjoyable, but also strangely forgettable.
Before I go any further on this review, I'd like to point out the excellent review by TomS over on his blog. I'd advise going there if you want a slightly more positive spin on what I'm about to say.
Nine is a film adapatation of the stage musical based on Fellini's 8 ½, which is in itself essentially a rumination on writer's block within the film industry, with the lead protagonist a thinly veiled version of Fellini. Nine then follows the story of an egotistical, womanising director - Guido Contini (Day-Lewis) - struggling to create his latest masterpiece even though production is set to begin and the marketing is in full throttle.
Contini distracts himself by talking to and imagining the women in his life, and in each of whom he equates to a particular song and dance style, and so we are able to include the element of music added to the stage without arousing suspicion that it's a musical - it's all in his head. A heady reminder of the artifice of cinema and the strains of the creative process. You may remember Rob Marshall used this technique in Chicago, there it seemed original and clever, here it seems like he's stolen it from himself.
Daniel Day-Lewis does his best in the lead role, hunching his neck forward like a vulture seeking out new prey (or women), but there's little in his demeanor to indicate why women flock to him. Maybe they're awed by his talent, but as he doesn't appear to be "nice" to any of them I can't see why they'd stay around. Saying that Day-Lewis is better at the comedy than I'd suspect - he skulks around the spa furtively hiding from people like a seasoned farceur.
Of the ladies the stand-out is Marion Cotillard (she came first in my supporting actress of the year awards), as I said there she effectively gives us the impression that her love for her husband Guido is balanced by her realisation that that may not be enough. She also performs both her songs with dignity and passion.
The singing performance can only be surpassed by Fergie as the under-written Seraghina, the whore Contini remembers as a child. She has the best song (Be Italian - it was used in the trailer) and really knows how to sing to the back row, the Fosse inspired choroegraphy is also a great additoon to the song.
Some of the other ladies do not do so well - Sophia Loren was distinctly underwhelming and I was also disappointed by Penelope Cruz's mugging. Part of the fault of this is because Nine is just not that good a musical. We want either songs we can repeat the refrain endlessly or to at least be able to spot the beauty of the music outside of it's setting. Nine largely fails at both of these.
The production values also seemed inconsistent. I liked the dancing, but wished the camera would look at it more - Marshall hasn't learnt that editing is crucial to getting the audience to understand the "story" of the dance. The evocation of 1960s Italy was superb until Nicole Kidman's movie star glared at me from a film poster, her face seemingly painted by a different artist from the rest of her body. I will admit the opening and closing scenes were excellently staged and performed, as a introduction and effectively a bow from all the women and their imagined choruses.
As I said at the beginning of the review my overall impression was that I enjoyed the film, but I will soon forget it.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Nine
Sunday, 27 December 2009
2009 in Review - Best Supporting Actress
Like most self-obsessed actors I dream of one day being accepted by the industry as one of their own, and eventually being invited to join the Academy. (I know, I know, but I can dream). Part of that dream would mean having my own ballot, my opportunity to give my opinion of the best performances and best films of the year.
Well, until AMPAS notice me I guess the only place I can say what I think is right here. So, starting today (and for the next 5 days) I'll give you my votes. Of course they won't follow the Academy rules - I'm using the films I've seen and not just the ones eligible for this years which means 15 of the actual nominees from last year have the opportnity to appear on my ballot.
Like the voters I don't have to explain myself, however I will give a sentence or two to explain my choice. Feel free to argue in the comments.
1. Marion Cotillard - Nine. Marion has proved in both her films this year that she is a singular talent. She really gets to show off her range both vocally and performance wise in Nine, and the way she responds to the audition tapes is jaw-droppingly real.
2. Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Last years Oscar winner comes a very close second for me. Technically the third (or maybe even the fourth) billed actress she is a force everyone talks about and responds to, so much so that the film wilts without her.
3. Melanie Lynskey - Away We Go. Like most of the characters in Sam Mendes' latest film Lynskey only gets a short time to make an impact, but in her scenes as she gradually gets drunker we see the happy facade seep away to reveal the emptiness inside. Witness the pole dance and tell me you don't know everything about how she feels.
4. Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler. Continuing the theme of pole dancing, Tomei hits her usual high marks as a stripper confronting her own limits. Rourke may have taken most of the applause, but without Tomei backing him up we wouldn't have cared for his character.
5. Blanca Portillo - Broken Embraces. The character drifts between guarded sarcasm and over-zealous confessionals which in lesser hands could have been seen as terribly inconsistent. However Portillo shows the tension inside of her in every scene.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Out This Week (18/12/09)
If I were truly a brave and free-thinking blogger I would probably ignore the two titan that are fighting for the top recommendation this week and plump for the interesting indie Humpday, or maybe even one of the Bollywood offerings. Of course I'm not, and whilst Avatar is promising to change the way we look at cinema (you'll hear my thoughts on that next week when I review it) the cast of Nine is simply too delicious to ignore, so Nine is the film of the week.
Avatar
This is it. James Cameron returns after his self imposed 12 year exile with a special-effects behemoth, a dazzling white elephant, a metaphor about man's inhumanity to man and the the planet. It's timely and he thinks it will change cinema forever. This is truly 2009's must see film - but I'd rather watch big stars dancing.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●○○
Humpday
Mumblecore goes mainstream as Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard's college buddies reunite, get drunk and decide to make a gay porn film. Exploring issues of identity and the infantilisation of adult men, as well as heterosexual male views of gay sex this is a great choice if you want to avoid the crowds.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Kandhakottai
I can't even find a plot synopsis for this Bollywood release, except to say it's probably an action film of some description.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Nine
Well, it's a musical about Italian cinema and the creative process, and it stars (in general order of how excited I am about their presence) Penelope Cruz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren and Fergie. WOW!
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●●●●○
St. Trinian's 2: The hunt for Fritton's Gold
I'm not sure why they've resurrected the old brand for the noughties take on girls school shenanigans, the humping dogs seem a long way from the gentle Alistair Sim. In this sequel everyone's trying to get hold of some gold hidden within the school, including the dastardly David Tennant.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Vettaikaaron
In the latest Tamil release Vijay moves to the big city to become a police officer, but complications and temptations get in his way. Re-telling of classic folk-story with Anushka Shetty as the love interest.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Judi Dench
Happy Birthday to
Judi Dench
75 today
By now we've all been wowed by Judi's ability to belt out a number in Nine, all that's left for her to prove is to throttle a few hencemen with her bare hands in the next Bond.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Tuesday Trailers - Nine
With more of my top 20 films of 2009 being dropped into next year nearly every week it's good to see the latest musical adaptation from Rob Marshall is still coming soon. OK, stylistically it's pretty much going to be Chicago 2, with a more diverse cast, and Daniel Day-Lewis singing, dancing and speaking with an Italian accent.
Nine opens on 27 November 2009.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Sophia Loren
Happy Birthday to
Sophia Loren
75 today
Legends are few and far between, but to call La Loren a legend almost dimishes her. Cinema would simply be lesser without her existence. After far too long away from our screens Sophia returns this year as Daniel Day-Lewis heavily influential mother in Nine.
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Nicole Kidman
Happy Birthday to
Nicole Kidman
42 today
There are few stars in cinema today who can claim such an interesting and exciting C.V. as Nicole. She may not have topped the Box Office in a while but we are still in awe of her star quality, and at the sme time she's worked for directors as diverse as Stephen Daldry, Stanley Kubrick, Baz Luhrmann, Anthony Minghella and Lars von Trier, and shone for each of them. She's just had to drop out of Woody Allen's next London set picture, but at least we'll get to see her sining again in Nine.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Daniel Day-Lewis
Happy Birthday to
Daniel Day-Lewis
52 today
It's truly an honour to say happy birthday to this titan of the art. Absolutely breathtaking in everything he does, coming up is the 8 1/2 musical, Nine and working with Scorcese again on the Francisan monks in Japan drama Silence. If nothing else I bet both will have fantastic soundtracks.
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
20 for 2009 - Nine
Number 8 on my list is Nine. Obviously I could have planned this better.
Nine is a film based on a musical, based on Fellini's 8½ which is in part based on his own feelings of directors block. With me so far? You see, the film involves a director struggling to make his next film, struggling because his recent work has been critically hailed and he doesn't want to make a bomb, and struggling because of the state of the various relationships in his life. Including those with his wife, mistress, mother and muse.
Admittedly films about filmmaking and musicals can seem a little daunting at first but 8½ is a comic gem as well as being a deeply personal look at the effects of leading a creative life and of alienation in modern society; and the Broadway adaptation ran for 729 performances and won 5 Tony's back in 1982 including best musical and best original score for Maury Yeston. Overall then this pedigree appears to be pretty good.
In the middle of this picture are a number of women complicating the life of our director. Women, eh?
It doesn't stop there mind. This does indeed sound like an interesting enough prospect but then you add the cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Kate Hudson. That's a combined 17 Academy Award nominations betwen them (6 wins). It's hard to imagine any cast coming close to that sort of pedigree.
They've been brought together under the steady hand of Rob Marshall, who scored big with the academy with Chicago in 2002 but faltered with Memoirs of a Geisha 3 years later. I suspect this is a chance to go back and prove what he can do (Rob's a choreographer by trade).
I know I'll be at the front row when it opens.
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Catching up - Birthdays
Here are the birthdays I have missed:
Name Age Birthday Coming Soon (if I have an interest in seeing it)
Bill Murray 58 21 September
Mickey Rooney 88 23 September
Will Smith 40 25 September Seven Pounds
Gwynneth Paltrow 36 27 September
Mira Sorino 41 28 September
Marion Cotillard 33 30 September Public Enemies, Nine
Julie Andrews 73 01 October
Clive Owen 44 03 October Duplicity, Boys are Back in Town
Susan Sarandon 62 04 October Lovely Bones
Kate Winslet 33 05 October Revolutionary Road, Reader
Mary Badham 56 07 October
Sigourney Weaver 59 08 October Avatar
Melinda Dillon 69 13 October
Angela Lansbury 83 16 October
John Lithgow 63 19 October
Viggo Mortensen 50 20 October Appaloosa, The Road
Joan Fontaine 91 22 October
Kevin Kline 61 24 October
Bob Hoskins 66 26 October Christmas Carol
Peter Firth 55 27 October
Jane Alexander 69 28 October
Richard Dreyfuss 61 29 October W.
And a picture for Richard as it's his birthday today:
Monday, 28 July 2008
Coming Soon (maybe)
It's been a while since I last did a coming soon post so I'm afraid there's a lot to catch up on. In no particular order (but read the last couple of paragraphs for soem audience participation):
Inglorious Bastards
The script for Tarantino's latest opus (and one that's been on the rumour mill for years) was sent out to just about every studio that might be able to finance it until The Weinstein Company offered, unsurprisingly, to pay up. The script reviews on the net were fairly positive but I'd wait until the final product before judging it, especially if Quentin splits it into 2 films as hinted.
True confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Pierce Brosnan continues with his career resurgence playing against Saoirse Ronan in this adaptation of the popular novel - maybe one to take the teens to.
Nine
Next years Fellini musical is gathering one of the most interesting casts of all time: Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren. 6 Oscars and 11 further nominations between them - that's going to be a fun trailer.
Twilight, Body of Lies and W have all released trailers. I'd link to them but I haven't the time. Consider "Don't teenage vampire's have lovely skin","Nice goatee, Leo" and "Those were the best bits?" as suitable commentary.
Darren Aronofsky has been confirmed as the director of the updated Robocop and Philip Noyce is directing both Captain Blood and Edwin A. Salt. Honestly I'm not making this stuff up.
Alice in Wonderland
Tim Burton has his Alice (Mia Wasikowska - no, I don't know her either) for his part live action part animated version of Lewis Carroll's classic children's book. There's plenty of dark down that rabbit hole for Burton's sensibilities but so far no-one has made a really satisfying version of it. Let's hope that he doesn't just fill it with pointless star cameo's - hang on maybe he should.
Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter
Helena Bonham Carter as the Queen of Hearts
Make your comments please...
