Another way to watch 12 Years A Slave

I watched 12 Years A Slave the other day and I thought of something: The movie is a great allegory for what is happening to animals right now all around the world. I doubt that the filmmakers had that in mind or that many members of the audience thought/will think of it but so what?
I didn't like the movie. I thought it was a good represantation of that part of history (I hear it's accurate) and the human complexity displayed made it sure that the film is not about just one period in history. But I still didn't like it for reasons that I can't put my finger on. I feel like the movie took itself too seriously and kind of thought we're dumb. But, really, I can't say for sure so I leave it there because that's not the point of this post.

What I was saying regarding the animals is that, like the black slaves depicted in the movie, they are considered inferior, property and just plain soulless.

There are many people suffering today because they don't get the respect they deserve from others but this is probably mostly true for animals.
We have all seen animals in factories living their whole lives as products/property/slaves. Having no room to move, being treated cruelly and being killed.. well, killing is never completely un-cruel.


There are, of course, animals who are luckier and die, perhaps quickly, after they've lived a normal life in their natural habitat. It's still murder, but it's not as awful as living like a chicken, cow, pig etc in a factory that provides us with he animal products we need, or think we do.


When people try to defend women, LGBT people or non-white people, one argument (and one that is used in the movie) is that they're people too. Well, I think that's a bad argument. It's arbitrary (unless, maybe, you use Bible as your source of facts) because choosing the species as proof of someone's worth makes as much sense as choosing the race, or the gender etc. So, my answer to why you should respect a fellow creature's life and rights is that, like you, he/she/it has a life and has feelings.

So, even if the filmmakers didn't have animals in mind (the front, middle or back of it), the movie works well as a reminder of the evil that permeates the act of being cruel (physically or otherwise) to someone you regard as inferior. This concept applies to how we treat animals today (more than ever) and it's there for anyone who cares to see.

Casting The Song of Achilles

So, some of you may know that a while ago I read The Song of Achilles and loved it. It probably became my favorite novel. It's about the Trojan War and it focuses on the relationship (a romantic one in this book) between Achilles and Patroclus.
What I will try to do here is cast the movie that I have no idea if it's even considered to get made. It should! Unless they make it less than pretty good. The book has the potential to become a great movie, I think.

I won't waste any more time.

For Achilles I was thinking:

(random order)

Alex Pettyfer - He looks the part but I'm not sure he can act it. His persona is just right, I think.

Aaron Tveit - He has what it takes actingwise and he is really handsome but maybe too old and/or not the right type?

Ryan Gosling - A few years ago I wouldn't even consider anyone else. Now, I dunno.

Trevor Donovan - He looks Achillean and from what youtube tells me, he has some homoerotic experience on TV but maybe too old or not good enough an actor? I really don't know much about him.

For Thetis (Achilles's mother, a sea-nymph):

OK, for this role I could imagine all of my favorite actresses above 35 (though, I think even, say, 38 is kind of young for this role) but I will limit myself to..we'll see..

Tilda Swinton - Yep, that's it. Neeeext. Miller herself would be more than fine with this choice.
Emma Thompson - Nothing to say here; if you don't see it...

Jullianne Moore - Ditto.

And Cotillard and Bening and Kidman and and and..

For Agamemnon and Chiron:

Here's the deal: We have Michael Fassbender and Mathew McConaughey. One of them should play Agamemnon and the other one should play Chiron (the centaur who taught Achilles and Patroclus how to be..well..many things). Or maybe Édgar Ramírez for Agamemnon.

The only problem I see is that Fassbender's colors most suit Agamemnon's brother, Menelaus, but does it matter that much? 

For Odysseus I thought of Bradley Cooper but I'm not that excited about him and I'm too lazy to think more on the subject.

 The very interesting character of Briseis, a young woman (Not Trojan, I think, but certainly of origins closer to the Trojans than the Greeks) who was enslaved by the Greeks and became friends with Patroclus, could be brought to life by:

Shailene Woodley - A good actress that matched Briseis's sweetness.

Mia Wasikowska - A good actress that matches Briseis's uneasiness.

Well, an interesting character is more than one thing and I can imagine both those actresses being able to create a whole, faithful to the book Briseis.

Pyrrhus is the son of Achilles and princess Deidameia. We spend time with him when he is twelve but supposedly looks much older. He has fiery hair. I really have no idea. I did a silly google search and only came up with a guy named Brian Balzerini.

And the star of the show, Patroclus. Well, basically any kinda-dark-haired, under 33 who is not ugly will do.

I thought of Andrew Garfield who is probably my favorite candidate. Then, Emile Hirsch, Oscar Isaac and..nothing really interesting, to be honest.

I know it was a mostly lazy effort but what I was interested the most was not throw ideas (which is always fun) but just tell the world that I want this lovely book to become a movie. OK, one post in a world of a million (more? probably) posts a day isn't much  but I'm hoping it's something. You could say Im planting a seed. 

If nothing else comes from this, maybe one person will buy and read the book, which would make me happy. 

PS: Tell me if you're that person. 

My Spooky Valentine

I watched The Talented Mr Ripley at a time when I had the biggest Gwyneth crush. I was probably 14. It was also about two years after I had visited Italy with my mother and aunt. My first time abroad. We went to Rome, Florence, Piza (for an hour) and Venice. Also, I'm gay and watching it for the second time some days ago I realized I have kind of been Mr Ripley for a period in my life.
So I guess this movie should mean more to me than it does (did, actually) but until the more recent viewing it just didn't have any special place in my heart. I barely even thought of it.
But after rewatching it I fell in love with it.  Not because of Italy, not because of Gwyneth and not because I felt connected to the story (though these things matter at least slightly) but because I thought it was a great movie. Well-made on every level. So glad I revisited it!

The reason I rewatched it was the Hit Me With Your Best Shot episode which has this movie as its subject.
I picked this particular image because I liked how subtly Ripley's crazy anger manifests itself here. Philip Seymour Hoffman's character keeps pressing harshly the piano keys despite Tom's suggestion to stop and it's like we're having an "Imma kill you some day" moment a la Birth's opera scene. It's kind of an inside joke between the movie and its audience.

A gondola named desire

This was the first time I watched Summertime. I didn't love it but it was perfectly fine and I was moved in the end.
The reason I watched it was that I wanted to participate in the Hit Me With Your Best Shot series once again.

There are many pretty images in the film and it wasn't easy for me to pick my favorite (for whatever reason I would pick it) so I chose one that I just liked in a special way.

In a way, it's stupid to choose an image that is too dark to show the beauty of Venice or Hepburn's beautifully expressive face but this one makes me think of high-school romance in Venice.

RIP

Your legacy lives in the way I (like many others) watch movies and will live as long as movies exist. Thank you so much for everything you've done, Roger Ebert.

Lovely Bones is what you're having for supper Mr Gollum

This is one more review in which I explain why I disliked a movie. Sorry...

The Hobbit part1 is a good kids movie. Or at least it would be if it was a lot less violent.
For an adult, at least for this adult, it's pretty but mostly boring.
I liked it visually a lot. The nature, the creatures and the camera movements. Somethimes I was thinking "That. is. so. nice".
But we shouldn't judge a movie only based on its cover and the praise ends there.
 I didn't care for any of the characters. I didn't mind spending time with Gandalf again but it's not like he showed me another side of him.
The rest of the characters were pretty simple and uninteresting.
Bilbo was the most interesting sane character but he still wasn't engaging enough. Martin Freeman did a good job though his acting felt a bit like he it was from a 2012 Real Earth drama. I don't know if I was supposed to care about Bilbo's internal journey. I mean, he felt OK at home but he was kinda bored and his ancestor was brave so maybe he should do something extreme and hey these poor folks need help but maybe not but what the hell he'll just do it. Also, he totally stole that ring probably because it was shiny but he spared  Gollum's life so he's forgiven by the audience... Seriously?

I like how in the movie whenever the heroes are close to dying, they get saved by their resourceful minds and not by a cheap trick like the phrasing of this sentence.

Question: Can't the Dwarfs get a home somewhere else? I mean, you were there and now the dragon is there. Get. over it. Gold is nice but there are more important things in life, like friendship and playing with plates after dinner.

I just don't get what powers Gandalf actually possesses. He seems to be nothing more than a good fighter at times. Does het get stronger or weaker according to the plot's needs?

The Gollum scenes were probably the best ones. Serkis's facial expressions are a masterpiece they combine creepiness,  joy (of a twisted kind) and pitiful humanity, making Gollum, as weird as it may sound, perhaps the most relatable character. He/It's a hightened version of the everyday person as opposed to most of the other characters who are either one-note or too familiar by now.


5/10

In Anticipation of movies and better ideas

I haven't been posting much recently but I think I have been writing that phrase quite a lot!
Anyway, I listed to list a list cause, you know, lists!!

This one is kind of more random than usual because it includes the remaining movies from 2012 I'm most interested to watch. Note that I mean the movies with a 2012 USA release date. No idea when they'll come to Greece. 

1) Lincoln
2) Les Misérables
3) Anna Karenina
4) Great Expectations
5) Zero Dark Thirty 
6) To the Wonder
7) The Master
8) Silver Linings Playbook
9) Rust & Bone 
10) Quartet
11) The Place Beyond the Pines
12) Amour
13) Argo
14) At Any Price


Lincoln is my first because Spielberg, Kushner, Daniel Day Lewis etc
Les Miz is my favorite musical (give or take Beauty and the Beast) without having seen it from start to finish. I just adoooorrrreee some of its songs. I'm just not entirely confident that it will work.
Anna Karenina is a classic novel and the director is someone you can't ignore, as is Keira!
Great Expectations is a book that has a character that has always fascinated me: Estella. I'm curious to see what the new embodiment of that Ice Queen has to offer.


I'm also really interested in finding out how Bigelow and her screenwriter have handled such a rich and complex story as the Bin Laden one is.


     

A few words on a sentimental war epic.

I liked War Horse a lot and I have no guilts whatsoever.

It looked beautiful. It was epic.I loved how it depicted war not as a battle between good and bad guys but between people who, whichever side they belong to, at times are excited, scared, angry or generous.

Was it sentimental? Sure. But I can mostly forgive it for that because I think you have the right to show pure, unsubtle emotion when you have explored such grand sources of pain.

Can i say how grateful I am that they cast Niels Arestrup? Such an inspired choice. I think he gave the best performance in the film.

Movies like that should never stop getting made. We don't need only this kind of cinema but I would certainly miss it if it were gone.


7/10

...or am I losing my mind?

Full disclosure: I liked the movie but not enough to see it again only for the purpose of choosing my favorite image so I just saw the first 10 minutes of it. I don't even recall the plot, but I think I remember what's important and that is that Joan is losing it in this movie.

I like this image because it seems as if the doctor is examining how well Joan is taking care of her nails.
Miss Crawford was an intimidating beauty and a true diva, less known for her acting skills (in comparison to Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis etc) and more for her looks and charisma. You would expect her to care about looking gorgeous in every single movie she appeared in, but in the case of Possessed she seems more eager to showcase her craft than anything else.

So, it's funny, to me, that this image, in a way, alludes to Crawford's polished appearance, when the movie cares about anything but that.

I can't be wrong, can I?

You know what? Nathaniel is taking too long so I'm going to make some predictions for the Best Actress 2012 Academy Award myself.

So, without any doubt, the Best Actress nominees will be:

Keira Knightley for Anna Karenina

Carey Mulligan for The Great Gatsby

Kathleen Turner for A Perfect Family














Viola Davis for Won't Back Down














Marion Cotillard - Rust & Bone







I'm guessing that (which with all the guessing today?) you feel a bit confused about my Turner and Cotillard predictions, right?
Well, I'm certainly far less convinced I'm sure about these two guesses than the other three but
a) I want Turner to be nominated OK? I haven't seen the movie yet but that's beside the point.
b) Cotillard seems to be close to a nomination every year after since 2009 yet she still hasn't managed a second one and I think that her working with a director like Audiard will be helpful for her chances even if the movie is in french. Hey, she won for speaking french in a movie!
Re: Viola, I have no idea how good or baity her film will be, but really, she will probably be great and win this time. Unless they think Kathleen just can't afford to lose again.But judging by the trailer of her movie, it doesn't seem like the kind of film you win for.

Sorry for being away and sorry for coming back movie-talk-less

Where. have. I. been??

Right here, actually. It's just that movies haven't been as big a part in my life the last whatever months as it used to be. Even during the Oscar season.

I know!!

I have actually no idea why I'm posting now except that, damnit, I've missed doing this.

I have seen some movies but I don't really feel like talking about them. Not that they were uninteresting (in  good or bad ways) but just..I dunno.

In case I had never mentioned it (and I know I haven't), I'm dreaming of writing plays. You know, like Streetcar and Pillowman. Only even better. (that was clearly a joke)
So, lately I've been more interested in reading plays and novels than watching (and especially thinking about) movies.

Sue me.
No, really, I feel I betrayed a part of me.

But I have no problem if someone wants to adapt one of my (future) plays into a film. See? I'm still working for you, movie lovers!

The thing is, I haven't been writing much. I'm always thinking about this story or that theme, but the paper (or the .doc file) is still blank.

If any one can give me advice, be my guest.

For now I'm just reading stuff and, inevitably, living my life.
I hope either or both of these things will provided me with the boost I need to start creating something that I will finish and will actually feel good about it.

It would be great if you shared some of your favorite plays and/or favorite movie adaptations of plays in the comments. Especially if they're not the obvious choices.

No more pain. Goodbye.

Top girls

I decided that I just had to have them all together like this, so,  here are the women who have collected at least 5 acting Oscar nominations:

Cate Blanchett - 5 nominations

Anne Bancroft - 5 nominations

Audrey Hepburn - 5 nominations

Elizabeth Taylor - 5 nominations

Glenn Close - 5 nominations

Irene Dunne - 5 nominations

Jennifer Jones - 5 nominations

Norma Shearer - 5 nominations

Olivia de Havilland - 5 nominations

Shirley Maclaine - 5 nominations

Susan Hayward - 5 nominations

Susan Sarandon- 5 nominations

Kate Winslet - 6 nominations

Judi Dench - 6 nominations

Ellen Burstyn - 6 nominations

Deborah Kerr - 6 nominations

Jessica Lange - 6 nominations

Sissy Spacek - 6 nominations

Thelma Ritter - 6 nominations

Maggie Smith - 6 nominations

Vanessa Redgrave - 6 nominations

Jane Fonda - 7 nominations

Greer Garson - 7 nominations

Ingrid Bergman - 7 nominations

Geraldine Page - 8 nominations

Bette Davis - 10 nominations

Katharine Hepburn - 12 nominations

Meryl Streep - 16 nominations

(I know it's messy but, trust me, it was so hard to achieve even this!)

Movies again

I'm really sick and angry! Mostly because I'm sick.
Which is why I'm writing - to feel better.

I watched some movies recently and I want to share some thoughts on some of them.

Drive

Powerful, with great style, unique, yet a bit morally confused.



A Separation

Complex, honest and revealing about human nature. Hard to find a flaw.



Beauty

It makes you understand that lust can be a destructive thing if you're not lucky in regard to who inspires it in you.



The Artist

Smart, funny and moving homage to an era with some welcome specific references. But... not always interesting.



Possessed

Pretty proud of itself even if it knows some will mock it.  As you're watching it you might expect only to have a little fun (if that) but it's entirely possible to end up moved and generally impressed.



Melancholia

Pretty ambitious and eccentric (well, von Trier...duh) yet not messy. Realtionships are tested by ordinary (a wedding) and extraordinary (the possibility of the end of the planet) occasions providing very interesting and aesthetically pleasing results.



The Way We Were

Bittersweet story that feels a bit dated in its realization yet it's pragmatic enough that, with a little (or a lot of) help from Barbra's very good performance, it manages to have a soul.

Sansho the Bailiff

 So simple that you might not even notice how hard it is to make a movie that doesn't seem to have any unnecessary moments or to do anything wrong during its necessary ones, which as is obvious, comprise the whole movie. It fully earns its morally didactic nature (and not only because it's supposed to be a fairy tale), as does our tears.

  

I'm not going to review Diary of a Country Priest because I didn't watch it properly.

I am going to say that it's certainly compelling and that I intend to see it again some time. 

Letter From An Unknown Woman 

What I said about Beauty but replace "lust" with "love". Painfully wonderful.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Something about it felt unorganized and not deliberately so, yet its depiction of such a strange relationship and its powerful finale make it worth the effort. Thank you Tilda!

 

And finally, I loved Senna! I don't know if it's pefect or I was just touched by the man and his myth that much, but I think it's an amazing film. Some people can't fully connect to others because it's like they're living in their own, magical world, yet they connect all of us.

I've lost your number but I think a post will do..

It's not as glorious as it was last year but I can't do all that work every.single.time!

So, 
happy birthday Kate!!

Just that? Really?

Of course not just that! I also wish you a Tony Award.


(Picture in this post : © 2011 - Sony Pictures Classics)

She's a mess. A brilliant mess.

OK, so, Jane Adams. Actually, Jane Adams in Hung. I suspect that if the show as good as she is, her role would be iconic.
She manages to always be exciting to watch even if it should have been easy for us to get tired of a character that intense and weird and often pathetic.
Adams doesn't go for subtlety and totally proves that a character can be caricature-like but still feel real, smart, wounded and struggling to live in her own world no matter what.

And quite simply, it's beautiful to watch an actor try that hard and know how to do it.

So, my obvious demand: Give her a movie!

Honorable mentions to:

Rebecca Creskoff  for creating a character that feels realistically two-dimensional. Some people are always thinking about how to survive no matter whose dead body they'll have to step over and Creskoff is not afraid to channel that mentality without unnecessarily complicating things.

Anne Heche for being interesting even if, on page, her character is a shallow cliche.

Best In Show? Really? Me?

I do see movies sometimes

I hate to talk about movies when I haven't formed an strong opinion on them but it's been so long..


Very brief thoughts on:

The Tree Of Life

I didn't get it. Maybe no one did. Still, I felt a unique quality and when it was over, I was in a mood no other movie has ever put me in. I felt connected to my physical and spiritual surroundings not in an uplifting way but as if I was able to accept and appreciate more what I had been given. It wasn't as strong as that but it was a strange and welcome feeling.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2

I really like the books and watching this movie meant much more to me that it did for other people which is certainly one of the reasons I cried. More than once! But still, I wouldn's have cries if I thought it was a bad movie. I quite liked it. The performances were solid, the atmosphere was as bleak as it should be and the script was fine. Not a great movie but a pretty impressive finale for this magical series.

Taste Of Cherry

Not sure how I feel about it yet. I'm still trying to decide if it actually makes an interesting statement on life's worth or anyhting at all. It does feel like it has a reason to exist if only to remind us of some things we tend to forget. Good and bad.

About Elly

I don't think I know what exactly happened in this movie but I appreciated the way it focused on when, why and how easily people lie to each other. That's what I mostly cared about and the fact that it was well-made.

Sometimes it's about the girls

There are some performances given by a bunch of young (or younger) actresses that I really can't wait to see regardless of the degree of my interest in the movies they're in.

Yup, list time.

Carey Mulligan Shame

I keep reading wonderful things. I really liked her in An Education and she seems to be great in a different way in "Shame" which is just amazing news!

Glenn Close Alber Nobbs

People seem to really like the performance and it's in the Oscar conversation so I have many reasons to want to see this.

Meryl Streep The Iron Lady

Too obvious!

Kate Winslet Carnage

Even more so!

Elizabeth Olsen Martha Marcy May Marlene

Great reviews for the film and the performance. Plus, I really liked the trailer.

Tilda Swinton We Need To Talk About Kevin

In the "too obvious" category as well.

Mia Wasikowska Jane Eyre

I hear she's wonderful. The same about the film.

Michelle Williams My Week With Marilyn

Good actress. Oscar potential. Intriguing match of actress and role. Anything could happen.

Rachel Weisz The Deep Blue Sea

Haven't read/seen the play but it seems like a good role for a good actress.

Vanessa Redgrave Coriolanus

The things I read! I'm expecting her to floor me!

Janet McTeer Albert Nobbs

A talented actress who, I read, is pretty good in the movie.

Judi Dench My Week With Marilyn

I'm not familiar with Dame Sybil Thorndike but a Dame playing another Dame is pretty interesting, especially when you love one of them. And I do. I love you Judi!




"You mean I'm not enough??"

Tough Love

I can't, for the life of me, choose a favorite still from my favorite movie of all time but I managed to pick one that I really like even if it's low-key compared to others that I almost chose.

Here it is:



This is when Belle takes care of the Beast's wound. He got it while saving Belle from the wolfs. But she wouldn't have to face the wolfs if he hadn't scared her. But he wouldn't have scared her if she hadn't gone to the West Wing. Couples....

Belle takes care of the Beast's wound and though they're both still upset about what the one did to the other, things are getting a little softer and sweeter between the protagonists. The Beast proved he is not just a jerk but a jerk with potential for something better than that.

I bet other Disney princesses are jealous that they didn't inspire any dramatically positive changes on their husbands' personality. They didn't really have to but isn't it better when you do?

Who's bad?

Do you remember the last shot of Norman Bates where he has a smile on his face because he believes (actually, "she", the mother believes) he has found a way to fool everyone?

Well, that same look (though less creepy) is on Marion Crane's face when, while driving, she realizes that even if she is in a dangerous situation, she has managed to do what they didn't expect. She has taken the money and the poor people who thought they knew her are right where she left them, wondering how that thing could have happened.

We first see her worried but a moment later she lets herself feel proud because, for once, she acted like a clever, nasty girl and is pretty close to getting away with it. Well, let's leave it at that so that we won't rain on the poor girl's parade.













PS: Yes, I can post pictures of people who are not named "Leigh". I just don't want to ;)