RIP, Wonderful Wilder

I just read that Gene Wilder passed away today. He was 83, older than I expected. For some reason I always supposed he wasn't much older than me, probably because the work of his I've mostly seen was from the 70s and 80s. I have the impression in later life, before he was assailed by Alzheimers, that he enjoyed a lovely retirement, playing the tennis he loved and visiting France or other favourite countries. Most of what I knew about this wonderful actor was through his late wife Gilda Radner's autobiography, It's Always Something (a line she used to great effect with her SNL character Roseanne Rosanneadanna, and a favourite line of mine). Anyway, in this memoir Gilda relates her battle with cancer, one she ultimately lost. She describes her initial attraction to Wilder, finding him funny, smart, athletic and handsome.

Yes, all those things. Those stunning blue eyes, that crazy hair. And the on-screen persona that veered between tender sweetness and barely contained hysteria that I found so irresistible.

According to his nephew's statement, Wilder didn't suffer the worst kind of Alzheimer's, but still he chose to keep his illness private, not wanting to deny his fans the memory of him at his best.

I loved The Silver Streak, and the not-so-well-known The Frisco Kid (with a very young Harrison Ford). One of my favourite films of all time is Young Frankenstein. It's beautifully filmed in black and white, wonderfully funny, with Wilder often playing his role quite straight, while the rest of the cast belongs on the vaudeville stage. What a contrast - thanks Mel Brooks!

I only saw The Producers a few years ago, well after discovering Young Frankenstein. One rather sexy afternoon, I watched it in bed with the man who introduced me to the film. Laughter is the best aphrodisiac. And Zero Mostel and Wilder were just... perfect.

There will have to be a tribute evening this coming Labour Day Weekend. I've got some delicious brisket from Montreal, a gift from some good friends. I think we'll steam that up and toast the wonderful Mr. Wilder.

Perhaps Something for Everyone

Some film...

Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One in, 2008)

"I'm twelve, but I've been twelve a long time." (Lina Leandersson as Eli)

The terrors of childhood are felt sharply in this Swedish film about a 12-year-old boy whose new neighbour is a young vampire girl. It's a hell of a life: his parents are divorced, he's being bullied cruelly at school, and he's living through a seemingly endless Swedish winter in an ugly suburban apartment block. His new friend is having a bad time of it too, and wreaking some bloody havoc. Director Tomas Alfredson (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 2011) directs the young actors in natural and heartbreaking performances. There's some appropriate but tough-to-take gruesomeness. But this film is so worth catching.


Captain Phillips (2013)

"Someone give this guy a hug!" (BPG)

Based on a true story, Tom Hanks plays a freighter captain whose vessel is boarded by Somali pirates. You've probably heard how gripping it is, and it is... with a relentless soundtrack and a gritty, realistic look. I was warned I might not enjoy it, with my vertigo and all, seeing as they're bobbing on the ocean the entire time. Weirdly it wasn't a problem, and I was moved and thrilled, ultimately saddened for all the characters. /// SPOILER WARNING! /// The pirates themselves were ultimately tragic, victims themselves of despots, even though I wanted to throttle them. But my lasting feeling was - for God's sake - couldn't someone put their arms around Captain Phillips at the end? The guy in the rescue boat? The medic on the carrier? Come on!!!


Elysium (2013)

"I really need to see Blue Jasmine." (BPG)

The premise was pretty cool, and the special effects were great. I'll see Matt Damon in anything. That's the good part. The not so good part: Jodie Foster, who has always been excellent, maybe had something interesting in mind, but it turns out to be the worst acting job I've seen in a long time. I'm not sure what her accent was... I thought, well, perhaps it's some futuristic mid-Atlantic, French-accented thing. It didn't work for me. Plot holes... lots of them. A drawn-out ending that had me writhing in my seat. But like I said: Matt Damon.


Some television...

The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)

This excellent series is having its North American television premiere on TCM. Irish film maker Mark Cousins is behind this very personal and compelling story of film. Instead of using a professional voice over artist, he narrates the series himself, in a lulling dreamy Ulster accent. At first it took me by surprise, but I'm quite addicted to it now. This documentary is a real work of art, and tells the story not just of western cinema, but cinema all over the world. If you are fascinated by film, this is for you.


The Walking Dead (2013)

The first episode of season four exceeded all my expectations. I've become used to the rather slow, two-hour set up episodes that start each Mad Men season, and I was expecting something of the same here. Instead I was pinned to the sofa in horror as this clever, terrifying, thoughtful and gruesome episode made me wonder if I could handle any more. Let's see how I manage next Sunday. As for Talking Dead, the post-show round up seems a bit long now at an hour. I'd rather they went back to half an hour but lost some of the unnecessaries, like the poll.



Some theatre...

Schiller's Mary Stuart has been one of the big Stratford Festival hits this year. Added performances meant we managed to get in, which I'm so happy about as all the fuss was well deserved. The play is a great read (I first read it when the Canadian Opera Company did Maria Stuarda a few seasons ago). It came to life in full force with a cast of Stratford favourites: powerhouses Seana McKenna as Queen Elizabeth, Lucy Peacock as Mary Stuart and a great supporting case including Ben Carlson, Geraint Wyn Davies, and Brian Dennehy. The stage sizzled through the magnificent royal cat fight and I couldn't have asked for anything more... except for the awfulness of the seating in the Tom Patterson Theatre. Each year I try and avoid this venue, not for the stage which is a thrust stage and works well, but for the terrible audience conditions. As this isn't a theatre year round (it's a badminton court at other times I think), it has temporary bleacher type seating, and regular chairs, not flip-up theatre chairs, so there's no getting in or out of your row unless your whole row is ready to leave. How no-one has not toppled into a lower row and broken their neck is beyond me. The other two stages are fantastic of course, it's just this one venue I try and skirt... but when the offering is as good as Mary Stuart... I go along with it. Grrr.

Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit played at the Avon, at which I'd seen Tommy a couple of weeks earlier. We had great seats, about fifth row centre, and it was a Sunday matinee on a grey, rainy afternoon. Nothing could have been more charming than to settle into those seats and be swept up in the silly, sunny goings on in a beautiful English country house which is about to be shaken up - literally - by an wacky medium and a saucy spirit. As happens in a large festival company, scheduling dictates that actors often work together in two or three different shows in a season, so Seana McKenna, so magnficently glamorous and dangerous as Qieen Elizabeth the night before, was a wonderfully goofy and eccentric Madame Arcati, the medium who is about to discover how good her powers are. Ben Carlson, the previous night's conniving Lord Burleigh, was Charles, the master of the house, and James Blendick, Paulet in Mary Stuart, was an unsuspecting guest at dinner.

Funny aside: I've told my friend M how several years ago I was at the ballet when I sat in front of some very small, old ladies. They were concerned at my height and told me "Honey, we can't see past your head - you're blocking the WHOLE STAGE!" I felt this was slightly exaggerated but slumped down in my seat, at which point they both patted one of my shoulders and thanked me. On this occasion, we took our excellent seats and I heard a husband behind me say to his wife, "Do you want to switch seats with me again?" M nearly burst out laughing, and - to diffuse the hysterical laughter bubbling up in me -  I turned and said, "It's okay, I know I'm tall and have a big head... I'll slump a bit." They were very sweet and somewhat embarrassed. We all had a good laugh and later they assured me they had seen the whole thing. On both occasions I had been seated near the front where - traditionally - seats are not sloped, so it does make seeing past heads tricky. And in case you're wondering, no my head is not that big, I mean, it's not like I'm encephalitic or something!


On a side note...

There comes an interesting point in life where there are experiences you don't need to go through again. I have to admit, one of those is seeing Handel's Messiah. It's beautiful and it's long. But I don't have the attention span for long, static performances... HOWEVER, that all changed when I heard that this blog's favourite small, rogue opera compay, Against the Grain, is performing it this December. The performers will sing from memory. There's a choreographer. They claim that this isn't your grandma's Messiah but that she would love it too. It's restricted to people 19 and older (I think it has something to do with the drinking allowed onsite). 'Nuff said. If it's anything like anything like this fantastic group has done before, I have to see it. Read more here. Tickets are still available.


Some opera...

That preamble was my set up for the Canadian Opera Company's production of La Bohème. The connection is that Bohème is one of those pieces I've seen many, many, many times. Do I need to see it again? Well... in this case, yes. Conductor Carlo Rizzi made it sound like I'd never heard it before - fresh and energetic and romantic and lush. More so than I'd ever heard. The cast were perfectly cast, young, talented. Director John Caird made it all very real. I shed copious tears, those hot, splashing tears that scald your cheeks. Ahhh... it felt good, as only a great opera can. And tickets are still available for this one too, but there are only two weeks left of performances.

Peter Grimes, as mentioned here, also a must-see.

BPG Midsummer 2013 Movie Awards

Most Incomprensible

The Angel's Share (2012)

"What did he just say?" (BPG)

The Angels' Share (2013) is a film by Ken Loach, famous for subtitling a film or two of his as their regional accents make them mostly incomprehensible for anyone not from England, or not even from the region. This movie is set in Scotland, and I wish they'd subtitled it. The Glaswegian is such that I got about 20 percent of the words but comprehended about two thirds of what was being said. A young man, at serious risk, fathers a child and tries to go straight... with the help of single malt scotch. Enough said. I suggest renting this on DVD and using the subtitles, which are always included in English to help those with hearing trouble. This will help! On the acting side, it's all excellent, with special stand outs being John Henshaw and real-life scotch guru Charles MacLean as... a scotch guru.



Only Film of the Year I Watched Twice in the Cinema

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
"Damn it, man, I'm a doctor, not a torpedo technician!" (Karl Urban as Bones)

I saw it again after the 3D disaster. This time it was in 2D. Ahhhhhh, much better. LOVED IT.



Most Incredible Waste of Talent, Money, and Two Hours I'll Never get Back

Now you see me (2013)

"The more you look, the less you see." (Jesse Eisenberg as J. Daniel Atlas)

I don't have enough time left on this planet to figure out what went wrong with this one.



Movie in Which Brad Pitt Makes me a Fan at Last

World War Z (2013)

"If you can fight, fight. Be prepared for anything. Our war has just begun." (Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane)

The AMC series Walking Dead gave me a certain vision of zombies and how they might operate. World War Z blows that shambling, groteque nightmare out of the water, with a portrayal of super-zombies who move fast and furious. They are TERRIFYING. I screamed out loud at least once during this movie. No, I`m not talking about a little squeak, I mean a scream. My friend Barbara and I were clutching each other`s hands more than once. The cast is all excellent, and Brad Pitt of course single-handedly pretty much saves the world (what, really, you needed a spoiler warning? OF COURSE HE DOES - THIS IS HOLLYWOOD... and he looks weathered and strained, rather like Harrison Ford used to before he just got sort of grumpy). I was too busy being frightened to notice if there were any holes in the plot of inconsistencies. Come on! It`s a zombie movie! Perfect movie if you like a clingy date, like yours truly.



Most Poetic and Haunting Film of the Year, and of Many Other Years

Wings of Desire (1987)

"Last night I dreamt of a stranger... of my man. Only with him could I be alone, open up to him, wholly open, wholly for him. Welcome him wholly into me. Surround him with the labyrinth of shared happiness. I know... it's you." (Solveig Dommartin as Marion)

I was well overdue to see this again. Angels over Berlin listen, unseen, to the thoughts of people of the city. One angel (Bruno Ganz) yearns to be mortal, to feel physically and emotionally what it is to be human, and to love the object of his devotion, an unhappy trapeze artist played by Solveig Dommartin (who died tragically young in 2007 at 45). The film was shot by Henri Alekan, who made - among other films - the breathtakingly beautiful and surreal La Belle et la Bête (1946).



Most Haunting Score

The Woman in White (1948)

Based on Wilkie Collins' 1860 mystery novel, this film distinguishes itself for me by the most haunting score. Composed by the legendary Max Steiner, it incorporates English melodies, including the gorgeous Pavana: The Earl of Salisbury by William Byrd (which is uncredited). The impressive cast includes Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, Gig Young, Agnes Moorehead and a deliciously evil Sydney Greenstreet.



Most Very Overdue to be Discovered

Before Midnight (2013)

"Well, it must be one hell of a night we're about to have." (Juliette Delpy as Celine)

For years, family and friends whose opinions I held dear had told me about the first two films in this trilogy, Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004). This now-trilogy is a project that has developed over 19 years with director Richard Linklater and actors Ethan Hawke and Juliette Delpy (both actors are credited with co-writing the last two films with Linklater). So what's it about? In the first film, Jesse (Hawke), a young American man, boards a train travelling to Prague, and encounters a young French woman (Delpy), Celine. They begin talking. They get off the train and keep talking all night. I won't say anything else, just that these three films are uniquely fresh and captivating, with all the charm of discovery and youth in the first, and... well, I just don't want to say anything else. Just that I hope you'll see them if you haven't. The films have been made nine years apart, and so we are growing with those characters. It's reminiscent of the brilliant Up series. Hawke and Delpy are phenomenal. I just hope there'll be another one... I think.



Film That Made me Most Want to go Back to one of my Motherlands

The Trip (2010)

"Death is but a moment... Cowardice is a lifetime of affliction." (Steve Coogan as himself)

 Deliciously funny, as everyone probably already knows (I'm often behind the times), British comics and impersonators Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon travel around Britain out-impersonating each other, trying out restaurants and hotels in the Lake District and other gorgeous parts of England, and being generally brilliant. I read they're doing another one in Italy... this time I won't wait three years.

I Love These Guys

Quote of the Day

"Unless you love, your life will flash by."

From The Tree of Life (2011)

Top Ten Things I Learnt From old Movies

10. Cigarettes smell and taste really good, especially when Paul Henreid lights two at a time and hands one to me.

9. My living room will always be two steps lower than the rest of my elegant home.

8. I should never try using a gun to defend myself. All I'll do is cry and tremble as evil Richard Widmark approaches me and takes it away with a contemptuous sneer. Then he'll probably kiss me and I'll be too frightened/in love to fight him off, except perhaps for a few weak blows of my fists on his shoulders before my hands slide around his back. clutching him to me passionately.

7. When I travel or move, one small cream-coloured valise is all I'll need to transport several evening gowns, a clutch of day outfits, eight pairs of shoes with matching purses, some smart hats, all my important documents and every other toiletry accoutrement you can imagine. If I need two cases, I can hold the handle of one in my hand, while the other sits easily under my arm - they're just so light! My matching train case will carry all else, including the secret government documents in the hidden bottom.

6. There will always be an available parking space for my enormous convertible, right in front of the building I'm about to enter.

5. If I become terminally ill, I will never look more beautiful, and my decline and death will be gentle and pain free.

4. 100% of the population will often feel gay and certainly look mighty swell.

3. Breaking into a pre-rehearsed song and dance routine, accompanied by full orchestra, will be a daily feature of my life.

2. I can walk in high heels forever and still smile like an angel.

and...

1. All my dreams will come true, and I'll live in perfect bliss with Cary Grant in our cottage for ever and ever.

She Reigns Supreme

Is there anything Helen Mirren can't do? I say this about Meryl Streep too. Wow, can you imagine them in something together?

I saw the National Theatre Live in HD broadcast of The Audience. This starred Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II over several decades during her weekly private meetings with her prime ministers. The author of the play is Peter Morgan, who also wrote the screenplay for The Queen (2006), for which Mirren won the Oscar.

As predicted, the performance was fabulous. Mirren's quick changes of look, from 80-year-old monarch to 26-year-old monarch and so forth, got the audiences' approval. I was moved by the passage of time, the lessons learned, the characters that came and went. It's being repeated in cinemas around this time I believe, so there's still time to catch this show. Although I understand it's coming to Broadway too, so there you go!

Image "borrowed" from the National Theatre's site.

A Great Day With the Best Dad

Father's Day was so much fun. We started off the morning with croissants, tea and coffee in L'Espresso Bar Mercurio, a blog favourite, which now has a vintage Fiat 500 right inside the front entrance.





Then we headed to the Bata Shoe Museum as my dad had never been there. Amazing items! There was a beautiful exhibition of Matteo Brogi's photographs of people and their shoes, some famous, some not, only photographed from their knees down, often in their place of work.

Then onto the displays. The earliest shoe was in fact a reproduction (there are very few of those in the museum). This was the shoe of the Ötzi man (c 3300 BC). The description read: "The sole of this replica shoe, like the original, is made of bearskin, the upper is of deerskin and the internal 'cage' is of twined linden bark. The shoe is padded with grass for insulation. During field tests, it was found that the shoe was comfortable, did not give the wearer blisters and was effective in temperatures of -5 to -10 degrees C." That shoe is seen below, top row, middle. To the right of it is a (Chinese I think) overshoe that was worn to stomp down the snow around a dwelling. It came right up the leg, almost like wearing a straw barrel.

The bottom image illustrates Dutch "klompen" which sounds even more endearing than "clogs." The three shown were worn by a woman from Marken in the 19th century. From left to right: her intricately carved wedding clogs, her decoratively painted clogs for church, and her somber clogs for funerals.

There were other amazing examples of shoes through history and the excellent displays told us somethings we already knew, that the evolution of sumptuous high heels were to indicate that the wearer was wealthy and had no need to work physically; and some things we didn't, such as the fact that reptile skin became popular during the World War II years because it wasn't a material that was affected by war-time needs or rationing.

Then it was celebrity shoe time! Here are some of my favourites: Top row from left to right: shoes worn by Marilyn Monroe (red), Elizabeth Taylor (silver), Judy Garland (in The Harvey Girls), James Stewart, and - on the far right - Queen Victoria's dancing shoes. They were tiny! In the bottom row there are the ballet slippers of Dame Margot Fonteyn (Nureyev's were beside hers and his were remarkably small) and the simplest shoes of all, a pair of plastic flipflops belonging to the current Dalai Lama. And yes, photography is allowed, but not flash.

Last time I was on Bloor at Bay we ran into a pot protest. This time the road was closed down for the Yorkville Exotic Car Show. Niiiiiice. Among the Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches, there was a stunning red Bentley convertible (middle row) which had us both drooling.
 

We made our way through the crowds for lunch at Lee Chen (still a blog favourite) and then to the Varsity to see Much Ado About Nothing (2012, below). Filmed in black and white over 12 days in director Joss Whedon's own California home, I suspect this film will be either loved or hated. Purists might bristle. I didn't. The setting is entirely contemporary and the language suffers only a little from editing and the casual way in which it is spoken. But that very natural delivery is part of the charm and proof that Shakespeare is timeless, relevant and magical. The very goofyness of the Hero plot is not important. The intent and the emotions are beautifully put forward. The actors are attractive but believeable. The comedy is very downplayed, and the imagery is ravishing, leaving me in a dreamy state.

All in all, a great day. But none of it inspires my gratitude more than the man who inspired the day. Thanks, Pop, for being the very best! I love you very much.

Still below from Much Ado About Nothing.

Okay, Now I'm Scaring Myself

It's a theory not universally considered (well, really just by me) that once I was going to start reading again, I wouldn't stop.

Last November, in another attempt to read a complete book, I started The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. I was on a train. I was full of good intentions (never a good sign). I didn't get past the first couple of pages.

Last Friday, also on a train, I finished the book... that I had started MERE DAYS PREVIOUSLY.

*seated dance of mojo-reclaiming triumph*

What has also returned to me, along with the ability to read an entire book, is a sense of relaxation, an ability to be constructively lazy. I think Tom Hodgkinson (secret boyfriend numero uno) would be proud. I like to think he would.

As for the book, it's a tender, delicious read, and I imagine it would be very enjoyable to those who haven't read Jane Austen (or at least seen the movies). But if you have, the threads that tie the book club members to Austen's tales are well woven and fun to recognize. I saw bits of the movie on television one night, and I suppose the most noticeable difference is that the characters are much younger in the movie than the book. Oh, there's a shocker.

*middle-aged smirk*

BPG Winter 2013 Movie Awards

///UPDATED, because I forgot Lincoln!///

Again, this is a mixture of newly released and... newly discovered. This post is long overdue.


Least Annoying Supernatural Teen Romance Flick of the Past Few Years, Although That's not Saying Much

Beautiful Creatures (2013)

Lena: Ethan promise me one thing; it will be a perfectly normal human date.
Ethan: I swear. I won't even call you after the date.
Lena: Jerk.
Ethan: Witch

What do I remember about this? It's a supernatural teen love movie (ever heard of one of those?), which proves yet again that most British actors can't do good American-South accents. In this one it's the usually magnificent Jeremy Irons (who plays the teen witch's scenery-chewing dad), although I think the award for all-time worst southern accent goes to Charles Dance in China Moon (1994). With an impressive cast featuring Viola Davis, Emma Thompson and Eileen Atkins, the actress who plays Lena is Alice Englert, who happens to be Jane Campion's daughter. She's engaging and beautiful but not cookie-cutter, and I so wish she had been cast in the next movie I saw...


Movie Most Supportive of the Notion That When Something is in a Different Language, I cut it a lot of Slack

En kongelig affære  (A Royal Affair, 2012)

Based on the true story of the love affair between the wife of Christian VII of Denmark (1749 – 1808) and his doctor, this movie provided us with the most oohs and aaahs as we delved into our iPhones after the movie had ended. So much of it was based on history that I knew nothing about. That was interesting. Obviously it's a period movie, and it was stunningly art directed and filmed. But Alicia Vikander as the queen was cast obviously for her lovely face and her wan expression. I wish an actress like Alice Englert had been cast instead, someone with some range and fire. I think Vikander's blandness would have translated even worse had it been in English. Sometimes the removal of a different language and an unknown history lends a certain alluring mystery to something that otherwise would appear fairly ordinary. And on that note...


Most Pleasing Depiction of Piercingly-Blue-Eyed, Tanned, Almost-Naked men Laying Around and Squinting into the Relentless Sun

Kon-Tiki (2012)

Torstein: Why are you feeding the sharks our tomato soup?

Well, let me explain right off the bat. Kon-Tiki was filmed simulataneously in Norwegian and in English. So each scene was shot twice. This move was apparently made to secure international funding. I would never watch a dubbed movie (ironic purposes or drinking games aside) but this wasn't dubbed. However, I wish I'd had the option in Toronto to see it in Norwegian and subtitled. I can't help thinking that, for the lead actor, especially, it would have provided a little more emotional range. That actor is Pål Sverre Hagen and he played Thor Heyerdahl (1914 - 2002) who sailed his famous balsa-wood raft from Peru to Polynesia to support his theory that those islands were settled from the east and not from the west.

The production values are fantastic. Brooklyn of the 1940s is depicted with great care and obviously a great amount of money went into this. No wonder the producers wanted serious international backing. There are many heart-stopping moments (I was with my mother and grasped her hands many times, squealing in terror), and also plenty of delicious ones, as toned, tanned Norwegian or Swedish men, named Bengt, Erik, Thor and Knut (love those names!) lay around in the sun-baked doldrums of the Pacific Ocean. Truly, this film gives a great insight into the very fears they must have faced alone with no modern technology in the middle of that vast water. I highly recommend this film, in English or Norwegian.


Second-Whitest Makeup Used on an Actress

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Byer: Jason Bourne was just the tip of the iceberg. 

I can't agree. Matt Damon as Jason Bourne was the iceberg. Jeremy Renner does a great job following up an unforgettable portrayal and the movie retains most of the stylish, timeless thriller atmosphere. A relief that David Strathairn is in it as my dad and I have a running gag about how we love it when he comes into the ops room or whatever and demands a 20-block lockdown. Also, David Strathairn is my secret boyfriend, just as Rachel Weisz is my secret girlfriend, and she's the female interest in the movie (but has some seriously overly white make-up on in the first few scenes at her house). Okay, so Jeremy Renner might not have taken off his shirt quite as often as a certain dear friend indicated to me (I'm looking at you Ms B!), but it was still nice when he did.


Most Eagerly Anticipated Movie of the Spring Which Got Ruined by Lousy 3D Side Effects

Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)

G: Yeesh, no more 3D for me!

Oh, how I wish I could you tell you more! Eagerly, I ordered my tickets weeks in advance, going for the 3D option. How excited we were as the cinema filled on opening night last Friday! How queasy we were not too far in, from the camera movement and the 3D lousiness! My companion M had to leave for a few minutes to settle his stomach. I had to take off my 3D glasses and watch the second half in blurriness. I think it was a really good movie, although it lacks the sweet surprises of discovering the new cast that we enjoyed in the previous film of this iteration. Sigh. Can't really say much else, except Benedict Cumberbatch is as strong as he always is. I might see it again to catch what I missed. Or I might not.


Most breathtaking art direction
Lincoln (2012)

Lincoln: Hmm. I reckon it's the speed that's strange to me. I'm used to going at a deliberate pace.

I know my pace, and I know my sleep patterns and how much snooze I need. But when, after a fantastic big Chinese meal, my friend suggested that we were certainly not too old to attend a 10:30 p.m. viewing of a movie, I was up for it! Except, I sort of wasn't. Chinese food + a dark, comfortable cinema = nap. Three naps. So I didn't see all of Lincoln. What I loved: THE CAST. Look them up - they were all superb. Also, the art direction was stunning. It didn't fall into the old Merchant-Ivory trap of making everything look the way we wished it had, the way we might imagine a previous time through our own romanticized glasses. I had a great sense of truth in the look, apart from the golden glow that always seemed to be shining in through drawn curtains, but that is a small detail. And all the other small details were brilliant, including - of course - Daniel Day Lewis's make up. Between that and his acting, it was an eerie recreation. My only quibble in the movie was the saintly aura in which Lincoln seemed to exist, and - with that brilliant makeup - it made him seem slightly apart. This might have been purposeful, but I didn't enjoy it. I relish a portrayal that is warts-and-all, one which shows the faults against which truly great people have to do their own personal battles. Of course, maybe that was in the movie and I slept through it. I'll see it again some time.


Most Friendship-Affirming and Most Likely to Make me Still Want to Live in a Repurposed Space

The Station Agent (2003)

Finbar: You said you weren't going to talk to me if I sat here, Joe.Joe: I haven't said anything in like twenty minutes.
Finbar: Nine.
Joe: You timed me?
Finbar: Mm-hmm.
Joe: That's cold, bro.

I always think this movie just came out about a year ago. I've been meaning to see it since it came out in 2003. It's scary how that time flew. This is a rare movie that I will want to see repeatedly. It's about the unexpected friendships and unexpected places that we might call home. In this case, an abandoned railway station. I've always harboured a dream to live in a home that has been repurposed from some other use. This movie is a gem.


Most Worth the Wait... But why did I Wait so Long???

The Producers (1968)

Roger De Bris: Ah, Bialystock and Bloom, I presume! Heh heh, forgive the pun!
Leo Bloom [to Max] What pun?
Max Bialystock: Shut up, he thinks he's witty. 

Yes, it's taken me this long to see it. What can I say? Brilliantly funny, with a cast that I can't imagine being excelled. Zero Mostel's great sad eyes and lugubrious face are such a perfect foil to Gene Wilder's neurotic twitchiness. I loved it. Last Sunday PBS aired a special on director Mel Brooks' career as part of the American Masters series. It was fascinating. The man is incorrigible, and so achingly funny. If you can catch this documentary, it's a great insight into the tortured, driven pysche of a true original. And it never occured to me that the bean-eating, farting scene in Blazing Saddles really paved the way for the vulgar humour that was to follow in film. Thanks, Mel! No, really, thanks. :) Of course he is much more than that. Young Frankenstein remains one of my top twelve.


Movie That Most had me Expecting Less Than Nothing, but Caused me to Come Away Pleasantly Surprised.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Gandalf: I'm looking for someone to share an adventure.

I was miffed to discover on opening night (I had tix all lined up with my three good movie pals), that The Hobbit had been made into three movies, which reeked to me of a cash grab... and that the extremely high-resolution film of this first instalment actually showed up the flaws in the sets and props. After a fun dinner at our favourite Giorgio's, we got in line for The Hobbit - and I had a great time! Yes, it's a bit slow, but there's lots of interesting stuff to look at. Yes that final chase scene in the caves was ridiculous and overlong but I'll be back to see the other two instalments, hopefully with the same little movie gang.


Most Unexpected and Haunting Sci-Fi Action Thriller

Looper (2012)

Abe: This time travel crap, just fries your brain like a egg...

This is why I need to blog more regularly. I saw this many months ago. So, yes, I've lost a lot of detail, but it stayed with me more than most movies. I believe it's the first science-fiction film to open the Toronto International Film Festival, and I suppose that's saying something about it, something about its thoughtfulness and a certain unexpected demand of the brain. Time travel is tricky. How to make sense of the effects of time, of being in the same moment as yourself from the future, or the past. God... imagine if you could meet yourself from another time, which would it be? I'll think on that later, although my immediate response would be to meet myself from the future, to learn from mistakes I am most apt to make, to try and avoid them. I'm intrigued by time travel, and rarely miss an opportunity to indulge in the many filmic and literary fantasies that explore it. Looper has some major spoiler opportunities, so I won't say much, just that the concept is fascinating, the acting is sharp, Emily Blunt (one of this blog's favourites) is riveting, and fine prosthetic work on Joseph Gordon-Levitt's nose goes a long way to making the story work.


Best Movie of the Year to Reference the Icelandic Sagas (and therefore Wagner's Ring Cycle)... oh Hell, it's just the Best Movie of the Year - Period

Django Unchained (2012)

Django: The D is silent.

Another great Tarantino, in this case a passionate, funny, gobsmacking, brutally violent homage to the spaghetti western, complete with rapid zoom shots, cheesy 60s music and a cameo by Franco Nero. Jamie Foxx is relentlessly virtuosic and intense in the lead role of a slave searching for his wife. Christoph Walz is overwhelmingly charming as his German companion who buys Django's freedom. One of the best movies of the year and a powerful hero quest. Unless you can't handle any sort of violence, SEE IT!


Whitest Make-up Used on an Actress... Plus Movie I Most Didn't Expect to Like, but I did, but I Sort of Wish I Didn't

Black Swan (2010)

Beth: Perfect? I'm not perfect. I'm nothing.

I didn't expect to enjoy this. I had managed to avoid seeing it. Then it was on television one evening, and I started watching. Half an hour later, I was sitting on the edge of my sofa, transfixed. I'm not entirely sure why. None of the cast interests me (except for Barbara Hershey), and the dramas of strung-out ballerinas is overplayed for the most part in most depictions on film. But in all the neurotic overwrought hysteria, there is something viscerally gripping and morbidly fascinating about this film. Even as I type this, my lip is curling a little in distaste. But... there's nothing else quite like it in my memory. I'm glad I saw it.


Most Surprising, Moving, and Unexpected Animated Film

Mary and Max (2009)

Max (to Mary): You are my best friend. You are my only friend.

The screenplay by director Adam Elliot is magic: eccentric, heartfelt, deeply human. The stop-start animation (claymation I guess) is in a washed out, almost greyscale colour scheme. The voices are beautifully cast in this moving tale of a little Australian girl and a middle-aged New York man, who come together as pen pals and take us on a journey into their - and our - hearts. As for the soundtrack, I'll never again hear the Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly the same way.


So? Did you see any of these? Come on - I have lots of readers, but most of you are kind of shy I guess. I'd love to know your opinions!

And one more: don't bother seeing or even renting Hotel Transylvania. It has its sweet moments, and I had such high hopes, but in the end it's 91 minutes I'll never get back.

Thanks Bill!

Insert Handy Curse Right Here

The long, admittedly unwieldy post I was composing about the recent theatre/music/film I have experienced is lost to the blogosphere.

I shall recompose it later this week... after I have recomposed myself.

(And by recent theatre/music/film, I'm talking pretty much an entire winter's worth. As I stumble, blinking like a freed pitpony into the spring, I lose much of my interest for most indoor activity, and seek instead sky, trees and water.)

Aging and the Up Series

The Up series, originally assisted on, and now directed by Michael Apted is a superb documentary project following the lives of a group of British people from the age of 7 to, now, 56. Every seven years the documentary crew checks in with them. They're ordinary people living their lives, and - even as they express on this latest edition of 56 Up, that none of the viewers can really get a sense of them - we do. I feel I know them, at least somewhat. I care about them. It's moving to see them getting older and go through the rites of passage of marriage, children, parental death, illness... It's a brilliant and moving episodic visit and I urge you to see it.

I have read of people writing letters to themselves as children. It's an interesting thought. Would those letters be better served written for actual children? Maybe heavily edited versions. Most of it would come across as weird, old-person, finger-wagging and whining. I recall my dad telling me how time would fly. Pffff... I couldn't believe him. When I was four, I remember my mother telling me I'd have to wait for an hour for us to go somewhere. An hour! I was horrified. That was forever. I distinctly remember the interaction, the feeling inside me.

An hour!

What would I say to Little G now, if she was disposed to listen and comprehend?

Oh Little G, you have no idea. An hour is so short and so precious. You will waste many and cherish some. Life will disappoint you in many ways but be more amazing and wonderful than you can ever imagine. The world will be crueler, but the earth will be more breathtakingly beautiful than you suspected. You'll change in ways that will astound you, but remain the same in others. You'll be aware of your mortality way too young, but your strength will amaze you. You will take things too seriously... try not to. And know that only when you're over 40 will you realize that what you really want is what you wanted when you were seven, but convinced yourself for years you didn't. And never EVER visit a chiropractor. That alone is the one thing I would hope you remember. It would make all the difference. I could go on, but you're only four and are not listening and let's not bore the others. Now, go back to playing with your nesting dolls.

Good, Really Good

I'm a big fan of the films about James Bond, the mysterious, misogynistic MI6 operative created by Sir Ian Fleming and so captivatingly portrayed on film by several hunky actors over the last 50 years. And of course, deciding who is the best portrayer of Bond is a favoured topic for debate and disagreement in many circles. I'm saying it here: Daniel Craig is my favourite Bond. In fact, he's also the favourite Bond of my friend, John. It all happened quite quickly. We were at the movies before Casino Royale came out, we saw the trailer, and John turned to me quite seriously and said, "Ok, I've just seen the trailer of his first Bond film... and he's the best Bond ever."

So, after enjoying the Bond design exhibit at TIFF, and getting caught up by watching Casino Royale the same evening (I didn't bother with Quantum of Solace, preferring to pretend it never happened), I was pretty jazzed to see the latest Bond offering on opening night... Skyfall.

[Side story: The Tuesday before the Friday opening night in Toronto, I was online purchasing tickets, finding that as fast as I found screenings that weren't sold out... they sold out. We finally got tickets at my favourite cinema, the Beaches, and it happens to be the location that I've attended the two previous Bond openings. On the night, I lined up an hour early, as I waited for my friend, and a good thing too, as there were many people already in front of me. The theatre was sold out, packed solid with fans of all ages. And the audience deserves a mention in this review: they were excellent! The film had something to do with that, I guess, but they were silent and concentrated. Thanks, audience!]

From the thrilling opening sequence, through the credits, and into the story, this was an excellent action film, with many breathtaking moments. Director Sam Mendes would be expected to do something special with the Bond franchise and he did, bringing to the fore the relationships between the major players, in ways that enhanced their vulnerabilities. Sometimes, it was too much (see Spoiler section below). Now, Casino Royale still remains my firm favourite, but Skyfall comes close behind. There were irresistible throwbacks to the past (the Adele-sung opening credits with silhouettes under water; the Aston Martin!) and looks to the future (the adorable Ben Whishaw - who was also John Keats in Bright Star - as the new Q, and another surprise new/old character, but I won't ruin it for you).

Daniel Craig is six years older than he was in Casino Royale and the film plays up the notion of aging and retirement for both him and M (Judi Dench, still so fabulous). Craig's eyes are more icily blue than ever, his face more chiseled, but his body looks great. He was the harder Bond, who can still be slightly playful, but I love how the new Bond franchise has him more guarded than ever. Javier Bardem as the creepy, tragic villain only needed more screen time, as we couldn't get enough of him. Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine, the ubiquitous Bond girl, was a surprise. At first glimpse, with her Vesper Lynd-worthy heavy eye makeup, I assumed she was just a pretty but silly character. But she carried off her controlled, sexy skittishness and fear really well. I'd love to see her in something else. The rest of the cast is made up of really excellent British actors, like Ralph Fiennes, Rory Kinnear, and Helen McCrory. The soundtrack is all you might hope for, rife with those tight horn sections that are always sexy and powerful.

SPOILER ALERT:
The return to Bond's childhood home seemed to come a little out of nowhere, and, maybe I am jaded, but I like my Bond mysterious. I don't want to know his parents' names, but I do like that Albert Finney was the loyal retainer, and I also want to know where that road is in the Scottish highlands, unless it was digitally created?

There was some wry humour and plenty of action. There were also tears... but you'll have to see why for yourself.

I recommend!

Quote of the Day

"It takes a certain type of woman to wear a backless dress with a Beretta 70 strapped to her thigh."
Daniel Craig as Bond, James Bond, in Skyfall (2012).

Want to read what I thought of it? Visit my new blog to find out!

Nobody Does it Better

The TIFF Lightbox only opened a couple of years ago. It's the newish home of the Toronto International Film Festival, and year-round it's got great programming of films you're not likely to see in many other places. The building is excellently designed, the theatres are a pleasure to sit in, and some of them (for the Cinematheque showings) don't allow popcorn and drinks. This is in accordance with the old Cinematheque tradition, when showings took place in Jackman Hall in the Art Gallery of Ontario, where the only thing you could take in was bottled water. The lights always went down very low and the pre-show music was perfectly chosen for the film being shown. Rarely before had I lost myself so entirely in a movie experience.

Now, in time for the 50th anniversary of James Bond on film, the Lightbox is hosting Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style which unveiled earlier this year at London's Barbican Centre.

Now readers of my other blog will know that I get frustrated at exhibits, and tend to avoid the big, busy ones at all costs. There is one exhibit which still stands out to me as the finest of my experience, so in general I'm a bit of a fusspot when it comes to these sorts of events.

The good news is that Designing 007 is not very big, and they have sensible controls as to how many people can go through it at once. My only quibble was the very start of the exhibit where several large historical panels of information on Ian Fleming's life and contacts were crammed together quite tightly in a space that didn't let many people read without feeling rushed. But other than that, things were very good.

As the TIFF website tells us, the exhibit is... "the largest and most comprehensive exhibition ever devoted to Bond, featuring costumes, props, models, gadgets, concept artwork, storyboards and other fascinating artifacts from the series. Signature Bond items featured in the exhibition include the steel teeth worn by Richard “Jaws” Kiel in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977); the Anthony Sinclair overcoat worn by Sean Connery in Dr. No (1962); the poker table from Casino Royale (2006); and multiple gadgets from Q Branch."

Most of the items were original, with a few identified as replicas, especially the clothing. Special features included a wall of screens, all showing Bond opening credits (including the saucy ones by Maurice Binder) and a display cabinet with Halle Berry's bikini, Daniel Craig's blue trunks from Casino Royale (gulp), and replica's of Ursula Andress's bikini and Sean Connery's trunks from Dr. No. Gosh.

The highlight for me was the discovery of the sketches by Sir Ken Adam, the production designer for many Bond films. In simple mainly monochrome drawings, he conveyed the mad magnificence of Blofeld's lair or the Moonraker launch pad. They are stunning. The TIFF shop carries a book of his work, but I didn't indulge. I'm so hopelessly behind in reading, I'm almost giving up.

That evening, I had my friend Dave over, and we watched Casino Royale in preparation for the big opening night of the latest Bond film, Skyfall. I like to think I was only mildly annoying each time I said, "Oh, we saw that prop today!" I think plying him with the newly acquired Cardhu helped.

Designing 007 continues til January 20, 2013. I recommend!

Below you see a Ken Adams sketch for the volcano interior in You Only Live Twice; Sean Connery and the iconic Aston Martin during filming of Goldfinger; a TIFF website image.

"Are you Ready for Your Soup?"

Time shifted, and when I woke this morning, I lay there watching the light get stronger, earlier. With it came the first really cold weather. I lost my gloves but retrieved my pea jacket from the lovely Iranian laundry, where they do excellent adjustments. They took my jacket in at the sides, and you'd never know.

Tonight I had to make warming, woodsy, fragrant soup: onions, mushrooms, organic stock, fresh thyme, salt, pepper, cream.

It's comforting and warming.

Sigh... winter is only just beginning. But, if we are lucky, we have love. And we have laughter. And there may even be espresso!

Food, Opera, Film... Life is Good

Volano Theatre creates some of Toronto's most intriguing pieces of theatre. And they're not afraid of opera. Handel's 1707 opera, Cor Fedele (The Faithful Heart), lay unperformend for years until a complete copy was found in 1960 in Germany. In 2000 it had its world premiere in London, and this production, by Volcano, is its first Canadian staging.

Volcano sets the love triangle at the heart (heh) of the story in the historic Gladstone, Toronto's best-known boutique hotel. As the audience, we witnessed the first meeting of the lovers in the hotel ballroom, as we sat watching them ordering drinks, having their luggage taken away, etc. We were like ghosts and they were the reality. And then, as they moved to different spaces in the hotel, we followed. Except we didn't stay together. Each of the three characters had a guide who would take part of the audience with them. So, while a scene was being played out in one part of the hotel, another part of the story was unfolding elsewhere. In the end, the audience was back in the original room, and we saw the denouement.

The English libretto was new, written for this production, which wasn't surprising as Handel didn't set the words "Heartless bitch!" to music (at least I'm pretty sure he didn't!) I enjoyed it all; the moving around the hotel felt more gimmicky than vital,but I hadn't been part of this sort of audience before. What captivated me mostly was the last part, back in the ballroom, with some sumptuous singing by Emily Atkinson and Tracy Smith Bessette. You can read more here. We preceded the performance with hearty appetizers in the Gladstone Bar (we were there coincidentally for their half-price appetizers which happen every Tuesday).

I went with a friend and my parents to see First Position (2011) at TIFF, a heart-warming documentary on the young people who enter a prestigious dance competition, the Youth America Grand Prix. If you care anything for ballet and dance in general this is a must-see. The dedication of the dancers and their parents (some scarier than others), is moving and enthralling. This was preceded by dinner at Fune. Hooray! I love those little boats.

And then there was lunch last week with a good friend, catching up on encouraging news for both of us (vertigo relief for me, and one day I'll talk more about it on my blog, when I can bring myself too). Mangia e Bevi's patio was the choice. It was a good one.

I ate Pizza off my Chest

I ate pizza off my chest...

Not really, but I did catch up on, over a few days, a glut of what I suppose can be called guy films.

The Hangover (2009), Stepbrothers (2008) and Mama's Boy (2007), all, to one extent or another, had me laughing out loud. The scene in Stepbrothers where Dale (John C. Reilly) puts forth to his father, Robert (Richard Jenkins) the outlandish possibility of his new step-mother coming onto him, is worth the price of admission alone. Believe me on this one. These are great actors.


Dale: Suppose Nancy sees me coming out of the shower and decides to come on to me. I'm looking good, got a luscious v of hair going through my chest pubes down to my ball fro. She takes one look at me and goes " Oh my god, I've had the old bull now I want the young calf" and she grabs me by the weiner -

Dr. Robert Doback: Shut the fuck up!

And let me say, Bradley Cooper has the best eyes in the business.


I ate chocolate and cried...
Actually I didn't do this either, but I did a bit of drooling over the lads as I then proceeded to catch up on some chick flicks.

Ella Enchanted (2004), Becoming Jane (2007) and The Truth About Cats and Dogs (1996) took me by surprise. First of all, Becoming Jane was the first film I've seen Anne Hathaway in, and what a lovely, talented lass she is. Becoming Jane is beautifully shot, romantic, clever, and moving and the romantic interest is James MacAvoy, also in possession of beautiful eyes. I decided to catch up on Ella Enchanted too, in large part because of Mr. CuteyPie Hugh Dancy.

I remember avoiding seeing The Truth About Cats and Dogs when it was first released as I found it insupportable, after I'd seen some clips, that Janeane Garofalo was supposed to be so unattractive compared to Uma Thurman. They certainly made Garofalo look lovely. But of course, that's the point, as I discovered. It wasn't about how lovely she or Uma Thurman was, it was about their own twisted self-perceptions. I was amazed, only knowing Garofalo's caustic stand-up humour, at what a fine actress she is, and how very endearing. There was a moment at the end that took me by surprise. The hero, played by Ben Chaplin, has a line that is almost word-for-word something I have said or thought often. It's my explanation for why looks matter almost nothing to me anymore. And there he was, spouting that very thought.


"Look, you know how someone's appearance can change the longer you know them? How a really attractive person, if you don't like them, can become more and more ugly? Whereas someone you might not even have noticed, that you wouldn't look at more than once, if you love them, can become the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?"

BPG Summer Movie Awards 2012 Part Deux

Best Use of Norwegian Settting in a Film This Year or any Year (Although I saw Neither Blue Parrots or Mighty Fjords)


Headhunters (2011)

"Too ridiculously good looking." (Me, as well as Derek Zoolander)

I saw the movie last Tuesday, the hottest day of the year. The temperature reached 37 C (98.6 F) with a humidex (what the humidity makes it actually feel like) of 48 C (118 F). The movie theatres were packed with folks just needing a break from the pizza-oven atmosphere of the city streets. Headhunters was one of the showings that wasn't sold out.

Norway is right at the top of my list of countries I want to visit. Years ago I saw a not-terribly-good British mystery series set there, but there was something about it that captivated me. I think part of it has to do with the similarity of the scenery with northern Ontario. Anyhow, I don't think I've seen a Norwegian film before. But it was full of Norwegian scenery, which, along with Swedish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, is all too ridiculously good looking, and I'm not complaining.

The story is based on a book by Jo Nesbø (I have The Snowman by him on my bookshelf, as yet unread). It's a thriller and the movie, which has had mixed reviews, is certainly that. I enjoyed it tremendously, probably more so because it was Norwegian. I have a feeling that if it had been English-language, I would probably have taken more care to pick it apart. Such is the glamour of the exotic and unknown. Yes, Norway, to me you are exotic.

Aksel Hennie plays Roger Brown (where did that name come from?), a man with a self-confessed short-man complex. In an effort to keep his towering blond, beautiful wife in beautiful surroundings and jewellery (and therefore, he hopes, loyal to him), he works not only as the country's best headhunter, but also as a part-time art thief. Enter the chiseled and distractingly gorgeous Clas Greve, a model-handsome special-services soldier (or something like that), and Roger gets in over his head, literally. Oh, boy, literally, in the film's grossest scene.

I won't go on, I recommend it. It's a good summer yarn.

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Best Song to Relieve General Droopiness: "Video Killed the Radio Star"


Take This Waltz (2011)

"Life has a gap in it... It just does. You don't go crazy trying to fill it." (Sarah Silverman as Geraldine)

Michelle Williams (always so excellent) plays Margot, a woman married to Lou (Seth Rogan) and infatuated with Daniel (Luke Kirby). I got the odd sensation that whatever the movie was telling me was at odds with what I was getting... sort of.

*** SPOILER ALERT!***
The relationship between Margot and her husband is infantile; they're like squabbling, affectionate siblings, down to the revolting game of telling each other what sort of damage they'd like to do to each other (skinning alive, that sort of thing). But when she meets the handsome and charming artist/rickshaw driver Daniel, she falls into the same sort of pattern... hurling insults at him, and unable to commit to her attraction to him physically: in one scene she bursts out laughing when he tries to seduce her verbally. She's emotionally backward, and I don't think there's a scene where her eyes don't well up with some sort of intense emotion. The woman needs help! So what happens instead?

She leaves her husband for the rickshaw driver (who nonetheless manages to afford a pretty nifty looking loft) and then begins a strange sequence of scenes, where the new couple indulges in sex, at last, and then sex with other people along for the ride. Wha~?! That seemed to come out of nowhere. Their relationship is all about sex and the thrill of the novelty of some forms of that. Ok. So... then she ends up kind of unhappy still because, you know, she's still the woman she is, and that is depressed, and sex with her new rickshaw driver won't solve that. There then follows a reprisal of a scene where she enjoys a fairground ride (on Toronto's Centre Island), set to "Video Killed the Radio Star", so that was a sweet moment of nostalgia.

Maybe that's the point of the story, that she's just never going to be happy, that maybe that's a foolish dream anyway, but, for adult-children, I definitely preferred Dark Horse.

In Take This Waltz, an excellent cast features Sarah Silverman as the sister-in-law; both she and Seth Rogan are surprising choices, and I liked that. Toronto stars as itself (yay!).

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Film That Provided me with Sleep That I Actually Didn't Need at all

To Rome with Love (2012

"Honk... shoooo, honk.... shooo" (Me, except not, because I don't snore. Actually I really don't, but I do talk in my sleep sometimes, or make what has been described as "lamenting sounds" - how creepy!)

Well, you know that I was aching for this film to be wonderful: I love a lot of Woody Allen movies, and I love Rome (it's where half my family is from). I didn't like the trailer, and then I fell asleep four times during this movie. So... I can't say I saw the whole thing, but what I did see felt disjointed, deeply so.

Fabio Armiliato, the tenor, plays... a tenor. An all-star cast includes Penelope Cruz, Alec Baldwin, Judy Davis, among others. Woody Allen, in one of the ensemble roles, is actually my favourite part of the film, of the bits I saw.

~~~~~~~~
 
Most Brilliant, Charming and Uplifting Screenplay, and Film That Stands Best Chance of the Summer of a Repeat Viewing

Safety not Guaranteed (2012)

"There's no sense in nonsense, especially when the heat's hot." (Aubrey Plaza as Darius)

I read a comment on imdb.com where someone wrote after seeing this film, "The world just got a little brighter." I agree. This film, quirky and fresh and original, was a delight from start to finish. None of the casting was predictable, the screenplay was full of charm, insight, depth, and wit.

This is a generous film, in every sense. A somewhat shallow reporter from Seattle takes two young interns on a little road trip to investigate a classified ad, in which a man is seeking a partner to travel in time with. In his ad, he specifies that they have to bring their own weapons, and... safety is not guaranteed.

I'm still sifting this one through my mind, as it's one of those films that gives you a lot to think about, or you can just leave the theatre smiling and not think about it. Time, personal history and regret are at the core of the story. Isn't that what time travel is all about, anyway? I think more people yearn to go back, than forward.

I don't want to say anything more, because this is a film I hope a lot of people see. Let me know if you do, and what you think!