Try on Vintage Depp

Before Captain Jack Sparrow and remakes galore, Johnny Depp made some pretty inspiring movie choices. As much as I love Gilbert Grape and Chocolat, there is a small nook of my heart devoted to this Buster Keatonesque  performance. Plus a stonking good supporting cast to boot!! Check it out for some heart warming fun.

BENNY AND JOON

PLOT: After his autistic sister loses at poker night, Benny inherits a friend's odd cousin as a houseguest. Although at first bemused by sam's strange behaviour, he charms their lives and ultimately helps them both move forward from their traumatic past.

CAST: Aiden Quinn (Legends of thr Fall, Blink), Mary Stuart Masterson (Fried Green Tomatoes, Bed of Roses), Johnny Depp (Public Enemies, Alice in Wonderland), Julianne Moore (Evolution, Magnolia), Oliver Platt (Casanova, Lake Placid)

Located in: Comedy

Watch the trailer

For more Vintage Depp try:

• Chocolat
• What's Eating Gilbert Grape
• From Hell
• Edward Scissorhands

Give scifi a try - part #2

Because this post is 4 days late, you get 2 for the price of one!  I am a sci fi nut.  I've heard all the jokes so get over it... or get on board!

Yes, some sci fi is truly ridiculous - but those with a great narrative and unique perspective are worth a look.  And the other great thing about the smaller budget sci fi films is that studios haven't put their oar in and ruined original concepts!

EQUILIBRIUM

Okay, with this one I'm a little biased as Christian Bale can simply do not wrong in my mind.  This is part Matrix, part Dark City, part Gattaca... Plus jujitsu with guns!  You may think the hardest thing an actor does is act to a green screen or laugh or cry on cue.  It isn't.  The hardest thing an actor does is being completely without emotion and yet remain charismatic.  This is something Bale is extraordinary at.  It's easy to be charismatic when you're character is written as charming and friendly.  Not so here...

PLOT: In the facist future, the solution to stopping wars is to chemically suppress the very feelings that supposedly begin them and outlawing emotional stimuli.  These laws are absolute and brutally enforced by the Grammaton.  But they're most devoted cleric has just skipped a dose...

WRITER/DIRECTOR: Kurt Wimmer (Salt, Law Abiding Citizen, The Recruit)

CAST: Christian Bale (Public Enemies, Terminator Salvation, The Dark Knight), Taye Diggs (Chicago), Emily Watson (Gosford Park, Angela's Ashes), Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings, Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief), William Fichtner (Armageddon, "Prison Break", Contact), Angus MacFadyen (Braveheart)

Watch the trailer

PITCH BLACK
The first time I watched this, I got to the credits and watched it again.  When I bought the dvd, I watched ALL the special features and commentaries in one sitting!! This was filmed here in Australia and includes many locals in the cast.





PLOT: After crash landing on a deserted and scorching planetary body, the survivors discover that there is something worse than its 3 suns... sunset.  For the pitch black darkness has awakened an malevolent swarm.

WRITER/DIRECTOR: David Twohy (GI Jane, The Fugitive)

CAST: Vin Diesel (XXX, The Fast & The Furious), Radha Mitchell (Rogue, Man on Fire)

Watch the trailer

BOTH LOCATED IN: Sci-fi

When English Lit meets Archaeology

There are many professions devoted to the care of all things old... Archaeology, antiquities, geriatric medicine...  This week's film follows an intrepid hunt through the past for answers.

I love the dual stories playing out in this film, particularly the long lost secret which the leads are trying to uncover. The ending, though ultimately happy, does tug at the heartstrings a little.

Now, as many of you know, Gwyneth Paltrow irritates me more than most - she did after all separate our Cate from Oscar and she's usually more wooden than a Trojan horse.  I still don't understand how she got the knack for scoring British roles (leading to other mistakes like Bridget Jones) but somehow cast a stiff bookish type plays to her strengths in this case.  Aaron Eckhart is charismatic and playful.  You can't help but side with him.  Irritating though to see Toby Stephens as yet another schmuck (see Die Another Day).  Nevertheless, it will draw you in.

POSSESSION

PLOT: In his study of celebrated English poet, Randolph Ash, a struggling American academic discovers a letter written in the poet's own hand. With the expertise of ball busting Maud, he uncovers an illicit and shocking romance from the past that will have consequences for both their own lives.  But will they find the final piece of the puzzle before a greedy collector snatches it forever?

CAST: Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, The Core, Erin Brockovick), Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man, Shakespeare in Love, Sliding Doors), Jeremy Northam (Gosford Park, Emma), Jennifer Ehle (Pride and Prejudice, Paradise Road)

Watch the trailer

LOCATED IN: Drama

FOR MORE  LIKE THIS SEE:
The Notebook
Becoming Jane

Music to my ears

In the much maligned first SATC film, there is reference to the love letters written by great men resulting in unimaginative women everywhere swooning....

But what if I told you there was a film that catalogued an even great love story?  A forbidden and secret love only declared once and too late?  What if it was filmed well, explored beautifully the story of one of history's greatest composers and starred the incomparable Gary Oldman, you'd want to see it wouldn't you?

IMMORTAL BELOVED

PLOT: On his deathbed, the great Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his beloved a final letter.  But it is addressed simply to "My Immortal Beloved" and it falls to his friend to decipher who, of Beethoven's many great loves, that might be. 

DIRECTOR: Bernard Rose (Robin Hood, Body of Lies, Black Hawk Down)

CAST: Gary Oldman (Harry Potter, The Dark Knight, The Contender, Air Force One), Jeroen Krabbé (Ever After, The Fugitive), Isabella Rossellini (30 Rock, Blue Velvet)

LOCATED IN: Drama

FOR MORE MICHIEVOUS MUSICIANS SEE
Amadeus
Copying Beethoven
Walk The Line
Crazy Heart