La Vie Belem

Amreeka: opened in theaters in limited release Sept. 4, 2009
Directed by: Cherien Dabis
Starring: Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem and Alia Shawkat

What first attracted me to this film was Nisreen Faour’s portrayal of Muna, an immigrant single mother. Just through the trailer her performance seemed amazing. Also, coming from immigrant parents, the subject matter hit close to home. This little indie film is sure to be heartwarming.

The Blind Side: opening in theaters Nov. 20, 2009
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Kathy Bates and Tim McGraw

Finally a film in which Sandra Bullock isn’t playing the shrew and a man needs to tame her. This role has the meat of her other more dramatic roles. Although, it seems a little too cheesy, especially with the line in the trailer “No, he changed me,” I’m still intrigued and hope it won’t just be another overplayed melodrama.

The Lovely Bones: opening in limited release in theaters Dec. 11, 2009
Directed by: Peter Jackson
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci

Based on the book by Alice Sebold, it’ll be interesting to see how Peter Jackson, known for special effects Wunderkind Lord of the Rings, tackles such an emotional and suspenseful drama. With a stellar cast of A-listers this movie is bound to garner success from lovers of the book.

The awkward pre-pubescent girl in me will always love Drew Barrymore, particularly her late ’90s classics The Wedding Singer, Ever After and Never Been Kissed. These films encapsulated my adolescence—that is, the lesson I learned was that it was better to be the spunky and intelligent leading lady than the beautiful and ditzy (and sometimes evil) supporting actress.

For her directorial debut, Barrymore has captured the moxie of the heroines she played and put it into Whip It, a film about the rough-and-tumble sport of women’s roller derby.

Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is considered in her town of Bodeen, Texas as alternative—or as she would probably say, “Alternative to what?” She dyes her hair blue for beauty pageants, which her mom (played masterly by Marcia Gay Harden) forces her to enter, and works after-school at The Oink Joint with her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat). During a trip to the mall she gets handed a flyer to a roller derby match by two tattoo-laden derby girls on roller skates. Bliss manages to cajole Pash into going with her and she immediately falls in love with the adrenaline and kick-butt action. So she signs up to audition, lies that she’s 22 and eventually makes the team as their new jammer. Bliss is no more; instead Babe Ruthless takes her place.

This team opens a whole new world for Bliss, who finally feels at home somewhere. Supporting roles by rapper Eve as Rosa Sparks, late night host Jimmy Fallon as Johnny Rocket, SNL comedienne Kristen Wiig as Maggie Mayhem and Drew Barrymore herself as Smashlee Simpson round out the cast of misfits that Bliss soon calls family. But Bliss’ place on the team might not be so secure especially with rival jammer Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis) gunning at every chance to ruin it all for her. Read the rest of this entry »

Bright Star came just in the nick of time for me. After seeing a string of lackluster films (Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself and Love Happens), I was being to lose hope in the films that were receiving wide releases. That is, until writer and director Jane Campion’s film provided me with a renewed faith.

I had a feeling this film would be worth seeing and included it one of my “Films to Get Excited About” posts. I’ve always had a soft spot for British romantic period pieces (that’s probably why I wrote a shot-by-shot analysis for my film class on Pride & Prejudice), particularly ones about 19th century poets, so I knew I’d eventually go see it. I’m glad I did.

The film is set in 1818, close to London. Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) is a budding fashionista for her time. We see her creating beautiful gowns and sewing difficult fabrics (see picture to the right—apparently Fanny made the first dress with a 3 layer ruffled collar, quite an exhausting maneuver) to fill her time. That is until the enigmatic poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) takes up residence in the house of Charles Brown (Paul Schneider—who I almost managed to interview. See it here), his close friend and Fanny’s neighbor. The animosity between Mr. Brown and Fanny is evident from the beginning with Mr. Brown’s resentment probably stemming from a bit of unrequited love and Fanny’s by Mr. Brown’s insults, such as when he comments that “She only knows how to flirt and sew.”

This, however, does not stop Fanny from trying to get close to the handsome Mr. Keats by learning all about poetry. Fanny’s interest in him sparks Mr. Keats’ fancy and soon the two become inseparable, despite Mr. Brown admonishments and Mr. Keats’ lack of fortune (the life of a poet was not a very lucrative one). Soon, there love affair becomes so ardent that Fanny is inspiring Mr. Keats’ poems, such as the eponymous “Bright Star,” and they cannot seem to endure being apart. Eventually illness, and not finance, is what star-crosses these lovers. Read the rest of this entry »

Paris: opening in limited release in theaters Sept. 18, 2009
Directed by: Cédric Klapisch
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris and Mélanie Laurent

Having already opened abroad last year, this French film has finally made it the US. Not only does it provide a scenic Parisian backdrop, but also a melancholic Parisian narrative. The film is directed by Cedric Klapisch the same man who brought us L’auberge Espagnole, one of my personal favorites. And with talents like Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris (also in L’auberge Espagnole) and Mélanie Laurent (of recent Inglourious Basterds fame) the film is sure to have stellar performances.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men: opening in theaters Sept. 25, 2009
Directed by: John Krasinski
Starring: Julianne Nicholson, Timothy Hutton, John Krasinski and Dominic Cooperbr

Based on David Foster Wallace’s darkly humorous novel of the same name, this film already looks bizarre. It was directed and adapted for the screen by John Krasinski, or as he is most commonly known as, Jim from The Office. His first directorial endeavor should be a sight to see.

New York, I Love You: opening in limited release in theaters Oct. 16, 2009
Directed by: Allen Hughes , Shunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Shekhar Kapur and others
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Shia LaBeouf, Natalie Portman, Orlando Bloom, Ethan Hawke, Andy Garcia and Christina Ricci

This homage to the big apple is brought to you by the producers of international hit Paris, Je T’aime and retains its format: a hodgepodge of short films. With an ensemble cast that would rival any feature film, these shorts already look like they have the same sense of sentimentality that made it’s Parisian counterpart so memorable.

The only thing worse than this film’s plot is its clichéd titled. Love Happens? Really? Does it? Well, another four-letter word happens too and it happens to describe this movie perfectly.

Jennifer Aniston is once again playing the quirky lead in this snoozer alongside Aaron Eckhart. Eckhart is a widower, Burke Ryan, who turns his loss into gain when he fashions a motivational self-help book titled—I kid you not—A-Okay. The problem is, Ryan isn’t “a-okay.” Despite the smorgasbord of platitudes spewed by him, such as “Happiness is a state of mind” and “When life hands you lemons you can either make a face or lemonade,” that are meant to encourage his naive followers, Ryan is truly unhappy and still blames himself for his wife’s death. He is essentially not practicing what he preaches. Ryan’s book agent Lane “Goddamn” Marshall (Dan Fogler), attempts to provide some humor, is constantly telling Ryan to “live a little,” which comes off as trite and overdone. (The man lost his wife and of course the cure-all is for him to go out there and meet more women rather than work on healing his pain. Kudos, screenwriter.)

He meets Aniston’s character Eloise while he’s in Seattle giving a week-long seminar on grief and loss. She’s an odd gal who likes to write excessively long and obscure words, a sesquipedalianist if you will, on the back of paintings in the hotel her floral business caters to. I think we can all guess the rest: Ryan falls for Eloise, Eloise falls for Ryan, an obstacle arises that gets in the way of their love and then banality ensues as Ryan begins to embrace Eloise’s idea that “when one things ends, something else begins.” Read the rest of this entry »

Peter and Vandy: opening in theaters Oct. 9, 2009
Directed by: Jay DiPietro
Starring: Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler

I think the synopsis is actually a lot more interesting than the trailer. A love story told out of order? I’m intrigued. Hopefully it won’t bear too much resemblance to my summer favorite, (500) Days of Summer.

Youth in Revolt: opening in theaters Oct. 30, 2009
Directed by: Miguel Arteta
Starring: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long, Ray Liotta and Steve Buscemi

Michael Cera, as of late, has been playing roles that resemble, well, Michael Cera. He rarely seems to lose that lovable adolescent goofball image, but something about his performance here intrigues me. I’m curious to see if he can really pull off the dangerous Casanova that is his alter-ego.

Fantastic Mr. Fox: opening in theaters Nov. 25, 2009
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Voiced by: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Michael Gambon

I’m a huge Wes Anderson fan. The Royal Tenenbaums is easily in my Top Ten films. This is his first venture into stop-motion animation and its of one of my most beloved books written by Roald Dahl. The actors lending their voices are stellar, so its bound to be a treat for kids and adults.

Mr. Clint Eastwood rarely ever disappoints. And Gran Torino is no exception.

At the age of 78—approximately the age he was when the film came out—Mr. Eastwood puts men half his age to shame. Action heroes like Channing Tatum or Jason Statham cannot compare to Eastwood’s menace. His grimace and growls can strike fear easier than any American M1 Garand rifle.

I think the poster says it all.

For Mr. Eastwood’s last acting role (or so he says) he has chosen to portray Walt Kowalski, a prejudiced Korean War veteran who is as old-fashioned as the Ford pick-up truck that he drives around in. The film opens with Walt’s wife’s funeral. It is attended by his children and grandchildren who blatantly disrespect him. Yet that does not seem to bother Walt, who harbors no respect for them either. Sure, he loves them, but how can he hold them in high esteem when all they seem to want to do is claim his positions, particularly his prized 1972 Gran Torino, before he’s even dead? So Walt carries on with his business as usual: mowing the lawn, drinking his afternoon beer on his porch, and watching baseball games on the TV.

Walt’s routine life, however, takes a strange turn when he accidentally saves his Hmong neighbor Thao (Bee Vang), even though Thao had tried to steal Walt’s Gran Torino days earlier (and who wouldn’t want to steal this beaut? The GTS pictured isn’t the one from in the film. The one used was teal). His ruffian cousin and his gang were hell-bent on tormenting Thao, but Walt intimidate them with as much bravado as he did as Dirty Harry. This leads to various members of the Hmong community bestowing upon him very generous gifts of gratitude, all of which Walt wants nothing to do with. But Walt’s chivalry does not end with this one incident. Despite his prejudices, Walt saves Thao’s sister Sue (Ahney Her) from a gang of thugs who were set on sexually assaulting her. In this scene his badassery (yes, I can make up words for such an occasion as this) is only comparable to that of 24‘s Jack Bauer, who is simply infallible. This event opens the door of friendship even wider for Walt, who rather begrudgingly (at first) develops a friendship with Thao. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to the lovely redbox I was able to rent Obsessed for a mere $1.08. Good thing too because I would not have payed any more money to see this film. I probably should have saved the $1.08 and tried searching for it online.

Penned by David Loughery (Lakeview Terrace, Tom and Huck) and directed by Steve Shill, this film centers around Derek Charles (Idris Elba) and the new temp at his office, Lisa (Ali Larter). Immediately you can see there is a mutual attraction, but Derek is faithful to his wife Sharon (Beyoncé Knowles) and would never even consider cheating on her despite friendly cajoling by his colleague and friend Ben (Jerry O’Connell). However, Derek’s marriage does not seem to stop Lisa who takes Derek’s niceties—such as when he consoles her after her boyfriend dumps her (I’m convinced there really wasn’t a boyfriend, but rather just a ploy conceived to get closer to Derek) or politely engages in office banter—as come-ons. Shortly enough, she becomes, as the title tells us, obsessed: she stalks, eavesdrops, invades his privacy, throws herself on him and even crawls into his car half-naked and refuses to leave despite Derek’s blatant admonitions. Slowly we become more aware that Lisa is truly crazy. The more Derek tells her he isn’t interested, the more she creates false stories that they were having an affair and he was divorcing his wife for her.

The plot is glaringly comparable to the married-man-has-an-affair classic cautionary tale Fatal Attraction, but without the actual affair. This brings up several problems I have with the film. Read the rest of this entry »

Bright Star: opening in limited release in theaters Sept. 18, 2009
Directed by: Jane Campion
Starring: Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider and Kerry Fox

This romantic period piece about poet John Keats already has quotable moments and they are just from the trailer! Director Jane Campion also wrote the screenplay, so it will be interesting to see her take on this love affair.

The Maid: opening in limited release in theaters Oct. 16, 2009.
Directed by: Sebastián Silva
Starring: Catalina Saavedra

Simply because it’s Chilean and looks hilarious. Little anecdote: Catalina Saavedra is infamous in Chile and when director Sebastián Silva asked her to play the role of the maid, she couldn’t support the idea of playing anyone but the lead. That is, until she read the script and realized how incredibly deranged the maid was.

Precious: opening in limited release in theaters Nov. 6, 2009
Directed by: Lee Daniels
Starring: Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz

I was hesitant at first about this film, particularly because it included Mariah Carey (the catastrophe that was Glitter still haunts me). Yet, Precious despite its rather long title—Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire—seems to have a depth and pain that could really be beautiful. I love seeing Mo’Nique in such a serious role, as well.

“Our world is ending, but life must go on” is essentially the premise to this post-apocalyptic action-animated film 9. After the human race has died off, a group of anthropomorphic rag dolls are the only bits of life that are left.

Bare with me as I attempt to describe the plot.

Waking up after the destruction of mankind, 9 (voiced by Elijah Wood) sets out to discover more about the world he finds himself in. Along the way he runs into 2 (Martin Landau) a mechanically gifted scientist that saves 9′s life by when “the beast“—a robotic dog intent on feeding—tries to snatch him. This act of self-sacrifice prompts 9 to attempt to rescue him by enlisting the other rag dolls—1 (Christopher Plummer), 5 (John C. Reilly) and 8—who found him out in the barren streets and took him into their makeshift home. However, 1, their obstinate leader, has no intention of saving 2 because he would rather survive than try to save him and die. Because 5 was friends with 2 he goes behind 1′s back and travels with 9 to save 2 from the beast.

This rescue attempt proves fruitful, but 9 accidentally re-awakens a machine that is even more menacing than the beast. With the help of 7 (Jennifer Connelly), a renegade warrior and the only female of the rag doll, as well with 3 and 4—a pair of silent twin dolls—they try to discover the truth behind this machine and how to stop it. In particular, 9 urges his fellow dolls to fight the machines—not cower from them—that seem to run the land. Read the rest of this entry »