Friday, August 10, 2007

Delpy Cheats on Hawke. Pfeiffer Completely Rocks. And Other New Releases

L I M I T E D

Dans Paris -Two very 'now' French stars Romain Duris (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) and Louis Garrel (The Dreamers) costar as brothers in this contemporary drama
Chak De India Hindi movie about a women's hockey team
Crossing the Line a doc about an American defector
Cut Sleeve Boys gay partyboy movies never stop do they. Can't remember the last time one was actually good
Descent -Rosario Dawson suffers through an NC-17 rape and seeks revenge. But wait --I thought the MPAA approved of rape? Oh right: This isn't a studio picture... different rules
Rocket Science -A sponsor on the sidebar (thank you!). The trailer makes this look like imitation Wes Anderson but the reviews are good
2 Days in Paris -Julie Delpy romances a scruffy American man in the city of love. The man in question is not Ethan Hawke which is freaking me out. But Delpy directed it, she's charming, and we should all go see it

W I D E

Daddy Day Camp -Cuba Gooding Jr wants you to know that he is still in possession of Edward Norton's Oscar. Or William H Macy's.
Rush Hour 3 -soul crushing = the career of Brett Ratner
Skinwalkers -Lycanthrophy. I hate it when there's an outbreak

<--- Stardust-Michelle Pfeiffer absolutely rocks in this movie. The rest of it is merely rocky. From my review...

"Neil Gaiman, the author of Anansi Boys, Neverwhere and Coraline (among other fine literary gems) is a highly imaginative writer. His dominant genre is fantasy though he’s something of a black sheep in that realm. If you peruse a cross section of fantasy novels, you’ll find that the standard goal is the imitation of JRR Tolkien: fantasy novelists are always busying themselves with the creation of entire foreign worlds complete with their own histories, languages, and sociopolitical structures. Gaiman doesn’t bother with most of that ...or at least not as strenuously. He drops the fantastical -- delicately or forcefully -- into the daily and familiar mundane. Or maybe it's the other way around: there’s more than a little of Alice in Wonderland in the way his adventurers come from our own approximated world but fall down the rabbit hole into another.

In Stardust the role of Alice will be played by Tristan (Charlie Cox)..." Read the Full Review
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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

hmm, I liked Stardust and I thought the CGI actually worked quite well in the film and it didn't seem like they over did it either..shrugs* I do agree about the original score, it screamed EPIC, but the film itself just wasn't, it seemed very out of place.

Deborah said...

I'm disappointed to read your review; I've been tentatively looking forward to this movie. I'm a huge Gaiman fan.

Anonymous said...

Nat, I think you are too much of a Michelle fanboy.lol

I didn't think she was that great in Hairspray ( or the part wasn't that great). Other reviews of Stardust barely mentions her.

NATHANIEL R said...

well as per usual i'm in the minority ;) maybe you'll like it. RT is generally thumbs up.

of course you're always pickier if you've actually read the book.

NATHANIEL R said...

to anonymous: um, what? a casual scan of reviews on RT brings up loads of Pfeiffer love

but yes --fanboy of Michelle I am.

Anonymous said...

anon: Michelle has been getting raves, and most reviewers call her the best thing in the movie

Boyd said...

We'll always have Paris (the city, not the heiress)...

Delpy's movie is fun but a bit slight, though it does showcase Paris (and a bit of Venice) in a neat way. Dans Paris, however, is an absolute must-see movie. Great story, great acting, great nods to the New Wave without becoming a mannered homage. (If you are of the impatient type, just know that the first half hour is somewhat confusing and muddled, as it is supposed to reflect the state of mind of a depressed character.... it gets clearer after that.)

Hedwig said...

Just a quick correction from a Francophile: it's Dans Paris ("in Paris") not Dan's Paris. That would have been Le Paris de Dan ;-)

Also, two of the three most gorgeous French actors of the moment in one film makes this a must see. If only they'd managed to get Melvil Poupaud in there also...

adam k. said...

Nat, is Michelle "Best Supporting Actress" good? Like, "White Oldeander" good? Or just "better than the rest of the movie" good?

Film Bitch chances?

Oscar chances...?

I'm curious.

NATHANIEL R said...

adam --it would be highly unusual to get an oscar nom for this sort of thing. the only way it could happen was a diane keaton 'somethings gotta give' "we're glad you're back" type of nomination which I suppose is feasible but still highly unlikely given that she's playing a wicked witch.

filmbitch chances? who knows. the year is still young but it is pfeiffer ;) i usually try not to decide these things until the last minute and if in doubt i watch the movie again.

NATHANIEL R said...

oh and No. not white oleander good. That one should've given her an actual statue.

adam k. said...

Well I know this year Pfeiffer will either be getting your "body of work" gold medal or will actually get nominated for something. And this seems like the perf that would get her your nom... as opposed to Hairspray, where she's not the standout but merely a very good performance in a sea of very good performances.

Does I Could Never Be Your Woman actually have a release date? Regardless, that one seems like lightweight fun at best.

Anonymous said...

adam: "i could never be your woman" is now slated for Nov 9th. but im sure it will change again, and since it was leaked online and posted on a bunch of blogs, they might as well just put it on DVD already. it's pathetic.

Y Kant Goran Rite said...

I'm confused by the fuss over Dans Paris - it's a run-of-the-mill, semi-enjoyable, half-intellectual hipster dramedy. Then again I'm not a fan of Louis Garrel (though I do always believe him playing an egomaniac, just not a likable one).

2 Days In Paris on the other hand, I'm very eager to see. I've had a crush on Delpy since before even Three Colours

Anonymous said...

I am sorry Nathaniel, but even though I like Michelle ... I found her work in Hairspray to be a caricature ( which it should have been ) , but she was not the actree to carry it off ... and inStardust, she was OK Sorry ):

NATHANIEL R said...

hey i never claimed the hairspray performance was "subtle" - ;)

Anonymous said...

Dans Paris is fantastic. Go see. Go see. Go see.

Hedwig said...

Just here to say that 2 days in Paris is absolutely hilarious.c Just the sight of Adam Goldman, phone in one hand, dictionary in the other, getting progressively angrier...Before Sunrise/Sunset this is not, but as a comedy of manners/cultures, it works fabulously. I'll post elaborately about it tomorrow on my blog.