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Revenge starring Madeleine Stowe, Emily VanCamp, Gabriel Mann & Nick Wechsler

Posted on November 11, 2011 Written by ripitup

revenge_2011_poster — Revenge starring Madeleine Stowe, Emily VanCamp, Gabriel Mann, Joshua Brown & Nick Wechsler. Image via tvposter.net.

Revenge Plot

Amanda Clarke (Emily VanCamp)’s happy childhood with her father David (James Tupper) was destroyed when her father was betrayed by his girlfriend (the married Victoria Grayson – played by Madeleine Stowe) Victoria, her husband Conrad (Henry Czerny), their security consultant Frank (Max Martini), Clarke’s secretary Lydia (Amber Valetta) and pretty much whoever else he trusted. He was tried and found guilty of funding a terrorist organization whose acts resulted in the death of a plane full of passengers. Amanda was taken away from her father and it was made sure that she spent the rest of her childhood and teenage years away from her father, in correctional facilities.

As her father rotted away in prison, she grew up believing he really was guilty. However as Amanda got her freedom at 18, she was met by an eccentric rich entrepreneur named Nolan (Gabriel Mann)- who told her a few surprising facts: Her father was innocent, and he had the whole story written in his journals, along with information about everyone and everything related to the case. He had also been the only person to believe and invest in Nolan’s company, and he owned almost half of the company- and now it was all Amanda’s.

Enraged that his father had been betrayed so horrifically, she decides to use the information and money to take down everyone responsible. After that, she changes her identity to Emily Thorne, pays for a whole different past, makes the connections and moves to the Hamptons as the new rich girl. She starts dating Victoria’s son Daniel (Joshua Brown), and while a clueless Daniel is falling in love with her, she is taking her revenge.

But of course there are complications: Victoria thinks that no one is good enough for her son and starts digging deep into Emily’s past; Nolan keeps interrupting her plans by trying to bring her together with Jack (Nick Wechsler) – her childhood friend who doesn’t know that she’s Amanda but he is increasingly drawn to Emily; and her other adversaries might be more resilient than she originally thought…

Is it any good?

Revenge is such a compelling drama with many satisfying avenging moments that I just can’t call it a soap opera. Granted, in some ways it is a modern soap opera. But the acting isn’t over the top, dialogue is fun and the characters are really gray. I personally love justified revenge stories- and having grown up in the 90s, it is a lot fun to see Madeleine Stowe in a starring role again. It is also a pleasure to see that the sheriff’s annoying son from Roswell (Nick Wechsler played Kyle in the series and pissed off people with his behavior towards our aliens in the beginning) has grown up to be a very handsome guy that you can’t help but root for. Of course the rest of the cast also rocks, especially Amber Valetta as the backstabbing bitch, Max Martini as the overly loyal security man who’ll do anything for the Grayson’s and Gabriel Mann as Nolan who is reminding people more and more of James Spader’s younger self. Nolan’s attitude and personal agenda also bring comedic relief to the show and make it more interesting.

So yeah, I like Revenge. Would I have started watching had it not been for Madeleine Stowe? I doubt it. But I am glad I did. It is very entertaining and having seen all of the broadcasted episodes so far, I really hope they keep it up…

Strongly recommended, especially to the fans of Madeleine. ABC show Revenge is currently rated at 8.2 on IMDB.

Fun Facts about the Cast:

* One of Madeleine Stowe’s most popular movies is the Tony Scott movie Revenge from 1990. Interestingly enough, she was both taken revenge upon and avenged in the movie. Details are in my Revenge movie review, but let’s just say that her husband Anthony Quinn lost it when he found out she was having an affair with husband’s much younger and hot friend Kevin Costner. But of course when Anthony hurt Madeleine, it was Kevin’s turn to go mad…

* Declan (Connor Paolo) who plays Jack’s younger brother played the brother of Blake Lively’s character in the drama series Gossip Girl.

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When adultery is okay: Revenge starring Kevin Costner, Madeleine Stowe and Anthony Quinn

Blink starring Madeleine Stowe & Aidan Quinn

Posted on January 2, 2011 Written by ripitup

Blink starring Madeleine Stowe & Aidan Quinn. Featuring Sex and The City’s Richard Wright- James Remar.

Emma (Madeleine Stowe) is a young and beautiful violinist who was blinded at a very young age by her own mother. She plays in a band with her friends and takes care of herself with the help of her dog.

On a night out with his cop buddies, police detective John Hallstrom (Aidan Quinn) doesn’t come off as the most sensitive guy when he makes a bet with his friends that he can get Emma’s attention. He doesn’t notice she is blind, so he even goes as far to have a stripping session in front of her band.

After Emma gets an eye surgery, she goes through complications: her sight is often blurry and her brain doesn’t always process the images the moment she sees them. To make matters worse, Emma hears a strange noise one night from her apartment building. When she goes to the police station to explain, John and his friends don’t really take her seriously…until they realize that a murder has taken place. It is the work of a serial killer and the victim is Emma’s neighbor.

It doesn’t help matters that their only witness is a formerly-blind woman with a confusing sight. But John is determined to solve this case and he is growing more attracted to Emma as time passes. But under the circumstances, can this relationship have a future?

Blink is a really fun and harmless romantic thriller from 1994. Granted, it is not the most original storyline, but it wasn’t so tired in 1994. Yes, it was the 90s and you have your usual passionate love story (and obviously the sex scenes) along with the psychotic killer. But I like the 90s vibe of the film, and I really like seeing Aidan Quinn & Madeleine Stowe so young, and sharing the screen time. As they got older, they didn’t star in the movies often so this is a great one for their fans.

Written by Dana Stevens (City of Angels, Life or Something Like It) and directed by Michael Apted (Nell, The World is not Enough).

Fun note: Co-starring is James Remar, as a fellow cop/John’s friends on the case. Sex and the City fans will remember James as Richard Wright – the rich and cool businessman who Samantha Jones fell in love with. And got her heart broken over. And The Vampire Diaries watchers saw James Remar as Giuseppe Salvatore, father of Damon and Stefan Salvatore.

Favorite Line:

Emma’s friend (after the concert, on Hallstrom’s stripping): He gave everyone a big anatomy lesson.

Emma: How big?

The Trailer

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azibdrz8l3c&feature=related[/pro-player]

Other Posts on Madeleine Stowe

The Last of the Mohicans starring Daniel Day-Lewis & Madeleine Stowe

Playing by Heart starring Madeline Stowe, Angelina Jolie, Sean Connery, Dennis Quaid & More

When adultery is okay: Revenge starring Kevin Costner, Madeleine Stowe and Anthony Quinn

Other Posts on Aidan Quinn

Benny & Joon starring Aidan Quinn, Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson & Julianne Moore

Evelyn starring Pierce Brosnan. Feat. Aidan Quinn

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Stardust, The Air I Breathe, Playing by Heart, The Good Shepherd, Hairspray & He’s Just Not That Into You: 6 Good Movies with Brilliant Casts

Posted on April 10, 2010 Written by ripitup

If you are anything like me, you have some actors whose projects really entertain you. But sometimes those actors come together to star in a film. So for instance what’s better than seeing Michelle Pfeiffer acting with Robert De Niro? Adding Mark Strong to the list. And you provide the comic relief with Ricky Gervais. Beauty? Siena Miller. New talent? Charlie Cox. Before you know it, you have one hell of a cast. Here’re my 6 favorite ensemble casts:

1) STARDUST

Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Claire Danes, Siena Miller, Charlie Cox, Ben Barnes, Ricky Gervais, Mark Strong and Henry Cavill.

Magical, thrilling, romantic and visually wonderful story of a young man (Charlie Cox) after a star (Claire Danes), the star co-operating so that she can go home, princes after a crown necklace and the witches after the star’s heart. For many more details, photos and trailer of Stardust:

https://pinartarhan.com/blog/20-reasons-to-love-stardust/

2) Playing By Heart

Playing by Heart starring Sean Connery, Angelina Jolie, Gena Rowlands, Ryan Phillippe, Gillian Anderson, Madeleine Stowe, Jon Stewart, Dennis Quaid. There’s also Ellen Burstyn and Jay Mohr. I love this movie and the cast. Photo: http://www.moviegoods.com

Starring:Angelina Jolie, Sean Connery, Dennis Quaid, Madeleine Stowe, Jon Stewart, Gillian Anderson, Gena Rowlands, Ellen Burstyn, Jay Mohr, Ryan Phillippe.

It is romantic, sweet and at times really funny. You can check out the plot here.

3) The Air I Breathe

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Forest Whitaker, Julie Delpy, Brendan Fraser, Andy Garcia, Emile Hirsch, Sarah Michelle Gellar.

If you like any of these actors and enjoy intersecting stories, you will enjoy this one. Sure, the undertone is very dramatic and it is slightly depressing but it is hopeful. Love, hatred, depression, anger, revenge, fun, loyalty,….. You name the emotion and you will find the story. No event is unrelated here. Andy Garcia is the villain. Kevin Bacon plays a really nice guy. Refreshing, right?

4) The Good Shepherd

Starring: Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, Lee Pace, William Hurt, John Turturro, Billy Crudup and Alec Baldwin.

1960s. CIA agent Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is faced with a crisis as some crucial information might be leaked to enemies. As the agents try to figure out who is responisble and who the info was given to, we start learning about Edward’s past with flashbacks going into the late 30s. We learn about what made he who he is from his childhood to his days at Yale, from the ww2 and onward. The cast is by far one of the most impressive I’ve ever seen. It might be due to the fact that De Niro is the director. Great film. It is a drama thriller.

5) He’s Just Not That Into You

Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Scarlett Johannson, Drew Barrymore, Justin Long

Don’t wait by the phone, don’t make excuses. If he is not calling you, he is just not that into you. Based on the refreshing relationships book by Greg Behrendt & Liz Tuccillo. Extendend review for both the movie and the book can be found here.

6) Hairspray

Hairspray starring John Travolta, Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Amanda Bynes. Fun, colors, the hair and more fun…Photo: drkruznutty.files.wordpress.com

Now, you may have watched an Hairspray film made in 1988, written and directed by John Waters. And it is not that its cast is unknown, featuring names like Sonny Bono and Deborah Harry. However, you might realize that it was rated 6.8 votecd by over 8.000 people. However the Hairspray film that I’ll brag about I from 2007 and it is rated 7.2, voted over 40.000. So yes, we are facing a remake rated higher than the original.And I have no intentions of seeing the original.

Because John Travolta is a terrific actor and a singer and he is playing a woman! The wife of Christopher Walken! Absolute hilarity! And you have seen the cast, right? Yes, Michelle Pfeiffer makes a kick-ass bitch. James Marsden is a great actor, yeah- but here he shows us that he is an amazing singer too. And br ready to forgive Zac Efron for the Highschool Musical series. Yeah he still plays a guy in high school but the guy can sing rocknroll. Just forget about his pop idol/teenage-girl magnet reputation. If a guy can sing rocknroll well, he will have my respect. I also vote for the jet black hair.

If you aren’t entertained by this film-regardless of how you feel about musicals- I am sure what will put a smile on your face. Directed by Adam Shankman (A Walk to Remember).

Feel free to add your favorite ensembles. In the meantime, here’s a list of posts on these actors:

ANGELINA JOLIE:

Beyond Borders

Lara Croft Tomb Raider The Cradle of Life

The Most Gorgeous Women in Haollywood

Lee Pace:

Possession

The Fall

Soldier’s Girl

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

James Marsden:

Julie Delpy:

Bradley Cooper:

Yes Man

Zac Efron:

17 Again

The Last of the Mohicans starring Daniel Day-Lewis & Madeleine Stowe

Posted on March 31, 2010 Written by ripitup

Last of the Mohicans with Daniel Day Lewis — Daniel Day Lewis had never looked more awesome. We know that he oozes charm and talent, but seriously, he has outdone himself this time. Photo from: http://nighthawknews.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/last_of_the_mohicans_ver2.jpg

1757- colonies- war against French. 3 Mohicans- one a hybrid. They are loyal to their friends and love their land. They refuse to take part in a war where all England seems to want is to make everywhere Britain. One of them is played by a very handsome Day- Lewis. Speaks English fluently and he knows exactly who he is.

Then there is the beautiful Miss Munro (Madeleine Stowe). Her biggest fan is Duncan- probably friends from childhood, this soldier wants Munro’s hand. She is not so sure. She sees him only as a friend but since she has not seen a marriage based on romantic love in the beginning, she promises to consider the offer.

During a tour along the forest, they are betrayed by the Indian whom they believed to be an ally. Duncan struggles to protect Munro and her sister while all his men are killed. However the Mohicans happen to be tracking the other Indians and save them from the attack. Munro is both grateful and intrigued. She is also practical, picking a gun from the battlefield, just in case. Lewis’s character Hawkeye/Nathaniel could not have been more opposite than Duncan: he is not a soldier blindly obeying orders. He is his own man, makes his own rules and he is definitely not war-crazy. During the trip they try to get Munro to his father, Munro and Hawkeye grow more and more attracted to each other, getting to know one another…When they succeed, Munro sees even more clearly that Duncan is definitely not the one. He doesn’t back her words-and prevents Hawkeye’s white friends from going back to protect their families. So Hawkeye helps them escape but he stays behind- so that he could be around her. And then they get together…And then things get even more dangerous and complicated…

It has all the elements of the perfect epic movie: beautiful scenery, rebellious and honorable characters, the perfectly opposite bad guys and a true romance. You don’t want the movie to end. Kudos to Michael Mann.

7.8 on IMDB. 8.0, at least.