2009 in Review - Best Actress

In the other three categories there are fillers - I will admit that. I have only seen 42 films, so there have been performances that probably should have been put aside for greater achievements. I don't think that is the case for Best Actress, in fact I could have easily done a top ten with tremendous performances.

1. Maria Heiskanen - Maria Larssons Eviga Ogonblick(Everlasting Moments). By far the most moving performance I saw this year was by a little known Swedish actress in a art-house release that I almost missed at the cinemas. Playing an abused wife, who falls in love with another man but does nothing about it, she ripped my heart in two.


2. Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married. We may have seen Anne's boobs in the past but this was the film where she truly performed as an adult. Playing the destrutive sister of the titular bride, Anne was a torrent of self-pity and rage with an undercurrent of pure guilt. Excellent.


3. Sasha Grey - The Girlfriend Experience. A deeply unsettling and naturalistic performance where all we see are the layers a professional hooker places around herself. Throughout the film we see them falling apart, and the impact that has on the understanding of your own identity.


4. Michelle Pfeiffer - Cheri. The second courtesan of the list, with Pfeiffer playing someone who knows her best days are behind her and enters into her final doomed love affair. No-one does brittle like Michelle, and the look into the mirror at the close of the film tells us everything we need to know about her future.


5. Abbie Cornish - Bright Star. We end with more doomed love affairs - this time separated by society and by death. Abbie's Fanny Brawne is unafraid to announce her passions to the world (and to do some first class sulking) and this confidence is striking in the final performance.

Read More...

Summary only...

Chéri

2009. Dir: Stephen Frears. Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, Rupert Friend, Felicity Jones and Frances Tomelty. ●●●●○



Still naff all coming out in June, and I'm still behind on the reviews, so here's one for the latest collaboration between Michelle Pfeiffer and Stephen Frears.

Plotwise the film covers the relationship between Pfeiffer's ageing courtesan (Lea) and Rupert Friend callow youth (known affectionately as Cheri), the son of Kathy Bates. The film does this in four sections; the courting, the arranged marriage for Cheri, the pretending that's everythings fine and the conclusion. Throughout this it is worth remembering that the trailer highlights the comic elements of the film but it is not a comedy. You will laugh but you will also cry, and at the end stare at the final frames in shocked bewilderment.



Cheri opens with a jolly voiceover by the director giving a potted history of the courtesans and some of the more infamous among them (missing out Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!) and soon we're zipping through the streets of Paris meeting the characters. These early scenes are played lighly with loose editing and gentle soundtrack. In fact all elements of the film work together all the way through. As the affair ends the pacing slows and the tunes become more ponderous.

Each member of the technical crew is working at the top of their game, but it's Frears incredible touch in the directors chair that must be responsible for the keeping together of the feelings.

Michelle Pfeiffer is perfectly cast, aloof and upright, but clearly melting behind the eyes. If she gets an Oscar nod this year (not as unlikely as I had thought going in) it'll be the moments she doesn't speak that will play in any clips. Bates almost steals the show mind, giggling and gossiping her way through scenes with malevolent intent. Friend comes off as a bit of an enigma, but that's in perfect keeping with the role.

Whilst the acting noms may be in the balance, Consolata Boyle's (The Queen) costumes must be guaranteed to get her second nod. Dresses and hats so exquisite you want to reach out and grab them.

Overall this is a great little gem of a movie, watch it glisten as soon as you get a chance.

Read More...

Summary only...

Out this week (08/05/09)

After last weeks dreadful showing there's a little more quality circulating this weeks releases. With probably the best looking blockbuster for 2009 in Star Trek. Of course I'm a sucker for costume pictures so my recommendation is for Michelle Pfeiffer in Cheri.



Blue Eyelids

Mexican film about a girl who wins a dream holiday and then picks a stranger off the street to go with her. Won the Special Jury Prize for World Cinema - Dramatic at last years Sundance festival.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○


Chéri

Michelle Pfeiffer, Stephen Frears and writer Christopher Hampton reunite 21 years after their successful collaboration on Dangerous Liaisons. Reviews are mixed, saying this productions fails to hit those dizzy heights, but the look of the trailer is terrific and Michelle is still absolutely stunning in period garb.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○


Coraline

Coraline resents her "eat your greens" surburban parents, so when she finds a secret door to an alternative universe with loving and less strict other parents she is overjoyed. The glee turns to chills in this otherworldly stop-motion adaptation for less excitable children.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○


Delta

Incest and murder rub shoulders in this Hungarian artfilm, inspired by and mixing the elements of Hamlet and Electra.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○


Little Ashes

Can Robert (Twilight, famous hair) Pattinson deliver in a real film? See this recreation of the love affair between surrealist Salvadore Dali and famed Spanish writer Lorca to find out.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○


Momma's Man

Exploring the need to escape from lifes responsibilities this New York set drama concerns a young man who goes for an extended stay at his parents Manhattan loft whilst avoiding his wife and child.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○


Munde uk De

Colourful but informationless poster, no real plot description, a cast that seemed to appear from nowhere. Bollywood once again makes no effort to engage my interest.

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○


O'Horten

A rare film aimed at the older crowd. Odd Horten (Baard Owe) finds that life only really starts when he retires from the railways. A meditative and insightful look at a man discovering himself for the first time

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○


Star Trek

J.J. Abrams reinvents the 60's sci-fi for the 21st century by focusing on the early life and first mission of the original crew. It's funky, funny and winning over the critics. Will this be the best blockbuster of 2009? (By all means say whatn you think in the comments)

Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○

Read More...

Summary only...

Trailers - Cheri

I can't think of a better time to show this trailer than the week Nathaniel R over at the Film Experience has announced his predictions for the best actress oscar nominations next year. Of course it also comes out in 4 and a half weeks.

He's a big fan of La Pfeiffer and naturally has chosen her for one of his slots. I'm more wary, but only because I think there can only be one woman over 40 in the group - and this year it will be Helen Mirren. Nevertheless I am sure the picture and performance will be great. Here's the trailer.



I don't think I've seen a trailer which emphasises the laughing of the characters (and the costumes) in a long time, and now I'm wondering whether it's because the tone of the film is decidedly comic or because Frears is showing us the courtesans use laughter and gaiety to hide thier true feelings (which certainly would be in keeping wit the book).

Read More...

Summary only...

20 for 2009 - Cheri

I realise that you all ar completely au fait with any bits of information I add ino my blog, and that there probably isn't a single film in my top 20 for 2009 that you aren't already salivating over (to a greater or lesser extent). However imagine my annoyance when my number 2 choice was pre-annouced by the Berlinale 09 announcement last week.

I know that the festival wants to big up it's attendees in order to get some good advance publicity, and if the delectable Michelle Pfeiffer were coming to my festival then everyone would know, but in all fairness I think they should have timed their annoucement to coincide with mine.


Doesn't she look lovely?

Cheri is based on a classic French novel by Colette, first published in 1920. It tells the story of an aging courtesan (Pfeiffer) and the death of her love affair with the incredibly handsome younger man Colette (Rupert Friend). The novel itself is beautifully written, even in translation you can see the poetry dripping off the page. The story is slow but measured as you pass from the immense happiness Lea feels when with her lover to destruction of her self esteem towards the end.



Lea is a fantastic part for Michelle Pfeiffer and one which she will be able to work wonders with. It's an especially meaty part when you consider Michelle is more or less the right age for the character, a 49 year one sleeping with a man less than half her age.

Rupert Friend will have much less to do, as the book mainly has him looking gorgeous and cruelly teasing Lea with little room for character development. He can look gorgeous in his sleep though so I expect Rupert will rise to the occasion.

This project marks the first time that Pfeiffer has teamed up with director Stepehen Frears (The Queen, Mrs. Henderson Presents) and writer Christopher Hampton since 1988's Dangerous Liaisons, also based on a historical French novel. That previous film was a big success so we can hope that lighting will be striking twice here.

Alexandre Desplat is scoring and Consolata Boyle is designing the costumes. Both of whom were oscar nommed for their work on The Queen so expect some similar high standards here.

COMPETITON TIME

Cheri is number 2 of my top twenty films in 2009. I will annouce the top film on Wednesday but until then, for a chance to win a large box of chocolates, please guess my top choice... Some clues will appear tomorrow.

Read More...

Summary only...

Kathy Bates

Happy Birthday to

Kathy Bates

60 today

Kathy was a hard-working successful stage actress, until one small little film made her a hard-working sucessful film actress.

Kathy is much more than a knife wielding monster though. As well as having a talent for swinging a mallet later this year we'll be seeing her selling houses to Kate and Leo in Revolutionary Road, helping Michelle Pfeiffer let go of her younger man in Cherie and remainly perfectly stationary in The day the Earth Stood Still.

Klaatu Barada Nikto, indeed.

Read More...

Summary only...