Oh THAT guy! - Part 2

This is Warwick Davis!  He's a fabulous actor who's been instrumental in promoting professional acting roles  through his company Willow Personal Management.  As he puts it, "the biggest agency for short actors in the world".  Perhaps you recognise him better by his roles?



Wicket in Return of the Jedi

The lead character in Willow

The lead character in Leprechaun

Various characters in all the Harry Potter films

Marvin in Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy 

Nikabrik in Narnia: Prince Caspian











My favourite Warwick Davis film (excluding Star Wars of course!) and one of my faves as a child is also this week's recommendation.  I love this magical adventure if only for the craziness of Mad Martigan, played joyfully by an almost unrecognisable Val Kilmer.

WILLOW

PLOT: When a baby princess is found floating down a stream by the nelwyn farmer Willow, he undertakes an adventure to return her to her people.  Along the way he meets a great warrior and together they journey through a war-torn land of magic and monsters, trying to evade an evil sorceress.

CAST: Warwick Davis (Harry Potter), Val Kilmer (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)

Watch the trailer

A moment of pure Schappelle-ness?

Due to my hideously late posts for the last week (you must forgive me of course, it's HP7 opening week!) you get two for the price of one!

You all know my feelings on the Schapelle Corby issue but here's how a trip to SE Asia can really go very very wrong.  Could your friendship survive?

BROKEDOWN PALACE

 PLOT: After a brief encounter with a handsome, charming stranger while travelling around Thailand, two girls from different backgrounds suffer the same fate, they are arrested for drug smuggling.

CAST: Claire Danes (Shop Girl, Romeo & Juliet), Kate Beckinsale (Underworld, Serendipity), Bill Pullman (Independence Day, While You Were Sleeping)

Watch the trailer

For another take on the same situation, check out RETURN TO PARADISE.

A side of Bacon?

I have a huge crush on Kevin Bacon.  There I said it.  He's a brilliant actor, with incredible range, vastly more talented than a simple dance sequence in an 80s flick.

Okay, the things most people heard of or remember about this one are the threesome and girl on girl action in the pool.  Get past the tittilation and you'll find it's a terrific thriller with twists that will have you guessing even after the credits begin to roll!

WILD THINGS


PLOT:  Two young women from very different backgrounds accuse the local school's guidance councellor of rape, but the investigating officer suspects things aren't what they seem.  So who is the puppetmaster?

CAST: Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon, Neve Campbell (Scream), Denise Richards (Drop Dead Gorgeous), Bill Murray (Lost in Translation, Ghostbusters)

LOCATED IN: Thriller

Watch the trailer


For more Kevin Bacon thrills and chills check out:

• Trapped
• The River Wild
• A Few Good Men
• Mystic River
• Death Sentence

Yes, high society is code for snob

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the classics are called that for a reason!!  After my colleagues persuaded me to check out some recent comedies this past week, I found myself regarding modern comedy generally.... whatever happened to the screwball comedy?

Well, to get myself back to basics, this week I am recommending one of my favourite screwball classics... Frankly with a cast including Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart AND Cary Grant, enough said!!

THE PHILADELPHIA STORY

PLOT: When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, all assumptions are out the window!

Located in: Classics

More screwball comedies:
 - His Girl Friday
 - Bringing Up Baby

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