I’m trying to catch up with movies that I haven’t seen because I was too young (or not even born yet) when they came out. Since Woody Allen has been making movies since the 60’s, a lot of his films fall under that category. Here are two of his films that I have seen over the past couple of weeks.

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1992)

True to it’s title, this film is actually about crimes and misdemeanors. It is also about what is morally right or wrong.  What can be called a crime. If no one finds out that you have committed a crime, can it still be called one? Or is there a God watching you at all times and therefore you will always be guilty? There are quite a few story-lines going on at the same time that all end up being connected at the end. It is a brilliantly told story with very funny and intelligent dialogue (is it actually necessary to point this out in a Woody Allen movie?).  It reminded me a lot of Woody’s recent Match Point, which I now feel like re-watching for the 200th time.

Love and Death (1975)

I hadn’t heard anything about Love and Death before watching it and was quite surprised that the setting of this movie is in the early 19th Century Russia. The language as well as the acting are a mix of old, probably reminiscent of Dostoyevski and the likes, and Woody’s typical modern “babbling”. Also very funny dialogue although I didn’t think the slapstick comedy was necessary in this film.

I can’t wait until his new movie You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger comes out in a few weeks.

I missed Grand Torino when it was out at the cinema and finally managed to watch it. Due to the reviews and ratings, I had pretty high expectations and thought for the first hour or so that they would be let down. But Clint Eastwood pulled it together for a grand finale.

Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) is an old Korean war vet who is very set in his own ways. He just lost his wife, is generally unhappy and unfriendly and hates his Hmong neighbors. Over the course of the movie they change his mind about them and greatly influence his life. Of course.

I thought that the beginning of this movie was rather weak. It was slow, full of clichés and just not that interesting to watch. But as the movie went on, I got more into the story. The characters stayed somewhat on the surface but they did their job to tell this story. I was very impressed with the ending though. The film suddenly completely sucked me in. I didn’t expect it and it was slightly over dramatic but I thought it was a great end to this movie. I only wish the entire film could have been on that level.

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I’ve been wanting to see this movie for a while now. As you probably know, I love Emma Thompson. I think she is a fantastic actress and the scene in Love Actually, where she just found out that her husband is cheating on her, makes me want to cry every time I see it. That’s how great she is. I’m also a big fan of Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s work. But then, who isn’t?! Will Ferrell is one of the few actors who I really can’t stand. He seriously irritates me. But I was going to overlook that fact and enjoy watching Stranger Than Fiction anyway.

That was before I saw the first few minutes of the film. I didn’t like the opening sequence and it only got worse from there. The plot: A writer is writing a book about a man who is going to die. The twist: The man actually exists and the writer is now going to kill the actual person. Sounds somewhat intriguing, doesn’t it? But it’s not. Stranger Than Fiction turned out to be one of the most boring films I have ever seen in my life. Not only was it dull, it was also over acted (who would have thought!) and cheesy.

I’m not even sure why I watched it to the end because I kept wanting to turn it of. It didn’t manage to capture my attention at all but I don’t turn movies off. Ever. So, I watched it. I would give it a zero star rating but that seems kind of harsh, so the one star is for the effort of coming up with an unusual plot.

My advice to you: Don’t watch it. You will never get those two hours of your life back!

I’ve said it before but I just needed to say again just how breathtakingly beautiful this movie is. Ever since I saw A Single Man at the cinema I have been waiting for the DVD to come out so I could watch it again.

In my last review about this film I wrote mostly about the beauty of the film and the fashion. What I didn’t really touch on at all is the “moral of the story”. The main character George (Colin Firth, who should have won the Oscar for his performance in this film) is planning to kill himself on this particular day that we are witnessing. He has been suffering for eight months, since his lover Jim (Matthew Goode) died in a car accident and doesn’t feel like he wants to go on living any longer.

Now that he is sure that he will only live for one more day, he suddenly opens up and starts living again after all this time. It is really a film about “what would you do if you only had one day more to live?”. George does all kinds of things that he wouldn’t usually do and starts enjoying himself again.

I don’t know if you guys know this feeling but I often think that living in New York City robs me of real emotion. There is so much going on that I rarely have a moment to think about anything and weeks can go by without me feeling any real joy or sadness. I get sad and happy, of course, but I never have enough time to truly let any emotion in. I blame it on the city but I guess its just my life style. What I am trying to say is, that in a way I am jealous of George. He has this absolutely amazing day where he re-discovers himself, the world and his lust for life. I would love to experience a truly special day that stands out completely.

If you haven’t seen it already, rent A Single Man! I stand by my former rating:

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Pretty much everything about this movie is perfect. The costumes, the hairstyles, the cinematography, the story and it is just over all a very beautiful film. The only problem is, its slightly boring.

Gabrielle, nickname Coco (Audrey Tautou), and her sister (Marie Gallain) grow up as orphans and later make money as seamstresses during the day and singing at a bar by night. When her sister leaves her to get married to a baron, Coco decides to leave, too. She stays with a friend/lover where she meats the man that helps her change her life.

As I said, Coco before Chanel is a stunningly beautiful film. The costumes are obviously a huge part of the films look but I also loved the hairstyles. Cocos whole style is just gorgeous. I am so glad that it was filmed in French, which gives it a sort of authenticity that an English version would have lacked. Audrey Tautou is great, as always. She has such a strong presence on screen and  is just so beautiful to watch.

Watching Gabrielle grow into Coco is very inspiring. It really shows that you have to stay true to yourself and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something or shouldn’t wear something. The story itself is very interesting but it is told in a very slow way that made me constantly grab my ipad to play Farm Story. That is never a good sign.

Castor over at Anomalous Material is doing a month long blogging group session to “Build a Better Blog” (its not too late to join!). First task: Write and Elevator Pitch for your blog. So here is mine:

“The World According to Ness, A Life in so many Films”

The Movie Ness is about the beauty of cinema, what it feels like to watch the newest flicks and remember TV shows that have long been forgotten, it is about the difficulty of breaking into the industry and the joy of spending a day on a film set. Here you can read ramblings from an actress, artist, film maker and most importantly, life long movie obsessor. The World According to Ness, A Life in so many Films.

Please don’t forget to vote (daily if possible):

Hi guys, I do realize that I haven’t actually posted a lot lately but please don’t give up on me! My new (and first) acting website vanessalocke.com just went online (if you are wondering, I’m using my dad’s last name). Very exciting!

Also exciting, I have entered the Banana Republics casting call for Mad Men. So please, please vote for me here (you don’t have to sign up for anything and you can vote once every day)!

Here a few more pics from the photo shoot:

And the one that I submitted:

Photos taken by Jeremy Miller (thanks again )

This was the first trailer in a while that made me want to go to the cinema. And the trailer didn’t promise too much, I really enjoyed watching The Kids Are All Right. But then you can’t really go wrong with a movie that has Julianne Moore, Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo as the lead characters.

Nic (Annette Bening) and Jules (Julianne Moore) are a gay couple with two kids. When their daughter Joni (Mia Wasikowska) turns 18 her brother (Josh Hutcherson) urges her to contact their biological father (Mark Ruffalo) who then turns the whole family upside down.

You can definitely see that this movie was made by a woman (Lisa Cholodenko), it’s incredibly sweet and sensitive. A bit too much crying for my taste but otherwise really well told. The relationship between mothers and kids is very cute and funny. I guess it goes without saying that the acting was incredible. Especially Julianne Moore created a very real and amusing character. I have to say, I did love all the locations used, they really made me want to move to California.

Overall a great summery movie that will charm your day!

I don’t think I have ever done this before, but I just have to share this trailer with you. Because it SUCKS. It must be the worst trailer I have seen in a long time. I even thought about running out of the cinema or screaming “Boooo!”. Everything about it is awful and I am really angry at the directors that I’m never gonna get those two and a half minutes of my life back. How can they possibly make this kind of crap??? Sorry, had to vent. And also sorry if I am offending anyone who loves this trailer but if there is anyone out there who does, then please explain to me why! Thanks.