A few more Ryan Gosling Movies

I watch a lot of movies because this or that actor is in it. Of course, I have my favorites (criteria for a favorite has to do with my belief that this actor is a very talented and he or she has some quality, some je ne sais quoi quality that makes him so captivating on screen – this list does not include my favorite comedians btw) Here are some of my favorite dramatic actors, in no particular order:

Carey Mulligan: a new favorite, great in An Education
Claire Danes: I’ve always loved her starting with My So Called Life
Colin Firth: the best Darcy ever! Need I say more
James Franco: my love for him is waning, but 127 Hours, great – I even saw him in Howl
Keira Knightly: thought she was great in Atonement
Clive Owen: he made apocalyptic cinema great in Children of Men
Mark Ruffalo: ever since You Can Count on Me, I’ve been smitten
Viggo Mortenson: kinda scary sometimes, I even suffered through A History of Violence to see him
Laura Linney: so great in so many things, but first loved her in You Can Count on Me
James McAvoy: Last King of Scotland, adorable and a great actor

However, the actor whose films I rarely miss would have to be Ryan Gosling. I haven’t seen all of his films and even I won’t go to ones that are supposed to be terrible, but I've seen most (see Ryan Gosling movies listed on the side). With that in mind I have see two of his movies recently. Both not great, but worth a look if you are a fan like me:

All Good Things All Good Things: All Good Things tells about the fascinating real life story of a wealthy New York family and a creepy murder. It is based on a real story of Robert Durst. Ryan Gosling plays the put upon son and Kristen Dunst his hapless wife. Here's a fascinating link to a New York Times article about the real-life murders.


Crazy Stupid Love – This ensemble romantic comedy was, as my friend said when we came out of the theater, pretty stupid. But I got a lot of laughs out of Ryan Goslings’ gigolo character and guess what, the actor who can do it all can also be really funny. Emma Stone I thought was pretty good in it too.

Hodge Podge 2

Death at a Funeral is a very silly British comedy with a host of well-known British actors. If you are a fan of the Masterpiece Theater-type movies, you've seen all of these actors at one time or another. The lead characters Matthew MacFadyen (Darcy in the most recent Pride and Prejudice) and Rupert Graves (The Forsyte Saga) are brothers whose father just died, and they argue about who is going to pay for it and try to manage the kooky guests that come to the funeral. It's not a great movie, but it's pretty funny at times, and it gets better as the movie goes on.

Last night I was going to go to bed at a reasonable hour when I ran across the 1958 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. Somehow, I had never seen this movie before last night, and never really wanted to, but last night it hooked me in. At first I thought cheesy and overly dramatic -- I am not really a fan of Tennessee Williams plays --they seem so overwrought--but after 10 minutes or so I became so mesmerized by both Newman and Taylor that I had to watch it until the end and stayed up until 1:30 AM. If you've never seen it, it's worth a try.



Bend it Like Beckham stars Parmainder Nagra from ER who plays the adorable Jess, a girl whose Pakistani culture conflicts with her dream of playing competitive soccer. This is another good movie for girls like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It's just nice to see a wholesome movie such as this one where girls are all about kickin' butt on the soccer field. The movie also stars Keira Knightly as Jess' very young boyish-looking team mate. The soccer coach and love interest is played by Jonathan Rhys-Myers, who I last saw in The Tudors, and he does his usual smoldering thing, but in this early version of him, he seemed kinda sissified (is that a word?)