B & J

Uh uh, not Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, I couldn't write a review on that. What we're looking at is 'Benny & Joon', a 1993 romantic comedy, featuring one of Depp's earlier appearances before he made the 'Hot Hollywood' list, though truly this is one of his finest work.

The 'Benny' in Benny & Joon is Aidan Quinn, the brother of 'Joon', who is played to perfection by Mary Stuart Masterson. Strangely, the main attraction of the show (for me at any rate) - namely Depp, is not in the title! Benny & Joon is a movie about the sibling care and individual realities of Benny and Joon. Joon suffers from an unnamed mental illness that requires her brother to deal with capitulating housekeepers, bewildered policemen and to renounce a social life altogether. Depp arrives in the pot of a card game played for keeps when Joon lost (Heart flush outrumped by Full House) and Benny brings him home to discover he is a the perfect housekeeper for Joon. He cleans (oh my!), cooks (albeit with an iron and goodness knows what else), and entertains. Ultimately, he proves to be more than the perfect housekeeper, becoming the perfect match; soulmate; yin to Joon's yang. Their love, secret at first, grows beyond the glass walls of Benny and Joon's world to burst into their own little homely bubble.

I cannot imagine Joon played in any other manner and by any other - Masterson is witty, perplexing and matched in her wholesome portrayal of Joon by Depp's immaculate performance as Sam. His air of innocence is impeccable with his puppy face in a Bustor Keaton outfit, and when he mimes, it is the best 10 minutes of the film. Quinn does a fine job as the silently enduring brother-turned-parent who in the end, lets go of his apron strings for the benefit of all; he is more a plot device than a feature to compel you to watch the movie.

Watch it again, and again, and you'll never be bored. Kudos to The Proclaimers for adding a wonderful finishing touch to the movie with the erratically charming song - "I would walk 500 miles".

Why I hate Saturn

Engaging from the first page and scintillating, funny and intriguing till the very end, 'Why I Hate Saturn' will absorb you into its world of light-hearted cynicism.

Cutting-edge sarcasm has never made for better conversation than in this book, but it maintains a simple charm. The strange plot that weaves itself, taking turns where you least expect it, grounds the story in unquestioned absurdity. A true New Yorkian story filled with the conversation of eloquent skeptics.

The graphics are simple and easy on the eyes, writer-artist Kyle Baker makes the most of black and white art in stylistic images.

'Why I Hate Saturn' is a great way to spend two hours curled up on the couch with Chunky Monkey ice cream, just don't get any on the book cos you'll need to return it to the library clean.

With A. Tautou, it's Priceless

Audrey Tautou's performance in Priceless (French title: Hors De Prix) lives up to the movie's title. She would be what you watch the movie for. Her wonderfully simple character is played with nuances that gave her a vulnerability and complexity, while maintaining a stereotype facade for the comedic elements of the movie. Plus, the haute couture is well-modeled on her skinny and much sought after frame. though I say looking at her ribs throughout the movie brings to mind the horrors of anorexia. Still, haute couture becomes her; demonstrating her acting versatility when one remembers her recent previous roles (Amelie, A Very Long Engagament). Co-star Gad Elmaleh plays the 'toyboy' well. His natural goofiness lends strength to his attractiveness in this movie, and his evolution from doof to couth flows as smoothly as the silk of Tautou's many designer gowns. The chemistry between the two of them is undisputable, as is their romance, but I pondered the 'why's of it without getting a satisfactory answer, leaving me to the conclusion that their romance reeks of the strange unwordable love much like sister movie Jeux d'enfants (Love Me If You Dare).

251: Bare it all

It was a Sabbath, and did it feel bad that I was watching three females, two of them donning male apparatus, making escalating orgasmic noises in various positions? A tad, just a tad.

Watching 251 feels, to me, like watching someone masturbate. Not that I ever have, but if I had, this would be what it feels like: very awkward, rather strange and even slightly horrific, and terribly confrontational. That was perhaps the main driving force behind 251, to force us to come to terms with sex and sexuality.

A thoroughly ambitious play, 251 had its winning moments which shone among the rest of the more gauche moments. The three solos of Amy Cheng always made me sit up as she walked on stage, dressed as the Roman Queen Melissa, as the Hun princess playing her 18 laments on her pipa, and finally as the beautiful slave-turned-Goddess of Women. Her acting evolved with each different persona and the costumes, every one of them tailored exquisitely to each persona, were enchanting, to say the least.

Cynthia Lee-Macquarrie astounded when she bared herself, emotionally; she, climaxed if you will, at the point where her mother unpacks her suitcase to find her sex tape. Seeing the little dark dots appear on the wooden stage as she stood almost completely still, head bowed low, was a very silent moment filled with awe for her ability.

The set was effective enough, though the television sets seemed unnecessary in the end and the actors’ movement around it was rather pointless and unnatural. They all ensured that no one would be neglected from sight. In fact, they made sure that the audience would not be neglected from participating in the show – when Paul Lucas, a beam of light radiating talent, sought questions from the audience, who did not look mildly interested at his beckoning and looked severely pissed after he took a few jibes at them.

With hindsight, though the show may appear incoherent and lacking soul and direction, it was a one time, and first experience for me, of watching issues and bodies bared onstage. While the issues may not be dealt with so much as just tossed about, like the bodies.

What if you could live forever?

Then choose to die with grace. For as Ellen Burstyn, or Dr. Lillian Guzetti in the movie says, "Most of us go the same way we come in, kicking and screaming...but not Izzi."

Izzi Creo is one person in an age on earth, who had less time than others to squander on life, but she spent the time given to her happily, choosing to finally pass away in slumber peacefully.

This is a key idea I received from The Fountain - don't spend your time fighting what inevitably comes, instead, enjoy the time given to you.

Izzi Creo was one of the three different personas in three different ages through history and place. Hers was the only name I heard throughout the movie, but she is also a Queen of Spain in the time of the Spanish Inquisition, and a perserving spirit in a time probably past what we know - all parallels of the character. And alongside her in all the parallel stories stands her conquistador, her doctor husband and her asetic guardian. The Fountain is, at its least, a love story that perserves through time and space to put simply - in three generations perhaps.

More than that, The Fountain is also an exploration of what it means to live or die and what it takes to be immortal. Birth in death, in the simple example of the dying star that explodes in a supernova and gives birth to new stars, and death in giving life when the conquistador drank of the Tree of Life and sacrificed his body to breathe life into the earth. These are some concepts Director Darren Aronofsky played around with in The Fountain. And played with well.

Aronofsky did not do it alone. His fellow story-teller in the movie is Ari Handel who was cast and crew of Aronofsky's previous works (Requiem and Pi). Cinematographer Matthew Libatique is a name to remember thanks to his work in the movie. He kept things real when portraying the scenes which we might label 'the present' or 'earth as we know it'. When telling the story that sets the clock back to the Spanish Inquisition, he creates an aura of magic wonderment that allows the story the depth to be either part of a past life, or a tale of fiction brought to life. The golden brown colour scheme brought warmth to the otherwise cold endless space in the scenes set in a 'time past what we know'. Libatique's bold jumps through time and space kept the energy alive and sparking in the movie. All this translated the mental imagery from Aronofsky's mind to the screen, making The Fountain such a visual spectacle, bursting with life and colour.

It was a good decision to revolve the movie around the basic love story, for that grounded the movie in the strong acting abilities of Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman. Rachel remained malleable enough to portray the necessary depth of each different character, while keeping enough similarity to keep the parallel stories going along each other. I enjoyed her portrayal of Izzi best, considering how she evolved emotionally from fearful to fearless and acepted her passing with ease. Jackman reveals to his X Men followers that he is capable of emotional trauma on top of just looking good. I applaud his sacrifice of shaving his head to play the asetic, but must confess to enjoying his long-haired rugged conquistador role much more.

The Fountain is a beautifully crafted visceral treat, but not all of us can enjoy it in all its grandeur and sophistication. But just let what is beyond you pass over your head, and enjoy the rest, for there is so much to enjoy.

Si quieres ser entendido, escuchar

My friend told me the story of the tower of Babel from the Bible. Once in a time where all men spoke the same language, they united in an effort to build a tower to reach the skies and heavens. However, this effort was borne of the sin of Pride and so God, having to teach mankind lesson after lesson, put a curse of sorts on the men to make them speak different languages. Not being able to understand each other, discord was sown and the plan to build the tower crumbled.

This story has had significant impact on things like Babelfish - the website which translates different languages for you, and of course, the movie Babel.

A husband and wife on holiday in foreign land, a deaf and mute Japanese girl estranged from her father and society, two children and their Mexican nanny, and two Morocan children with a gun... All these stories come together in a surprising and fluid blend of good cinematography, direction and of course, are united by the underlying theme of miscommunication. Miscommunication takes different form in each story and is dealt with differently, bearing different outcomes.

The reality of the movie is grounded in the strong acting by the cast, and I'm not talking about our Hollywood actors here. There is no need to further applaud Rinko Kikuchi's emotionally turbulent and 'physically demanding' performance of Chieko - the deaf and mute Japanese girl who faces one too many communication obstacles. I would like instead to congratulate the wonderfully real acting of the two Morocan children who managed to hold the spotlight with their solid performances. They were utterly believable in their actions and emotional display, and I was rather affected by the little Morrocan boy who so realistically portrayed the trials and tribulations of growing up, before he got caught up in this trial of Babel.

The movie makes its transitions through time and space smoothly with the help of the cinematographer who found the right pictures to cut from and cut to. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu deserves credit for giving truth to another tagline of the movie - A single gunshot heard around the world.

For the life of me, I can't remember the ending of the movie but I remember that I had the best feeling of watching a satisfying movie, and it felt hopeful, despite all the blood, sweat, fear and anger. Babel has merit on all levels of direction, cinematography, acting, and rates a 7.5 on the scale.

Once In A while...

...an exquisitely done soap opera tear jerker can become a completely enjoyable heartfelt love story.

Once In A Summer is that love story.
It is your normal love story, with no outstanding storyline and twisting plots. The movie is done old school with the tried and tested story of the city boy who falls in love with the village girl but are kept apart because of differences. Even the setting is way back in the 60s, where zebra striped tight pants were all the rage - as you'll see (and burst out laugh about) in the movie.
And yet, the move was obviously created by a modern director who knows and appreciates the times gone past. Because for all its traditional elements, this love story has wisps of the ingredients that make a successful rom com - the humor in the script was very natural and colloqiual, unlike the more word-reserved traditional 'soap operatic' lovey stories.
The movie's environment in old and rural Korea is serenely beautiful and subtly scenic, which keeps things modest and simplistic. The movie takes a few trips to and fro through time, and while this could sometimes have been done with a better transition, you won't find yourself disoriented enough to spoil the movie at all. The movie is shot in clean and clear pictures, and my boyfriend believes that some of the shots of old Korea were CGI, but we shan't debate that.
The Bittersweet Life actor displays aptitude in a different acting dimension from that in Bittersweet Life, and does so well at being boy and child-like. He is utterly lovable and heartbreakingly charming in all his boyhood. The lead actress is portrayed consistently throughout the movie, such that nothing she does or feels would be doubted as unrealistic or dramatic. The film is so wholistic in its execution that I believed everything; laughing along when the two lovers joked, feeling their nervousness on their first date, and withholding tears when they were robbed of their being together.
Anyone who ever loved, is loved and loves should take this journey Once In A Summer.
8 / 10

Oh, and the poster is definitely worth getting - it's so well-compositioned and cheery, and just plain sweet!