OMG!! It’s Winter and getting colder, darker earlier and the Summer Sillies are gone. Now it’s time for some grown-up movies at last. There are some really good ones already out and coming up.
If course we loved JULIE & JULIA. Meryl Streep as Julia Child can do no wrong-ever. She not only sounded like Julia Child but even looked like her and that’s a stretch. Another award-winning actress playing a well known figure is Hilary Swank as the first female aviatrix, Amelia Earhart. She was wonderful but, unfortunately, her material wasn’t. Another amazing actress is Carrie Mulligan in the British film AN EDUCATION, where a young girl is smitten with a fast-living older man in ‘60s London. Two more lovely British films featuring women in the leads which, unfortunately didn’t last long, are Jane Campion’s BRIGHT STAR with beautiful Abbie Cornish as the young girl who falls in love with her neighbor. Poet John Keats, in this beautiful period piece; and Audrey Tautau in COCO BEFORE CHANEL.
PRECIOUS is an Oprah Winfrey/Tyler Perry-produced film about a severely obese pregnant Harlem teenager who tries to overcome impossible odds to find a chance to live a new life. Good heartwrenching, uplifting story with a cast of stars playing unbelievably unrecognizable roles. Sandra Bullock stars in and produces THE BLIND SIDE, about befriending a poor, young African American kid and helping him with school and becoming a football star; it’s from a true story. So much for women’s films.
More adult films: BROKEN EMBRACES, a Pedro Almodovar film starring Penelope Cruz is a beauty and a must-see. Just to say that this is in flashback doesn’t do this beautifully sensitive film justice. It deals with jealousy and revenge and is excellent. Cruz is gorgeous, and watch for Jose Luis Gomez, her leading man. Fine actor, good looking Spaniard we should see more of. A SINGLE MAN with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore during the Cuban missile crisis. In BROTHERS, another film for adults, a missing Marine in Afghanistan is believed dead, and his brother cares for his wife and children. Stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire. INVICTUS is a true story of how Nelson Mandela gets involved in South Africa’s rugby team. Morgan Freeman stars in this Clint Eastwood-directed movie.
Now for the extremely popular scary ones- even the animated kid films, the Christmas ones, are scary. The Disney classic, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG; PLANET 51, about alien invasions (for kiddies?); FANTASTIC MR. FOX, with George Clooney and Meryl Streep; A CHRISTMAS CAROL, in which Jim Carrey plays multiple roles. It’s in 3-D animation. Then we have ALVIN AND THE CHIPMONKS, THE SEQUEL, more animation. Hold on to your seats, kiddies or your Mom’s arm.
Ready for more? Blood-sucker, spine curdling, alien vampire films are: THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON is already a box-office blockbuster with hunky Taylor Lautner giving Robert Pattinson some competition; PLANET 51 with little green people; James Cameron’s AVATAR has humanoids in this sci-fi epic; THE FOURTH KIND has more aliens; 2012 is another disaster picture starring John Cusack, where the world ends! THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS is Heath Ledger’s last film about a deal with the devil. Also stars Colin Farrell, Jude Law and Christopher Plummer. Had enough? The original DRACULA was the best of ‘em all.
Now, I’m waiting for two films to come out before the year ends and the hubbub for Academy Awards hoopla starts. They are SHERLOCK HOLMES with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law and the Broadway hit musical NINE (which starred Antonio Banderas on stage) and now stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a world-famous film director as he tries to balance the numerous women in his life. They are a bevy of stars; Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren. It’s inspired by Fellini’s 8 ½.
Wow! Enough movies? Are you ready for legit stage?
See my next post. Have a wonderful Holiday and a very Happy New Year.
XOXO Harriette
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