My Movie Biography: Where It's At Now in 2012

(2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) Well, we're heading into the home stretch now. Tomorrow is the big day. Just to let you know, you will probably have trouble visiting the site for a while. Don't worry, (fingers crossed) everything goes fine and I'll be back up and running this time tomorrow. Hope to see you there!  Anyway, 2012 in my movie biography...

• By some small coincidence, all of the movies I got at one time from Fatso were by Roman Polanski. So I started off the year with Chinatown, Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby. That was...fun.
• I saw The Muppets and The Adventures of Tintin on the same day. I felt so awkward being this 16 year old all alone in cinemas filled with children. Funnily enough, I preferred Tintin a lot more, but now The Muppets is pretty much my go-to movie when I want to feel better about life.
• I finally got out of NZ! My father and I went to Melbourne, Australia for a week and that was exciting. I was pretty excited for the plane trip, because Drive was playing on the plane and I hadn't seen it because it was an R18. I did really like it when I saw it, but I completely forgot about the fact that it was censored, so I was left wondering what was so R18 about it. Then I looked it up on the internet and apparently there were 70 swearwords in it, but I hadn't heard any of them. When I got the film on DVD, I finally embraced it and it became my second favourite movie of 2011. While I was in Melbourne I bought a crapload of movies because they had everything that I'd been looking for. And there's like, five JB Hi-Fi's in the city, so I was in heaven. Also heavenly was the Pancake Parlour, but that's another story. I also went to the cinemas a fair bit because I wanted to escape the heat. I only really wanted to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, because I thought it was going to be an R18 in NZ and it was only an MA15+ in Australia. I was so excited to be all rebellious. Then I got back to NZ and I found out that it was only an R16. Which was somewhat disappointing. I also saw The Descendants and Hugo just because I could. I really miss Melbourne. It was such a nice place. One day I hope to go back.
• While I wasn't as excited for the Oscars as much as I was last year (I blame the fact that I hadn't watched many of the movies), I still thought it was a good idea to wake up at 3am and watch the Oscar nominations for fun. It wasn't all that fun until I saw that Rooney Mara got nominated, in which case I let out this weird squeal that woke up everyone in the house. I stayed up until at least 4.30am ranting with people on Facebook about them. Which probably wasn't the best idea, because once the morning hit we were going to Palmerston North to watch War Horse. It didn't affect the experience. I still spent the entire film crying my eyes out. And when I say the "entire film", I mean the entire bloody thing. As soon as I saw that horse I was in tears.

War of the Words.

Film: Carnage
Year: 2011
Director: Roman Polanski
Written by: Yasmina Reza and Roman Polanski, based on the play "God of Carnage" by Yasmina Reza.
Starring: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly.
Running time: 76 min.

Words. Sometimes we underestimate how brilliant they are. Sure, you can build a story with words written down on a page, but a story built around words that are spoken is way more exciting. Carnage is a perfect example of that. Instead of the script saying that someone is going to pull out a gun to create a bit of tension, the actors get to throw insulting words at each other. Okay, so words can't kill you, but I've always thought that cinematic words create more tension than having another gun pop up. Guns are so old-school. They don't mean that much in the movies any more, apart from an easy road out for a character or a pointless accessory used to up the badassery points. Words can mean anything you want them to. Especially if you have all the right words in all the right places.

Carnage takes place almost entirely in the apartment of Penelope and Michael Longstreet (played by Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly respectively). The story is relatively simple: they invite fellow parents Nancy and Alan Cowan (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz) into their home to sort out a dispute between their children. In the first few minutes, the matter is seemingly resolved, and the Cowan's go to leave the apartment with the matter behind them. However, they're reeled back into the apartment due to a range of various circumstances, before having a drink and letting all of their inhibitions go, starting a verbal war.

5 Movie-Themed Biopics That I'd Like To See

Earlier in the week I caught up with My Week with Marilyn, which had Michelle Williams (in an Oscar-nominated, amazing performance) playing the one and only Marilyn Monroe and endure a week with Eddie Redmayne's boring Colin Clark. While the film was a perfectly serviceable look into the difficult shoot of The Prince and the Showgirl, directed by Laurence Olivier (a great Kenneth Branagh), it wasn't as interesting as it could have been. In fact, I spent the whole time wishing that I was watching biopics of other people. By the end of My Week with Marilyn, this is the list I came up with:

Vivien Leigh

This is a pretty obvious choice on my part. It's just that after reading four different biographies on her and then writing my own, I know how interesting her story is. While it would be a little bit exhausting to see her entire life play out on screen, it would be quite heart-breaking to see her descent into mental illness. Basically, anything around the time when she was filming Caesar and Cleopatra and what happened after that. Or, if we were wanting to go on a Blue Valentine route, we could chart the relationship between she and Laurence Olivier and how that dissipated over the year. Or maybe down a bit of a less-intense version of We Need to Talk About Kevin showing the slight disconnect between her and her daughter Suzanne. Or maybe just down the traditional road of making a movie about the making of Gone with the Wind. It has been done in a TV movie, but I feel like that story could be a whole lot more. With Vivien, there's a whole range of opportunities for stellar movies, which was one of the reasons why I didn't totally feel My Week with Marilyn: her character was treated poorly. Mind you, I suspect the problem with a biopic on Vivien is the fact that absolutely no-one could play her. She really was one in a million.

Classic - The Pianist

Roman Polanski was a Holocaust survivor. In 1993, he turned down the opportunity to direct Schindler's List, because at the time he felt he was not ready to confront that subject. In 2002, however, Polanski decided to film his Holocaust themed movie, one called The Pianist, which was based on an incredible true story of survival amongst all of that horror. While this film is completely taken from the autobiography that Wladyslaw Szpilman wrote about his experiences, you can also see that there might be parallels between that story and Polanski's own. Szpilman no doubt survived thanks to the goodwill of non-Jews and just a little bit of luck, and without that, Polanski wouldn't be around blessing us all with his amazing gift of film-making. The fact that this was made by someone who had been there and had witnessed all of that going on made this film the harrowing, realistic experience it was. It's impossible not to admire Polanski's strength here...while we never visit a concentration camp, we see Jews doing anything they can to avoid their inevitable death. This film is all about Jews, not the evil bastards who discriminated against them.

There's no real 'plot' in this movie, so to speak. It is mainly just about a Jewish pianist, Wladysaw Szpilman (played by Adrien Brody) who was a part of a particularly well-off family. Of course, come the war, the family were sent first to the Warsaw Ghetto, and then off to the concentration camps. Wladysaw, however, was pushed out of the line by a family acquaintance, and instead of going to a concentration camp, he depended on a few non-Jews to help him along. From then on, it's just the story of his survival, which makes for a truly remarkable and interesting two and a half hours.

Through these two and half hours, you see a lot of horror. You see Jews being shot willy-nilly: whether it be for 'target practice' or just because they're running down the street like they were told to do. You see Jews being burned. You see - one of the moments when I completely lost it with this movie - a man in a wheelchair being thrown off a balcony. All of these things were treated as observations by Polanski, instead of being given what I like to call a 'glossy touch'. This is the kind of thing that can be found in many Hollywood depictions of the War/Holocaust, where the deaths of Jews always feel glorified and quite staged, at some points, mainly because they are trying so hard to make the audience feel like crap. Polanski, however, doesn't have to try. He knows what he saw all those years ago, and doesn't feel the need to glorify it in any way. His efforts are as realistic as hell, which is why he deserved the Best Director Oscar so much.

Another component in this movie which seems completely realistic is the jaw-dropping performance from Adrien Brody. For most of the film, he has to carry the film himself as he doesn't interact with anyone for large patches of it. It is rare for an actor to ever succeed in having the films best interests set squarely on their shoulders, but Brody does amazingly in his role. What is even more amazing, though, is the way he transforms with his character. At the start we are introduced to this charming man, who, without the war, would have gone on to be a successful and wealthy musician. Then we see a man who is not living in the best of conditions in a labour camp, but is personally helping to smuggle in weapons for a Jewish uprising. The worst of it, and the best display of Brody's commitment and talent is when he fades away to almost nothing. He is barely anything but a skeleton with an overgrown beard...and yet, even when his spirit should be broken, he just keeps on going. Brody, who I imagine hadn't been in such a weakened state in his life before, is just so goddamn believable it hurts to watch him. And trust me, I felt his performance in my bones. I don't think a performance has ever had that effect on me before.

The Pianist is a film which can easily involve the viewer. Instead of watching on while a helpless Jew just tries to survive, I felt like I was a helpless Jew trying to survive. This is told mostly from a Jew's perspective, and the fact that it only focuses on one Jew, it's a lot easier to believe in the tale of survival. While it may not have a plot, or narrative structure, it serves as a testimony to all of us that our lives, no matter how hard they seem, do not suck. That good luck and good people do exist out there. People may leave you, but there's always a way through. And, the main one is that help can come from the person you least expect it to come from. There's sheer inspiration in The Pianist which I do not think can be rivaled by anything else I've seen. Never before has a movie taken me in so much and feel everything it has to offer. So what I have to say is, thank you, Mr. Polanski, for making such a masterpiece of a film.

THE VERDICT: One of the best Holocaust themed films, which never fails to involve the viewer and has an absolutely amazing performance from Adrien Brody.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

DVD--The Ghost Writer

or: The Ghost who uncovers things.

One word to sum it up: Intriguing.

If I were to say 'Roman Polanski', people not so up with the film world (and his classics such as Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown) would probably only know one thing about him: that infamous rape scandal. In a way, that thing alone makes The Ghost Writer, his latest film, an even stronger one. You see, during the making of this film, he was put under arrest. He finished editing the film from a Swiss prison and continued making all the artistic decisions while he was under house arrest. And even though Polanski wasn't able to set foot in America due to extradition, he made this film look as American as it possibly could have been. With all these problems, Polanski managed to make a pretty flawless looking film, and perhaps one of the best films from last year.

It's based on Robert Harris' novel 'The Ghost', but it's also been called for the several similarities it has with the story of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. An unremarkable ghost-writer (Ewan McGregor) has landed a contract to shape the memoirs of Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), the former UK Prime Minister. After dominating British politics for years, Lang has retired with his wife (Olivia Williams) to the USA. He lives on an island, in luxurious, isolated premises complete with a security detail and a secretarial staff. Soon, Adam Lang gets embroiled in a major scandal that reveals how far he was ready to go in order to nurture UK's "special relationship" with the USA. But before this controversy has started, before even he has closed the deal with the publisher, the ghost-writer gets unmistakable signs that the draft he is tasked to put into shape mysteriously forms highly sensitive material.

I admit, political thrillers aren't really my cup of tea. When I see those words, it's like someone hit the snooze button in my brain. The Ghost Writer, on the flipside, gave my brain a good rattling. While it could be a bore for someone, I found this movie rich and intense, directed by a guy who knows how to make a good thriller. What makes me mad is the fact that this film was completely ignored come Oscar time. For example, Alexandre Desplat did a far better job with the music in this one, but he got all the acclaim for his work in The King's Speech. His music here contributed to an old-style kind of theme that makes this a suspense nearly in the league of Hitchcock. It's the kind of movie that will keep you guessing until the very end. And the tension just builds and builds. Slowly, but surely. The final shot, to me, is an absolute killer.

Leading the film is Ewan McGregor, who has had a spot in my heart since he was Christian in Moulin Rouge!...and what a great leading man he is. He plays a character simply known as 'The Ghost', but he anchors the film with his likability and vulnerability. And he was a far better choice for the role than Nicolas Cage. Pierce Brosnan made amends for his singing abilities in Mamma Mia! by playing the PM figure Adam Lang just the way a good actor should. Kim Cattrall takes a break from Sex and the City to do what she was born to do: be a good actress. It was strange seeing her in a dramatic role, but she did it well. Even if her American/Irish/Scottish/British accent was a little off the mark. The standout of the movie? Olivia Williams, by miles. Gosh, I loved her in this movie. She was so quietly horrible, and she just stole the show with her characterization and skill. She's the second biggest reason to watch this film after the all-round awesomeness that makes this film a definitive must-see.

THE VERDICT: The Ghost Writer is an excellently made thriller which is both intriguing and intense, with some great performances from it's cast and brilliant direction from Roman Polanski.

What I hoped for:

What I got: