Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Summer Movies 2010

Because I've been having too much time for fun like going to the beach and having margaritas with the visitors, I haven't been posting much lately. Of course, I have been watching some movies:

Alice in Wonderland: meandering fantasy with a few visually delightful moments but overall, yawn
The Last Station: this movie is a very enjoyable story about the followers of Leo Tolstoy during his waning years. It’s about the struggle between his wife and the Tolstoyans over his legacy. Tolstoyans are pretty interesting. They are devoted followers of Tolstoy with some strange rules thrown in like being celibate and refraining from killing bugs or some such things like that. There is a very sweet romance between two Tolstoyans, one played by the cute James McAvoy.
Whip It: Whip it is a fun coming of age drama with the likable Ellen Page. Her character, Bliss, defies her controlling mother to skate with some tough chicks in the Roller Derby.
Broken Embraces: the latest from Pedro Almodovar with the evervescant Penelope Cruz. The plot is hard to explain, but unfolds in the form of a memory from a blind film maker who tells of his love affair with Lena or the beautiful Penelope Cruz. Interesting but not as good as Volver.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Loved watching that Last Station with you. And nothing like a cool glass o' Kool Aid to go with a summer movie night, eh? I wish I have seen more Almodovar, everyone has been dropping his name recently. They were playing all of his movies at a Quartier Latin cinema last week, but I didn't have time to see it.

My movie update: I just saw the last Palme d'Or winner "Uncle Boonmee" which is a very beautiful but super mysterious and bizarre Thai movie; the 1948 British super-technicoloured tragic ballet epic "The Red Shoes" based on a Hans Christian Anderson movie; and finally, two French classics made during the occupation. The first, "Le Corbeau" was a very controversial film which is something of "The Crucible" in the wartime setting. The second one that I have discovered is undoubtedly one of my new favorites, and il est nécessaire que tu le voies, Marie! : "Les Enfants de Paradis." Sure, it is 3 hours, but it has an intermission, it stars the lovely Arletty, and was written by the poet Prevert who has given my my favorite quote on Paris: "Paris est tout petit pour ceux qui s'aiment, comme nous, d'un aussi grand amour!" --nico