Letters to Juliet & Italy

Today Megan and I attended the screening of Letters to Juliet. It was a sweet romantic movie....I would not recommend this movie to men or those who are very skeptical when it comes to romance.
It was an interesting story that is based on a book and the tales of the women who write letters to Juliet...yes the Romeo & Juliet, Juliet and leave them on the wall of her home in Verona, Italy. Apparently there is a group called the Secretaries to Juliet in Verona Italy who remove the letters and answer those that they can.

Amanda Sigfried is sweet and surprisingly good as Sophie the wlead in this movie......yes, we loved that she had the same character name as in her Mama Mia role. There are a few other moments in this movie that are also reminiscent of Mama Mia to me..... The stand out in this movie is of course Vanessa Redgrave. She is such an excellent actress. Through the whole movie I kept thinking that if I were the young actors in this movie, I would have been awed to be working with and hopefully learning from her. To me Vanessa Redgraves strength as an actress comes in her ability to 'think and process' her acting.....one of her lines from the film is "the best parts of life are in the messy bits." She says this in response to her grandson, and to watch her face and mind process what was said to her and her reaction to it, is classic, good acting.....an acting class in a moment. Anyway she is a favorite of mine. She is still is a great actress and looks so good at her age. (I figured that Vanessa would be always beautiful especially after seeing her daughter Natasha Richardson in person. Several years ago we ran into her coming out of a hotel and were struck by her beauty; she was stunning to look at.) Another interesting bit in this movie is Franco Nero.....the last time I remember seeing Vanessa and Franco together was in the movie Camelot....lets just say he too has aged beautifully.There were moments when I leaned over to Meg and said I wish that they would go back to Franco Nero, just so I could look at him......

The ultimate star of the film is defiantly the scenery of Italy. Italy is so visually attractive.....

Siena Italy

Tuscany ...somewhere

I don't think that there is a bad location in this movie......and for me, seeing the beautiful parts of Italy is always good. We will be seeing some more of Italy this summer when Eat, Love, Pray comes out.....It will probably be more popular than this movie. It too is based on a book. It's book and star however are much more popular than this one. Even though ELP will get a lot of press I am pretty sure, after reading ELP (which I didn't like at all), that it will no way compare to Letters to Juliet in touching the heart.
As on of the characters in the movie says "Buy stock in Air Italia. That is what you should do before women find out about this (letter writing to Juliet).

AHH Italy, you are such a favorite.....All my senses are touched when I am there or even look at pictures. I understand why the food is so good, the art so fantastic and the attitude so optimistic. I would love to spend some extended, quality time there. I keep telling everyone that we should celebrate my 50th birthday with a trip to Italy..... Italy is and always will be a favorite.

MCC

Yes, the painting project is progressing.....

Winter is Back...and Leap Year

It is icy and cold today. Last night as we were driving home I couldn't believe the slushy icy roads...... I knew hoping that spring was just a round the corner was very wishful thinking.

Speaking of last night we went to the Movies, at our theatre......we never see what we have playing....anyway.... We went to see Leap Year with Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. It is a cute movie, a wee bit o' fluff...that is the Irish coming out in me. This movie is set Ireland, the country parts.....

It is a girls journey to find her boyfriend who is attending a conference in Dublin. Her plan once she finds him is to propose to him on Leap Day, Feb. 29. supposedly it's an old Irish tradition for the women to propose on Leap Day. Lots of fun, mix ups and mayhem.

I like movies like this because I am a big old romantic at heart. No it is not Academy Awards material and it doesn't have the greatest production values, but it does have a great screen play, two very charming leading actors, excellent character parts and the beautiful Irish countryside.

MCC

Movie Monday

We have been catching up on our movies.
This past week we saw:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Julie & Julia
Every Little Step

Harry Potter is great for what it is... a sequel. No, it is not as good as the book, but no movie made from a book will ever be as good as the book. Your mind makes a "movie" while reading so your interpretation will not be the screenwriters and directors interpretation.....
I have heard complaints that they left out this and added to parts of the story. To Answer this complaint I think Hayden put it best...."The movie wasn't made for only those who read the books. In a movie you sometimes have to add exposition and other scenes to clear things up for those who have not nor will ever read the books. If you want a pure, untouched story then don't see any of the movies, You will just be disappointed." and this is from someone who has read all of the Harry Potter books 4 or more times each and he did enjoy the movie.
I really like Daniel Radcliff as an actor. He not only is grown up as Harry, his acting style has also matured. As an actor he should be around for sometime.
My favorite character in the Harry Potter series is Professor Snapp.......okay, probably because he is played by Alan Rickman, one of my favorite actors. I love to watch him Alan Rickman work....he plays the bad ones so well, and lucky for me I actually got to see him perform live on stage in NYC. He was in Noel Cowards Private Lives....no one does snooty bored better.

Julie & Julia we went to an advance screening of this movie. Megan and I loved it, Gary said it was a very good movie....good enough that he went and purchased both books that the film was based on for us all to read.
Julie & Julia is a women's movie and I thinks it should be promoted as an 'Art House' movie not a mainstream major motion picture. ...it will be interesting to see how it does.
Overall I found the movie inspiring and empowering. I want to be passionate about something
This movie is based on a book by Julie Powell and the biography of Julia Childs. Nora Ephron wrote the screen play and directed it...she is a women's movie maker.
I loved the Julia story setting - Paris 1949...it was fabo!, but then again it is Paris..... I loved Julie's and Julia's "need" to do/accomplish something. I loved the parallels that were drawn between two women were so different, yet the same.
I would recommend this movie to anyone for no other reason than to see Meryl Streep be Julia Childs. Meryl Streep is such a great actress, she internalizes her characters and gives them a depth and more than what was written in the script. Yes, they do her hair, make-up & clothing in the Julia Childs style. Yes, she has a great accent, but you can tell she not only studied how to sound like Julia, but how to move like her and any physical quirks that were Julia....she became Julia. After we saw it I said, "I know she doesn't really look like Julia Childs, but Meryl's portrayal is now what I think Julia was like. ---If you saw Frost/Nixon or The Queen you know what I am talking about. Frank Langella didn't really look like Nixon, nor did Helen Mirren look like the real Queen Elizabeth. They did their best with the costumes and make-up, but wow, oh wow, make-up and costumes are just a shell, these three get to the heart of who theses people were/are and let us in too. Streep, Langella & Mirren are such talented gifted, studious actors that their portrayal of these famous folks was a spot on true performance.---Go see Meryl, you won't be disappointed....and Stanley Tucci (another fine actor) as Julia's husband Paul is worth it as well.

Every Little Step
---Yes, this is an Art film...I/we-hubby and I, enjoy Art films for the depth of story, quality of film making and when it is not a documentary type piece the acting is usually at its best.--
Every Little Step is a documentary following the casting of the revival of A Chorus Line.
The film makers follow several actors through the audition process, 16 months from first audition to opening night; as well as give us an inside look at the casting process from the casting directors, director and choreographer. But the real gems in this film are the actual tape recordings between Michael Bennett and his friends from whom the Chorus Line stories came from; original footage of the 1975 A Chorus Line, and Bennett and his partner Bob Avian who is the revivals director, and others discussing the making of the 1975 A Chorus Line.
They made the film to almost mirror some of the themes of the musical....your heart breaks for those who don't make it and you cheer for the "Cassie's" of the group to make it through. We knew how it was eventually cast, but loved watching the process anyway. Actually it was great to see the final audition and see how and why some of the choices were made.
Hearing the opinions from the choreographer, director, etc.... was also fun.
This movie should be mandatory for any one who thinks that they might like to do this for real...auditions and auditioning is cruel.
If you are a musical theatre geek like we all are, or if you love A Chorus Line then this one is for you. We laughed and some of us cried....for lots of reasons. Beware that they use the F -word a few times, talk about the T and A song and their is some suggestive talk.

We will try to see more this week...since screenings are now a bummer to attend and some just plain don't appeal to me, I am behind.
MCC

State of Paly ---WHY?

We went and saw State of Play last night, with Cameron Crow, Rachel McAdams, Ben Afflick, Helen Mirrun, etc....question:Why does the corruption always get swept under the rug? With out giving anything away I just thought it was interesting that corruption in government just gets a brief mention, maybe a hand slap........just like real life.
I did like the movie, we all did......yes, it is long, yes, there are some loose plot lines and yes, it reminded me of a good old fashioned news paper movie. I love watching reporters sleuth out their stories. The cast was great!
MCC