"Love: Shall we deny it when it visits us? Shall we not take what we are given? There is only this. All else is unreal."
I was fortunate enough to watch 'The New World' last night.
What a powerful, moving and evocative 2 1/4 hours. My heart sank when I saw the length of the film - it is rarely a film of that duration can hold my attention. I have come to expect them to focus on long drawn-out battle scenes, but this masterpiece enveloped me with poetry and mesmerising landscapes. It is a filmmaking meditation. A place where dreams and reality mingle.
The film reveals the story of John Smith and Pocahontas; of the clash between the Native Americans and the 'civilised' Englishmen in Virginia. It is a simple plot, far from original - paradise lost, human greed, illusion and reality, celebration of the human spirit and love across cultural boundaries. Yet, somehow, this is totally unique.
One of the most poignant things about this film is the lack of dialogue. It presents you with an invitation to have all your senses deliciously seduced. You are not required to UNDERSTAND this film, you are required to FEEL it. Just open up your heart and allow yourself to travel a land that is open and uninhibited, where you are free to roam around and know what it truly is to be unbound from technology or other human 'advances'.
The acting is amazing - all emotions expressed with minimal words. It's heart wrenching stuff, in a feel-good way. Stolen glances, forbidden touches, light and darkness unifying with the songs of the river and the whispering of the wind. We are reminded that everything we do mingles with Mother Nature. Inner thoughts, secret longings and prayers are uttered through gentle voice-overs that add to a dreamlike quality of the movie. This is a 2 1/2 hour poem that will leave a wealth of emotions in your heart.
Colin Farrell is magnificent and plays a character who falls in love with Pocahontas, embracing her world. His eyes speak volumes of emotion that could never be expressed in spoken words. He struggles with the seeming madness of falling for someone from such a cultural divide, before finally allowing himself to be fully immersed in the ravages of impossible love.
Q'Orianka Kilcher is absolutely faultless as Pocahontas - a truly great actor who expresses a full range of emotions without uttering a word. She is captured, transformed into 'Rebecca' and submits to the inevitability of adopting the customs and attitudes of the English culture, yet she never loses her freedom of spirit or inner strength. She never allows herself to be defined by clothes, language or custom. I am reminded of the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote: "What you do speaks so loud I cannot hear what you say" when I see her.
Don't put this film on expecting an intense action drama or a solid well-defined plot. Watch it with an open heart and you will experience a truly amazing and meaningful film. It's a work of art that will rock the core of your BEing.........
Nominated for 5 academy awards, this intoxicating, intelligent comedy from Director Alexander Payne, serves up one of the best reviewed films of the year about lifes ups, downs and sideways journeys of life.
A wine-tasting road trip through California's Central Coast takes an unexpected detour as Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church), two 30 somethings, mature along the way. The comically mismatched pair soon find themselves drowning in wine, women......and laughter.
by Rachelle Strauss
How could I resist an 'intoxicating, intelligent comedy' that the Times dubbed 'One of the best films I've ever seen'?
Unfortunately this film didn't live up to either of those claims for me. 'Comedy' has kind of gone through a game of Chinese Whispers within the movie industry. To see it describe a film, one expects many lines, situations or behaviours that make you laugh. My feeling is that the word 'comedy' used to describe 'Sideways' is used in its more literal sense of a character's uphill struggle and eventual success - basically, the opposite of a tragedy. Bear this in mind if you choose to watch this film and are expecting to laugh your way through it.
Miles (Paul Giamatti) is an unhappily divorced wine connoisseur. As the saying goes 'Everything I learned, I learned from my wife' and so his wine drinking and passion becomes a way in which he can feel a connection with his wife. His best friend Jack (Thomas Hayden Church) is Miles' complete opposite. Miles is uncertain and his life is fraught with dilemmas. Jack is spontaneous and gives little thought to consequences. Jack is about to get married and wants to spend his 'last week of freedom' *forgetting* about his upcoming marriage. So the two embark on a journey to the vineyards of California: Miles to make a symbolic connection with his ex-wife and Jack, to escape for a week and live up the single life with his best friend.
During the film, our two friends meet Maya (Virginia Madsen); the mirror image of Miles but with more forthright personality (she is a wine connoisseur too - a skill she learned from her divorced husband) and Stephanie (Sandra Oh), who is more like Jack. Consequently Stephanie and Jack instantly form a spontaneous sexual relationship while Miles and Maya tread lightly around taking a platonic friendship any further.
When Jack gets beaten up by Stephanie for lying to her, Jack realises he has messed up and sees his soon-to-be wife for who she really is (someone who will love him for the rest of her life) and as the film progresses, Miles gradually lets down the barriers of a broken heart fall away and he begins to feel more comfortable around Maya. The real turn around for Miles comes when he is finally ready to face his ex-wife at Jack's wedding. So yes, I guess in the literal sense of 'comedy' uphill struggles and eventual success, the description is apt.
Trouble is, you're not left feeling totally convinced that either of the lead characters actually change; everything seems a little 'on the surface'. Stories that grab us are based on human flaw and the triumph of overcoming them. That is what makes the books readable, the plays memorable and the films watchable. I wasn't convinced that either character really triumphed or would reach their true potential. The theme of the film to me was the message that many humans carry around with them a desperate feeling of 'time running out' and perhaps we should grab what we truly desire with both hands rather than allowing fear and insecurity to hold us back.
I felt I got to the end of the film and was still looking for the point of it. Having said that, my feeling is that this is a 'guy film' I personally was unable to relate to the characters, but maybe if I was a 30 something guy who had been totally in love with someone, screwed up and ended up divorced I might have got more from it, as was the character of Miles (which culminates in him 'phoning his ex wife on a *date* with another woman - ouch!). I also believe this is a film for wine lovers. I know nothing about wine, and as the film was full of clever 'oak-blackberry-smoky-with-a-hint-of-strawberry' descriptions of wine, scenes of wine tasting (and getting horribly drunk) and visiting vineyards I was kind of left out of the excitement and appeal
The film's redeeming quality in my opinion was the friendship of the two men. They had been friends since college and although they seemed unable to share values or relate to one another, their bond was thicker than blood. I felt they would have done anything for each other which was great to see portrayed and made a refreshing change from some of the usual unfeeling, uncaring dross dished out by many films.
It is the sort of story where you need to fill in a lot of the blanks yourself; you need to use your own creativity to make something out of it and attach meaning to the simple script and story line - unfortunately I was unable to do this, so the film quickly slipped into the 'boring' ranks for me.
I'm not sure why this film was nominated 5 times or won the brilliant accolade from 'The Times' but I guess it represents and appeals to a section of society that I am not personally familiar with or able to relate to.
One for the 30-something, wine-loving guys perhaps........
Desperately trying to win the affections of a society girl, Albert Brennaman calls in the services of Hitch, New York's premier dating doctor. Meanwhile, gossip columnist Sara Melas begins work to uncover more about the mysterious love doctor, only to discover that he is in fact the man she has been dating...
by Rachelle Strauss
When I saw the trailer of this film, I had a hunch that the funny moments of the film had been condensed into the three minute trailer, making you feel that this would be a laugh-a-minute film. Guess what?! It transpired that this was true.
Will Smith plays Hitch, who is a successful 'Love Doctor'. He advises men (particularly geeky men) on how to date the woman of their dreams and get to that first kiss (which, he claims, 80% of women will base the success of the relationship on). He seems genuine; only taking on men who care about the women they wish to date. This is the part that scores high marks for me. After watching 'Alfie' and the like; it is refreshing to see a film portraying men as caring, romantic, genuine and kind. If a man only wants to win a girl in order to get her into bed, Hitch refuses the job.
The actor that makes this film enjoyable for me is Kevin James, who plays Albert Brennaman. Therein lies the key to the genuine laughs of this film. He is an overweight, clumsy, foot-in-mouth accountant who is in love with one of his clients - the blonde, graceful, famous Allegra. You feel for Albert; he has very little in his life and feels that a relationship with Allegra could add something worthy. In the typical cheesy plot of romantic comedies, he does indeed get to date and kiss Allegra.
Meanwhile Hitch is attempting to form a relationship of his own with a local, feisty, fiercely independent gossip columnist Sarah Melas and as with all things in life - he is better at helping others than working out his own issues. Hitch has past commitment issues that are bought to the fore as this relationship progresses and to add to the cheese factor, it is Albert who eventually makes Hitch realise this.
To cut a long story short, the ending is from the predicable romantic comedy vault that all film makers use.
It is a feel good, entertaining film that lacks pizzazz. It's not laugh a minute, but despite being Mr.Smooth guy, Will is very likeable. Albert is fabulous and you even grow to like Sarah as you realise behind that tough exterior lies a vulnerable girl. The message is hopeful - that you can win the girl of your dreams if you have genuine desire and treat her well.
I do love a good cheesy romantic comedy, but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. I can see its appeal for others though and it might make that perfect movie for a first date.
Chocolat is the beautiful and captivating comedy from the acclaimed director of 'The Cider House Rules' and is based on the best-selling novel by Joanne Harris. Nobody could have imagined the impact that the striking Vianne would make when she arrived in a tranquil, old-fashioned French town. In her very unusual chocolate shop, Vianne begins to create mouth-watering confections that almost magically inspire the straight-laced villagers to abandon themselves to temptation and happiness. But it is not until another stranger, the handsome Roux arrives in town that Vianne is finally able to recognise her own desires.
by Rachelle Strauss
What a great little film this is. It has all the right ingredients - tears, laughter, love, friendship, life issues and a great message about embracing change and tolerance of others. It also has some wonderful actors - Jonny Depp and Judi Dench were the tops for me.
This film explores human nature - how we herd together rather than be true to ourselves. It's lonely to be the maverick or the radical, especially in the Roman Catholic sleepy village that Vianne and her daughter arrive in on one cold, windy night.
Set in France, Vianne opens up a chocolaterie during Lent and throws the domineering Conte into despair. He is adamant that religion should rule the village and the arrival of this woman and her 'illegitimate' child (although we never learn the true story about that) drives him on a mission to put her out of business and get her away from tempting the villagers to 'sin'.
The irony of course, is that Vianne is far more 'christian' than anyone else in the village who attends church weekly. She is a sympathetic listener, turns the other cheek, always gives people the benefit of the doubt, and extends the hand of friendship and love to everyone she meets (Oh, and gives away a lot of hand made chocolate too!). She brings light, love and tolerance into the dark, oppressive and intolerant community.
Eating chocolate during Lent becomes a metaphor for breaking free from oppression and for living life to the full and of course, food can be a natural but sensual pleasure if we allow it. So although the subject might seem shallow initially; there is a lot of thought behind the extensive use of it in this film. Around food people open up, they share, they allow their vulnerabilities to surface, they become *equal*.
This is a film for dreamers with a positive message about good winning over evil. I use the term evil lightly. The scenery is lovely, the characters are typical (the woman beater, the drunkard, the dominant Conte trying to keep order, the Irish travellers, the single mother, the eccentric landlady, the gifted grandchild) but you can relate to them and their lives and they are *all* likeable; even the Conte. We see his fallibility towards the end of the film, and we learn that we are all essentially the same, with our life issues to work through.
The message of the film for me was summed up in the words of the Priest - "Judge yourself by what you embrace, not what you deny." and if you embrace the free spirit within yourself, you may find your self spending a very pleasant evening viewing this 'easy watch' film.
Romance has never been funnier in this battle of wits and will! For Audrey Woods (Julianne Moore) and Daniel Rafferty (Pierce Brosnan), competiton in the courtroom makes them New York's top-notch divorce attorneys. But when celebrity clients (Parker Posey and Michael Sheen) raise the stakes the stakes in their nasty divorce, Audrey and Daniel set out on a trip to make their case, and end up hitched themselves! Now, to spare their own professional reputations, they must fool people into believing they are actually in love.... ... or are they fooling themselves?
by Rachelle Strauss
Oh dear - what a disappointment this film was. I read a few critics saying that this is a very hard film to dislike if you are a romantic person. Well, guess what? I'm incurably romantic and found this film didn't hold my interest.
Laws of Attraction describes itself as a romantic comedy, but both the romance and the comedy were sadly lacking. Audrey Woods is not a likeable character; she is too highly strung and you just don't warm to her. I also wondered what Daniel Rafferty supposedly saw in her - it wasn't a convincing match. I know in real life, love is blind, but I really couldn't identify with the attraction. The story line is predictable, very unconvincing and uninspiring.
The main thing these two characters have in common is that as lawyers, neither of them have lost a divorce case. When they appear against one another for the first time, one of them has to learn how to lose. Watching them both, you seriously wonder how either of them have not yet lost a case - he is too laid-back, while she is too uptight. Invariably, they end up facing each other time and time again throughout their careers - one loses, one wins and so it goes on.......
Eventually the pair are sent to Ireland to figure out who is going to keep the castle a rock star and his clothes designer wife (both highly unattractive characters, that again, I did not warm to) are fighting over in a bitter divorce case. Daniel and Audrey end up drunk in this green and pleasant land and *married*. Groan! Do we have to be subjected to two professionally successful adults, who are sadly unable to express themselves unless laced with a few drinks? It appears this couple cannot *do* romance or get their act together unless under the influence of alcohol.
Brosnan and Moore are fabulous actors, but these parts just didn't allow them to show their best. Sure, there are messages scattered throughout the film of compromise, finding happiness, finding love, some things are worth fighting for (all coming from Daniel - he is the romantic one in this film, not her), but there are much better films that get this message across in a more convincing and thought-provoking way.
The best parts of this film were the actresses playing the court Judge and Audrey Wood's mother. They delivered some great one-liners and were entertaining people that kept me watching to the end. The other thing was the beautiful scenery of Ireland. Without these, I probably wouldn't have got through it.
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"Love: Shall we deny it when it visits us? Shall we not take what we are given? There is only this. All else is unreal." 
by Rachelle Strauss 
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