Woody Allen wrote and directed this movie; however, unlike most of his movies, he doesn’t actually appear in it.  This also happens to be his first movie that was filmed entirely in England.  He was able to pull together a wonderful cast; each actor really suits their part.

The story centers around Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).  He is a young man from Ireland that has recently relocated to London.  He grew up very poor and is trying to change his fortune.  Chris was a professional tennis player, however, that wasn’t providing him with the lifestyle he wanted.  So he gives that up and becomes a tennis instructor at an exclusive country club, hoping that it will provide more opportunity for him to move up in the world.

Chris is quite the charmer, plus he spends his free time studying things like Dostoyevsky and listening to opera.  He is setting himself up so that he can successfully integrate himself into the world of the wealthy.  It doesn’t take long before he is befriended by Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode).  Tom is from a very wealthy family and definitely lives the good life.

Tom’s family has private box seats to the opera, so after learning that Chris loves opera he invites him to attend with his family.  In addition to Tom’s parents being in attendance, his sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer) is also there.  Of course, she is immediately taken with Chris and it doesn’t take long for them to become involved.

Chloe’s parents are equally as impressed with Chris.  So when Chloe tells her father that Chris is looking for a new line of work, he quickly finds a position for him at one of his companies.  A well paying one, I might add.  Chris finds himself living the type of life that he has dreamed of.

Things are going well for Chris until he is invited to attend a weekend gathering at the Hewett family home in the country.  There he meets a beautiful, sensual woman named Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson).  There is an immediate spark between them.  Come to find out Nola is Tom’s fiancée.  Chris finds he just can’t stop thinking about her.

As you can imagine things get even more complicated as time goes on.  Chris finds himself in Nola’s company quite often since their fiancée’s are brother and sister.  The sexual tension between them keeps building, until the inevitable happens.

This is an interesting, well paced film that starts out as a story about people’s wants, needs and relationships; which ends up turning into a thriller.  I really enjoyed this movie.  It’s an interesting look at human nature and how far they will go to get what they want.

Both Jonathan and Scarlett are amazing in this.  They are both wonderful actors in their own right, but when you put them together they really burn up the screen.  Not to mention, they are both absolutely gorgeous and just ooze sensuality; which is just what is needed for the characters they are portraying.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Tom – “It’s just that it’s 5:00 somewhere, darling, and I’ve some serious cocktails to start making.”

Nola – “I was doing just fine until you showed up.”

Chris – “Ah, the story of my life.”

Chris – “I’m naturally competitive.  Is it off-putting?”

Nola – “I’ll have to think about that for a while.”

Chloe – “Papa says he’s heard great things.  You’re a very clever boy.”

Chris – “Where are you going?”

Nola – “Oh, I’m just having a nervous breakdown.”

Chris – “Why?”

Nola – “Well, I have an audition in ten minutes and, uh.  As usual, my confidence level, which started off at a ten, is now at a zero.”

Chris – “I’m sure she’s not more beautiful than you are.”

Nola – “He saw me across the room and he honed in on me, like a guided missile.”

Nola – “You’re gonna do very well for yourself, unless you blow it.”

Chris – “And how am I going to blow it.”

Nola – “By making a pass at me.”

Chris – “Where was all this confidence when you needed it in the audition?”

Chloe – “His shooting’s not really up to his tennis, poor thing.”

Alec – “He’s right, Eleanor.  I think you’ve had one too many G and T’s.”

Chris – “I like it when you drink.  You get flirtatious.”

Jan

P.S.  Comments are welcomed.  Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”.  Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers.  If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

Wow, what an amazing performance by Jonathan during the scenes when Chris kills Nola and the elderly lady next door.  I love the range of emotions he goes through; it makes the scenes feel so realistic.  Starting off so shaky that he can barely put the shotgun together, to calmly and cold bloodedly pulling the trigger and then having a bit of a meltdown over what he has done.

The scene when Chris tosses the wedding ring is great.  I love the slo-mo visual as it goes towards the water, but then it hits the railing and bounces back (unbeknownst to Chris).  Only in this case instead of losing the match as you would in tennis, it’s actually the thing that makes him come out on top.

The story starts off very dramatically with David (Shawn Hatosy) lying on a gurney being wheeled down the hall of a hospital. There is a police detective right beside him trying to question him about what happened to him and where the others are. Then we start jumping around in time, finding out bits and pieces of the story. So that means you need to pay attention so you understand what’s going on.

David has recently started his senior year of college. He is rather serious and a bit lacking in confidence, especially with girls. His best (and possibly only) friend is Jenny (Rachael Leigh Cook). She is a photography student, is more free spirited and better at being spontaneous. They attend the same college, met each other during their junior year and have been friends ever since.

They live in apartments directly across from each other. In fact they can look out their window and see into the other’s apartment. Jenny dates a lot, but isn’t serious about any of them. She has a system set up with David. When she arrives outside her apartment, with a date, he will ring her home phone so she can say “I should get that” and then she can quickly head into her apartment. Thus leaving the guy standing outside and avoiding the inevitably awkward brush-off of undesirables. You can tell that David has a huge crush on her, but he seems afraid to do anything about it.

David talks Jenny into going to his family reunion with him. After they arrive he is surprised to find Alan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) there. Alan was his college roommate during freshman year; however, he didn’t do so well and ended up dropping out. Alan is gorgeous, charming, confident and very impulsive. Within minutes of seeing David and Jenny, he sweeps Jenny into his arms and starts dancing with her (very intimately, I might add).

Turns out, Alan is coming back to school. David doesn’t seem all that happy about the prospect. Especially after seeing Jenny’s reaction to him. However, he doesn’t say anything. He just sort of let’s things happen. David doesn’t even speak up when Alan tells him he won’t pursue Jenny if he doesn’t want him to.

Of course, Alan and Jenny do hook up. Which causes David to be jealous and refuse to have anything to do with them. What an idiot, he was given the chance to tell Alan to not go after her, doesn’t take it and is then upset with the results. Anyway, back to the story. Alan decides to take drastic measures to heal the rift between them. He kidnaps both David and Jenny, drives them out to an old abandoned mansion and pretty much forces them to make-up. Obviously things take an interesting turn after the make-up session otherwise this would be the end of the movie, which it isn’t.

I really like this movie. It’s suspenseful and there are interesting twists and turns throughout. The three main actors all do a good job with their respective roles. I will admit that I purchased this movie because it has Jonathan in it. His character definitely ended up being my favorite and he did a terrific job with it (although I’m always a little disappointed when he doesn’t get to use his Irish accent).

Some of my favorite scenes (without being too spoilery):

Alan dancing with David’s great aunt at the family reunion. You can tell he totally made her day.

The Twinkie scene. It shows Alan’s impulsiveness and confidence. To sit down next to a girl he hardly knows and then proceed to lick Twinkie crème filling off the side of her mouth.

When Jenny is using Alan as her photography subject for her class assignment. And it’s not just due to the fact that Jonathan is absolutely gorgeous in the scene (he really is extremely photogenic). It’s because the interaction between the two of them is so sweet. You start to see how they feel about each other and also see Alan showing a bit of vulnerability for the first time. I guess I should mention, for anyone that’s interested, you also get a couple of brief shots of full frontal nudity involving Jonathan.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Alan – “I gotta tell you, if it wasn’t for this guy, I would have bombed out first semester.”

David – “Mm-hmm. Instead, he bombed out second semester.”

Jenny – “Have you completely lost your mind?”

Alan – “Yes.”

Jenny – “You could have killed yourself.”

Alan – “Nah. I’m not destined to die in a car.”

Alan – “I believe in only two things … destiny and the beauty of the impulsive act.”

Alan – “Listen, I … I don’t say this stuff much, okay, so it’s gonna come out stupid. But sometimes when I’m around you, I can’t breathe. Like I’m afraid I’ll f*ck up the moment.”

Jenny – “Is that good or bad?”

Alan – “Good.”

Alan – “Yes, it is my @ss, and I figure this is how you see me for the time being, so I might as well be proud of it, accept it and show it off for the world to see. I mean, the people at Kinko’s were none too happy, but, hey, f*ck ‘em.”

Alan – “This is a place where a guy spent every buck he ever had trying to make peace after it was too late.”

Jan

P.S. Comments are welcomed. Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”. Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

It was interesting to see the extremes that Alan went to in order to patch up David and Jenny’s friendship. I have to admit I was shocked when he cut open the palm of his hand. It seemed a bit radical, but I guess it worked.

It was scary how manipulative David was. He didn’t care how much he hurt anyone else, as long as he got what he wanted in the end. Which of course would be Jenny.

This movie is all about over coming obstacles in order to live your dreams. Jess (Parminder Nagra) is an Indian girl from a very traditional family. She has just completed her A-levels and will be going to university soon. Her parents want her to become a solicitor. However, what she really loves to do is play football (soccer for us Americans).

Now that her older sister, Pinky, is engaged Jess’s parents think that the time for playing games has passed. It’s time for Jess to grow up, learn to cook proper Indian food and find a nice Indian boy of her own. Needless to say, she isn’t exactly enthusiastic about this plan.

Jules (Keira Knightley) is a British girl, who loves football. She plays on the amateur girl’s team at a local club. Jules has short hair and prefers to dress in jeans and jerseys or t-shirts. Looking rather tomboyish, much to her mother’s dismay. Her dad is very supportive of her playing football and practices with her. Her mom wants nothing more than to get Jules to wear girly clothes and meet a nice boy.

Joe (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is the coach for the girl’s football team. He used to play on the men’s team until he busted up his knee and had to give up playing. He and Jules have known each other for a while now. She used to watch him play and would always complain about there not being a girl’s team for her to play on. Once he could no longer play himself, he decided he would give a girl’s team a go.

One day Jules see Jess playing football in the park with a bunch of guys. Jess more than holds her own against them and Jules is impressed by what she sees. She suggests that Jess try out for the girl’s football team that she plays on. Jess tries out, Joe likes what he sees and gives her a spot on the team.

Since Jess knows her parents wouldn’t approve of her playing, she keeps it a secret from them. She even goes so far as to pretend that she got a job. That way she can get away from home to attend practices and games, without anyone being suspicious. Jess absolutely loves playing and is very good at it; she and Jules make a great team out on the field. So good in fact that Joe thinks it’s worthwhile to have a scout from America come over to see them play. Jules and Jess end up spending a lot of time together and become friends.

Since things are going so well, that means something has to go wrong. First off you have two young woman and one gorgeous football coach (it is Jonathan after all). You just know that’s asking for trouble. On top of that Jess’s parents find out about her deception and things go downhill from there.

First off, I should say, I know absolutely nothing about football and am not into sports at all. Yes, I admit it, I bought this purely because Jonathan Rhys Meyers was in it. However, I really enjoyed the movie. To me the sports aspect was secondary; the real heart of the movie was about growing up and following your dreams.

I also liked having a peek into another culture. Since Jess’s family is portrayed as an extremely traditional Indian family, it gave me a look into another world that I was not familiar with. I realize not all Indian families are the same, but I still enjoyed seeing the customs, rituals and traditions that this family followed.

All of the actors were good, particularly the three leads; Parminder, Keira (who was only 16 at the time) and Jonathan. They all had great chemistry with each other and did a fantastic job of portraying the emotions of the film. It was also fun to see Jonathan play such a “normal” guy. He usually plays roles that are much more angsty and unique (plus – yeah! they let him use his Irish accent).

I particularly liked the scene between Jess and Joe when she is embarrassed to wear shorts because of the scarring on her leg. She tells him the story of what happened to her. He shows her the nasty scars he has on his knee from surgeries he had. It’s a lovely scene. He is so sweet to her and makes her feel better about it.

By the way, her scars and the story about how she got them are real. When Parminder found out that she would have to wear shorts in the movie, she told them about the scars and they decided to write it into the movie.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Joe – “See, they made me start at the bottom. You can’t get much lower than her.”

Paula – “Allen, when are you gonna realize you have a daughter, with breasts, not a son?”

Jess – “Look, I’ve been playing football for a women’s team.”

Pinky – “Huh? It’s worse than I thought.”

Joe – “Jess, is everything all right?”

Jess – “Yes, Coach.”

Joe – “Training not getting the way of your cozy little conversation?”

Jules – “Sometimes I wish I could find a bloke just like him though. You know, that wasn’t off limits.”

Pinky – “They saw you today at a bus stop kissing him! Why couldn’t you do it in secret like everyone else?”

Joe – “I can see what you’re up against. But your parents don’t always know what’s best for you, Jess.”

Jess – “That was so brilliant the way you came to my house. You were brave enough to face my mum.”

Pinky – “But do you really wanna be the one that everyone stares at, at every family do ‘cause you’ve married the English bloke?”

Jess – “He’s Irish.”

Pinky – “Yeah, well, they’re all the bloody same to them, innit?”

Tony – “Look, Jessie. You can’t plan who you fall for. It just happens.”

Tony – “Well, you fancying your goreh coach is okay with me. Besides he’s quite fit.”

During the credits there is footage of the cast and crew singing along to the “Hot, Hot, Hot” song, outtakes and just general silliness.

Jan

P.S. Comments are welcomed. Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”. Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the show that contains spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

Towards the end of the movie, I really liked how they kept cutting back and forth between the wedding and the soccer game. It helped build the tension of whether or not Jess would make it there in time to play.

What is wrong with Jules mother? I couldn’t believe she would barge into the wedding like that and accuse Jess of being a lesbian. First off, how rude to interrupt someone’s celebration like that. Secondly, who cares if she was a lesbian? I really did not like Jule’s mother.

How could you not love Tony when he asks Jess’s parent’s for their permission to marry, but on the condition that Jess can go to university anywhere she wants first. It was so sweet of him to want to help her make her dreams come true, even at his own expense.

I adored the scene at the end when Joe is playing cricket with Jess’s father. It was such fun.

 Probably the best way to describe this movie is fairytale-like. The story centers around a boy that was given up for adoption at birth and his search for his parents. We also learn his parent’s story, how they met, how they were separated and their search for each other.

Eleven year old Evan Taylor/August Rush (Freddie Highmore) wants to find his parents and decides to take matters into his own hands. He runs away from the state run facility that he has been at since he was a baby and heads to New York City. Evan has his ups and downs as struggles with the perils of the city. All the while trying to find a way to reconnect with his parents.

His mother, Lyla Novacek (Keri Russell) is a cellist that played for the New York Philharmonic. His father, Louis Connelly (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) was a rock musician. They met at a party and it was love at first sight for both. They had one night together, but then end up being torn away from each other. Lyla believes her son died at birth and Louis didn’t even know that he was a father.

After unsuccessfully trying to re-connect with each other, they both leave their music behind and try to create new lives for themselves. However, neither is happy. Eventually, they are both led back to their music and start to hope that they can find the missing pieces of their lives.

Freddie is wonderful as Evan. He is such a sweet and innocent boy; that was dealt a bad hand in life. However, even when times are hard he never gives up his faith in his parents. That they want him and that he will find them somehow. When Freddie has scenes where he has to cry it never fails to break my heart.

Keri is very believable as Lyla. Even though she loves playing her music, she feels very trapped and manipulated by her father. He definitely runs the show and she doesn’t know how to break away from him. She is such a beautiful and sweet girl that you can see why Louis falls for her.

As I have said in a previous post, I adore Jonathan. Not only is he an extremely talented actor with an incredible screen presence; he is absolutely gorgeous and just oozes sex appeal. Add his wonderful singing and his Irish accent on top of that, and it just makes me melt. By the way, he sings four songs in this movie. When he sings “Moondance” to Lyla it gives me goose bumps and I can totally see why she falls for him.

As I said earlier, think fairytale when you watch this movie. It’s not meant to believable in real life, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a terrific movie. The running theme is music and how it connects people (and may potentially re-unite them). It is beautifully filmed, has great music and characters that you care about. You definitely root for Lyla, Louis and Evan, hoping that they will find each other.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Evan – “I believe that … once upon a time … long ago … they heard the music and followed it.”

Evan – “But I believe in music the way some people believe in fairytales.”

Evan – “Well, if they don’t find us, we’ll just have to go find them.”

Evan – “Somewhere inside me … I know that they always wanted me, maybe they just got lost.”

Louis – “What’s the point in singing, Marshall? She’s not gonna hear me.”

Arthur – “Back off. Away, away. Yo, son, you’re messing with my equilibrium.”

Evan – “I don’t have a place to stay.”

Arthur – “Do I look like a real estate tycoon to you?”

Nick – “So you playing at all?”

Louis – “Nope.”

Nick – “Why the hell not? Your fingers fall off?”

Jen – “Are all Irish people this loud.”

Louis – “Yeah.”

Hope – “Remember you said he was like a musical pod?”

Reverend – “Prodigy.”

Hope – “Exactly. Well, I have one of those and he’s living under my bed.”

Jan

P.S. Comments are welcomed. Scroll towards the bottom of the page (below the spoiler section) to where it says “Click Here to Make a Comment”. Or on entries from previous days there is a comment box.

Following is additional information about the movie that contains spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

I like how at both the beginning and the ending of the movie they have Louis and Lyla performing at the same time (inter-cutting between the two of them). It’s a wonderful full circle moment.

Robin Williams did a great job in his portrayal of Wizard. It was very different from anything I had seen him do before. His character is devious, manipulative, commanding and scary. At times you hope he actually cares about the kids, but then you see all he cares about is what they can do for him. All in all, not a nice man.

The scene in the park between Louis and Evan is just lovely. I like how they seem to have an instant connection, even though they don’t know why. Evan immediately trusts Louis and opens up to him about his concert and how he is afraid something bad will happen if he goes. Louis then gives him advice, which in turn gives Evan the confidence to run away from Wizard. Plus the two of them playing guitar together is adorable.

I absolutely love Velvet Goldmine. I can’t even guess how many times I’ve watched it. For starters three of my favorite actors are in it; Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Christian Bale. In fact this is the movie where I discovered them and it made me want to seek them out in other movies. Throw in Eddie Izzard and Placebo and you can’t lose. It’s set in the glam-rock world of the 70’s. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is Brian Slade (who is a very David Bowie-esque character) and Ewan McGregor is Curt Wild (an Iggy Popish type character). Think sex, drugs and glam-rock with a bit of Oscar Wilde thrown in.

We view this world through the eyes of investigative journalist Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale). He is given the task of finding out what happened to Brian Slade ten years after he faked his own death. So be prepared to hop around the time line quiet a bit as he interviews various people that were involved in Brian’s life. We also discover how Arthur’s life is interwoven in past events.

This is one of those movies that I have enjoyed even more over repeated viewing. The first time through it’s easy to get lost in the time line jumping around business, especially if you aren’t paying close attention. On future viewing that wasn’t a problem for me. Although, glam-rock was not my music of choice during that time (ok, let’s face it I was probably only 11 at the time), it didn’t stop me from adoring this movie. I found I really like the music; in fact this is the only movie I have ever purchased the soundtrack for. Throughout the movie the music really matches the mood of what is happening onscreen.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers is absolutely mesmerizing as Brian Slade. He was able to pull off the swagger and confidence of a rock star, as well as, the more vulnerable moments. He also has a great voice; he sang four of Brian’s songs. With Thom Yorke (of Radiohead) being one of the people to sing the others with Jonathan lip-syncing. During his musical performances I find it impossible to take my eyes off him. I was amazed to find out he was only 20 or 21 when they film this movie and had very little acting experience up to that point. You could never tell it from his performance, he is natural.

Ewan McGregor is great as Curt Wild. He has got the wild rocker bit down and totally inhabits the character. Ewan + black eyeliner; yes please!! He does all his own singing (which just happen to be Iggy Pop songs). Be prepared for wild/passionate song performances from him; including full frontal nudity (“bashful” and “Ewan McGregor” are words you would never hear together). He and Jonathan have great chemistry; I would love to see them do more together in the future.

Christian Bale’s character may be more understated than the others however, it is equally as important. We get to watch his character grow and learn who he is meant to be and find where he fits in. With Christian’s character it was especially important to see the age progression and growth over the course of the ten years and he really pulled it off.

It was fun to see Placebo in the movie. The members of the band got to do a bit of acting, in addition to being one of the featured bands in the movie. They do an amazing cover of “Twentieth Century Boy”. They fit into the glam-rock scene perfectly.

This is a movie that I just really get sucked into. It is energetic and visually stunning. I find myself really caring about the characters and what will happen to them (even when they do things that make me not like them a whole lot). It is one of those movies that I see myself continuing to watch over and over again.


Jan

 

Following is additional information about the movie that contains spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.

The first time watching this movie I was shocked to see the main character shot and killed during the first ten minutes. Later we find out it was only a hoax, but that scene sure grabbed my attention. I liked watching the progression of Brian Slade from long hair/wearing dresses to “Maxwell Demon” (where image is everything). Pretty much losing his soul and everything he loves along the way.

My favorite parts of the movie revolve around Brian and Curt’s love story:

When they are at the lunch with Jerry Devine and Curt says to Brian “you could be my main man”. At that point I totally fell in love with them as a couple. Ewan was absolutely adorable.

Of course I have to mention the kiss scene. Curt quoting Oscar Wilde before he kisses Brian. I loved that it was totally silent while they kissed (no music or sound of any kind); it was incredibly sexy. The mood then being interrupted by the bright flash of cameras.

Followed by the incredible performance of “Baby’s on Fire”. They were truly on fire together.

Arthur being caught by his parent’s while masturbating to pictures of Curt and Brian (while listening to Brian’s music) was just heartbreaking. He was already feeling lost and out of place, but to then be told by his father that what he was doing was disgraceful just broke him. Watching him leave on the bus just made me want to give him a hug and tell him it will be all right. I was so happy to see him find acceptance with “The Flaming Creatures” (aka Placebo). Their interaction was fun to watch and it was a relief to see Arthur happy.

Curt slipping the pin into Arthur’s beer put a smile on my face. To me it was his way of acknowledging that he remembered Arthur and that their time together was important to him.