2011-07-17

The Ghost Writer



The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski, 2010)

Of the many films I’ve seen this year, few haven’t been reviewed on LMdC. With the LAMB’s upcoming Director’s Chair on Roman Polanski on July 22 it inspired me to finally put into words my impressions and appreciations of Polanski’s latest film.

Hired as a ghost writer to write the memoirs of the former Prime Minister (Pierce Brosnan) of Great Britain The Ghost (Ewan McGregor), discovers that his predecessor has strangely died falling from the ferry that brings him to the island where the former Prime Minister and his entourage is staying. This death slowly puts a doubt into The Ghost's mind and he wants to know more about what happened because it seems like he is on the same path. He also wants to bring the light on some blank spots of the autobiography. He will try to meet people who helped the candidature and the rise to the power of the Prime Minister. Those people won’t tell much to the investigator. Slowly, as strong and as subtle as Polanski’s Chinatown the story will unravel itself until its unexpected denouement.

Polanski’s direction is firm and sober, the dark tones and natural colors give to this thriller a realistic angle and the right mood for its strong script. This is also Polanski’s ability to tell a story with few artifices and just few camera angles. His visual language is clear sober and intelligent. This is clearly the work of a master. The influence of the famously recognized director is more palpable than many would consider. Sadly, the name of Roman Polanski has been thrown in the mud with the terrible death of his wife Sharon Tate but also by the case of pedophilia that planned over his head for many decades. In the first case this is the clear complex of North Americans where we see the victim as the one who covers the guilt. In the second case well I wouldn’t advance myself on it because I don’t know all the details and it’s been such a malaise that I don’t even know what to think about it.

All I know is that I love Roman Polanski’s films and I can clearly make a difference between the work of the man and his behaviour outside his oeuvre. While watching The Ghost Writer we finally see what is filmmaking. It doesn’t need CGI effects or implausible twists to entertain a public, you just need a strong script, a great director, and then the rest is printed on the film. A Polanski film is what Cinema is all about, like John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock.

2011-07-15

Julie & Julia


Julie & Julia (Nora Ephron, 2009)


A film about food, blogging, and the pleasure to cook... Humm... Why not they are three your host on LMdC quite enjoys. I must admit I am a big fan of the Food Network and food is one of my passions, I love to eat. It comforts me and it always has been a pleasure for me. I am a gourmand if you want to know. I’m always hungry and I can eat a dozen of donuts just after diner. I’m never empty! Those who know me for a while know that when I was a teenager I almost weight 200 pounds. Now, thanks to Hockey, Snowboarding, skateboarding I’m around 165 which is better for my health, I guess.

Enough of me, let’s talk about this enjoyable light comedy that tells the parallel story of two real women and their lives with their understanding and supporting husbands. It’s almost a feminist film without the statement and the angry activists. The film itself was directed by a Nora Ephron a capable director and acted by two of the greatest actresses working today, Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. I must say that only the name Meryl Streep will make me watch any movie, so I was already in for the thing but Amy Adams. Well, with her performance in The Fighter and in Julie & Julia I must admit that I think she is one of the excellent actresses out there. If she continues to choose smart roles she is a potential multi-Oscars winner.

The story, Julie Powell (Amy Adams) has a job she hates and wishes she was a writer. One day she decides she must do something meaningful in her life because she will be turning 30 soon. As many writers wannabe, she started a blog about cooking, a joy she has in life. Her goal is to cook all the recipes from Julia Child’s first book in one year. Parallel to that we have the making of this book by Julia Child (Meryl Streep) and how she began to cook and become the greatest cook in America. This might not be the script of the decade but it’s funny and quite enjoyable. This is also the case of two success stories of two women who by the vehicule of their passion surpassed their ennui and made their mark, starting from scratch.

Streep’s portrayal of Julia Child is unbelievable, I remember, when in 2002 I went to Washington and visited the Smithsonian where Child’s kitchen is reproduced. I did not knew who the woman was at all! But now I understand that she brought French food for the American families’ table. As always, I love every Meryl Streep role and no I haven't seen Mamma Mia! and I'm trying to forget it really happened. From The Deer Hunter to The Devil Wears Prada Meryl Streep always brings her A-game.

Julie & Julia isn’t exactly Inglourious Basterds, The Hurt Locker, or Das Weisse Band (the best films of 2009) but still a nice little flick that stands above the average popcorn movies of the multiplexes of today.

2011-07-14

Don't worry about me!

Hi everyone! I know it's been awhile since I posted something here but I' ve been at the Internation Summer Festival of Québec for a while now and it's been pretty exhausting: Hollywood Undead, Aaron Neville, Elton John, Cage the Elephant, Girl Talk, Dropkick Murphy's, Yellowcard, Melissa Auf der Maur, Coheed and Cambria, and to come Joe Satriani, Metallica, Dance Laury Dance, Galaxie, Malajube, and Death From Above 1979.

After that I will be driving down south to enjoy a little vacation with my girlfriend, soon to be my wife... Speaking of, we are in the plannings of the wedding due on August 20.

I'll try to make a post about wedding movies around this time to get you all in the mood!

You'll soon read my post for the 50's Monster Mash Blogathon held at the wonderful Forgotten Classics of Yesteryear between July 28 and August 2 <----by the way, this is my birthday!!!

Also, I will do a Redux of the Top films of 1983 for my anniversary.

Well, this is it for now but so more to come keep in touch!

... and what's happening to you all?

2011-07-01

The voters lists of The Most Influential Directors 2nd edition

In case you asked yourself if it was a secret vote... No it ain't and it will never be! But, it will promote your Blog and your tastes. The lists are in alphabetical order and as you will see the people who voted last year and didn't send me a list back this year I used their last year picks, like if there choices were the same as for the reference lists used as basics to this poll.


Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
1. Orson Welles
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. John Ford
4. Charles Chaplin
5. Buster Keaton
6. Stanley Kubrick
7. Akira Kurosawa
8. Federico Fellini
9. Sergei M. Eisenstein
10. David W. Griffith


Christian Audet
Filmmaker
1. William Friedkin
2. Sam Raimi
3. Roman Polanski
4. Martin Scorsese
5. Ken Russell
6. George A. Romero
7. Stanley Kubrick
8. Krzysztof Kieslowski
9. Lucio Fulci
10. Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez


The Cinematheque
1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Stanley Kubrick
3. Orson Welles
4. Akira Kurosawa
5. Ingmar Bergman
6. Robert Bresson
7. Martin Scorsese
8. Federico Fellini
9. Yasujiro Ozu
10. Jean-Luc Godard


Phil Concannon
Phil on Film
1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Akira Kurosawa
3. Sergei M. Eisenstein
4. John Ford
5. Walt Disney
6. Stanley Kubrick
7. Fritz Lang
8. Preston Sturges
9. Orson Welles
10. Ingmar Bergman


Digital Dreamdoor
1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Stanley Kubrick
3. Martin Scorsese
4. Akira Kurosawa
5. Orson Welles
6. Steven Spielberg
7. Billy Wilder
8. Ingmar Bergman
9. Federico Fellini
10. Francis Ford Coppola


DDX
Bonjour Tristesse
1. Andrey Tarkovskiy
2. Akira Kurosawa
3. Jean-Luc Godard
4. Jacques Rivette
5. Werner Herzog
6. Robert Bresson
7. David Cronenberg
8. Krzysztof Kieslowski
9. Dario Argento
10. Sergio Leone


Entertainment Weekly
1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Orson Welles
3. John Ford
4. Howard Hawks
5. Martin Scorsese
6. Akira Kurosawa
7. Buster Keaton
8. Ingmar Bergman
9. Frank Capra
10. Federico Fellini


Film Journal
1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Orson Welles
3. Howard Hawks
4. Jean Renoir
5. Robert Bresson
6. Stanley Kubrick
7. John Ford
8. Jean-Luc Godard
9. Yasujiro Ozu
10. Buster Keaton


Edward Howard
Only The Cinema
1. Jean-Luc Godard
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. Howard Hawks
4. Orson Welles
5. Jean Renoir
6. Stan Brakhage
7. Robert Altman
8. Jean Vigo
9. Eric Rohmer
10. Ingmar Bergman


Kevyn Knox
The Cinematheque
The Most Beautiful Fraud In The World
1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Jean-Luc Godard
3. David W. Griffith
4. John Ford
5. Akira Kurosawa
6. Howard Hawks
7. Charles Chaplin
8. Jean Renoir
9. Ernst Lubitsch
10. Sergei M. Eisenstein


Kevin Laforest
HOUR Community
1. Stanley Kubrick
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. Orson Welles
4. Martin Scorsese
5. John Huston
6. Steven Spielberg
7. Billy Wilder
8. Howard Hawks
9. Woody Allen
10. Quentin Tarantino


John LaRue
The Droid You're Looking For!
1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. François Truffaut
3. Luis Bunuel
4. Fritz Lang
5. Akira Kurosawa
6. Billy Wilder
7. Orson Welles
8. Ingmar Bergman
9. Stanley Kubrick
10. Steven Spielberg


Jack Lunt
Jack L. Film Reviews
1. Stanley Kubrick
2. Akira Kurosawa
3. Charles Chaplin
4. Orson Welles
5. Sergio Leone
6. Alfred Hitchcock
7. Fritz Lang
8. David W. Griffith
9. Steven Spielberg
10. Sam Peckinpah


MovieMaker
1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. David W. Griffith
3. Orson Welles
4. Jean-Luc Godard
5. John  Ford
6. Stanley Kubrick
7. Sergei M. Eisenstein
8. Charles Chaplin
9. Federico Fellini
10. Steven Spielberg


Jonathan Nadeau
Cinephile and Gore aficionados
1. Charles Chaplin
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. Akira Kurosawa
4. Orson Welles
5. Ingmar Bergman
6. Jean-Luc Godard
7. Steven Spielberg
8. Fritz Lang
9. Stanley Kubrick
10. Martin Scorsese


NightHawkNews
1. Akira Kurosawa
2. Martin Scorsese
3. Steven Spielberg
4. Stanley Kubrick
5. Ingmar Bergman
6. Alfred Hitchcock
7. David Lean
8. Coen Bros.
9. Billy Wilder
10. Woody Allen


Michael Parent
Le Mot du Cinephiliaque
1. Stanley Kubrick
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. Akira Kurosawa
4. Jean Renoir
5. Charles Chaplin
6. John Ford
7. Martin Scorsese
8. Ingmar Bergman
9. Jean-Luc Godard
10. Woody Allen


Yishai Reno
Movies and Directors
1. Fritz Lang
2. John Ford
3. Jean-Luc Godard
4. Alfred Hitchcock
5. David W. Griffith
6. Stanley Kubrick
7. Federico Fellini
8. Steven Spielberg
9. Orson Welles
10. Charles Chaplin


Sight and Sound 2002 (critics)
1. Orson Welles
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. Jean-Luc Godard
4. Jean Renoir
5. Stanley Kubrick
6. Akira Kurosawa
7. Federico Fellini
8. John Ford
9. Sergei M. Eisenstein
10. Francis Ford Coppola
10. Yasujiro Ozu


Sight and Sounds 2002 (directors)
1. Orson Welles
2. Federico Fellini
3. Akira Kurosawa
4. Francis Ford Coppola
5. Alfred Hitchcock
6. Stanley Kubrick
7. Billy Wilder
8. Ingmar Bergman
9. Martin Scorsese
9. David Lean
9. Jean Renoir


Iain Stott
The One-Line Review
1. Ozu Yasujiro
2. Ingmar Bergman
3. Tarr Béla
4. Abbas Kiarostami
5. Mike Leigh
6. Billy Wilder
7. Michael Powell
8. Terrence Davies
9. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
10. Kurosawa Akira


They Shoot Pictures Don't They?
1. Orson Welles
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. Stanley Kubrick
4. Federico Fellini
5. John Ford
6. Jean Renoir
7. Akira Kurosawa
8. Francis Ford Coppola
9. Ingmar Bergman
10. Jean-Luc Godard


Total Film
1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Martin Scorsese
3. Steven Spielberg
4. Howard Hawks
5. Francis Ford Coppola
6. Orson Welles
7. Ingmar Bergman
8. Stanley Kubrick
9. Peter Jackson
10. David Fincher

That's it for this year! I hope you'll all be back next year and that will have dozens of new voters and interesting lists as well!

LMdC will get back to its normal program, reviews of Classic and contemporary films! Plus a running feature of recommended readings on Cinema that I hope I'll be able to feed with at least one book a month!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...