Art – Page 44

Run Away…

Published on January 17, 2009January 17, 2013 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay8 Comments

If you have a few hours, this weekend, to sneak away for a lighthearted a beautiful escape- i totally and completely recommend Last Chance Harvey. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect to hate it. I’d practically adore anything Emma is in because I think she is an unbelievably amazing and outstanding human being. That said, however, I didn’t exactly think this film would be my thing.
Surprisingly- I loved it.
So, go see it. You deserve the heartwarming break…

More Movie talk…

Published on December 12, 2008 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay6 Comments

In light of the recent announcement of Golden Globe film nominees, I thought I’d take a few minutes to talk a little more about Revolutionary Road.

I can not tell you how much I love film season! I mean, the holidays are lovely and all, but when GG nominees come out, the entertainment industry comes fully alive. Awards show buzz starts streaming out and the next 6 (or so) weeks, leading up to the Oscars are thrilling for me. Last year, I really liked a few of the films the Academy chose to nominate for best picture, but this year I just feel like there is so much more to focus on.

Anyway, back to Revolutionary Road. (i just get all giddy and excited. I’m sorry…) It has received four AMAZING nominations for the Golden Globes, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Director!

Here’s a clip:

and another one:
In response to the nominations, the films director Sam Mendes (American Beauty), made this statement- “We are all delighted and honored that the Hollywood Foreign Press recognized the film in such a generous way. This was a labor of love for all of us and to see it being received in such a positive way is very gratifying.”

And the truly remarkable Kate Winslet said- “I can’t believe it! I am incredibly grateful for these nominations. I am so honored and proud to be included this year, in the company of all these incredible women and alongside my on screen and off screen husbands! And to be a part of two of the best picture nominees! I am very very happy today!”

I am just really excited…

Revolutionary Road…

Published on December 10, 2008January 17, 2013 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay8 Comments

At some point, last week, I was contacted by a rep from Crew asking if I could promote the film Revolutionary Road and it’s December 26th release. Of course, I was more than eager, and since I’m already slated to review the film- it only made sense…

Taken from the site:
Adapted from the landmark novel by Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road is an incisive portrait of an American marriage seen through the eyes of Frank (three-time Academy Award® nominee Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (five-time Academy Award® nominee Kate Winslet) Wheeler. Yates’ story of 1950’s America poses a question that has been reverberating through modern relationships ever since: can two people break away from the ordinary without breaking apart?

Frank and April have always seen themselves as special, different, ready and willing to live their lives based on higher ideals. So, as soon as they move into their new house on Revolutionary Road, they proudly declare their independence from the suburban inertia that surrounds them and determine never to be trapped by the social confines of their era.

Yet for all their charm, beauty and irreverence, the Wheelers find themselves becoming exactly what they didn’t expect: a good man with a routine job whose nerve has gone missing; a less-than-happy homemaker starving for fulfillment and passion; an American family with lost dreams, like any other.

Driven to change their fates, April hatches an audacious plan to start all over again, to leave the comforts of Connecticut behind for the great unknown of Paris. But when the plan is put in motion, each spouse is pushed to extremes – one to escape whatever the cost, the other to save all that they have, no matter the compromises.

Directed by Sam Mendes (Academy Award® winner American Beauty), from a screenplay by Justin Haythe, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and features an accomplished supporting cast including Academy Award® winner Kathy Bates, Kathryn Hahn (Boeing-Boeing) Michael Shannon (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, BUG) and David Harbour (Awake). The film’s producers are John Hart, Scott Rudin, Sam Mendes and Bobby Cohen; and the executive producers are Marion Rosenberg, David M. Thompson and Henry Fernaine.

Seriously, what about this movie doesn’t sound amazing? How many of us have faced the suburban dilemma? How many of us stand upon our marriage threshold and vow not to become one of those married couples?
There isn’t an angle of this movie that I’m not excited about!

Don’t be surprised if I bring it up quite a few more times until it opens nationally… I’ve kept it now secret that i LOVE movies… (which is a good thing, what with the whole film critic thing going on…) What I love the most, I guess, when it comes to a film is it’s relatability…
Now, I know there are some of you out there who aren’t big film lovers. Let’s put that aside for a moment- I really want to know your thoughts… What were your thoughts/feelings as you watched the trailer? Do you feel that you can identify with the plot description?

Twilight…

Published on November 21, 2008 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay18 Comments

I don’t even know where to begin.

First off, I guess I’ll say that I didn’t leave it a secret that I wasn’t the largest fan of Robert Pattinson being cast as Edward Cullen. That being said, at the end of the film, I feel that he was perfect for the role.

He is also one of the only things I liked about the movie.

I had fought hard to get this movie as an assignment, but here I sit at 2:50 in the morning, thanking the stars that my editor did not concede. When I see movies for work, I am a trillion times more critical than when I see a movie as an observer.

I think this movie is the exception.

To say I hated the majority of it, would be putting it mildly.

I was fortunate enough to see this movie with people who read the book. (I was also fortunate enough to wait in the craziest of all lines with 2300+ other people, but that’s a story for another day.) I point this out, about other readers of the book, merely to say that I am far from the only person who was completely annoyed and disappointed.

I also saw the movie with someone who’d never read the book, and suffice it to say she had no idea what was going on, most of the time. The best analogy I can concur is that of a family vacation… Imagine you go on the most amazing vacation of your life. Truly incredible. As you sit, pouring over your vacation scrapbook, all of these amazing memories are evoked. Nostalgia sets in and you “revisit” that place in your memory. Your friend, however, who sits looking at your photos too- they are merely looking at photos. There is no memory reunion for them. There are no emotional happy times to recall, and nothing to fill in the in between times- between photos. that is sort of what this movie is like: A scrapbook of a story. We’ve read the book, so we understand why certain things happen.

Then there’s the deal about the certain things.

Certain things like the accident with Tyler’s van. (and don’t get me started with Tyler and the casting of every ethnicity imaginable. I’m not at all racial, but honestly are we to believe that the Forks high school is some secret meeting place for all of the UN teens? no.) Anyway, I digress… Back to the Tyler van incident. In the book, the accident happens due to icy roads, in the morning. (a morning that, anyone whose read the book would remember, found Bella walking out of her house to find that Charlie had put chains on her tires. )Instead, in the movie, the accident happens AFTER school, and Charlie never put chains on her tires- instead he bought her new tires. Seemingly insignificant little changes- they annoyed the crap out of me because EVERYTHING WAS LIKE THAT! EVERYTHING… They seriously left no moment completely unaltered.

And, because I’m cranky and disappointed- allow me to take a moment to address Stephanie Meyer personally: You should be ashamed of the size your head has grown to be. Not only did you cease production of a book that would have been so incredibly received by your VERY ENORMOUS fan base- but you then proceeded to help turn your movie into a butchered “idea” that is a little like your book, but without any character development or replication at all. As if these things aren’t enough, woman, you then go and give yourself a cameo in your movie. Really??? NO ONE CARES! NO ONE CARES!

Most Twilighters will probably like it. It gives a face and a voice to the things we imagined. I will be the first to admit that things will have to be tweaked and altered to fit into the condensed format, but when absolutely every detail (from adding cell phones and changing curtain colors, to rearranging her class schedule and every other scene imaginable) has to change completely, for no reason of any significance- I just feel you pretty much tarnish what was once a cherished story.

That’s all. There is so much more I could say, but I’m tired and just so, so sad. I expected it to be dissapointing, but this far exceeded my fears.

I’m going to bed…

And the winner is…

Published on February 20, 2008 by Mae @ Rainydayinmay13 Comments

Now that I have completed another one of my 92 personal goals for the year, and watched the films nominated for Academy Awards, I thought that I would give a little opinion on each, as well as my predictions…

Lead Actor– I do believe it will be Daniel Day Lewis. It should be. George Clooney was wonderful too, but DDL was far superior…

Supporting Actor– I refuse to even pretend there are other options. Javier Bardem. Completely. Deservedly… And although he seems nice enough outside of the film, I would hate to find him in a room waiting…

Actress in a Leading Role– I would love to see Ellen Page or Julie Christy win, though honestly it could be any of the five amazing women.

Supporting Actress– Wow… several of these girls play naughty girls… I hope Amy Ryan gets it… But it could be because I HATED both Ronan & Swinton’s characters.

Cinematography– Atonement

Directing– No Country for Old Men (close second would be Michael Clayton)

Score– Atonement

Best Picture– No Country For Old Men (Close second= Atonement)

Atonement- I went with no expectations. I left depressed. What I appreciated about the film was that it was true to life. Things don’t work out. It was tragically sad, but the sickest thing (to me) was the “act” of atonement… The acting was wonderful, the cinematography was amazing. I loved the alternate perspective scenes and found the score haunting.

Juno– Don’t get me wrong, i LOVE LOVE LOVE this movie. However, I don’t see that it is Oscar Worthy. I don’t understand how it got in to the running. Even though I don’t believe it stands a chance, I can say it is the movie I probably enjoyed the most out of the contenders. Oscar nominated films aren’t always good… This one is. :)

Michael Clayton– This is a great film. Clever. Very Clever. More clever than I imagined it would be. Brilliantly clever with several scenes of dialogue which are sharp and impressive.

No Country for Old Men– Truthfully one of the most intense film’s I’ve ever seen. I was glued to the edge of my seat and developing a tension headache as the madness played out. Not remotely close to my type of movie, I found it riveting and remarkable… UNTIL the end. Awkward… My friend and I discussed how the audience bursting out into laughter as the credits rolled likely wasn’t the response the creators of this drama sought.

There will Be Blood– I simply don’t understand. The performances were amazing. The music was disturbing but I was willing to overlook that. The first 20 minutes (or so) of no dialogue was intriguing and the movie was truly wonderful until it reached near it’s halfway mark. The rest I simply don’t understand. At all. Near the end I just found myself weary of real life bowling and wanting to tell everyone i saw “you can’t shout at deaf people. They just don’t hear you!!!!” I just felt that someone needed to grasp this…

So there we have it. My two cents… Have you seen them? Any of them? I would love your opinions!