Nine minutes of enjoyment is not a whole lot...

It's an unfortunate thing that happens when you anticipate a film too much.

"Totally normal," they say, "happens to everyone!" But the unfortunate byproduct of wanting to see a film so badly that you set your expectations through the roof is (obviously) that it can never live up to your heightened standards and you exit the theatre feeling cheated of the exhilaration that comes when a film truly captures your heart.

I have been looking forward to seeing Nine since I first saw the teaser trailer and realized that not only was there another musical coming out, it featured many of my favourite contemporary actresses and was based on a Broadway musical that was itself based upon Frederico Fellini's autobiographical film 8 1/2. How could this not be the film for me? And so I have waited patiently for this day to arrive, and lo: it has!

And it pains me to say that's when the film stopped being fun.

Although all save one of the featured actresses have won Oscars and they are all trying their very hardest (in addition to Daniel Day Lewis who convincingly plays an ageing director who's lost his Italian mojo) the film falls short of what I was expecting. Now it may be that after Chicago there is a certain expectation in terms of the construction of the musical film. Certainly Nine borrowed from the visual cues and tricks that were used to such great effect in its predecessor. However I think more than anything the issue lies in the fact that there are so very many layers and so many stories that need to be told to fully understand the main character (Day-Lewis' Maestro: Guido Cantini) that it cannot all be packed into one film.

Using visual cues to remind the audience of the source material is a good trick: the silent sound stage where the Maestro attempts to find inspiration is reminiscent of the set design found in the stage show, the black and white, grainy film technique used for shots of his boyhood which suggest the great Italian films of Fellini which inspired the original play. But ultimately the film falls short of being truly great because it simply cannot seem to find its focus (though this in itself suggests a parallel to the Maestro's lack of concentration).

Honourable mentions go to Judy Dench (that woman can sing her heart out, and with a French accent no less) and Maron Cotillard (I really need to hunker down and watch La Vie en Rose at some point) who both performed admirably and sang memorable and touching songs.

In the end, if you like musicals this may tickle your fancy (one of my friends truly loved the movie). But for myself I would say, wait until it can be rented and enjoy it in the comfort of your own home... this one's not really for public consumption. Come to think of it, nine is probably how many minutes of the movie I truly loved; that works out to seven percent of the film...poor form Rob Marshall, poor form.

Tom Ford's debut is A Singular Sensation

Having heard nothing but rave reviews for Tom Ford's debut effort A Single Man (a project he co-helmed with David Scearce, based upon the Christopher Isherwood novel) I was eager to spend a Sunday morning observing his take on filmmaking, figuring that at the very least I would get to spend some time with the absolutely exquisite Colin Firth. How I do love being pleasantly surprised...

While the film's aesthetic often suggest that you are in fact watching a two hour commercial for the Tom Ford Collection or a very elaborate perfume advert, the visuals manage to weave seamlessly with the story and compliment the minimalist writing in a beautiful way. The vast majority of the truly important moments in the film are absolutely silent, excepting of course Julianne Moore's desperate best girlfriend Charley who's constant chatter lends a perfect counterpoint to Firth's remarkably quiet George (in fact if it weren't for all the talking, I would call her performance effortless in its perfection). I must say, for his first time around the block Ford's visual style and assuredness is quite remarkable and manages to be light years ahead of a many of the veterans I have been watching lately (though it could simply be a case of laziness on their part).

One thing I should point out though is that Ford does not accomplish this feat entirely free of obstacles. There is one shot that bothered me quite a bit and while I know why it was there, I think that perhaps it did not accomplish what he set out to do. Near the start of the film there is a long scene in which we observe George existing alone in his home and near the end of the scene there is a push back to reveal how alone George truly is with the large wooden home standing empty around him. Unfortunately what this also manages to suggest (as it occurs within the first ten minutes of the film) is that this is the last glimpse we will have inside of George's mind. For a film that is paced almost entirely by George's thoughts and recollections is perhaps not what the filmmaker had intended. While it is a beautiful shot, it would perhaps have been better serviced as an insert rather than a moving shot. But that's me being picky...

Altogether a truly fantastic film, I was very pleasantly surprised by how Wonderfully complex the relationships were revealed to be in such a short time. While the film takes place over one day in November, a good part of the back story is supplied by George's recollections. This, of course, accounts for the entirely one sided view of his relationship with lover Jim. The intriguing thing about this pairing though is that while all the memories of Jim are positive, there is a suggestion of deeper emotional connection and the sense that there are old disagreements floating in the periphery. It ads a layer to the relationship that makes George's desire to remember only the good entirely palatable (and what's more, believable).

A crowning achievement, both in acting and directing (as well as set dressing, cinematography...the list could go on) I will be very surprised if we're not hearing about this one when Oscar comes a calling...

-Siobhan

P.s. When I was searching out the image above I came across this Elton John cover...I though I'd include it as an interesting layer...

Standout TV from this year...

It's that time of year again. The time when baking deserts and drinking too much becomes your paramount concern and the only way to keep new content on your blog is to resort to lists (Heaven forbid)! And so without further ado, my breakouts to watch for the coming post-holiday season (even if at least one of them doesn't return until April, once again reminding me why Fox is my nemesis).

Glee (http://www.fox.com/glee)
While Fox may be my nemesis when it comes to making it difficult for me to watch my favourite shows they certainly delivered with this smart, original and comedic musical series. With catchy tunes and a marketing machine that seems to run itself, Glee has become one of the most talked about new shows in recent years. Though it has been suggested that the momentum the show has now can't keep up for too much longer and while I think that it is often true that breakouts don't stay strong forever (see Grey's Anatomy), the value of "where do we go from here" is often overlooked and can sometimes be an even greater, albeit slower pay off. If you haven't had a chance to catch an episode, have a look see. At the very least you will get some great one liners out of Jane Lynch's Coach Sylvester.

Better off Ted (http://abc.go.com/shows/better-off-ted)
This series actually premiered March 2009 but I'm just getting around to watching it now and with the second season just gearing up it seems like as good a time as any to extol the virtues of the team at Veridian Dynamic. The series follows Ted, a middle management type, as he navigates the corporate environment and the everyday ups and downs of working with an overbearing boss (played to exquisite perfection by Portia DeRossi), a team of sometimes slow on the uptake genius product developers and a very pretty co-worker/love interest. With a corporate entity that literally steals the show (through cleverly played commercial inserts) and manages to be a secondary character to the whole mess, Better off Ted is a standout comedic series.

Cougar Town (http://abc.go.com/shows/cougar-town)
Courtney Cox is back and she's better than ever as newly divorced forty-something Jules in this new family comedy on ABC. Although ABC trying to convince us that Courtney is a typical woman in her forties who's been thrown back into the dating pool is a little stale (any promo shot will immediately disprove all the things Jules is constantly saying about her body). The cast of secondary characters and sounding boards from which Jules' neuroses rebound are really the crowning achievement on this show since even though Courtney is working it as hard as she can she's always been about the team effort. There are a lot of great jokes in this one for the ladies so if you're bored and want a few laughs and drama-lite (no heavy stuff here folks) then tune it. It's worth a try.

I know it's a little heavy on the comedies but that's what I seem to have been into of late. Maybe it's an economic crisis thing but I haven't had the heart to sit down and enjoy Damages, The Wire, Flash Forward or any of the other shows that everyone's been raving about. If you have a show that you absolutely adored this season (whether it's new or old) post it, I'm always on the lookout for a decent show I can pull an all nighter with.

To that end, these returning gems deserve a nod:
Californication
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
How I Met Your Mother
In Plain Sight
Mad Men
The Mentalist
Supernatural
True Blood
Ugly Betty (has finally rallied! Check out the last episode!)

Alice is what Tinman wanted to be...

In 2007 Zoey Deschanel, supported by a slew of fairly well known actors, traipsed into the wilds of Oz for the three part mini-series Tinman. Though it boasted talents like Alan Cumming, Neal McDonough and Callum Keith Rennie (oh how I miss you Battlestar) in addition to Deschanel herself and was hailed as an achievement (it won an Emmy as well as a Critic's Choice Award), I thought it felt a little contrived and stale for my tastes. The attempt to modernize the story itself by making Dorothy into "DG," the motorcycle riding, don't-take-no-for-an-answer young heroin at the centre of the story became a cliché before the show had even begun. And as the series went on I found that every new tidbit we learned about Dorothy only made her more of a caricature and less of a character.

While much of the same feeling and general staging of 2009's Alice (also a production of the Syfy network), I found that it seemed to translate better to the screen. This may, in part, be to the effective casting of the series with mostly unrecognizable actors (excepting Kathy Bates and Colm Meaney who both take brilliant turns as the Queen and King of Hearts). While with Tinman it felt as though I was watching a bunch of famous people read lines and interact with each other in a pre-arranged manner, Alice's characters seemed genuinely surprised and scared when they needed to be and sad or happy when it was necessary as well.

But the real reason that I liked Alice (and I think this is the honest to God truth of my movie watching habits) is that there was hope. Even though everything went wrong and came back around again and the series ends with hope, something I found to be sorely lacking from Tinman's resolution. Yes, you may argue the point and you would likely be correct in saying that the final outcome of Tinman is hopeful but it is only hopeful in plot line and not in the actual feeling of the story and underlying message behind it.

Either way, give Alice a try...it' a little commercial but it's an enjoyable four hours.

Could VS have saved Megan Fox's ass?

So I'm not even going to try and make a case for underwear ads that don't objectify women because frankly I'm not entirely sure that it's possible (please prove me wrong). Here's the thing, do you remember how people were all up in arms about Megan Fox's part in Transformers being even more blatantly about her looks (is that possible) than the first edition? There was one scene in particular which caught the eye and it involved her fixing a motorcycle with her ass in the air...c'mon you know the shot. Slow push from behind into Megan on the motorcycle "fixing it", it's even overlaid with Shia LaBeouf's voice saying he got her a webcam "for her." Sure thing Shia, and you're dating her cause she's smart.

Perhaps (and this is just a suggestion) they should have made Michael Bay exorcise his pervie daemons with this commercial BEFORE he made Transformers 2...it could easily have helped the film (notice the use of "helped" as I'm not entirely sure anything could have "saved" that film). For your viewing pleasure...proof that advertising truly has reverted to sex + danger = sell sell sell.

Can we please stop talking about their personal lives?!

I mean honestly, I realize that to a certain extent the star machine runs on the voyeuristic urges of pre-pubescent (and embarrassingly enough, post-pubescent) masses but c'mon people, are we SERIOUS?! I don't want to know what Brangelina had for breakfast or that ScarJo and RyRy are fighting. I don't want to hear about Tiger's supposed affair or the messages that Mariah left on Eminem's voicemail.

Can we please just get back to the music/movies/humanitarian work/sport etc. that these people are known for and get the heck out of their personal lives? Rock Hudson was a leading man for many years and no one had to know that he was gay. Why do we feel the need to bust open the images that they work so hard to show us? I'm really okay with Vanessa Hudgens' kiddie image...I didn't need to know about the naked pictures she sent her boyfriend.

TOO MUCH INFORMATION people. Enough is enough. Let's draw the line; shall we?