Saturday, July 17, 2010

MOVIE REVIEW ... THE WAITING CITY

MOVIE REVIEW ...

THE WAITING CITY

poster India’s stark natural and man-made beauty has appeared in multiple films.  Easy to see why as its varied social demographic has given different dynamics to many genres.  The Waiting City is an interesting addition mixing the culture and history of the land in a story about strengthening relationships.

 

 

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Married couple Fiona (Radha Mitchell) and Ben (Joel Edgerton) are about to adopt an Indian baby girl.  Arriving in Calcutta to collect her, bureaucratic red tape delays their meeting.  Biding their time, they explore the Indian locales in order to learn more about their new daughter’s background.  With the help of hotel worker Krishna (Samrat Chakrabarti), they come to understand some of their marital issues and begin a personal transformation as they attempt to lift the weight of expectations and become ready for their role as expectant parents.

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The Waiting City portrays how doubt can play havoc with people’s confidence as the couple’s inner demons arise when they begin to doubt their parental readiness.  This unearths long held secrets which threaten to tear them apart forcing them to question why they are together.  Although these issues are quite interesting, the remote nature of the characters prevents any full engagement.  With Fiona’s rigid workaholic to Ben’s carefree musician, you wonder how they ever became a couple such is their lack of chemistry.  Whilst Mitchell and Edgerton do what they can the crucial sense of context leading to their character’s fractured mind-set is missing.

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The Indian locations add to a central story focussing on its traditions and religious beliefs.  This subtext thankfully isn’t lost as events move through its streets careful not to turn into a glorified travelogue.  Showing the poverty as well as its splendour it highlights the feelings of pride the locals of all walks of life display which rubs off onto the lead characters.  Having to create their own belief system to conquer the obstacles they encounter alleviates the lack of emotional pull from which the film suffers.

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Although its screenplay is less impactful than it should be, The Waiting City’s arresting cinematography is certainly memorable.  Maybe this is why India has been a magnet for film-makers as its diversity creates any type of mood which this film mostly utilises in its tale in gaining the confidence needed to make the next important personal step.

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Movie Review Rating  6 / 10

Movie Review by Patrick Moore

The Waiting City released in Australia on Thursday 15 July 2010.

If you have any comments to make about this Movie Review, then please use the comment box, titling your comments with Movie Review The Waiting City

Patrick Moore's Movie Review is an alternative look at current movie releases in Australia.

Official HomePage click HERE

 

MOVIE REVIEW ... THE RUNAWAYS

MOVIE REVIEW ...

THE RUNAWAYS

 

the-runaways-movie-poster-1020537838 It is appropriate The Runaways’ first tune belongs to Suzi Quatro.  Singing about the virtues of being the ‘wild one’, her song aptly describes the all-female group who burst onto the punk scene in the mid 70’s.  Featuring Joan Jett – who would later find great fame with “I Love Rock and Roll” – and other equally talented individuals, its tale of music’s disposable fame is about as rough as the thrashing guitars they played.

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Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) was a teenager looking for a way into the music business.  A demon with the electric guitar, her gnarly playing style captured the attention of Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon).  Knowing a money-making enterprise when he saw it, he formed a group basing itself on the popular glam rock/punk movement.  Choosing a lead singer in Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), his endeavours would run his charges through the gamut of a usually unforgiving industry.

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Executive produced by Joan Jett and based on Currie’s memoirs, you’d expect both to be portrayed in a holier than thou light.  Not quite the case with The Runaways as it captures their forceful personalities and spirit of the times quite well.  Whilst the reality may have been a little different, their desire to live the rock life feels believable due to the sublime performances.  The way in which their characters exploited each other for their own needs is well articulated as they attempt to cope with the temptations surrounding them.  It isn’t anything anyone hasn’t seen before as it routinely ticks the ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll’ boxes, although the stand-out acting makes for compelling viewing. 

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As a tribute to an influential band it tries to find its place among other seminal punk groups such as the Sex Pistols.  This doesn’t quite work due to the lack of focus on the rest of the band.  Although the three leads make the story fascinating, it would have been more so had the script delved deeper into the band dynamics.  Director Floria Sigismondi is clearly a fan and effectively infuses the raw energy for which the group was known.  This isn’t too difficult due to the track selection as they play their role under-scoring the musical circus of which the band becomes a part. 

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What could have been yet another trip down the musical cliché alley is avoided due to The Runaway’s sharp direction and stirring performances.  With its snapshot of an era where women began to break through into a male dominated industry it successfully highlights the debt today’s singing princesses owe to those like the ones featured in this captivating film.

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Movie Review Rating  7 / 10

Movie Review by Patrick Moore

The Runaways released in Australia on Thursday 15 July 2010.

If you have any comments to make about this Movie Review, then please use the comment box, titling your comments with Movie Review The Runaways

Patrick Moore's Movie Review is an alternative look at current movie releases in Australia.

Official HomePage click HERE

MOVIE NEWS ... THOR

MOVIE NEWS  ...

THOR!

Marvel Studios has released a new photograph depicting the Gods in Kenneth Branagh's Thor!

The new photograph of Anthony Hopkins, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston show the costumes are rather detailed and well-designed, more like functional armor as opposed to the cheesy rubber suits we're used to in superhero movies today. However, the jury is still out on Anthony Hopkins' eye patch.

Thor! is scheduled to be released in Australia on 05 May 2011.

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MOVIE NEWS ... RED

MOVIE NEWS  ...

RED

The Red posters keep on coming! After Bruce Willis started it off with his Frank Moses poster, Helen Mirren got in on the action and now, John Malkovich makes it a trilogy, as Summit Entertainment is rolling out the Red posters.

Opening October 28, 2010 in Australia, Red is the story of Frank Moses (Willis), a former black-ops CIA agent, who is now living a quiet life.  That is until the day a hi-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him.

With his identity compromised and the life of the woman he cares for, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), endangered, Frank reassembles his old team (Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren) in a last ditch effort to survive.  Also in the cast are Karl Urban, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss, Ernest Borgnine, Julian McMahon, James Remar and Rebecca Pidgeon.

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QUOTABLES … MARK TWAIN

QUOTABLES …

MARK TWAIN

MARK TWAIN

"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples' habits."

- Mark Twain

TRIVIA BITS ... EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

TRIVIA BITS ...

EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

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During a severe windstorm or rainstorm the Empire State Building may sway several feet to either side.

MOVIE TRIVIA … DON QUIXOTE

MOVIE TRIVIA …

DON QUIXOTE

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While it is not uncommon for a film production to be abandoned in its early stages, disasters on the scale of  the scale of Terry Gilliam’s attempted adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote are relatively rare.

Gilliam spent more than a year developing the ill-fated project (The Man Who Killed Don Quixote), only to see it overwhelmed soon after filming began.

A devastating combination of personal and logistical problems including the lead actor falling ill and a filming location located next to a NATO bombing range.

Film makers Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe were on hand shooting a “making of” feature as events unfolded. Gilliam took little comfort that their resulting documentary Lost in La Mancha (2002) went on to critical success.

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JUST FOR FUN … WEDDING PICTURES

JUST FOR FUN …

WEDDING PICTURES

 

Some wedding photos were simply never meant to end up in the wedding photo album…

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SUPERSTITIONS … BROOMS

SUPERSTITIONS …

BROOMS

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Do not lean a broom against a bed. The evil spirits in the broom will cast a spell on the bed.

If you sweep trash out the door after dark, it will bring a stranger to visit.

If someone is sweeping the floor and sweeps over your feet, you'll never get married.

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Never take a broom along when you move. Throw it out and buy a new one.

To prevent an unwelcome guest from returning, sweep out the room they stayed in immediately after they leave.

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THIS WORLD … PONT DELL’ACCADEMIA

THIS WORLD … PONT DELL’ACCADEMIA

The Ponte dell'Accademia is one of only four bridges in Venice to span the Grand Canal. It crosses near the southern end of the canal, and is named for the Accademia galleries.

First suggested as early as 1488, a bridge was not constructed until 1854. The original steel structure, designed by Alfred Neville, was demolished and replaced by a wooden bridge in the 1930s, despite widespread hopes for a stone bridge.

The second bridge, in a dangerous condition, was razed and replaced by the present bridge, of identical construction, in 1985.

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Friday, July 16, 2010

MOVIE NEWS ... ZETA-JONES AS TAYLOR

MOVIE NEWS  ...

ZETA-JONES AS TAYLOR

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Tony Award winner Catherine Zeta-Jones is interested in playing Dame ElizaBeth Taylor in an upcoming film based on Sam Kashner's and Nancy Schoenberger's book 'Furious Love: ElizaBeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century,' Entertainment Tonight reports.

Angelina Jolie is also interested in the role.  Among those interested in the part of Richard Burton are Russell Crowe, Clive Owen, and Colin Farrell.

Mike Nichols is interested in directing the film.  A producing studio has not yet been announced.

'Furious Love' utilized an interview with Taylor herself, as well as some of her personal photographs, the first draft of her autobiography, and love letters from Burton.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

MOVIE NEWS ... KEVIN BACON

MOVIE NEWS  ...

KEVIN BACON

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Kevin Bacon will appear in the film 'X-Men: First Class,' Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider reports. 

Bacon will play a villain who fights Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender).  The film, which is a prequel to the previous 'X-Men' films, will begin filming in London this fall, the Hollywood Insider reports.

It is set when characters Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lenshaar/Magneto are in their late teens and early twenties. Alive Eve co-stars in addition to Nicholas Hoult, who reportedly plays the role of Beast orginally offered to Benjamin Walker. 

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS ... HARRY CONNICK JNR

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS ...

HARRY CONNICK JNR

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Oh to be on Broadway during July with the arrival of star crooner Harry Connick Jr.

Harry has started a season of 13 concerts at the Neil Simon Theatre.

Connick is a two-time Tony nominee for his performance as Sid in The Pajama Game and for composing Thou Shalt Not.

In honor of Connick’s latest Broadway appearance, artist Justin ‘Squigs’ Robertson offers a portrait of the star at his piano, with the marquees of 52nd Street in the background.

Harry Connick Jr. in Concert on Broadway plays until July 29.

To purchase a signed limited edition of the portrait of Harry Connick Jnr CLICK HERE

TRIVIA BITS ... MATISSE’S ‘LE BATEAU’

TRIVIA BITS ...

MATISSE’S ‘LE BATEAU’ 

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The Museum of Modern Art in New York City hung Matisse's ‘Le Bateau’ upside-down for 47 days before an art student noticed the error.

QUOTABLES ... ZSA ZSA GABOR

QUOTABLES ...

ZSA ZSA GABOR

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"I'm a great housekeeper. I get divorced. I keep the house."

- Zsa Zsa Gabor