Last night I watched a German/Austrian/Italian made for TV movie about the Austrian Empress (Kaiserin) Elizabeth. It is a remake of one of my favorite films Sissi (1955). I never understand why they have to remake already perfectly made movies. But alright, I was curious, so I watched it.

The entire time I was thinking that there was something off about the acting. The actors weren’t really connecting well which I put down as pure bad acting and made me wonder why they didn’t hire better actors. But I found out afterwards that the main actress (Cristiana Capotondi) is Italian and more or less everyone else, including the main actor (David Rott), is German. The German actors don’t speak Italian and the Italian actors don’t speak any German. So what they did was to have the Italian actors speak Italian and the German actors German. Even if they had a scene together. They would memorize the last word of the other persons dialogue as their queue. Apparently this is called babylonian film making (at least it is in German).

Which brings me to my question: WHY???? Why would you do that? I’m sure there are plenty of German speaking actresses that could have played the Empress. So why go through the hassle of all that confusion on set? Well, in this case the producers were mainly Italian and insisted on using an Italian actress (or so it sounded in the interviews on their website). But why couldn’t they find an Italian actress that speaks German? I just don’t get it. I don’t see any advantages of doing it this way.

And it shows, it really does. The actors are more or less reciting lines that they memorized but they are not playing off each other. Most of you know that I am at acting school at the moment and the main thing they teach us is to really listen to each other and let the other person have an effect on ourselves. But you can’t do that if you don’t understand the other person and are just waiting for one word in a foreign language that tells you that it’s your time to speak now. It is also strange to watch since one person is obviously dubbed but the others aren’t.

I wonder if this is a European thing or whether its going to come over to America as well. I surely hope not. I’m completely up for international collaborations and using actors that come from all sorts of different countries but then film it all in English (or whatever common language they all speak). This is completely nuts! Sorry, but I couldn’t sleep well cause it was bugging me so much last night.

The BFI has restored the first ever Alice in Wonderland that came out in 1903, just 8 years after the birth of the cinema.

It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?!

Sorry that I haven’t written anything in a while…I was working on a post for “The LAMB devours the Oscars” (Best Art Direction) which I can only post once its published on the LAMB website. The other reason is that I haven’t really been watching films because I am completely addicted to the BBC series Coupling at the moment.

The premises of this sitcom is simple and very similar to the American series Friends: Six Friends (three men and three women) keep swapping partners around and meeting up and discussing their relationships. Doesn’t sound too exciting but the fun characters and the British humor quickly made me fall in love with Coupling.

The characters are very unique and mostly completely clueless about life and relationships. Especially the men. A lot of the jokes are based on clichés but the way they are presented is hilarious. They are short episodes (about 30mins) so I can easily watch two or three a day. What a pity, that there are only four seasons. I wish there was an unlimited supply of this series.

If you like sitcoms and/or British humor, you should definitely check this one out. It’s on “watch instantly” on Netflix, easy access.

It happens very rarely that I absolutely fall in love with a movie but tonight was one of these scarce occasions. I have literally just come home from the cinema so I am still completely “in” the film and haven’t really processed it. But I thought just this once I want to write a review that is completely subjective.

Normally I only feel that connected to films if they somehow remind me of my life or myself which really isn’t the case with A Single Man. In fact it couldn’t be further away from me. I am obviously not a gay middle-aged man who has lost the love of his life and is about to commit suicide and has some sort of sexual interest in my student. But there was something deeper then the visible story that I connected with. It had a lot to do with Colin Firth’s excellent performance as George. I thought it was an extraordinary moment when he picked up the phone and gets the news of his lovers death. The camera stayed so close (too close, really) on Firth that there was no way to fake the emotion. I am very aware of the fact that for some people it is very easy to cry on command but that is not what Firth was doing. He wasn’t just crying, he was truly but quietly suffering. One of my teachers (George Loros (The Sopranos)) always says that we shouldn’t show all of the emotion that we are feeling and that holding back tears can be more powerful then completely braking down (which he calls emotional masturbation). And for this movie that is absolutely true. This moment (others as well but this in particular) made the character so real to me and I think that is what I could connect with.

A big part of A Single Man is its beauty. It is just unbelievably gorgeous. Like one photograph next to another. Or maybe it is a bit like looking at Vogue Magazine (which I thoroughly enjoy doing, they have stunning photos). But it wasn’t just beautifully framed, the really interesting aspect of it was the saturation of the color. The more pain George feels, the less saturation the picture has and the happier he is, the fuller the color gets. It is done in a very subtle way, not “in your face,” some people might not even notice it and that makes it perfect. Obviously the fashion in this movie is perfect. Firth is wearing gorgeous suits all through the film, Moore gets to wear a truly fabulous dress and even though Hoult is wearing a slightly outrageous outfit, it still looks great. It was always obvious in his Fashion that Tom Ford (who directed this movie) has a real eye for beauty but it is still very surprising that his first film is that stunning. I hope he will continue making films.

The title really does explain the movie. It can not only be read as a single man (instead of being in a couple) but the film is actually about one single man. Everyone else is a side character. I am not even sure what Julianne Moore is doing on the film poster. She doesn’t have a bigger role then anybody else. She is just more famous than Matthew Goode and Nicholas Hoult. (Hoult is really making it by the way. I just remember him as the boy in About a Boy but we just finished watching the British TV-series Skins and he has a major role in it. I am sure we will see more of him soon!)

I could easily go back to the cinema now and watch the movie again. Or maybe just dress up to the nines with lots of make-up, light up a cigarette and have some gin or whiskey (even though I don’t smoke and don’t really drink gin or whiskey and come to think of it, I don’t even normally wear make-up or fancy clothes) and just listen to a record and enjoy the rest of the evening. Because even though the film is ultimately very sad I went away with a happy feeling. The feeling of having fallen in love with a movie. It happens…once in a while.

Sorry guys…the new term has started so I’m gonna be a lot busier again…I will try to write more than last term though! The first couple of weeks are the worst, I am reading about 5 Plays at once and also have to memorize some scenes, monologues and a song. If you have any suggestions for great scenes (or monologues), let me know! Now, back to movies:

Inglourious Basterds Right up front I have to say that I wasn’t as impressed with this film as most of you were. I generally am not interested in war films so I was expecting to not fall in love with it. I can say this much though: Christoph Waltz was as amazing as everyone is saying (coincidentally, he went to Strasberg, too ). He was the ultimate bad guy, enjoying every cruel thing he did so much that it was immensely fun to watch him. Actually, pretty much everyone was good in the film. Quentin really got the German acting-elite to be in his film. I also like the change in history because I was rooting for the Basterds (and the French girl) to succeed but didn’t expect them to. I can’t quite put my finger on what I didn’t like. Just a general feeling I guess. When it ended I didn’t think “Wow, this is a great film!”.

Waitress There was a preview toWaitresson theOnceDVD which looked funny so I put it on our Netflix queue. But I was really disappointed by it. It had so much potential! The main character Jenna (Keri Russel) was fun and likable, there was a lot of pie in the movie (which is always great) and the story was cute and had very good ideas. The problem was that it never quite followed the intention it had. I always thought “this could get funny” and then the scene ended. The editing was also strangely slow. It is a pity but I just can’t give this movie more than two MovieStars.

Four Weddings and a Funeral I absolutely love this movie. Of course I have seen it before but I hadn’t seen it in a really long time. Watching it again just made me remember how great it is. This film is just about everything there is. It is tragic, loving, witty and most of all hilarious. Hugh Grant is so great in this film. Normally I am not a fan of typecasting but he just plays the floppy haired, confused but sweet guy so well.

Iron Man I thought this film was gonna be absolute rubbish but I actually quite enjoyed watching it. I love how much of a bastard Robert Downey Jr. is. The plot is certainly new when it comes to Super Hero films. Although Iron Man did remind me a bit of Batman with the difference that Bruce Wayne is only acting being a macho guy who is in love with himself whereas Tony Stark (Iron Man) just is like that (obviously he does have a good side to him as well). I am looking forward to the sequel that is coming out soon.

As the director says on the special features of the DVD, the story of Once could be written on the back of a postcard. Guy (Glen Hansard) is a street musician in Dublin, working at his fathers hoover repair shop to earn his rent, when Girl (Markéta Irglová) comes up to him one day and changes his life completely. She is a Czech immigrant trying to make some money any way she can (selling flowers and Big issues). They discover a similar passion for music which leads to a close friendship and a recording of Guy’s first demo CD. There is always the possibility of something more then friendship.

The film is not about the script as much as it is about the music and the way the music affects the viewer. The director (John Carney) made the choice to use musicians as actors because for him it was more important that the songs were well performed. He even used tricks to make the performances better, such as filming from far away so that the two main actors weren’t aware of the camera. It works well though. It was also made in a documentary style on a very low budget. The style somehow manages to make these two people become real to the audience. Like it is a documentary about their friendship rather then a fiction film.

I personally really like the songs. They were mostly written by Glen Hansard which really helps his performance. He is very much in the moment when he sings and I always like to watch people perform their own songs. The film is very unusual and extremely subtly and slowly told. I thought Once was a very beautiful film. It felt a bit like watching a very long music video with a bit of a story in between the songs. And it was very refreshing to see real looking people on screen and not polished Hollywood stars.

Another movie with so much promise that just didn’t hold up to its expectations. This film suffered a set back by Heath Ledgers sudden death. Ledger was supposed to play the lead but died half way through filming. Instead of leaving Parnassus unfinished, the makers decided to use several other actors to play Ledgers part (Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law). This choice has been criticized a lot which I disagree with. It doesn’t further the story to have more then one actor playing the role but it doesn’t hurt it as well. We all know why it was done so I don’t think there is anything to criticize about it. I was quite amazed at how well it worked out with the changing faces.

The film is divided into two worlds, one is the actual world, modern London and the other world is inside Doctor Parnassus’ imagination. I thought the real world was done brilliantly. I lived in London for a while and Gilliam’s London is really spot on. Parnassus’ horse drawn circus carriage had some wonderful details and Christopher Plummer was great as Doctor Parnassus. Even though I have an unnatural hatred of Lily Cole I thought she was perfect for this role. So were Heath Ledger, Tom Waits  and newcomer Andrew Garfield. Just looking at the real world, this was a great movie.

What didn’t work at all for me were the parts inside Parnassus’ imagination. What’s annoying about this is that I expected Terry Gilliam to make this the magical part of the story. But it was just awful. Instead of doing the wonderful cut out, self made sets he (and Monty Python) is famous for, the dream sequences were all done in really bad 3D animation. I don’t see why he should have used 3D animation at all but he should have at least gotten someone who is really good at it to do it. I know students who could have made it look better then it did.

I probably could have overlooked that fact slightly if the story had been told well. But even though I liked the story it was written or told in a very sloppy way. As if it needed to be finished quickly and nobody had re-read it before it went into production. The ending was completely foreseeable although it seemed like it was supposed to be a surprise ending. Also some important details (Tony’s flute, for example) were never really explained. The film seemed to jump around a lot as well (I don’t mean between the worlds, just in itself).

In my opinion even Terry Gilliam fans should wait for the DVD to come out. At least on the small screen you can’t tell how bad the rendering really is.

Sherlock Holmes

The much anticipated Sherlock Holmes has been criticized a lot on other blogs. I wanted to see it for myself though because the trailer looked very promising. But I have to agree, it is not a brilliant film.

Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes) is very well casted. He always seems quick witted and he is a bit of a bad boy. Perfect. Jude Law (Dr. Watson) would not have been who I would have casted but he is really good in the role. The slightly homosexual chemistry between the two works very well. The way it is filmed is quite nice. It has a dark and mysterious feel to it. What I didn’t like was that the fighting scenes with Holmes were always shown twice. Once in slow motion where Holmes is planning what he will do and knows exactly what impact it will have on the other person and then its shown again when he executes his plan. This would have been fine if he had failed once or something unexpected would have happened once. This way it was just a waste of time.

What really killed the film was the plot. It was boring, long and everything was foreseeable. Holmes also never had a moment where he actually figures something out in front of the camera. He always already knows everything. In my view, this film had everything going for it, it just wasn’t well told. This seems to be the problem with a lot of the recent films. Or maybe we, as a society, have seen too many films already and nothing can really surprise us anymore. I surely hope not though!

It’s Complicated

You might think that this is a strange mixture for a double feature but I can explain it: We planned to watch The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnussus as a second film but it was screened on another floor and we couldn’t sneak into it. It’s Complicated was the only other film starting at that time. Obviously I am not the target audience for this film at all and from the first time I saw the preview for it I thought it would be a horrible film. So why did we go into the screening anyway? I am a movie geek, what can I say.

To my complete surprise it turned out to be a really sweet and funny film. Jane (Meryl Streep) and Jake (Aec Baldwin) have been divorced for ten years and Jake is remarried to a much younger woman. Jane has come to terms with her life as a single woman and has no real interest in meeting men anymore. At their son’s graduation Jane and Jake somehow end up sleeping together which then turns into a full blown affair. At the same time Jane’s architect Adam (Steve Martin) start courting her.

Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin are really fun in this movie. Baldwin surprised me a lot. He does comedy really well and is perfectly casted. Even though he is playing an unsympathetic guy, he is still likable. Steve Martin is a very strange choice for this role. He is very serious and straight. Not his normal goofy self. I had no idea he could be serious. Although he looks like he has been lifted which is a bit strange. The trio works well together. John Krasinski as Meryl Streeps son in law is also hilarious. Although he has been in a lot of movies that I have seen, I didn’t really notice him until I saw Away We Go. He is great though and  I am hoping to see him in more films as a leading character soon.

The plot itself is rather uninteresting. I have seen this exact story in plenty of other films. But It’s Complicated gets some points for being entirely about people in their 50’s and 60’s. I am sure that there are films about that age group but I really can’t remember one right now.  Even though its not a perfectly made film, it is fun to watch and I know plenty of people (who are more the target audience then I am) who would enjoy watching it.

There are a lot movies that I have watched in the past few weeks that I haven’t reviewed yet. Mainly out of time reasons. I do try to write about all the films that I watch at the cinema but I can’t always keep up with my Netflix movies. So here are a few very short reviews.

What a great reason to test out my new rating system:

Love Actually This is a movie I have to watch at least every Christmas. I love pretty much everything about it. British cinema at its best! I don’t think I have to say anything else about it because you have all seen it. If you haven’t then what are you waiting for?

Paper Heart Recommended by David from Hoping for Something to Hope for, I really enjoyed watching this indie mocumentary. The main characters Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera (both playing themselves) make a very cute couple and their fictional love story goes well with the real interviews. It is a very cute film but won’t become one of my favorites.

The History Boys This is a fun film about a British all boys school. A few boys are preparing for their interviews at Oxford University with much help from their teachers. It is a sweet film but there are better films about all boys (or all girls) schools.

The Girl on the Bridge A beautiful and odd French film about a young women trying to commit suicide and being rescued by a man who turns out to be a Knife Thrower. Together they go on a journey to discover themselves and each other. It is a very unusual and wonderfully made movie.

The Way We Were A classic that I have only just watched for the first time. I think it is different to grow up with it but I really liked the story and the characters. I would have wished for a different ending though.

La Moustache This is a truly strange movie about a man who shaves off his mustache and to his surprise no one notices. People around him even deny the fact that he ever had a mustache. Honestly, that is the plot! I really liked it until the man goes off to Hong Kong and completely loses his mind (Or did I lose my mind watching it?).

Hideous Kinky Since Kate Winslet is in this movie, I have seen it a couple of times before. But a long time ago. I love the feel of the movie. I have never been to Morocco but I can almost taste the air when watching this film.

Postcards from the Edge Even though Meryl Streep plays the main character in this, the movie is completely forgettable. It’s not a bad film, it’s just not special in any way and the editing is awful and in my eyes ruins a movie that could otherwise be kinda fun.

My Cousin Vinny This is a surprisingly humorous film about two boys who through some misunderstanding face the death sentence for murder. One of the boys cousins, Vinny, just passed the bar and tries his best to defend them. It is simple but laugh out loud funny.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Tim Burton Rocks!

This is him at his finest.

Eyes of Laura Mars A dark murder mystery about a woman who takes fashion photos of murder scenes that haven’t happened yet. She starts getting visions while the murders happen. It’s well made, well acted and mysterious enough to have kept my attention. It reminded me a lot of Peeping Tom though.

The 60th anniversary poster.

Kid in the Front Row is hosting a blogging collaboration where we all write about a memory we have of a particular cinema visit. I have to tell you, I go to the cinema a lot. In different countries, to different cinemas with different people. So I am having trouble remembering a lot of it. I thought about writing about the time when I was interning at a cinema magazine and got to see a lot of movies before they came out, together with “other” members of the press. Or about going to the cinema while away on holiday (which I always do), or maybe about the amazing Everyman Cinema Club in Hampstead, London but I guess the memory that sticks out the most is of three of my friends and me going to the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 (I know, technically, 2007 isn’t “long ago” but to me it feels like this was in another life time).

Quentin watching an independent documentary.

We had submitted a couple of films to their Short Film Corner for which we got extremely bad accreditations to the festival. But the worst accreditations to the Cannes Film Festival are still like a pot of gold to young impressionable film students (for those of you who don’t know: I studied Film Production at an Arts School in England). There we were, in the place to be if you love film and film people. Cannes is just amazing and I highly recommend going to the festival if you can. It is the kind of festival where you find yourself sitting a row away from Quentin Tarantino and where Martin Scorsese walks past you while you are waiting for a friend.

Gael Garcia Bernal making his way through the crowd.

Cannes is a very traditional Festival and there is a dress code for evening premieres. This meant that whenever we wanted to see an evening premiere we had to drive back to our rented apartment (which was slightly outside the city, due to incredibly high rental prices during the festival), get changed and drive back to the cinema. You can also only attend these evening premieres if you get an invitation. Our accreditations did not include invitations which meant we had to queue just off the red carpet and wait until everyone else was inside to see if there were some seats left. Because all of this takes such an effort, we only did it a couple of times.

Finally going up the stairs.

It is a very strange feeling standing in a sort of cage next to the red carpet while Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and George Clooney walk past you, followed by a herd of extremely well dressed photographers (they are not excluded from the dress code). It certainly shows you where you are in the greater scheme of things… Although there were also a lot of spectators and fans standing on the other side of the street behind barricades and hanging off trees to take pictures of the stars. Another way to get into the premieres without an actual invitation is standing outside the film market with a sign “Need tickets for such and such a film”. An option which a lot of people chose.

Inside the main cinema.

After all the invited guests are inside, the “gates” open and all the people who were queuing hurry inside to get the last remaining seats. It’s great fun! The main cinema in Cannes is really big and since everyone is dressed up it does feel like a very special occasion. My dad (who goes to Cannes every year) said that last year they played Disney’s UP in 3D as the opening film and everyone had to wear these ridiculous looking 3D glasses which must have been quite a sight. They just don’t go with all the beautiful evening gowns (alright, this was probably the girliest sentence I have ever written on this blog)!

I know I was supposed to write about a cinema visit that went right/wrong or funny/tragic but I wanted to share a memory of a cinema visit (or 10 days worth of cinema visits) that impressed and fascinated me. I could probably go on talking about the festival for another 10 paragraphs but I am gonna stop here. Hope you enjoyed it and hope you get to go to the festival at some point .