Certified Copy

Last night I was in the mood to watch an intellectual movie, and I was happy that I selected Certified Copy. It is a fabulous movie that I am still thinking about. I am still unsure if I understood the story plus I am intrigued that I am still thinking about a philosophical problem that is an integral part of this movie--is an exact copy of an art masterpiece a masterpiece?

William Shimell plays James Miller, an British author on a tour of Tuscany where his work on originality in art has been better received than in his homeland. Binoche is the woman who comes to hear his talk, and the two are then drawn together in a discussion of his work. Once the two meet again, the course of the movie charts their discussions over the course of an afternoon, taking in the Tuscan countryside and engaging with a number of characters along the way who cause them to reflect on their differing viewpoints on Miller's work.

I will not say anything more or it will be a spoiler. This is a movie that I highly recommend.

Ondine

Ondine stars Colin Farrell, Alicja Bachleda, and Dervla Kirwan. It takes the selkie myth (the myth of the seal woman) and brings it to the big screen.

Ondine tells the story of a lonely fisherman, Syracuse played by Farrell, struggling with alcoholism and the break-up of his marriage. One day he hauls in his nets, and finds a lovely, half-drowned young woman, Ondine played by Bachleda, amongst the flapping fish. Ondine claims to be afraid of meeting other people, so he offers her the shelter of his dead mother's abandoned cottage in a beautiful secluded inlet. They swiftly fall in love, and when Syracuse's catches miraculously improve and Ondine sings haunting melodies in a foreign tongue, he starts to believe she might be a denizen of some aquatic fairy world. Meanwhile, Syracuse's invalid child, Annie, sniffs out his secret romance, and is fully convinced of the mysterious stranger's otherworldly origins - and of ancient legends that foretell the destruction of her father's happiness with his new beloved. These forebodings soon take shape in the arrival of two sinister adversaries from Ondine's past life, which leads to a dangerous crisis.

It's rare to find a film with such a skillful blending of folklore and magic realism-- complemented by some fine acting performances. While this is not a great film, but it is worth watching.

Two Lovers

Wow, I picked a really good flick to watch on my iPad. Two Lovers stars Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Vinessa Shaw. It is a romantic drama in which one man is torn between two very different women. That man is Leonard Kraditor (Phoenix), a generally introverted and troubled man who has moved back in with his parents (his mother is the great actress Isabella Rossellini) after a failed relationship. 

His parent's friends have a beautiful daughter Sandra (Shaw), who is "fixed up" with Leonard. They nervously take the first steps into a new relationship, soon developing a comfortable rhythm that feels cathartic and safe for both.

Soon thereafter, Leonard stumbles into Michelle (Paltrow), an energetic blonde who moves into an apartment on the floor above. She is hyperactive and fun, representing a slightly more dangerous undertaking for Leonard because he falls in love with her at first sight.

One girl is safe and comfortable. The other is unattainable and risky. This is what Two Lovers is all about. I highly recommend this well-done intelligent movie.

Strangers (2007)

Watching the trailer for Strangers was very intriguing because this is an Israeli film about an affair between an Israeli guy and a Palestinian lady. The following is the Wikipedia description of this film.

"Strangers opens in Berlin during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Rana Sweid (Lubna Azabal), a Palestinian from Ramallah currently living in Paris, meets Eyal Goldman (Liron Levo), an Israeli who grew up on a kibbutz, after they accidentally switch bags on a train. They eventually strike up a friendship and decide to watch the World Cup together. Their budding romance is cut short when Rana is myseriously called back to France and asks Eyal to stop seeing her. Despite her request, he seeks her in France. They are then faced with the 2006 Lebanon War as Eyal is drafted by the Israel Defense Forces."

I enjoyed this dark film with a curious ending. I recommend this film as something different.

Happy Accidents

Last night I decided to watch Happy Accidents because of the science fiction aspect of this movie that starts  Marisa Tomei, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Marty Davey.

Happy Accidents begins when Ruby, Marisa Tomei, a teacher from Manhattan, meets Sam, Vincent D'Onofrio, in a park. Sam is taken with her and goes looking for her to return the book she left behind. Sam, who acts strangely, reveals he has traveled backward in time from 2470. Naturally she has big problems dealing with the idea that she has met a time traveler or possibly a crazy person. 

The two principal actors have the right chemistry on the screen to sustain this comedy/drama. Holland Taylor is delightful as Ruby's therapist. Tovah Feldshuh is seen as Ruby's mother, in a winning performance and Nadia Najani plays Gretchen, the best friend anyone can ask for.

I enjoyed this film and recommend it to watch.

A Good Woman

Again I was looking for a film that would take me to Italy. I found it in A Good Woman which takes place in Amalfi in the 1930s. This film was adapted from a play by Oscar Wilde. It stars Helen Hunt, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Wilkinson. These three all deliver superb performances in this film.

The story begins in New York where Mrs. Erlynne (Helen Hunt) is running out of suitors to pay her subsistence. Looking at a photograph in the newspaper, she packs up her few belongings, skips out on her healthy hotel bill, and makes her way to the shores of Italy. The photo that catches her attention were newlyweds Windermere, Robert (Mark Umbers) and Meg (Scarlett Johansson). What makes her think a 40-something woman of questionable repute can get this wealthy young man Robert Windermere to finance her stay there? Perhaps an unfailing attraction and blackmail?? Tom Wilkinson plays a wealthy, older man called Tuppy. He falls hopelessly in love with Mrs Erlynne, even though she wants nothing serious from him. 

While the plot sounds somewhat circuitous it play out well with a major surprise. It is definitely a movie that most people will enjoy. I recommend that you see this one.

To Rome With Love

I have been waiting for To Rome With Love to reach iTunes because I wanted to spend a couple hours back in Rome. To Rome With Love was written and directed by Woody Allen. It stars Penélope Cruz and Jesse Eisenberg along with Woody Allen. I really enjoyed watching this movie because I recognized the locations where the movie was filmed. For example, one scene is shot at a cafe on the street where I stayed last year--Via Guila.

To Rome with Love is a fantasy film; a comedy about people living out their fantasies. The great thing about it is that it's subtle enough that you don't recognize the fantasy element in all of the relationships until later on in the film. The obvious one is when native Roman, Leopoldo Pisanello (Roberto Benigni), becomes a celebrity over night. "It's better to be a celebrity than an unknown." And as Benigni shows, way funnier too.

We follow two relationships involving Romans and two relationships with Americans in Rome. A young, Italian, married couple get separated and the young man finds himself living out every other young man's fantasies while the young woman finds herself living out her own fantasies.

This is a fun movie that is recommend to all.

The Garden of Earthly Delights

I was in the mood to watch a movie that was filmed in Venice, a place that I will soon visit. I was pleasantly surprised with this low budget film, The Garden of Earthly Delights. While this is the name of the movie, it is the name of a very famous painting by Hieronymus Bosch. This movie shows a romance that blossoms between an engineer named Chris (Chris Nightingale) and an art history expert named Claudine (Claudine Spiteri), who meet up and instantly fall for one another. Tragedy strikes Claudine when she finds that she is terminally ill with throat cancer. She chooses to respond by spending her final days with Chris in Venice, against the backdrop of buildings and murals created by her favorite artist, Hieronymus Bosch.

While this is not a great movie it was a beautifully done movie with lots of passion.

Take This Waltz

Take This Waltz is the story of a woman who's always looking for something new to fill the perpetual void in her life. Take This Waltz stars  Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, and Luke Kirby. Michelle Williams is Margo, a 28-year old who is in a loving marriage with Lou (Seth Rogen). On a plane trip home she runs into Daniel (Luke Kirby) and strikes up a flirtation with him, which is made unsettling by the realization that he has recently moved in directly across the street from her. It's a contrived premise, but Sarah Polley, the writer and director is wise to quickly move away from that set up and begins her focus on the study of Margot and her internal conflict.

This is a movie that will keep you thinking long after it is over. For example, the film begins and ends with the same scene. It's with Daniel. Until this point, and without our knowing it, the entire film is a flash back. The audience has been in the gap with Margot along. And yet there is more. In the film's final scene we see Margot again on the Scrambler amusement park ride—this time she rides alone and not with Daniel.

I recommend this movie.

9 1/2 Weeks

I am almost positive that I saw this film previously, and, probably in the year that it was released, 1986--the worst year of my life. 9 1/2 Weeks stars  Mickey Rourke, and Kim Basinger. I was never really fond of these actors but they do an excellent job in this beautiful controversial flick. 

Kim Basinger is a successful but lonely woman living in New York City. She meets a stranger, Mickey Rourke, who buys her an expensive item that she could never afford. But he buys it because he can. This starts the intrigue between the two. He is the tall dark mysterious man that doesn't really reveal much of himself. He is obviously incredibly wealthy, but it is not really revealed what it is that he does. And that feeling of subservience is paralleled when the blindfold scene is presented to us later in the film. He controls his life by controlling others. He has his world under his control and that includes his sexuality towards her.

It is a film about a relationship that is doomed because of it's sexuality, that is all you need to know. Judge for yourself how good or how bad it is. I personally liked this film very much and I do recommend it.