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.