O final da biografia chatíssima dirigida por Richard Attenborough é poderoso, esperto e tocante. Se não fosse minha mãe do lado assistindo o filme comigo, eu teria me desmanchado em lágrimas. Chaplin sendo homenageado no Oscar com uma retrospectiva de todos os seus mais famosos filmes é de tocar qualquer um que ame o cinema ou Chaplin.

O significado profundo por trás da cena d’O garoto faz qualquer um chorar após ver a biografia. Quem viu entende o que estou falando. A luta do vagabundo para recuperar o garoto é tão bonita que, escolhida por Attenborough pra ficar mais tempo em tela, me fez desmanchar e creio que fará qualquer um que veja a biografia, chata, mas tocante nesse final.

This is another Matt Dillion and Diane Lane movie.  You should watch it.  You also get to see Diane Lane’s boobies.

1999

Cast- Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Liev Schreiber, Anna Paquin

It’s 1969 and the Kantrowitz is spending another summer away from the city.  Marty (Schreiber) and Pearl (Lane) have been parents since they were 17, and 14 years and two children later they are comfortable in the life they have made.  Well, Marty is comfortable and Pearl is restless, wondering if life has passed her by.  Enter the Blouse Man (Mortensen).  In the age of hippies, Woodstock, and men on the moon, Pearl finds her own sexual revolution.

Why I love it - I should confess that I watched this movie after I fell in love with Aragorn in Lord of the Rings and I needed to see every movie that Viggo Mortensen had been in.  Imagine my surprise when I found this gem with Diane Lane, who I also love watching onscreen.  These two have some seriously hot love scenes in this movie.  I loved the Blouse Man and was hoping for a happy ending for him, I mean, it’s Viggo, so of course I was rooting for him.  Imagine my surprise when by the end of the movie I also had a crush on Liev Schreiber. 

The acting of these three with the teenager Alison (Paquin) and Marty’s mother (Tovah Feldshuh) was top-notch.  Actually I think Feldshuh stole every scene she was in and I loved her character, caught in the middle with the knowledge of infidelity. 

Apart from the outstanding cast and excellent acting I could feel for Pearl.  I do not have children, but every woman can relate to romanticizing the road not taken.  I may not have agreed with her actions, but I understood the motivations behind them.  The choices we make at 17 will still be with us at 31 (how old I think Pearl is).

And this was a story about marriage and what makes it work or fall apart.  It’s never black or white and this movie shows all of it shades of gray.  Oh, and did I mention it was hot? 

According to IMDb Lane wanted Mortensen for this role so much that she gave up part of her salary so they could afford him.  Smart girl.  Take a look at trailer and see if this might be a movie that you’d like too.

The rest of my Top 100 List.

Tragedy and Redemption

CLASSIFICATION     MC Mature Catholics

RATING     Four of 5 Stars

Distributed by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow (released on 26 September 2008)

97 minutes

The Film

Nights in Rodanthe is a film adaptation of the novel of Nicholas Sparks having the same title. It was filmed in the small seaside village of Rodanthe, the northermost village of the inhabited areas of Hatteras Island as well as Carolina Beach in North Carolina. It is written for the silver screen by Ann Peacock and John Romano, and directed by George Wolfe.

The Preview

The Story

The film opens with the young girl Adrienne Taylor-Willis (Diane Lane) running on the beach towards her father who carried and spun her around. She wakes up from this dream into a life of a divorced mother, and hurries her two children Amanda (Mae Whitman) and Danny in time for their father Jack (Christopher Meloni) who will be dropping by to pick them up for a vacation. Jack wants to go back with Adrienne and they stay with him in Orlando, but Adrienne wants it discussed when the kids come back.

Meanwhile, Dr. Paul Flanner (Richard Gere) prepares his last things and leaves the family house he sold after he and his wife divorced. He drives off to a barge on his way to Rodanthe where he had booked at a bed and breakfast inn by the sea.

Adrienne unloads her things on Jean’s bed as Jean (Viola Davis) is leaving for an extended trip, and Adrienne will be taking Jean’s place in managing the inn.

When Paul arrived, he finds Adrienne at the porch. She shows him the reserved Blue Room. At 7:30, she serves the supper but Paul transfers to the kitchen where she is preparing the salad because he prefers not to eat alone. So they dine together and get to know each other.

That night Paul recalls the night he performed his last surgery for the day, and had to shut off his son, Dr. Mark Flanner (James Franco). He also remembers the day her wife Jen left him after the divorce. That night, the patient he operated on died.

The following day, Paul visits Robert Torrelson (Scott Glenn), the husband of his patient who died on his table, only to find the recalcitrant son Charlie (Pablo Schreiber) who refused to allow him to see Robert.

In the town’s grocery store, Adrienne heard about the operation that killed Mrs. Torrelson, and knew that the surgeon was Paul. Back in the inn, Paul tells her that Mrs. Torrelson had a non-life threatening cyst on her face but still died on his operating table.

After dinner, Adrienne shows Paul her artworks at the attic. She also shows him a safe box she made from a drift wood. After a call from Jack, which left her fuming, Adrienne and Paul entertain themselves into Jean’s unhealthy pantry supplies by throwing them into the waste bin.

The following morning, Robert and Charlie arrive to see Paul. Robert wants to know what happened during the operation. Paul tells him that she reacted to the anesthesia, which happens only one out of 50,000 cases. Robert insists his loss of his wife of 43 years when Paul tries to defend himself from the blame.

Just after Robert and his son left, the storm came and fast. Adrienne and Paul need to do their best to keep the rainstorm from getting in as the lights turn off. The place is in total darkness except for a flashlight in Adrienne’s hand. Paul just came in on time to save Adrienne from a falling shelf. Alone in the dark, they made love.

Early the following day, Adrienne took the beach, feeling remorseful for not being with Danny, who had an asthma attack the previous night and is in a hospital that very hour. Paul decides to see Robert in his place. Adrienne joins him. It is here that Paul appreciates the depth of Robert’s loss.

That night, a crab crack celebration is held at the wharf area to celebrate the passing of the storm. The singing, eating and dancing that the townspeople join progress into the night as a band of retired musicians and old vocalists took country music into the air.

When the children arrive home, Adrienne makes it clear that she and Jack will not be going back together despite Amanda’s tearful protest. Things go back to normal as Adrienne continues to do her job as a mother of two and Paul his work in the hospital. Meanwhile Adrienne and Paul continue to write letters.

The day Paul misses his scheduled flight to visit her Adrienne wonders why he is not on the plane. The day after, Mark arrives bringing with him Paul’s things, or what’s left of it. He tells her of the change that Mark saw in Paul. And that Paul got consumed into the flood of mud when Paul tried to get some more supplies to take with them. Mark thanks Adrienne for giving him back his father.

Inside Paul’s things, Adrienne finds an unsent letter from Paul telling her that he wants them to be together for life. The pain strikes her deep and she cannot seem to get over it.

Adrienne is deep in sorrow when Amanda and Danny come back from another vacation with Jack. Adrienne tells Amanda what really happened between her and their father. Adrienne told Amanda about Paul.

Amanda visits the inn to stay with Jean for awhile as she recalls all the beautiful things she shared with Paul there.

The film ends with Adrienne, while walking on the beach to ease up her sorrow on Paul’s death, as she found an unlikely sight on the beach–a herd of running stallions free and carefree to be what they are. She, accompanied by Jean, Amanda and Danny, bade goodbye to the memory of Paul at the wharf as the wind blew her face. 

The Review

Nights in Rodanthe is a tragic romantic story of two divorcees who discovered love after living together for nights in Rodanthe. It deals with the issues of time among married couples, caeer demands, breaking up, and moving on with life. There is so much pain in the story. But there is also redemption and positive change that came out from that pain.

Divorce. The film proposes that divorce may be necessary and must be pursued when couples can no longer live as they have drifted apart through the years or one spouse abandoned the other for another. It tries to show that finding the right person to love after a divorce can happen. While the proposal is believable as presented in the movie, it remains to question how hard teh couples worked for their marriage, and if there is still something that forgiveness can do to help renew a difficult union. While abandonment may justify unforgiveness and divorce, Catholic morals decry divorce as a solution to marital difficulties, maintaining that everything is possible for couples who sincerely want to work for it through God’s grace. Since most marital problems are caused by lack of effective communication, viewers are invited to decide whether the grounds for separation in this  movie are valid and justifiable.

Career. The film also correctly emphasized the dangers of so much commitment to professional work, leaving no time to one’s family. The film understands this, and attempts to emphasize the problems created when couples happen to choose wrong priorities in their married life. A physician who loves his work so much so as to leave him no time for his wife and child. That love becomes ironic in view of his decision to get married in the first place. The imbalance broke Paul’s family, estranging himself from his wife and his only son. The film however provided redemption form this family failure through the medical mission that both father and son have mutual interest and through which they rediscovered their relationship.

Professional failure. One of the sources of pain in this film is Paul’s professional failure that costs a wife’s life in a medical procedure he performed hundreds of times over and successfully. The pain of loss was overwhelming to the patient’s family, but eventually became a chance for Paul to learn compassion and for the surviving family to forgive… ironically through open and honest communication.

Children moving on. The film also explores the confusion and pain suffered by children of divorced parents, their hope of their parents’ eventual reconciliation that may never come. But redemption too came when the children understood that their parents may not be able to live together anymore because of past mistakes that broke the relatioinship for good.

The Verdict

Nights at Rodanthe is a move of pain and redemption, which Catholics may find very rich with lessons on married life and love. While it presented divorce in its positive picture, it is honest in portraying the pain of loss, of broken relationships, and the need to repair and heal the wounds left, and eventually achieve redemption. Despite its good parts, it is a typical Hollywood movie in handling sex.

The film can be educational to mature Catholics, but not recommended to teh young and less mature in their faith. It represents a two-sided blade for married couples as the positive outcomes of the story can be of the story can be educational as well as a source of temptations in justifying the easier course of separation, annulment or divorce in handling a troubled marriage.    

Reviewed by Zosimo Literatus

Come un uragano è un film americano del 2008 adattamento cinematografico australiano del romanzo omonimo Nicholas Sparks. Il film è interpretato da Richard Gere e Diane Lane nella loro terza collaborazione sullo schermo dopo Unfaithful (2002) e The Cotton Club (1984).

Leggi altre notizie su: | George C. Wolfe | Diane Lane | Richard Gere | Viola Davis

November 7, 2009
 

I really love this movie. It’s a period piece (which I love to begin with) set in 1959, and revolves around the death of the actor who played Superman on TV, George Reeves. This work gives us an ultimately sad portrait of the Hollywood lifestyle, in spite of the unholy fun, and even asks us solemnly, and convincingly, to grow-up by the end. All the performances are great, the sets are perfect, and the script is a labor of love, so detailed, so rich in inspiration, so nicely paced, so intertwined in its plot like a Jane Austen novel, it can only be marveled at.

Louis Simo (Adrien Brody), a private investigator, is hired to look into the death of George Reeves. But while the official story called it a suicide, certain irregularities have been unearthed by Simo and lead him to the conclusion it was actually murder. He encounters considerable resistance for this conclusion along the way from the LAPD and the studio executives. It’s tough going: he gets beaten up a couple of times, his girlfriend cuckolds him, his ex-wife shuns him, his young son of about five withdraws further and further from him, and a separate client in a separate case murders his own wife, leaving Simo shattered emotionally. It’s a constant struggle for Mr. Louis Simo against the world.

Brody plays Simo as an in-your-face tough guy, a gum-chewing, gum-spitting-out, cigarettes-addicted, wife-cheating, seedy, 24-hour-stubbled sharp-dressing rogue with a heart of gold. Brody pulls it off perfectly, and captures the imagination. Ben Affleck, too, is great in his portrayal of George Reeves. Affleck gives us a very moving, evocative, poignant, and even elegant picture of an actor who never made the really big-time and who despises himself for it. Affleck’s portrait is plausible and well-done.

Diane Lane plays the September half in her May-September romance with Reeves. She provides a perfect illustration of the insecurity and pain of loving someone completely who unfortunately doesn’t feel quite as passionate in return. Lane gets the jealousy and the anguish of romantic abandonment just right. For example, in one scene, she’s arguing about career stuff with Reeves, and she tells him basically that he’s out of shape. She then taps him under the chin to demonstrate his growing portliness, and she does it a little harder than necessary to make the proximate point. If Reeves so much as talks casually to another woman, Lane writes that pain on the face of her character.

The movie ultimately belongs to Simo/Brody, however. His investigation leads him further and further into a cascade of revelations that disillusion and embitter him. Even the very purpose of the investigation loses its meaning: his original client in the case has made an utter fool of him. In addition, he suffers several emotional upheavals in his personal life during the case. Every so often, Simo runs through in his mind another of the various possibilities as to the manner of Reeves’ death. By the end, however, he seems to consider that suicide, in spite of the murderous depravity of the Hollywood world he finds himself in, is actually just as plausible an explanation as the several murder scenarios. He realizes he’ll never prove the corrupt studio-head (played perfectly by Bob Hoskins), has murdered Reeves in some kind of bizarre revenge for Reeves’ having left Diane Lane.

Simo has become a more sober and better man by the end. He overcomes self-absortion and its convincing lures, and gets in touch with the reality of how deeply he’s been hurting people he cares about by his manner of living and attitude. He realizes, in spite of his ability to charm women, that he has not even begun to live up to the responsibilities of manhood. He realizes that he is a part of the very decadence that he’s investigating! His reward is that he finally regains innocence through these insights into himself and the world.

In this regard, then, this movie is a bit like The Hustler, wherein Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) finds grim redemption in solitary, unbearable suffering and moral reformation after the grisly suicide of his girlfriend. For this commitment to growth, both these movies are valuable and irreplaceable. Hollywoodland, however, is ultimately not as tragic as The Hustler, since the protagonist hears the voice of doom in time.

This is another great Matt Dillion and Diane Lane movie. This is a pretty good movie its no Outsiders but still pretty bad ass.  If you haven’t seen it it’s worth it. Mickey Rourke kills it in this movie also.  The Motorcycle Boy Reigns.

A shy boy (fantastic act by Frankie Muniz of “Malcolm in the Middle”) finds his only friend in a dog, and the two set out on great adventures. This movie also has strong performances from Kevin Bacon and Diane Lane…… See video on- http://khichdiall.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-dog-skip-movie-video.html

David Rice (Hayden Christensen) has the ability to transport himself from place to place in a matter of seconds, due to a genetic anomaly. His mother left him when he was 5 years old, and he did not have the best relationship with his father. When was still in High School, one day he transported himself away and ended up going to New York. In order to pay rent he started to rob banks and continued to do this. He did not realise that he was not the one person to have the ability to transport from place to place and that they are known as Jumper’s but not only that, he entered a war between jumper’s and people set out to kill them.

When David meets Griffin (Jamie Bell) everything about the war is revealed, and how he has been battling against it for years. David has an alternative motive that being a girl, Millie (Rachel Bilson). He was pretty much in love with her at school and did not forget about her as the years went by. As he ends up putting her into a lot of danger, by taking her to Italy. David eventually finds his mother (Diane Lane) and finds out that she kills jumper’s which is the reason for her leaving him when he was 5. She would give him a head start. Which was pretty sad as he always pined for his mother wanting to see her.

I can remember when this movie came out and kind of wanting to go and see it, but just never got round to it. Then it did not really seem to get the best reviews or anything and I can pretty much understand why really. It had a pretty good idea and everything but something was missing and it was really lacking because of that. I think more explanation about the war would have been better and helped have a background knowledge of the whole Jumper thing.

The main thinking point and things to discuss that could come from this film would have to be where would you transport yourself to, if you could go anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds? Would you travel to be with someone? A friend? A member of your family? Or would you travel to see different places in the world? It would be a fantastic gift to be able to have.

Overall, I thought the idea for this film was pretty good. But it was really lacking something. I see Jumper 2 has been announced but nothing is set in stone of it yet.

Gotta to be my favorite advice from a movie. Remember that brilliant older woman with the curly blond hair and dramatic hats in Under the Tuscan Sun? ( Okay, I’ll admit it. I love that movie) She was giving Diane Lane some stupid advice about life and Italian men, then she told her the best line of the movie: “Remember; never lose your childlike sense of wonder!”. I think the best but hardest thing about getting older is experience. Experiencing challenges, working hard every day, figuring out how amazing and horrible people can be. College is one of the most challenging times of young people’s lives. It’s like someone took 20 years of experience and crammed it into 4. Anyone who has been in college a couple of years knows. How different are you now from when you came to college as a naive freshman? At times this change is great; you feel like you are maturing, becoming the person who are going to be for the rest of your life. At times it feels like every challenge you face is designed to destroy your idealistic dreams. Sometimes it just seems easier to be indifferent to things. Stress and sadness and reality have a tendency to dampen your passions. It is easier to get your shit done and make it until the end of each day that to actually enjoy your life. It’s easier to stay where it’s familiar than to go somewhere new. What if what you hope for never matches up with reality? In college, with life rushing at you every second, it’s easy to think you have started to figure things out. Life is hard. Yeah, you’ll get hurt. And guess what, you have to deal. At this point you might want to stop caring. But there are still an infinite number of mind-blowing beautiful things left out there for you to discover. All you have to do is keep looking. I think Cicero said it best: “It is a shameful thing to be weary of inquiry, when what we search for is excellent”.

Os dejo fotos de esta guapísima y talentosa actriz…

Jävla tjat om  att vaccinera sig emot fjuttflensan.
Jag har egentligen slutat att bry mig, även att skriva om skiten.
Förra gången var egentligen tydligt nog.
Så såg jag Debatt igår på svt:
Maria Larsson folkhälsominister; ajaj det gör ont att se henne.
Dn’s Karin Bojs snicksnackar solidaritet hit o dit.
“jag har läst allt som skrivs och jag vet”
Inget.
“Man har bara ändrat en liten liten liiiiten del av vaccinet så det är helt säkert”
Vaccinet är ok, ta det om du vill.
Argumentet hon tar till är dock inget vidare, mindre ändringar än Bojs kan föreställa sig kan leda till konsekvenser.
Storleken har ingen betydelse , det vet alla utom Bojs.
Men jag ska inte förleda någon att tro att vaccinet är farligt i sig.
Immunresponsen på vaccin testas, det var argumentet som skulle användas, inte Liiiiten.

Jag tycker att alla som vill ska vaccinera sig.
Särskilt riskgrupperna.
Jag tycker att alla som inte vill vaccinera sig ska låta bli.
Särskilt oriskgrupperna.
Jag ska inte vaccinera mig.
Av solidariska skäl vill jag ha en kropp där immunsvaret är i form så jag  smittar så lite som möjligt, under min livstid.
Vi vet  att muskler, hjärna och kroppens försvar behöver träning för att hållas i trim.
Då fungera de bäst.
Träning är det bästa, rulltrappor bygger inte morgondagens svaga kropp.
Jaja jag  erkänner, jag skulle inte chansa en sekund om ebolavirus dyker upp.
Vaccin direkt.
Om det fanns.
Jag är ingen vaccinmotståndare, jag tar allt som är vettigt.
Gulsot, etc.
Men nu rör det sig om ett fjuttvirus.
Vaccin innebär drygt ett års skydd.
Svininfluensan innebär livslångt skydd, förhoppningsvis ett mer generellt motstånd mot liknande virus
Jag bedömer att jag klarar svininfluensan bättre idag, än imorgon.
Inte svårare än så.
Dessutom så är jag solidarisk med mänskligheten och ger den ett tillskott av en kropp med ett immunsvar som har en massa mer ammunition mot fjuttflensor än vad vaccinpopulationen har.
Det är värt.
Mångfald är alltid bättre än enfald.

Nu till viktigheter:
Kvällen igår slutade med en sjuanfilm.
Det var första gången.
Sjuan alltså.
Hon från true blood var en nybliven, upprorisk tonåring.
Diane Lane spelade frun som “missat” tonåren.

Den äldre Lane är mycket snyggare än den yngre.
Brösten var dock lite mindre i den 10 år gamla filmen än vad som antyds på denna nyare bild.
Bra bh kanske.

Man får tycka att den unga Lane är snygg med.
Streets of fire:
(Om ni undra varför Michael Paré står o ser dum ut i videon så beror det på att han dissat Diane hela filmen o nu står o ångrar sig…)

Tur jag har min fru.
Inte vaccinfascist och snyggare än Diane.

Δ

Lite  läsning från megafoner: AB1, AB2, DN1, DN2, DN3, DN4, SvD1, Svd2,

After getting excited yesterday about “Dear John” and realising how much I love Nicholas Sparks Novel’s which have been turned into movies, I decided to look a bit closer into them. Not only is “Dear John” coming out next year, another based on one of his novels is “The Last Song” (2010) which I cannot believe I forgot about as Miley Cyrus is going to be starring in it. At the moment Nicholas Sparks has 14 Novels, 6 of these are now movies. With two of them due for release next year. The other four which have been released are “Message in a Bottle” (1999), “A Walk to Remember” (2002), “The Notebook” (2004) and “Nights in Rodanthe” (2008). The tagline’s for each of the movies help to show which type of story is the main key in the movie, and the pictures below show that too . . . Love . . . all about love. 

Lets start things off by looking into the two movies which are due for release next year. Starting with “The Last Song” (2010), it is a coming of age drama which focuses on a troubled teenager (Miley Cyrus) and her relationship with her estranged father (Greg Kinnear) and how they reconnect to each other through music. Nicholas Sparks wrote both the screenplay and novel at the same time, and actually finished the screenplay before the novel. It has already been stated that the main hope for Miley for this movie is to introduce her to an older audience and start to move away from her children’s image. I for one really hope that she can do this, if you have read my blog before you should know that I am a big fan of Miley.

The next movie due for release next year is “Dear John” (2010) which you may have seen the poster and trailer posted on my blog yesterday (if not go check them out). The main plot to this is that a solider (Channing Tatum) falls in love with a college student (Amanda Seyfried) while he is home on leave. Not much else has been released for information on this film, I was thinking I should maybe make the effort to read the book before it comes out. Anyone read the book already?

“Nights in Rodanthe” (2008) is a movie I went to the cinema to see with my mam. We both knew that it was going to be sad as Nicholas Sparks novels/films seem to go in the direction and have a pretty tragic ending. While watching (or reading) you are just not entirely sure in which direction this is going to go. We both just love Richard Gere so that was another draw to going to see this movie. This love story happens in a beach house, over a weekend. A fantastic weekend, but is that the only time they will get to spend together?

“The Notebook” (2004) is the only one of these movies which I read the book of before watching it. I thought it was such a good adaptation from page to screen. The story of Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams) being told from a book by Duke (James Garner) which makes the story so much more difficult to watch when you realise that Duke is in fact Noah, and trying to make Allie remember their life together as she has Alzheimer’s. Hence not knowing who Duke is, and thinking parts of the “story” sound familiar. It was first love, real first love and it never died. They eventually got together and were to be together forever. This movie contains some of my favorite movie/love quotes. I actually have grown to love this movie more and more upon each viewing, as at first I just liked it but the more I watch it the more I love Noah and Allie and the love they have for one another. Also the ending breaks my heart more and more each time as well.

“A Walk to Remember” (2002) was the first Nicholas Sparks movie that I saw, not long after it came out. I really was not sure how upsetting and sad it was going to be, but I cried so much watching this movie. I have always liked Shane West I thought he could really make it big, he put in a fantastic performance in this movie as did Mandy Moore. I really did just love everything about this movie on first viewing, the songs, the acting, the story just everything.

“Message in a Bottle” (1999) is a suprising one as it took me so long to watch it, as you may know I am a massive Kevin Costner fan so never had any doubt that I would not like this movie. Paul Newman played his dad was just so funny and great in the role adding a different edge to the story. Theresa (Robin Wright Penn) discovers a tragic love letter on a beach and traces it back to Garret (Kevin Costner) who wrote it to his wife who died early. They end up spending a lot of time together, and she attempts to help him move on from his wife. Which proves very difficult, will they be together in the end?

The common storyline for all Nicholas Sparks novels/movies is a love story, but they all have rather sad and tragic endings. The great love stories often seem to be very short lived and while have potential to last forever and be the great love of each others lives, a tragic event occurs for either the man or the woman. But what makes these stories so great? For me it really has to be the method in which the love is shown, the main characters often have fantastic chemistry with each other and it seems just so believable. It has to be the type of love that everyone must want in their life time, to be that close to someone else and just really want to spend all of your time with that person. I am sure that is not just me!

Lets hope that next year’s releases are as good as the previous four movies I have enjoyed. Any Nicholas Sparks fans have opinions on this?

If you haven’t heard of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains then don’t worry, there’s good reason. The film faced numerous production problems, infighting between writer and director, an editing process that took over a year, and poor test screenings. These complications convinced Paramount to shelve the film for over twenty years. The film would eventually develop a cult following after being shown on late night cable television and was finally released on DVD in 2008.

The movie revolves around Corinne Burns, played by a 15 year old Diane Lane (Under the Tuscan Sun) coming off her first movie role. Corinne, along with her sister (Cynthia Sikes) and cousin (Laura Dern), form a punk band named the Stains. They are snotty, obstinate hellions. They aren’t very easy to like, even as for the audience. They are rude, ungrateful brats. Basically, they perfectly capture the “punk” attitude of the late 70s, early 80s.

The Stains embark on their first tour, after playing what could possibly be their first show, and quickly develop a fervent following after some favourable news coverage by a local station. Lane and her band mates quickly become idols to a large following of young girls quick to emulate their bold and insolent style.

While the prime focus of the movie is on Lane, the real dynamic performance is that of a young Ray Winstone (The Departed). Winstone plays Billy, the lead singer of the Looters, a punk band from the UK embarking on their first American tour. Winstone has a raw charisma that exudes in every scene he’s in, but especially present when the Looters take the stage. Winstone, sneering like a cross between Joe Strummer and Johnny Rotten, shares the stage with bassist Paul Simonon (the Clash), guitarist Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), and drummer Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), and manages to convince the audience that he too is an accomplished musician. The inclusion of actual punk rockers separates Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains from other rock movies. The on stage performances by the Looters have a fantastic energy that can only be achieved when the actors can actually play their instruments. Although, calling the rest of the Looters actors is a stretch considering each member has minimal dialogue. Their lines mainly consist of yelling ‘bollocks’ and telling each other to ‘toss off’.

The difference between the Stains and the Looters is pronounced. The Stains look awkward and uncomfortable on stage and don’t appear to know how to confidently hold, let alone play their instruments. This leads to the most aggravating part of the Stains. They don’t have a drummer! How is a band supposed to play incendiary music when they lack a driving force behind them? This omission drove me crazy. I almost had to add a drum track in my mind. But that’s the point. The Stains aren’t the Looters. They are a band based on image. The music is secondary. Their ability to be attractive to young teens (not exactly the hardest market to manipulate) is their biggest strength.

The original ending of the movie tested so poorly with audiences that an extra scene was shot as an epilogue. This infuriated writer Nancy Down and caused her to disown the film. This ending is upbeat and superficial and actually underscores everything I have previously said about the Stains. I won’t give the ending away, but if you guess that the Stains go on a mall tour with Tiffany you wouldn’t be too far off.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains is a prophetic movie. It was created in 1981, the same year that MTV was launched, and predicts the influence of image and the power of media and marketing in music.

This movie is great. If you are into new wave or early punk you will be into this. There  is a great scene when the girls rip off the guys band by covering there song.  Watch if you get a chance. It has guys from Sex Pistols, The Clash and the Tubes in this movie. Along with Diane Lane and Laura Dern in there first movie.

Diane Lane is hot in this.  If you have already watched it, try watching with the commentary on.

Unfaithful - Edward and Connie Summer are a wonderfully-maintained middle-aged couple living the American dream. Together with their eight-year-old son, a dog and a house-keeper, they share an enviable life in the suburbs of New York City. But no life goes unchallenged: this happy marriage, dampened by the routines of affluence, falls prey to an outsider when Connie has a fateful collision with a strangers on a Soho street. It’s a encounter which assaults her with mystery, spontaneity, charm – and risk. It will pull Connie into an affair which will become her obsession. When Edward innocently learns that is wife has lied to him, suspicion propels him to uncover the devastating details of her infidelity. Tormented by the knowledge, he confronts her lover, only to discover a level of rage within himself thst he could never have imagined. Kategori: Drama Sutradara: Adrian Lyne Penulis: Alvin Sargent, dkk. Produksi: Twentith Century Fox Film  Pemain: Richard Gere, Diane Lane, Olivier Martinez

Komentar saya:

Film Unfaithful sudah lama banget nih, tapi masih saja asyik ditonton. Film tentang perselingkuhan sang istri. Ceritanya keren. Ah, imajinasi dan ketidaksetiaan yang membawa bencana. Coba kalau Connie Sumner (Diane Lane) naik taksi dan cepat pulang, tentu tak akan serumit itu akibatnya Baru lihat Diane Lane hot begitu Salut deh sama sutradara Adrian Lyne.  Saya baru tahu dia juga jadi sutradara di film Lolita (1997), Indecent Proposal (1993) , Jacob’s Ladder (1990) , Fatal Attraction (1987), 9 1/2 Weeks (1986) dan Flashdance (1983). Dalam Unfaithful, Richard Gere sangat bagus memerankan Edward, suami yang dilema. Juga Paul Martel (Olivier Martinez), top markotop!

DVD: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains

by Lewis Manalo

The DVD for Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains came out about a year ago, and I’m appalled that I managed to go through my teenage years without having seen it. Haiku review:

Diane Lane, Laura
Dern, your punk band sucks, but you
are still really cool.

It nearly has the punk texture of Smithereens starring Richard Hell, but with a big budget, a screenplay by Nancy Dowd and a studio like Paramount backing it, the film is more likely one of the last babies of a lingering 70’s Hollywood. Apparently, unless you had the misfortune of growing up in L.A. and had the good fortune of having Z Channel, you never got to see this movie as a kid. I have yet to speak with anyone (on the East Coast) who was a teen in the 1980s who’s seen it.

See it. (And keep an eye out for a baby version of Ray Winstone.)

A New York suburban couple Connie (Diane Lane) and Ed’s (Richard Gere) marriage goes astray as Connie has an adulterous fling, with Paul (Olivier Martinez). Risking her marriage and pretty much her lifestyle, for an affair which contains sex like she never had in her marriage. She was bored and ended up spending quite a lot of time with Paul during the day while her husband was at work and their son was at school. I will not reveal what happens at the end as I think the twists it takes are very good. I do like when she has a flashback to the day she met Paul and thinks about the way it should have gone, which I think just helps to show that every decision we make can go two ways and change everything, or you can keep it all the same.

The two taglines for this movie are “Where do you go when you’ve gone too far?” and “If you had the opportunity, would you?” both of which I think pretty much describe Connie in this movie and probably millions of people around the world. I wonder how many people in a marriage or in a long-term serious relationship would have an affair if they had an opportunity too. Know one would find out and I bet a lot of people would be very tempted by that.

Some of the problems I have with this movie has to be the way Connie behaves with her affair. If she was just going to Paul’s house I would think thats more believable than sitting in a coffee shop all over each other, kissing and everything. (Hence Ed’s colleague spotting Connie, although she does not see this). I just think if you’re going to have an affair you would be a little more careful. Yes I know it’s a movie but it could have been more believable in that sense.

I also always struggle with the fact that she cheats on Richard Gere, I mean who would in reality really cheat on Richard Gere ?!?!?! Yes I am a big fan of his, but his character was not totally horrible to Connie and it was also not like they did not have an active sex life. The bath scene in which Ed joins his wife, only to be totally rejected is quite heartbreaking as watching you know she has gone way too far with Paul. As it appears that she is falling in love with her lover. Does this differ for men and women? Are men more prone to affairs which are just for sex and can still love their wife? Does this movie show that women struggle more to separate a sexual affair and emotional affair? I have probably gone off on reviewing this movie, but I do think that all of these questions or points are issues that this movie brings up in the world of marriage, sex, relationships, family and just being able to change your everyday life with something different.

Performance wise I think from all three leading actors is of a high standard. Richard Gere for making the audience really feel sorry for him in a unique way of embarrassment and kinda not being able to believe his wife could cheat on him. Diane Lane was just brilliant, especially in the scene after she first has sex with Paul and she does not know whether to be happy and smile, or sad and cry. So she kinda laughs and then cries all at the same time. It was such a powerful scene, as she really did not know which emotion to have after doing the deed of cheating on her husband. Olivier Martinez acts very irresistable and charming which aids to Connie having the affair with him, because he was very helpful one day.

I have watched this movie quite a few times now and seem to like it more and more because I seem to pick something else up from it. I just think it’s a very delicate subject matter in very realistic way, which may seem like a contradiction as I said earlier I did not like the cafe scene when Connie pretty much looks like she is with Paul and has no husband. But I guess in some cases that might occur. However, I really do think that this movie would be a very strange and difficult one to watch with your partner as it might lead to a discussion, and you might find out things you do not want to.

Extras Needed For Filming Of ‘Secretariat’

Disney Studios is in town filming scenes for the movie, “Secretariat” and extras are needed:

Men of all ages are especially needed. Specialty extras who are in demand are 70’s celebrity look-alikes: Think Jimi Hendrix, Isaac Hayes and Sonny and Cher

Starring in the movie will be Diane Lane and John Malkovich. Filming will begin Monday October 5th through Friday October 9th.

Looks like I’ll finally get to use that afro wig in my closet…