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.

A Christmas Carol in Disney 3D

I know this is a beloved book and is particularly famous in the US but I have to admit that I didn’t know the story before watching the movie. It is a great story though, and it must be nice growing up listening to it around Christmas time.

The animation in the movie is outstanding. I don’t watch a lot of animated films but they have come a long way from when they started making these. The facial expressions, movements and especially the hair are so real that it makes me wonder why they would even make it an animation, it almost looks like a life action film. It will be interesting to see where this will lead. I don’t believe life action films will ever be obsolete (since I am studying to become an actress, I should hope not!) but animation is coming closer and closer to the look of life action that they might have to keep it to stories that can’t be done with life action.

Jim Carrey (voice of: Scrooge/Ghost of Christmas Past/Scrooge as a Young Boy/Scrooge as a Teenage Boy/Scrooge as a Young Man/Scrooge as a Middle-Aged Man/Ghost of Christmas Present/Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) is really the right guy for the job. He is so versatile that I didn’t even notice that it was him doing all those voices until I read the credits. Colin Firth on the other hand I recognized immediately. Also because they really make the characters look like the actors.

This is turning out to be a very positive review, so I have to pause for a minute and remember that I didn’t think the movie was that fantastic. It is a beautiful story beautifully told but it really did have its lengths. Scrooge is flying through the air an awful lot and in the beginning there is too much time “wasted” on showing that he is a bitter old man. This was the second film I have watched in 3D (as a whole film) so I was still dazzled by that but without the 3D I think I might have found it slightly boring. Even though for children it must be scary. There were a couple of very young children in the cinema (why would you bring kids that can’t even speak yet to the cinema?) and they kept screaming a lot. It is a perfect film to buy for your children and show them every year around Christmas in case you are too busy to read the book to them (which I hope you are not).

The Men Who Stare at Goats

A nice contrast to A Christmas Carol, this political comedy is really only for grown-ups. I had read a few bad reviews on other blogs which made me wonder whether I should even watch this film but I actually thought it was hilarious! It is one of these films that seems like the film makers make it simply to amuse themselves. It doesn’t take itself seriously at all and I was happy to laugh along.

Ewan McGregor (Bob) is a journalist at a small paper somewhere in the US. When his wife leaves him for their editor, he decides to prove his worth by going into war. On the way he meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) who is part of a special army unit that tries to win wars with psychic powers. Lyn is on his way to find the leader (Jeff Bridges) of this New Age Army somewhere in the desert.

George Clooney and Jeff Bridges are particularly funny in this. The U.S. army is such a serious institution and it is interesting to see it in a different light. Surely The Men Who Stare at Goats will not be one of the films which will be remembered in a few years but it was entertaining to watch and would be fun to see with a few friends and some wine on a DVD night.

Thank You for Smoking

After watching Juno, I wanted to check out what else director Jason Reitman had done. He has not only directed but also written the screenplay for Thank You for Smoking (adapted from a novel by Christopher Buckley).

The film has a rather odd theme: Nick Naylor, the “hero” of this story is the spokesman of the tobacco industry, and the villain is a Senator who tries to get the world to be a smoke-free zone. Over the course of the film, Nick discovers why he is doing this job and how he feels about promoting cigarettes.

The film is quite funny but not ground-breakingly so. I am not sure what exactly it wants to say, because it is advertising smoking (in a sarcastic sort of way, but still doing so) and the protagonist never really has the epiphany that what he is doing is actually a really bad thing and he should stop. Well, to be fair, he does realize this but he never really gets it. If you happen to come across the DVD it might be interesting to watch the film, because it is quite different, but I wouldn’t advise you to go out of your way to get it…

Little Children

Since Kate Winslet is one of my favourite actresses (well, actually my all-time favourite) I have watched pretty much every film she is in. Here she plays a bored suburban mother who finds herself living in a strange big house, married to the wrong man and spending her time with her daughter whom she doesn’t really care for. She can’t connect to the other mothers at the playground and is fairly miserable until one day the handsome stay-at-home father (Patrick Wilson) shows up and turns her life upside down. There are other characters, such as a pedophile who has exposed himself to minors and is now facing the consequences for it.

Adapted from the book Little Children (Tom Perrotta) by actor/director Todd Field (Eyes Wide Shut) this film is a masterpiece of tragedy. Everyone in the story is leading a depressing life and even though there are some ups, the poor characters don’t get to be happy in the end. Nevertheless it is a very thought-provoking and complex film, using some black humour so as not get over-dramatic. The actors are remarkable. Kate Winslet manages to not make her character seem too desperate, but rather unluckily misplaced. It is really worth watching this film.

Bridget Jones’s Diary

This is an absolutely fabulous British comedy, which has quickly become a classic such as Notting Hill or Four Weddings and a Funeral. Another film which has been adapted from a book (a really great one as such, written by Helen Fielding), which in turn has been adapted and turned into a modern story from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Bridget is a fairly average British woman, slightly overweight, liking her alcohol, single and unhappy about it.

Anyone who hasn’t seen this film (are there still some people left?) should go out tonight and get the DVD. It really is a lot of fun. Poor Bridget (Renée Zellweger) is utterly clueless about life, falling for the wrong guy (Hugh Grant in a brilliant role) until she finally finds her Mister Right (Mark Darcy, played by the gorgeous Colin Firth who was Mr. Darcy in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice). She is determined to improve her life by starting a diary but of course she can’t really turn herself around. It is a real delight to watch her misfortunes!

Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (Welcome to the Sticks)

Apparently this film has set new viewing records in France. Directed, produced and acted (in the main role) by Dany Boon this is a comedy about a post office administrator who (after doing something stupid) gets transferred to the North of France. The audience learns quickly that the North is a really bad place: people are only forced to go there as punishment. Boon’s character leaves his depressed wife and child behind in the warm South. Once he gets to the North things turn out to be quite the contrary to his expectations: it is not freezing and the people are actually really nice!

I am sure this is a very funny film in the original, it does not, however, work well in translation. The people up North have a peculiar accent which I am sure is hilarious. In the dubbed version (at least in the German one) the accent is completely made up and sounds utterly ridiculous. It turns the comedy into slapstick, which ruins it. Other than that the characters are sweet and the story is strange but amusing.

Bridget Jones’s Diary and Little Children are being awarded the MovieCat Award for being two outstandingly well-made films (even though mentioned in the same sentence, they are, of course, great for completely different reasons).

To my surprise, this film is a very enjoyable adaptation of the musical with ABBA songs. It doesn’t really matter that none of the actors are actually singers: it makes it even more fun to sing along with them.

The story is sweet but secondary. It is merely a framework to present the music. 20-year-old Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is living on a Greek island with her mom Donna (Meryl Streep). They are running a shabby hotel together. Sophie wants to get married to her boyfriend but there’s one thing missing in her life: a father. She discovers from her mom’s old diary that there are three possible candidates (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård), so she invites all of them to her wedding to find out which one it is to be. The unexpected arrival of her ex-lovers stresses Donna greatly.

Also part of the wedding party are Donna’s old girlfriends (played by Julie Walters and Christine Baranski); the three of them used to be a girl band in their younger days. They are absolutely hilarious.

Of course there is a happy end, even with a bit of a twist.

Meryl Streep, more beautiful then ever, brings a sort of dignity to this rather silly film. It is astounding how she manages to light up the screen.

The filmmakers (as well as the actors, I suppose) must have had a lot of fun with the costumes, the beautiful scenery and dance choreographies.

All in all it is a purely entertaining film for a fun evening!