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Trauma starring Colin Firth and Mena Suvari

Posted on February 5, 2010 Written by ripitup

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trauma with Colin Firth and Mena Suvari
Trauma with Colin Firth and Mena Suvari. See the ants crawling on Colin's face? Yeah, the ants have a big part in the movie. Bloody Hell!

Ben (Colin Firth) has issues. He just his lost his wife in a car accident where he was the driver. His wife’s family has gone on with the burial while he was in a coma and they don’t seem to want to talk to him at all.

He starts working with an old friend and goes to therapy. His mind constantly plays tricks on him and he is starting to believe he is going insane. Then there is the issue of a famous singer who was recently murdered. He is absolutely fascinated by everything about the case. Is it possible that Ben murdered the singer?

While Ben tries to stay sane, he develops a friendship with his beautiful and interesting neighbor Charlotte (Mena Suvari). But Ben can’t tell whether she is real…

Actually, the concept is really interesting. Colin Firth’s performance is great as usual. Mena Suvari is lovely and I can’t think of anyone else who’d be better for the role. Colin’s best friend is played by Tommy Flanagan and frankly, I love seeing him in movies no matter what the role. Seeing an actor for the first time at one of the most heart-breaking scenes in Braveheart does this to you. Remember the wedding scene where William Wallace (Mel Gibson) goes to a wedding where he comes back to his village as a grown man? The English interrupt the wedding and take the bride away. The groom is Tommy Flanagan. Of course he becomes one of Wallace’s most willing soldiers after that. To see him in a larger role, you can check out Atilla– where he plays Attila’s (Gerard Butler) cousin/nemesis.

So the idea is promising and the actors are just fine. Then why the hell was the movie rated 4.7 on imdb? Because the script writer overused ants and the director did a lousy job. Yeah, Ben collects ants and what’s strangely weird at first, comes back to annoy you again and again. Then there are Ben’s delusions that were shot as if you were watching a horror movie. You are not. This is a psychological thriller and if the makers thought this could be horror, that’s a delusion right there. With a different approach, we could have a pretty decent movie. I am not saying you shouldn’t watch it. I am just saying the fast forward button can come in handy.

More Colin Firth-starring movie reviews :

St. Trinian’s

Apartment Zero

The English Patient

More movies with Tommy Flanagan

Braveheart

Attila

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Attila, Braveheart, Colin Firth, Mena Suvari, Tommy Flanagan, Trauma

PLEASE!: Gerard Butler’s Highly Compelling Short Film

Posted on November 9, 2009 Written by ripitup

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OK, WOW!!!

It is an award-winning short movie from 1999 and it really inspired me to make and watch short movies. I don’t usually think that a powerful story can be told in a little over 13 minutes, but this film just does it. Despite the bad image quality (the only way to see this film was through youtube for me), I was hooked. I wish it had been longer and I really wished it was a theater released full-length film. It is just another example that shows why Gerard Butler is never going to be typecast. We have seen him act as muscle-bound epic heroes (Attila, 300), as a loving husband with a great sense of humor (P.S. I love You), a wiseass guys’ guy that gives relationship advice (The Ugly Truth), a seemingly perfect family and career man who just might not be actually that great (Butterfly on a Wheel) and well a phantom (The Phantom of the Opera)…The list goes on.

In this movie, Gerard Butler plays Peter, a struggling novelist who is depressed, furious and desperate. His career hasn’t taken off, and moreover his wife and kid have left him long ago. He is lonely and extremely frustrated. He has a gun in which a he puts one bullet and starts to play Russian Roulette while visiting his wife and his agent. And while the ending might not be a shock, it still blew my mind- the way it is presented is just brilliant.

The only fault I can find with the movie is that it is too damn short. Kudos to Paul Black, the writer and director, and to Gerard Butler.

Enjoy the movie here:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiCw8V_pF9o[/pro-player]

Gerard Butler
Gerard Butler. Couldn't find any images for Please!. So please just make do with a regular Gerard pose.

Also on Gerard Butler and his movies:

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN

GAMER

5 REASONS TO LOVE GERARD BUTLER

TOP 10 GERARD BUTLER MOVIES

Beowulf and Grendel

GERARD BUTLER Hosts SNL

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Attila, award-winning short film, Butterfly on a Wheel, Gerard Butler, P.S. I love you, Paul Black, Please!, The Phantom of the Opera, The Ugly Truth

Attila starring Gerard Butler

Posted on October 31, 2009 Written by ripitup

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Gerard Butler plays Attila
Gerard Butler plays Attila

I was actually shocked to find out it was a TV movie. It is a wonderful epic: the cinematography, setting, acting, music… They are all wonderful; with  Powers Boothe’ s performance as Flavius Aetius and Gerard Butler‘s as Attila overshadowing the rest as a little, both playing the most charismatic roles as the antagonist and protagonist of the story:

Hun legends tell that a great king would be born and he would rule the world. When Attila was a kid, his family was murdered by the invading forces. He was raised under the wing of his uncle, Rua- King of Huns. He was trained not only to fight well, but to be knowledgeable about the art of fighting as well. As he grew up, he became the greatest fighter of all, with the town witch Galen as his friend and his cousin Bleda as his adversary. Yet according to Galen’s visions Attila would be the big ruler- he is the one the myths were written about. He only had to be patient.

Meanwhile in Rome, the greatest general Flavius Aetius is imprisoned for conspiracy against the queen. However, Attila’s amazing victories on the battlefields give the queen no choice but to set Flavius free, since he is the only strategist that can find a solution to stop Attila and her son Ceasar is useless. So Flavius gets his rank back and as a first thing, he uses his former friendship with Rua. He decides to trick them into battling against Visigoths with the Romans. However Attila sees right through his tricks. This really impresses Flavius and he wants Attila under his command, with Rua’s permission. After all, Bleda has betrayed Attila the worst way. Having realized that Attila is smitten by the red-haired warrior woman N’Kara, one of the war slaves- Bleda takes her as his personal spoilt from the battle. Flavius teaches Attila that war isn’t just about bravery and stamina, but also about “pretexts” and politics. The two men form an alliance that is based on mutual respect and admiration, though Attila is never fooled by a second that sooner or later. He knows one of them will be tempted to or forced to kill the other one.

Flavius plans are considered risky by the queen. Instead of killing Attila, he seems to have made friends with him, and instead of trying to kill him, he is keeping Attila in Rome as his guest. And just like he anticipated, Attila is fascinated by the culture and lifestyle and is taking his time there, until an event back home forces him to come back and claim his position as King…

You may think I am telling too much, but with its duration of 177 minutes, this is by no means a short film and I have only told some parts of the story before Attila becomes King. There’s much plotting and back story I left out, so no worries.

THE ROMANCEs  &   THE HEROes

Gerard Butler with Kirsty Mitchell

 

Gerard Butler and Simmone MacKinnon.

 


It is mostly historically accurate. Of course the target audience is the English-speaking audience so the film is completely in English, and a Scotsman (Butler) playing Attila and an American (Boothe) playing Flavius. The rest of the cast is also pretty international. And of course we have the “witch” factor, and a very romantic story on Attila’s part to challenge the actual historical events. This romantic story has huge impact on the story but of course the romance adds a great deal to Attila’s humanity. And of course, romance is an undeniable element in any epic movie. I guess we will never know if the real William Wallace had such a strong love for his wife, as it was depicted in Mel Gibson‘s Braveheart (1995). And Wolfgang Peterson’s  Troy (2004) actually includes three love stories: One that starts everything: Paris’ s (played by Orlando Bloom) love for Helen (Diane Kruger), the one that shows us Hector’s (Eric Bana) character -his love for his wife and family and also the one that romanticizes Achilles (Brad Pitt) – this affair with Briseis (Rose Bryne). But despite the romantic elements, all these movies are not all about romances. They are epic dramas and they have brilliant war action scenes. They include war strategies and perfect battlefield strategies. They inlcude politics, relationships and a huge effort on everyone who’s involved in the film making. Of course, the hero will be portrayed by a masculine actor who is going to be versatile enough to show the conflicting and complicated emotions of their heroic characters. Just like Wallace was successfully portrayed by Gibson and the roles of Achilles was taken on by Brad Pitt. In fact the movies two other leads, Orlando Bloom and Eric Bana are both considered good-looking by a lot of women.  It always helps help if the hero has a raw attractiveness that draws all women to them- and the objects of his desires are going to be beautiful.  Diane Kruger’s Helen was glamorous; just like as the red head that stole Attila’s heart, Simmone MacKinnon was a good choice. Attractive and talented casting comes with the territory with epic movies. These movies aim and tend to impress and entertain. And the good ones manage to do just that.

Attila, for me, is the single epic movie that I enjoyed just as much as Braveheart. I think it is even more enjoyable than Troy, which I quite liked. However Braveheart tells a more tragic and intense story and it is about fighting for freedom and not just for more land. Therefore it is sadder and more powerful. But strictly speaking of entertainment, Attila is a glorious must- see that was surprisingly made for TV. It probably would do well at the box office.

P.S. The actor playing Bleda (Tommy Flanagan) is also Scottish and he has a small, but important role in Braveheart.

Other Gerard Butler Posts:

Gamer

Law Abiding Citizen

5 Reasons to Love Gerard Butler

Gerard Butler Hosts Saturday Night Live

Timeline

Dear Frankie

P.S. I love you

Beowulf and Grendel

The Ugly Truth

Nim’s Island

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

Please!

 


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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Attila, Brad Pitt, Braveheart, Diane Kruger, Eric Bana, Gerard Butler, Kirsty Mitchell, Mel Gibson, Orlando Bloom, Powers Boothe

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