Archives for February 2010

Vinyan: Starring Rufus Sewell and Emmanuelle Béart

Posted on February 13, 2010 Written by ripitup

Vinyan with Rufus Sewell and Emmanuelle Béart

What a weird and pointless movie. There were moments I liked, so I can’t say the entire movie was crappy. But if made a collage of scenes I liked, it would probably be about 15-20 minutes.

Now, I was hoping to watch an intense psychological thriller. The premise is interesting, the name is right, the location is perfect. Hell, you have Rufus Sewell in one of the lead roles. So had the storytelling been alright, the movie would be fine – even with Emmanuelle Béart.

And Emma-please, Emma- have the extra from your lip sucked and eat a little. Pirates of the Caribbean ghosts looked more in shape. And no, she is not playing a ghost.

Jeanne (Emmanulle Béart) and Paul (Rufus Sewell) are a married couple who lost their child Joshua to Tsunami. One night, Jeanne sees a video footage shot in Burma and believes she saw Joshua in there. Despite all logic, Paul has to support her decision eventually, because she is barely holding to her sanity. And as slim as the chances are, what if it really was him? It is not a thought a loving father can shake off, so he travels to Burma with her. Of course, their journey costs them a lot, with all the crooks around and with Jeanne becoming more and more irrational. It is not a journey Paul would have taken; had he known the circumstances…

If you are seriously into artistic and somewhat experimental film-making, with longer and more repetitive scenes than necessary, with promising gloom that slowly leaves itself to boring long silences…Yeah, this is your movie. I am a Rufus Sewell fan but I can’t bear to recommend it. Not if your reward would be to date him, that is.

Seriously, though. The movie tries to be a genre-bender: a heavily dramatic, spooky psychological thriller with characters slowly bordering on insanity… Had it worked, it would have been a masterpiece. But it fails miserably.

3/10. (IMDB is far more generous with 5.6)

3 Romantic Roles of Edward Norton

Posted on February 12, 2010 Written by ripitup

Yes, we know he can play a psycho, a gambler, a man who is going to jail the very next day or he can just star in the cult film Fight Club. It is so easy to get used to this diversity and we are not exactly surprised when he plays the nice, romantic fellow occasionally. But of course being Edward Norton, even his romantic parts are very different from each other. So here is a list of three (very) good movies and links to its reviews:

* Keeping The Faith

Edward Norton has directed this lovely comedy where a rabbi and a priest reunite with their old childhood friend (Elfman) and eventually both fall in love with her. Both these guys are very popular, modern and fun. But of course Norton’s character Brian Finn isn’t supposed to date. Or flirt. Or fall in love. Oops…

You can read the review below:

http://www.articlesbase.com/movies-articles/keeping-the-faith-with-edward-norton-jenna-elfman-and-ben-stiller-1852125.html

The Painted Veil

It is sad, romantic, touching, powerful and poetic. It is well-done in every way. Not your typical love affair either. An unfaithful wife (Watts) is forced by her doctor husband (Norton) to go the most dangerous place (1920s, political chaos- combined with a cholera epidemic) in China. But maybe they were both too quick to judge and despise each other? Produced by Norton and Watts. A must-see. To find out more about the film (no spoilers there either):

https://pinartarhan.com/blog/the-painted-veil-with-naomi-watts-and-edward-norton/

The Illusionist

The Illusionist takes you to a magical Vienna with fine cast: Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti and Rufus Sewell.Romantic, mystical, mysterious and lovely. For the review:

https://pinartarhan.com/blog/the-illusionist-with-edward-norton-and-jessica-biel/

Would love to hear what you think of these movies. You can comment here, on their individual pages.

Ghost Town with Ricky Gervais

Posted on February 12, 2010 Written by ripitup

Ghost Town with Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni and Greg Kinnear. Fun, fun, fun.

Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) is an anti-social, cynical and bitter dentist. His “love” for human beings is as impressive as Gregory House’s, really. Of course since Pincus is being portrayed by Gervais, everything he does or says is just really funny.

Something really weird happens after Pinus gets a minor procedure done at the hospital. He realizes (to his utter disgust) that dead people can see and talk to him. In fact, he is the only alive person who seems to have this “power” so all the dead New Yorkers become his stalkers. They all have unfinished businesses and they need to get those done before they can leave this world for good.

The most persistent and annoying one of them all is the smooth and cocky Frank (Greg Kinnear). Now, Frank is the worst because he doesn’t even know what his final purpose is; but he is quite convinced that it has something to the with his widowed wife Gwen (Téa Leoni). He did cheat on Gwen a lot when he was alive but for some reason he considers himself his guardian angel. His mission is to break her relationship with her current boyfriend and Pincus is just forced to cooperate. He realizes Gwen is hot so he decides to try flirting. At first he sucks at it, but then as he slowly bonds with her, he begins regretting it already…

A typical romantic comedy has been combined with some typical Ricky Gervais humor and along with Kinnear’s adorable “bastard” character, the movie is just fun. I has many clichés but the good jokes and funny parts make up for it.

Ghost Town with Ricky Gervais and Téa Leoni — This is how comedy is done. Sometimes it is not about being original (well, some parts are original) but about being truly hilarious...

The role is just made for Gervais. He is cheeky and funny. I especially love all his lines in the hospital. Téa and Greg are more than adaquate and are perfectly cute. The hilairous doctor in the hospital is SNL’s Kristen Wiig.

Totally agree with imdb’s 7.0/10 on this one. As romcoms get, this is one of the really good ones.

Also on Ricky Gervais:

Golden Globes Highlights – Ricky Gervais

The Invention of Lying

on Kristen Wiig

Whip It

Gerard Butler and Saturday Night Live

on Saturday Night Live

Jon Bon Jovi Hosts Snl

Bernard and Doris: Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon

Posted on February 11, 2010 Written by ripitup

Bernard and Doris with Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon. Charming and fun all over...

Half-based on the life of Doris Duke- one of the richest people of her time.

Doris Duke (Susan Sarandon) is an interesting, smart and demanding woman who loves her fun; especially in the form of booze and young men. Her inherited fortune has multiplied because of her sharp business mind.

Bernard (Ralph Fiennes) is a shy, nice and polite butler that starts working for her.

At first she treats her like the rest of her staff but slowly they develop a strong bond and friendship.

Now, what’s interesting about this movie is how Doris allows (gay) Bernard to express himself and takes him out of his shell. Of course people working for Doris finds their friendship weird but then again it is not like our colorful duo care. Sure just like every movie some conflicts will arise here too…

Ralph Fiennes is so adorably cute in Bernard. It was refreshing to see him as a first plain, than an increasingly flamboyant homosexual. He and Susan make a wonderful onscreen couple and their performances make the movie. It is fun, charming and relaxing.

Strongly recommended for every Susan and Ralph fan.

Archives for February 2010

More on Ralph Fiennes: