Lame Trailer Clichés: Sexy Time

Right...now I have your attention.

One thing that annoys me more than anything about the trailers I see at work is the fact that most of them have to feature sexy time. Even if they're not really huge parts of the film (and to be honest, when are they?). I may be the only one who gets annoyed by this (innocent girl right here), but jeez, it happens more times then it needs to.

Colombiana - Don't get your hopes up...what you see in the trailer is pretty much all you get in the movie. In fact, the 'romantic' strain in this movie is so unbelievably stupid that there's no reason why it should have been there in the first place. Still, amongst shots of an extremely skinny Zoe Saldana running everywhere with a gun is the sexy time. Oh, Hollywood.

5 Reasons Why I Love Rebecca Hall

I watched Dorian Gray today for only one reason: it has Rebecca Hall in it. For many people, the name Rebecca Hall isn't familiar. But I can guarantee you that she has been in at least one movie you've seen. Unless you completely missed The Prestige or The Town in which case you are totally missing out on something special.

Anyway, Rebecca Hall is one of my most favourite actresses. I just think she's the cat's pyjamas. And like last week's entry Cillian Murphy, Hall is severely underrated. Which is probably why I love her so much.

1. Her performance in The Town.

The Town is largely an ensemble piece featuring some brilliant performances across the board, especially from the Oscar nominated Jeremy Renner. Sure, Renner has a stand-out performance, Blake Lively was particularly interesting with her different sort of role and Pete Postlethwaite was terrifying in his few short scenes. But the person I loved the most out of all of them was my girl Rebecca Hall. She didn't have a very flashy role, but she was quietly compelling and proved that she was a very good leading lady. Now, let's all hope that after this movie she'll get more great offers like this, because, after all, she is so awesome.

2. She's a stage actress.

There's something about a stage actress which I really like. I don't know what it is, but acting on stage takes a hell of a lot of talent, considering the whole thing gets done in one night. Rebecca has been in a lot of stage productions in her career, particularly because her father is a renowned stage director. Which is cool, because it certainly does sound like she's achieved a lot on the stage, and she's also managed to juggle a good film career into that.

3. She's a very natural looking actress.

You know how there are some actresses who always look like actresses - all glossy with their hair looking perfect and make-up smothered over them? When I look at Rebecca, she's always struck me as a naturally beautiful girl. To be honest, she is very plain, but she's so well defined, I'm actually quite jealous of her. She's quite statuesque, she has quite a large mouth, her eyes are a beautiful brown and her hair is so nice and relaxed. I wouldn't say that she looks like a 'movie star', but just a nice, plain actress.

4. Her body of work is goooooooood.

Rebecca hasn't starred in a lot, but as I've said, it's hard to miss a movie with her in it, because she's been in some good ones. She started her film career with Brit comedy Starter for 10, which also starred other brilliant Brits James McAvoy and Alice Eve. In that same year she went straight to the top with a supporting role in Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. And you all know how amazing Chris Nolan is, so this role was pretty huge for her. Two years later she scored a Golden Globe nomination for her leading role in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Even though I didn't much like the film, this is where I completely fell in love with her. Following that was Frost/Nixon, Dorian Gray and also Red Riding, which got her a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress. Of course, 2010 brought The Town, and also the lovely indie comedy Please Give, where she plays one of the nicest characters on Earth. And rounding out her boomer career (for the time being) is Everything Must Go, co-starring Will Ferrell. Seriously, you have no reason not to watch her. It's not like her films are hard to find, or anything.

5. I'm sure she radiates niceness.

Seriously, every time I see her, she looks like she could be the kindest person ever. I was just watching some interviews with her, and she seems like she's a lovely person, so sweet and so relaxed. Her smile probably has enough wattage to light up Dannevirke. This could just be me comparing her to her lovely character in Please Give (who is an incredibly selfless person, someone who I envy greatly), but I find it impossible not to love her. She's a gorgeous, genuine actress, who spreads happiness around all of her movies. My goodness, I love her.

Please tell me I am not the only one who loves Rebecca Hall! Have you seen any of her movies? Were you impressed by her in any of them?

Due to technical difficulties...

...my review of The Woman in the Window for tonight's instalment to the Classic Movie Marathon will have to be postponed. It's a complicated story, really. The version I have of the movie is a different zone to what we have here in NZ, therefore I can't play it on my laptop. So I brought out my trusty old portable DVD player to watch it on, but it turns out that I can't actually hear the movie on that. My only other option is to watch it in the lounge on the TV, but since my Dad isn't the movie type of person, I'll have to wait until tomorrow when he's at work before I can have the TV all to myself. So the schedule is pushed back a day, mainly coz I'm having a little trouble keeping up with these movies...I'm sadly more happy rewatching movies I've already seen fifty times before coz I just can't think straight.

In place of tonight's review, I'll just give you a photo of Jeremy Renner. Because he is my new nerd obsession at the moment. After all, he's in the new Bourne movie, bitches!

And while we're on the subject of Jeremy...here's a cute pic of he and Jon Hamm...

And on the subject of Jon, here's a pic of he and the beautiful Rebecca Hall...

And for no reason at all, just the fact that I watched the marvellous The Ghost Writer again a couple of nights back, here's an interesting premiere photo of stars Ewan McGregor, Olivia Williams, and Pierce Brosnan. I swear, Olivia Williams' performance in this movie was the best (male or female) performance of 2010. I have absolutely no doubt about that.

Ha, technical difficulties have never turned out to be so good looking.

DVD--The Town

or: Cops and robbers.

One word to sum it up: Nice.

The Town has such a pretty cast. Ben Affleck as an actor and a director is pretty. One of my most favourite actresses Rebecca Hall is pretty. Blake Lively is pretty. Jon Hamm is beyond pretty. And Jeremy Renner, well, what can I say...I become more interested in this man with every role he takes. So they all come together, with the brilliant Pete Postlethwaite (RIP) in another small but scene stealing role, and make a movie about bank robbers with the cops on their tails. Methoughts it would be pretty awesome. Methinks The Town was actually a bloody awesome movie.

One may go into this film expecting a gritty action thriller, and you will get exactly that, but you will also get a nice romance as well. The romantic duo come in the form of Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) and Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). She is an innocent bank manager who lives in Charlestown, and has just had her bank robbed. He, unbeknownst to her, is a bank robber and the one who robbed her bank. They form an unlikely relationship, which endangers the world he is currently in. His friend and fellow robber, James 'Jem' Coughlin (Jeremy Renner) believes that she might screw things up for his group of robbers and gets increasingly worried about what she told the FBI and that she may be able to identify them. It's not long before Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm), the head of FBI's investigation, has found a link to this group, and they start to realize that death or prison are their only ways out of Charlestown.

This is a story often told: a girl and a guy falling in love even though one half is shrouded in secrecy, a man trying to make a break from his past life and make a new one, and the one last job which changes everything. It's not new material, but there is something about The Town which is really special. I can't quite put my finger on it, but this movie was really well done. Ben Affleck may have had his highs and lows as an actor, but with this, his follow up to the much acclaimed Gone Baby Gone, he shows that he is a very capable writer and director. Almost too capable, if anything. Here he captures the right atmosphere, making a dark surrounding for dark characters all praying for some light, but never quite reaching it because of their surroundings pulling them back in.

As well as being an insightful drama which looks into the lives of criminals effortlessly well, The Town also succeeds at being an action film, too. There are a few great chases and sequences within the film which are done with blockbuster flair. I like how this movie has a deft blend of genres: drama, romance and action. It never gets tired, and is always interesting. From a girly perspective, I really liked the romance in this film, since they weren't trying too hard to capitalize that. It just shows that a romantic story can be good when you don't try too hard. Deep down, though, this is a mans movie, which is okay for the girls, too. Now why wasn't this nominated for more than one Oscar?!

The characters and performances within the film are brilliant. Affleck, who didn't stop at writing and directing duties, is superb in the leading role, but it's really his supporting stars who shine. Hopefully Rebecca Hall will become better known for her role in this: she was amazing (as always) and so sweet, I couldn't help but feel she was a stand out. Jon Hamm, why you so sexy? He was good, too. Blake Lively was beyond great in this. I really never knew how far she'd be able to go as an actress, and she really pushed her limits here. Even though her role was one which could have easily been omitted, she made the most of her opportunity. Pete Postlethwaite, quite frankly, terrified me as Fergie. How is it that he could just steal the show in a few short scenes? He was simply such a great character actor, and really showed that here, in one of his last films. However, the man who scored The Town's only Oscar nomination was Jeremy Renner, who was magnificent here. Following on from his superb nominated performance in last years The Hurt Locker, Renner takes on another character who can't live with out violence. His presence is violent and scary, but there is still enough of a story in the man to make you like him. Let's just hope that Renner keeps up the roll he's been on of late, because I just can't seem to get enough of him.

THE VERDICT: The Town may not have the most original story, but the way it is made and performed is a brilliant example of fine filmmaking. Ben Affleck should just keep writing and directing movies.

What I hoped for:

What I got: