Do You Want A Piece of Me?

Let's face it. Probably not. But anyway!

A love letter to Totally Mac: For getting my iPod fixed in four days. And sending it back. I love you so much, Totally Mac.

Another love letter to DVD Unlimited: For sending me two little McDonalds vouchers. Which I won't use, but will give to somebody else. But thank you anyway.

And one to myself. Because I deserve it.

As of next Saturday, I will be starting a top 100 films list. These are my own personal films and it will be a weekly feature. A write-up of them of varying length. So look forward to that.

I'm Back And All You Get Is This Emmy Commentary?

Been busy with family stuff or lazy. So you get this now.

Outstanding Comedy Series

30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Entourage
The Office
Two and a Half Men

Where Are They?: Ugly Betty, Pushing Daisies, Anything Else.
Should Win: 30 Rock

It's sad that we have to get things off to a bad start. Three awful choices (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Two and a Half Men) and two of the 'cult' hits being left out. Just plain bad, Emmys. Nobody even watches Two and a Half Men anymore. Look on the bright side! It's not Monk.

Outstanding Drama Series

Boston Legal
Damages
Dexter
House
Lost
Mad Men

Missing: Grey's Anatomy
Should Win: Damages

Yes! Grey's Anatomy counts as a missing. Don't judge me. Overall a decent category, with squee-worthy ones being Damages and Mad Men. Respective nods for Dexter, House and Lost. And Boston Legal's didacticism has gotten far too much for me to take. The acting sells it, but everything else is quite frankly, shit.

Outstanding Guest Actor, Comedy

Rip Torn - 30 Rock
Will Arnett - 30 Rock
Steve Buscemi - 30 Rock
Tim Conway - 30 Rock
Shelley Berman - Nat David

Missing: Victor Garber, Ugly Betty. (Probably not a finalist, but hey.)
Should Win: Rip Torn. Because his name is cool.

I have no comments on this list. Isn't it cool to see Rip Torn being nominated for an Emmy, though? I haven't even seen this stuff, so moving on.

Outstanding Guest Actor, Drama

Stanley Tucci - ER
Glynn Turman - Alex Sr.
Robin Williams - Law and Order: SVU
Robert Morse - Mad Men
Oliver Platt - Nip/Tuck
Charles Durning - Rescue Me

Missing: None.
Should Win: Charles Durning? Lifetime Achievement Award? I don't know.

Once more, no comments. I know, I have less enthusiasm for these actor categories, but I've only seen parts of Tucci's performance and Platt's, who is one of many guest stars on that showand isn't that good anyway. So, moving on again!

Outstanding Guest Actress, Comedy

Carrie Fisher - 30 Rock
Edie Falco - 30 Rock
Elaine Stritch - 30 Rock
Polly Bergen - Desperate Housewives
Kathryn Joosten - Desperate Housewives
Sarah Silverman - Monk

Missing: Betty White, Ugly Betty. Definitely not a finalist, but come on.
Should Win: Only seen Joosten and Bergen, but I'm giving it to Fisher anyway.

I like this list. 30 Rock dominates again and Desperate Housewives gets two nominees in, one of whom has won before and the other of which is genuinely awesome. So I'd be happy with any result here. Except Sarah Silverman. Come on, people?

Outstanding Guest Actress, Drama

Ellen Burstyn - Big Love
Diahann Carroll - Grey's Anatomy
Cynthia Nixon - Law and Order: SVU
Anjelica Huston - Medium
Sharon Gless - Colleen Rose

Missing: A whole host of people I cannot remember for the life of me.
Should Win: Nixon.

I respect this list a lot as well; even though I've not see two of the performances they're by actresses who I know to be talented and so, yeah. Great list. I'm pleasantly surprised to see Gless here; she's not a well known actress and her character was hard to like. But definitely worthy.

Outstanding Lead Actor, Comedy

Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Tony Shalhoub - Monk
Lee Pace - Pushing Daisies
Steve Carrell - The Office
Charlie Sheen - Two and a Half Men

Missing: Any two people other than Shalhoub and Sheen.
Should Win: Pace or Baldwin.

I respect three performers on this list a lot. Here's a hint, two of them aren't Charlie Sheen or Tony Shalhoub. I'm pretty sure nobody watches Monk any more and Two and a Half Men continues to not be funny. But those other three are amazing.

Outstanding Lead Actor, Drama

James Spader - Boston Legal
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall - Dexter
Hugh Laurie - House
Gabriel Byrne - In Treatment
Jon Hamm - Mad Men

Missing: Nobody!
Should Win: Laurie.

A perfectly respectable list again. Nothing amazing or exceptional to note, and quite predictable. The winner will be interesting though. (It can't be Spader again. Or can it?)

Outstanding Lead Actress, Comedy

Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Christina Applegate - Samantha Who?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - The New Adventures of Old Christine
America Ferrara - Ugly Betty
Mary Louise-Parker - Weeds

Missing: Anna Friel - Pushing Daisies, Desperate Housewives ladies.
Should Win: Applegate.

A great list. I'm perfectly happy with it and would only exchange maybe Louise-Dreyfus for any of the "Missing" ladies. I know I'm an iconoclast in wanting Applegate to win, but she's seriously so hilarious on her show and worthy of an award for those comic skills. Again.

Outstanding Lead Actress, Drama

Sally Field - Brothers and Sisters
Glenn Close - Damages
Mariska Hargitay - Law and Order: SVU
Holly Hunter - Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer

Missing: A whole lot of actresses who no doubt other people will be mightily pissed off about.
Should Win: Close.

I'm very content with this list, but I could take or leave Hargitay or Hunter. Hargitay is merely competent on her show, and Hunter's only screened for a whopping two episodes here before being pulled. But this should be Close's to lose.

Outstanding Supporting Actor, Comedy

Jeremy Piven - Entourage
Kevin Dillon - Entourage
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson - The Office
Jon Cryer - Two and a Half Men

Missing: Michael Urie - Ugly Betty, Chi McBride - Pushing Daisies
Should Win: Patrick Harris.

Way to xerox last year's list, Emmy people. Patrick Harris should take this away, no questions asked. But he won't.

Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama

William Shatner - Boston Legal
Ted Danson - Damages
Zeljko Ivanek - Damages
Michael Emerson - Lost
Jon Slattery - Mad Men

Missing: Lots of Lost people, I'm sure.
Should Win: Ivanek.

In a complete turnaround, only one of these nominees are the same as last year. And the remaining ones are kind of awesome, from what I've seen of them. I'm hoping Ivanek wins this; he outran the others by miles. (Except maybe Danson, but I'm damned if I can't get past that forehead.)

Outstanding Supporting Actress, Comedy

Kristin Chenoweth - Pushing Daisies
Jean Smart - Samantha Who?
Amy Poehler - Saturday Night Live
Holland Taylor - Two and a Half Men
Vanessa Williams - Ugly Betty

Missing: Melissa McCarthy - Samantha Who?, Becki Newton - Ugly Betty, Elizabeth Perkins - Weeds, Jaime Pressley - My Name is Earl
Should Win: Chenoweth or Williams.

The amount of missing isn't because this is a bad shortlist. It's not. It's just that this is a very crowded category! Other than Poehler, who I hear is good and Taylor, who I also hear is good on that show; there are three amazing actresses there. I really hope this is the year that Williams takes it. Please let it be so.

Oustanding Supporting Actress, Drama

Candice Bergen - Boston Legal
Rachel Griffiths - Brothers and Sisters
Chandra Wilson - Grey's Anatomy
Sandra Oh - Grey's Anatomy
Diane Wiest - In Treatment

Missing: Patricia Wettig - Brothers and Sisters
Should Win: Any of them. All of them.

I saved the best for last. (I could've made that into a joke if I swapped this category with the previous. Anyway.) This is truly the only category where every one of these ladies deserves to win. And unlike in previous years, there's no spoilers here. Unless you count Diane Wiest as a spoiler, which I don't. The spoilers were Katherine Heigl and Blythe Danner. It looks like smooth sailing for one of these ladies, and I'm hoping it's Oh.

And there it is: I'm not predicting the Emmys this year, but I probably will be liveblogging them. And they look set to be at the very least itneresting!

A love letter to TotallyMac: Who notified me of the problem with my iPod, let me pay for it and fixed it within a night. You guys rock.

A weekly feature coming up soon. Stay tuned.

And comment on your Emmy thoughts!

Sunset Boulevard (1950), Pleasantville (1998) and Lust, Caution (2007)

Sunset Boulevard. Come on. Nothing I say is going to be anything new or different. Just watch it. A+

Pleasantville. A perfectly pleasant film. Har-har. But truthfully, that's what it is. Interesting and well-written/paced, but ultimately not an amazing film. B-

Lust, Caution. Now we have something to talk about. This, in my opinion, is head and shoulders above any other film of last year. Truly sublime and divine.

This film stands as one of the best in Ang Lee's oeuvre, only bested by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This has such an epic feel, yet I haven't heard it described as an epic. But, I feel that this is the first truly epic film to come out in years. The scale of it is seemingly huge, until those crucial final moments, and it encompasses such an important part in China's history.

Visually, while Lee is hardly the same master of mise-en-scene that Wong Kar-Wai or Zhang Yimou is, it captures the feel of the period and works so well with the film. Specail props has to be given to costume, make-up and score. Alexandre Desplat is one of those wholly underrated talents, and it's his score that carries the third act of the film, so quiet and makes it so much more.

Performances, my favourite part. Tang Wei has duly been given praise, and after my second viewing, is catapulted to my best female performance of last year, perhaps bested only by Tilda Swinton. She's in almost every scene and the only word I can use to describe it is telepathic. Truly amazing. As is Tony Leung, giving a performance that is in his top five easily (not an easy statement to make).

But, one performance that hasn't been given praise at all is Joan Chen. When I first heard about the movie, I assumed she was the star in it. Turns out, she wasn't. The movie doesn't seem quite interested in this very underrated Chinese actress, who gives such a lived-in and vibrant performance with really only a few scenes to her name, and none of which are that key or character-developing but her line deliveries are so good and she manages to create a character who is quite completely trivial and observant. Her final scene is taken away from her, pretty much; shot in a wide shot that almost obscures her face. But even with just a little gesture and inflection in her voice, she nails the part. I just wish the movie had more time in it's 158 slot for her.

Still, head and shoulders the best movie of last year. A+

It Happened One Night (1935) and Primary Colours (1998)

Two more movies! Fauxflix is enjoying their P movies.

It Happened One Night was the first movie to win the Big Five at the Academy Awards; quite deservingly. It is oneo f the few comedies from that period that has stood the test of time and continues to be much more successful as both a comedy and a film than supposed comeides these days. Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable have an insane amount of chemistry, one of the best pairings on film and it's a shame that they were never onscreen again. Both are very comically talented and are just divine, really. One of my all-time favourites. A+

Primary Colours is the satire/comedy of Bill Clinton's '92 Presidential campaign. Featuring an all-star cast with John Travolta, Emma THompson, Billy Bob Thornton and Kathy Bates; not to mention directed by one of my favourites, Mike Nichols; it is a very good film that stands as more than just a satire and as a genuinely good film and examination of the character of Jack Stanton, not Clinton. It's quite sharply written and staged with stellar performances from it's cast. My only sore spot is that it seems to lose a lot of life whenever Kathy Bates is offscreen; she gives the movie a breath of fresh air in one of her most accomplished performances and almost single-handedly carries the last act. Of note is Emma Thompson, who gives another emotionally-guarded yet barbed performance as Stanton's wife. Travolta gives a good performance, but his voice grates at times and I'm not sure if that's intentional or what. A very worthy watch. B+

Next: Angel (2007)

A Prairie Home Companion (2006), The Piano Teacher (2001) and You Can Count On Me (2000)

One movie I'm not quite sure what to make of; one movie I can't even put into words and one movie that I am quite fond of. None of these will be written about by me in any great length, because I am lazy today.

A Prairie Home Companion is a movie about the last taping of the radio show which also involves a few characters from the show. Does it really make sense? Nope. But that's not the point. This is a very pleasant film, with good performances, standouts being Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin. But the entire cast is good, including Lindsay Lohan in her first role not playing Lindsay Lohan. The only thing that I can put against it is that it sometimes seems to lose it's way and become muddled at some points and that it's really not up to the high standard that Altman set for himself. But not a bad swansong by any means. B-

The Piano Teacher is a movie that I can't even begin to talk about or evaluate in any great sense, other than that it is my favourite Haneke movie and my favourite Isabelle Huppert performance. And once you're done watching it; it's like a gut punch. Brilliant. A+

You Can Count On Me is a sweet film that lightly grazes against both comedy and drama and sits quietly between the two. Laura Linney gives my second favourite performance of hers (Mystic River is my favourite, but this would probably be her most accomplished) as Sammy Prescott; a single-mother who has to take care of her brother Mark Ruffalo. I've never been able to 'get' Ruffalo as an actor, and this movie is no exception. He just felt a little bit off for me, and that's the only thing I can cast against the movie, except maybe Matthew Broderick who hams it up in comparison to the other actors. But, very sweetly written and executed. A beautiful movie. B+

A Mighty Heart (2007) and Postcards from the Edge (1990)

Two movies. One that I think is one of the best movies to come out in the last few years; the other one of the most beloved in it's genre for me.

A Mighty Heart is about the story of Daniel Pearl; a journalist captured and murdered in Pakistan. It follows the investigation that goes into his kidnapping through to it's horrifying end. For me, this was an incredible movie. The key here is the editting; which makes it move along and an almost jarring speed, but in a very good way. It gives it quite a documentary-like perspective which works well for the subject matter. What's even more astounding that this seems to enhance the story and the performances.

The ensemble cast is very, very good with standouts being Jolie, obviously, Archie Panjabi and Irfan Khan. Angelina Jolie gives what I believe to be her best performance, conveying this woman and showing all facets of her quite effortlessly. Even the histrionics which come quite late in the picture really aren't that histrionic; which is probably served by the realism of it, and Winterbottom's apparent resistance to indulge in close-ups. How she got snubbed for an Oscar nomination is beyond me. Maybe they're all on Team Aniston.

This is an important film, in my opinion, and one that shouldn't have been as overlooked as it was. One of the best films of 2007, hands down and a unique one in both filming and execution. A/A+.

Postcards from the Edge is a straight-faced comedy where Meryl Streep plays a recovering drug addict and actress and Shirley Maclaine plays her mother. Hilarity ensues.

And while hilarity does indeed ensue, it's due to the talents of the above actresses, Carrie Fisher's incisive writing and Mike Nichols, director, that makes this movie as much of a success as it is. Streep gives her best performance of the 90s (with Death Becomes Her being a worthy contender) where she manages to be both effortlessly funny and heartbreaking. Shirley Maclaine is almost ridiculously funny, and though this may seem off in a few scenes, she really brings it home in the final scenes.

I wish I could say more about this movie, but I'm very glad to watch a comedy that isn't trying to be funny. It simply is funny, within the confines of a believable and compulsively watchable plot and performers. And that's a rarity. A-.

Next: The Piano Teacher (2001) and A Prarie Home Companion (2006)

A Semi-Defence: Elizabeth The Golden Age (2007)

I must say that I do like this film. I will say that unashamedly.

I also think that Cate Blanchett deserves her Oscar nomination for this movie.

I also think that the movie is sumptuous, campy and even though it's not sublte; it's still a good movie.

I love that Samantha Morton does so much with so little.

I love that I can watch this film with ease.

I am lazy with sentences today.

I like this film. B/B+

Away From Her (2007)

My second viewing of this movie and I'm still spellbound by it. That final scene just kills me all over; as does Julie Christie's. Having recently viewed La Vie En Rose and Away From Her together, I can honestly say that I have no preference over who won. Comparing the two performances is impossible for me.

Anyway. The rest of the movie. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I'm incredibly hyperbolic, but I don't care. No movie last year managed to evoke such a response from me emotionally as this one did. Every little elements come together to create this feeling of warmth; the amazing ensemble, the heartfelt writing and the art direction, which I didn't notice the sheer homeliness of, comes together perfectly. I love this movie. A+

All About Eve (1950) and Planet Terror (2007)

I do so like contrast.

All About Eve is one of my very favourite films, and there's not a lot that hasn't been said about it, so I'll keep this breif. It's one of the all-time movies, and I am continually surprised that a film this good and talky managed to win Best Picture. But, alas, it did.

I'm also surprised that Bette Davis didn't win Best Actress. Shocking, I know. But it is surprising. Her performance is one of the all-time greats; if not -the- great. Only Gloria Swanson should have stood a chance against her in the end. In saying that, Anne Baxter does give quite a good performance in this role and deserved her nomination. And the acting on the whole is overall great.

As is the writing. Is any film as quotable as this nowaways? Except maybe the aforementioned Sunset Boulevard. Indeed, they're both some of my favourites and I like to think of them as little companion pieces.

Anyway. See it. Like, yesterday. A+

Planet Terror is almost the opposite of All About Eve. It's pretty much trash. But it's trash that is soooo good. There's not much to say about this either, probably because I'm tired. But anyway. This has been the most fun I've had watching a DVD in some time. Very few movies nowadays make me giggle and gape in awe at how ridiculously awesome it is; and this film is one of those few.

Talking about the acting is sort of redundant, but everybody here gives performances that are more than serviceable and understand the exploitation genre. Particular note is given to Marley Shelton, who does shockingly well. Why doesn't she have more roles?

The only points that count against this movie are that it takes a fair while to get to it's over-the-top goodness and Quentin Tarantino being in front of the camera. This man should not be in front of a camera. Ever. He's not a talented actor and although I don't like to be superficial, he just doesn't look right. (This is not to disparage him behind a camera, for he is amazing behind the camera. Just stay there, Q. Please?)

Anyway. A very fun movie to watch. B+

Days of Being Wild (1991)

It's not really easy reviewing Wong Kar-Wai films, especially if you're a fan of them. But, alas, I'm going to try.

Days of Being Wild is another masterpiece of this amazing Hong Kong director. I don't think any actor currently working can extract such amazing performances from his entire cast consistently, without fail. Nor does any director use such almost manipulative cinematography to their advantage. It also helps that it's perfectly scripted. I can't really describe this as having any weak points; it's simply one of my favourites.

So, another masterpiece from Wong Kar-Wai. A+

Next: All About Eve

(It may seem like I'm being generous, but at the moment I'm being sent my favourite films over and over, which is probably why it seems like I'm being overly generous. But these really are some of my favourites.)

Happy Together (1997)

Reviewing a Wong Kar-Wai film is quite difficult for me. To me, it's just lots and lots of gushing about how great everything is and being completely unbalanced because you either love Wong Kar-Wai or you suck. There is no middle ground.

Anyhow. Great performances all around, with the standout as usual being Tony Leung. Cinematography up to the standard that Wong Kar-Wai and Christopher Doyle have set in the past, and raising the bar again. And the actual effect of the movie is devastating. One review I read described how much Hong Kong felt like home in those final scenes, and it really did feel like home. Something so warm and lovely that it's that feeling that lingers after the film.

Just watch it. It's Wong Kar-Wai. A+

Coming Soon: Days of Being Wild (1991)

Places in the Heart (1984)

I have no idea why this was on my queue. But Fauxflix has an odd habit of sending me a film I recently put on my queue rather than one really high up, which is why this film is on it (I was going through the films alphabeticatically. The other film they sent me was Happy Together. The huge disparity between the quality between the films is quite amusing.

What a piece of Oscar-baity claptrap. The only thing that works to save this movie is a relatively well-executed tornado sequence (which shows us how visually stunning ripping down an actual house can be). And everything else works against it. Convoluted plot, hackneyed performances from people who should have known better, brushing it themes across with broad strokes.

How this film won an Oscar for writing, let alone Best Actress (for a performance which is at best misread and at worst lazy) for previous winner Sally Field, I will never, ever know.

And nor do I want to. D.

You're Such A Pretty Thing When You're Done Up Properly

From Alanis Morissette's cheerily bitter Hands Clean. And the 'you' in question in my head is pretty regardless of whether He's done up properly.

Prince Who Is Too Good For An Acronym has been renamed to The Prince. 'Cause I'm lazy.

Speaking of which, I've never seem somebody wear a scarf better. Combined with the rather overwhelming blue of our uniform, it really made his skin POP.

And I just got a little bit closer to Carson Cressley.

And my last of the exams went freaking awesome.

Film Review: Hud (1963)

Fauxflix sent me this movie for some godforsaken reason. Not that it's a bad movie by any means, but I don't think it's even on my top twenty. Just somewhere rambling about in the 400+ films I have on my queue. Just in case they're all out.

Anyway! That aside, Hud was a very good film to watch. I don't think I quite understand the themes and symbolism in the movie, if there was any, but I think it'd be a very rich film to study for a film class or even a high school English class (over here we have a film topic. Or 'visual text', but everyone does film. Unless you're one of the poor sods who gets stuck with a magazine or something.)

The performances were all electrifying. I'm a little bit mystified at Patricia Neal's Best Actress win; not because it's a bad performance, it's an incredible performance and I'm surprised the Academy would notice such underplaying and sublety, but because it's quite clearly a supporting role. Mystifying!

The film succeeds on all levels of film making, which is a really lazy thing to say. The writing is clever, the cinematography is interesting, everything looks and sounds real. The film ultimately rests on Paul Newman, whether we believe him as Hud. And we do. It is, in my opinion, his very best performance in a stellar career. Why this didn't win him the Oscar is beyond me.

So, thus; the film resides at an A-.


Teenaged Squee Note: Didn't Lonnie look like Kristy Lee Cook?

SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN 1999

Come over to StinkyLulu's and see what the consensus was of performances of the year of 1999. Wow, that's a mouthful.

My own little comment on the nominees, though: This is probably the strongest year in recent memory, other than 2001 (excluding the blight of Connelly). It's also remarkable because all of these actresses were first time nominees and new blood to the Academy (well, except maybe Jolie who was technically old blood, but I'll let that slide.)

Anyway. To me, this was an incredibly strong year and the variations on opinion were both squee-inducing and heartbreaking to me. You'll find out which was which.

Now go, loyal reader(s)!

Film Review: Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005)

I enjoyed this movie a lot. I know it received a rather tepid response from critics, but I don't see it. What I see here is a visually impressive movie with some amusing lines and a great performance from Lee Young-Ae. And that red eyeshadow is simply one of the best iconic little details that I've seen since the haircut.

The first two thirds is quite an editting jump-around and is very important for the effect, I found. It simply makes that last half hour even more horrifying and uncomfortable to sit through; as it's so dull and quite implacable. And I'm not even going to try and understand what it says exactly about vengeance other than that it's a bad thing. This movie just left me like I'd just been gut-punched; especially that final scene which brings it all to a painful close. A very good closer to the Vengeance Trilogy. A

Film Reviews: Queen Margot (1994), In The Mood For Love (2001) and My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

Queen Margot. D+ My lord. I can't imagine how anybody could sit through this, but I managed do it. The only thing that keeps it from failing outrightly is Isabelle Adjani's performance. I'm bewildered as to why Virna Lisi got the Cannes Best Actress award; for actually being great, but nowhere near as film-carrying as Adjani was. And she can't carry a film this heavy and needlessly talky and boring.

In The Mood For Love. A+ This film is easy to sum up: Visually stunning, beautifully acted, heartbreaking. Another masterpiece from Wong Kar-Wai.

My Best Friend's Wedding. A- One of my favourite romantic comedies. Great performances all around, and I also love it for casting Julia Roberts in a not very likeable role and still making her likeable and for giving the whole breaking-up-marriage thing a whole new twist.

Performance Appreciation Day: Angelina Jolie in Alexander

Before you judge me for watching this movie, I was watching it while waiting for Dangerous Liaisons to come on. And I was interested on rewatching this performance of Jolie's. Don't misunderstand me; this is not a great performance. Not by a longshot. But it certainly is an interesting and fun one to watch. And undoubtedly the best part of it. She hams it up and it's well, kind of glorious to see her have fun with this role. Not a great performance or even a good one, but compulsively watchable and that's the best we can ask of a role that it written to be a harpy, shot to be a harpy and dressed like a harpy. And Jolie makes the best of it.

Family Guy: Blue Harvest (2007) & La Vie En Rose (2007)

Yay! Two movies.

Family Guy: Blue Harvest. Funny as usual, and it'll either get funnier on reviewing or slowly get less funny. The one thing that docks it down from being a truly worthy film is the really dull audio commentary. I don't know what it is about it, but I could barely stay attentive during it, whereas during most of their commentaries; I'm rapt with attention and laughing. Still, a worthwhile watch, but nothing groundbreaking. Visually, though. Wow. Nice. B.

La Vie En Rose. I liked this a lot, as well. The weakest part, in my opinion; is the first half hour or so, whenever Cotillard isn't onscreen. It tends to kind of sail a bit on actors that don't really have that much screen presence or aren't really allowed to do much. After that, it really powers on and Marion Cotillard gives what is already the performance of her career, and I don't think she'll be able to top it (Although I hope that she does, because that would be astounding.) While still verging on overacting, she manages to affect a lot of sublety and emotion within these huge moments. It's a great feat of actorly talent, and proof that you can be subtle and BIG at the same time.

A personal highlight for me is the 'Marcel' scene. Cinematography merges perfectly with Cotillard's performance as she sustains the scene and the emotional breakdown near the end of it is perfect. And she even nails the very subtle moments, like on the beach; using her voice to convey the emotion. A grand performance.

Of note is the cinematography and the editting. The way this is editted together makes it very interesting and comeplling. It doesn't matter what happened when, it just matters that this person is being illuminated fully, and that's what happens. The cinematography is also very interesting, not necessarily groundbreaking, but interesting throughout.

Sylvie Testud also gives a great performance that can sometimes be overshadowed by Cotillard, which isn't her fault at all. She has one scene that she can call her own, which she nearly steals from under the rug. A very good performance, as well.

And that cameo of Caroline Silhol is just some camp for us to enjoy, I think.

An illuminating and emotionally gripping biopic spearheaded by an amazing tour-de-force from Marion Cotillard. B+

Together We're Both Alone And We're All Fine

Loving my life right now.

I'm going to start semi-reviews weekly now. Coming sometime this week: Family Guy - Blue Harvest and La Vie En Rose. (Thanks go to Fauxflix. Sorry, I mean: DVD Unlimited.)

And I got crazy awesome marks in a good deal of my subjects.

And Guy Who Is Too Good For An Acronym still deserves that title. I think I'll change Guy to Prince, though. Just because. Also: He's one of those who looks awesome from a distance, then mindblowing close up.

And isn't Nicole Atkins, writer of Together We're Both Alone (where the blog title post comes from) just DARLING?

Yes. Yes she is.

Posting frequently soon.