Happy Birthday to
Winona Ryder
40 today
After years of virtually disappearing, apart from certain security camera footage, Winona is bravely moving into the next stage of her career - kicking and screaming through Black Swan as the former Prima Donna replaced by Natalie Portman. Next up is voice work on Tim Burton's Frankenweenie.
Showing posts with label Winona Ryder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Winona Ryder. Show all posts
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Winona Ryder
Thursday, 3 February 2011
The Dilemma
2011. Dir: Ron Howard. Starring: Vince Vaughn, Kevin James, Winona Ryder, Jennifer Connolly and Queen Latifah. ●●○○○
How do they say it? Dying is easy, comedy is hard. And judging by Ron Howard's latest effort, The Dilemma, comedy is very very hard. Actually I very nearly didn't judge this film in terms of it's comedy as there's only a couple of laughs to be had, then it occurred to me that would be awfully generous, not matter that it would work better as a drama the movie spends most of the time desperately trying to raise a chuckle and consistently fails so that's how it should be measured.
Vince Vaughn plays a salesman who's scored well above his league with top chef Jennifer Connelly. Vaughn's best friend and business partner Kevin James is even more inexplicably married to Winona Ryder, and has been since they were at college. It's no surprise that Ryder's playing it away with heavily tattooed Channing Tatum. Vaughn stumbles upon the two making out at the local tropical garden and then faces the decision of whether to pass this information on.
This has all the makings of a fine farce, with slapstick humour and uncomfortable conversations, and when the film succeeds it's aiming for those ideas. The fight between Vaughn and Tatum has a nice energy and Vaughn's monologue at a wedding anniversary raised a little titter, but most of the jokes fall utterly flat. Signposted and overwrought the one-liners limp into the characters mouths with no perceptible timing or any thought of consistency. Minor characters are introduced in order to create a "funny" situation or make an amusing statement. Queen Latifah in particular seems to have walked out of a completely different movie. In fact the whole section she represents, where the central duo are selling electric engines that vibrate, could have been completely exorcised from the movie without anyone caring.
The bigger issue is the moral quagmire the film seems to lower itself into. All of the central characters are deeply flawed human beings (Vaughn's a recovering gambling addict, James visits prostitutes, Connelly's secretive and patronising) to such an extent tht you don't care who is, or has been, sleeping with whom. It's almost justifible on many counts.
In terms of the performances only Ryder, all spiky and manipulative, and Tatum showing surprising talent for physical comedy come out with any credit. Below the line talent seems perfunctory and Howard does nothing to persuade his critics there's anything close to a competent director here.
Needless to say I regret putting this in my countdown for 2011. Avoid at all costs.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Black Swan
2010. Dir: Darren Aronofsky. Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder. ●●●●●
It's all too easy to forget that cinema is an art form, we tend to imagine the studios heads sitting in overlit offices with fawning assistants, counting the box office receipts of whatever Transformer shaped dreck they've unleased to the public as a coked-out pimp would guard his wares. Even those of us who profess a love of arthouse cinema, with our badly subtitled Albanian propaganda that quietly destroys beourgeois family values whilst simultaneously propping up our intellectually elitist worldview, have been fooled by false prophets of the human spirit. But this study of artistic desire, this interlude in the mind of performer, this screeching, screaming "were-swan" pushes past the boundaries of the screen, boldly pronouncing "I AM ART"! Black Swan is the first film I've seen for a long time that cannot be judged against normal rules; it's as much an installation as a movie.
That's it. Rave over. The hyperbole is done with. My point though is Black Swan enters your conciousness in a way few films do. I've not seen all of the films that made it to the Academy's top ten yesterday, but I doubt Swan will be my favourite, however it will be the one I remember for longer. Certain images, themes and moments within the movie will stay ingrained in my head, so visceral is the experience I felt I was up there with Natalie Portman's Nina executing every pirouette forcing my way through the dance.
You see it's impossible: to describe it is to relive the moment.
Portman's Nina gets a surprise bump up the pecking order of her ballet troupe, cast in the dual role of the Swan Queen and Black Swan in Tchaikovsky's most famous ballet Swan Lake. Vincent Cassel as her director/choreographer and would-be lover taunts her inability to unlock the passion of the Black Swan, to overthrough the virginal perfection of her dancing and awaken the inner desires. Enter Mila Kunis as her rival, a dancer able to fully show the passion of the Black Swan, unhindered by the desperation to please.
It is this desperation that fuels the story, the layer upon layer of agony and mental torment that Nina puts herself through. Slowly destroying her body through excessive practice and relentless acts of self-harm and bulimia. When the opening night comes we hear every cracking bone, every heaving breath as Nina forces her way through the performance, like her natural counterparts we are treated to the excessive underwater effort whilst the audience see only the gentle majesty of the whole. Nina wants to be admired, she seeks the gratification of the applause and internally vows to prove the doubters, the other dancers, the lothario Cassel, her own bitter and poisonous mother, icily performed by Barbara Hershey, even when cooing over her "sweet, sweet girl".
None of the cast miss their marks, and Portman especially gives a career best performance fully realisng the emotional journey of her doomed heroine.
There are elements that don't work, the script overeggs the pudding reminder us again and again of the themes, and Winona Ryder's passed over Prima Ballerina Beth seems to exist purely to underline old cliches repeated in far too many ballet movies, but these cannot take away from the superb mix of sound and image.
Matthew Libatique upclose hand held cinematography enters the world created by David Stein's art direction and Amy Westcott's costumes, at the same time the layering of sound, dialogue and Matt Dunkley and Clint Mansell's arrangements of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece ensure every moment fits together even when we're clearly left the natural world.
But all of this leads to Darren Aronofsky. It's an achievement that cannot be overstated, he has directed a piece of art, he sought perfection, and that alone makes it worth seeing.
Sunday, 9 January 2011
20 for 2011: 20 - The Dilemma
The first film (and effectively the lowest ranking) on the 20 most anticipated films for 2011 is The Dilemma. It's also going to be upon us soon, with a UK release date of 21 January 2011.
There are always a few films in my most anticipated list that require some explanation. It's not just a question of why I rank them in a particular order but why I would even include them at all. What could I say right now about the unholy alliance between Ron Howard and Vince Vaughn that could persuade you this film might be worth seeing?
I don't believe it can be done. Even my own confidence in the project has been under pressure from my subconscious. At first I thought it was a great concept - do you tell your best friend if you find their wife is having an affair? It's a situation we must all have faced at some point. Then the cast and director were announced: Ron Howard's OK, and family comedies are what he used to do best (remember Parenthood?) but he's never an exciting director and the combo of Vince Vaughn and Kevin James is quite horrid (although Winona Ryder and Jennifer Connelly are good value in the female cast).
Finally the first trailer arrived with it's "Gay" joke. I confess I now want to see this movie out of morbid curiosity rather than genuine enthusiasm. Will this be the first stinker of 2011?
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Film News (10/04/2010)
Bear with me here.
I say that because I know you're looking at the first film I'm mentioning and wondering why I'm leading with it. It's not that I've not gone all doolally over R.Pattz and K.Stew - the truth is the Twilight franchise is a massive juggernaut, last year's New Moon took nearly $300m in the States - more than A Christmas Carol and Angels & Demons (these just happen to be big releases that I watched at the cinema) combined. Aside from that we've had a good mix of casting news and some totally new projects to look out for.
Breaking Dawn
It's no surprise that the studios want to get Stephenie Meyer's last Twilight novel into production quickly - there's only so much of a shelf life for the phenomenon, as well as the actors involved. What is interesting is the lengths they'll go to try and ensure it's good quality product. Over the past few weeks there have been rumours of a number of high profile, good quality directors who have been approached to take the reins for the final film including Gus van Sant, Sofia Coppola and Stephen Daldry. However in the end they've plumped for Dreamgirls helmer Bill Condon.
It's an interesting choice as Condon isn't afraid to tackle sex straight on (just watch Gods and Monsters), something which the Twilight series is infamous for avoiding. I'm certainly beginning to sit up and take notice.
Cheaters
The Ron Howard/Vince Vaughn collaboration (the one with Vince spotting his best friends wife kissing another man) has found it's cheating heart in Winona Ryder. And of course it's great that she's back in major films. However most of the internet is focussing not on Winona great news but the misery of a certain other oscar-nominated actress who was desperate for the role but was turned down. I'm not going to name names but apparantly the poor reception of Motherhood has really soured this girls career.
Here's a picture of Winona and - oops, I don't know how that got here.
Dark Life
Sometimes I admit that I find myself drawn to kids films, like this young-adult underwater adventure story. Essentially it's about a boy growing up in seabed farm, who must fight to protect his way of life. I'm guessing that the seabed farms are within a protected bubble and that he's not a fish. Of course if he is a fish then I'm doubly in there.
The Heights
I guess if no-one else is adapting a film version of your novel then you have to do it yourself. Of course it helps if you're Oscar nominated screenwriter Peter Hedges (for About a Boy). He has decided his most recent novel about a normal suburban couple dragged into a complex and dark world by their mysterious new neighbour is too good to remain on the bookshelf so he's going to be putting it onto the big screen. I'm not sure if that couns as nepotism, although you an imagine his various agents and lawyers getting together to iron out the fee issues on this.
Mob Girl
Fighting prepubescent girls are all the rage now, what with Kick-Ass dominating the box offices (featuring the scene stealing Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl) and Hanna with Saoirse Ronan currently filming, so it was only a matter of time before a film with a title so brilliant as Mob Girl would be in production. Just say it out loud: MOB GIRL. Doesn't that just make you want to go?
Production News
Since the last time I outlined all the new films moving into production (according to imdb) a few months have passed, meaning that there's quite a few more for this month than I had anticipated. Of course the vast majority of these (or the following list) have been mentioned in the news columns of the past.
In no particular order these are:
Woody Allen's next picture with Marion Cotillard; Steven Soderbergh's flu virus drama Contagion; Paul Giamattis starring comedy Win Win; Freud love triangle The Talking Cure; Civil Rights epic Selma; WW2 in miniture movie A Little War of our Own; the biopics of notorious criminal Billy "Whitey" Bulger, Comic Richard Pryor and surfer Jay Moriaty (Black Mass, Is it something I said and Mavericks respectively); Internet Fraud comedy Help me Spread Goodness; and Lars von Trier end of the world picture Melancholia.
That's certainly an impressive list, full of films that most cinephiles will want to see. But the following new films moving into production have not been talked about at all:
State of the Union: Richard Gere reunites with his Pretty Woman director Garry Marshall for the remake of Frank Capra's 1948 classic about a presidential nominee whose wife teaches him that it's more important to be honest than to settle with the status quo.
Untitled Ernest Hemingway Biopic: Set to focus on the relationship between the American literary giant and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, the inspiration for For Whom the Bell Tolls. James Gandolfini is cast for Hemingway.
The Big Year: A Birdwatching comedy with Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin. Is already looking like the dullest movie of 2011!
Friday, 15 January 2010
20 for 2010 - Black Swan
Leaping gracefully to number 4 is Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.
Ballet has often been used as a metaphor for freedom and youth by filmmakers, or as a way of escape. In films as diverse as The Red Shoes and Billy Elliott once the music begins the protagonists can hide away from the reality of the world they live in. So Aronofsky's thriller about the rivalry between professional dancers may subvert that tradition - here the mere act of dancing will focus the tension, not disappate it.
I imagine we could expect nothing less from the director of Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain and The Wrestler. His characters are often carried on by forces unknown to them whether it's a drug addiction, the lure of the ring or a fatalistic love affair.
There is also a supernatural element - Natalie Portman's dancing adversary Mila Kunis may be real, or may just be a figment of her imagination. This may also link to the the freedom of creativity and the madness that competitiveness can bring.
Alternatively it could be a bog standard ghost thriller... What do you think? I'm pretty hyped up about it either way.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Winona Ryder
Happy Birthday to
Winona Ryder
38 today
After years of being in the shadows, surrounding her arrest and conviction for "accidental" shop-lifting, she's now back in the theatres. Her Spock's mother may have been brief but it's a good step back into the limelight. Saying that she needs to do more quality films to be able to stay there.
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