A BEAUTIFUL, TOUCHING MASTERPIECE, October 21, 2006
Reviewer: Movie_Fan (Texas) "I'll start by saying that I am French, and that I have studied Marie Antoinette as part of the history curriculum. To say this is a historical movie would be a mistake. Then again...Yes, to the french, Marie Antoinette was seen as this heartless foreigner who, because of her extravagant spendings and way of life, doomed France and burned it to the ground, and that belief still stands today, that's still what's in the history books. She is summed up with one sentence: "Let them eat cake", a phrase which she apparently muttered when she was told the population was starving and didn't have enough bread. So it's no surprise this movie didn't go over too well with the french critics at Cannes, since here she is depicted as a lost teenage girl thrown into a world she wasn't prepared to enter and given responsibilites no 14 year old could ever deal with, notably saving the country from famine and war. Personally, I loved this movie. But to appreciate it, you have to let go of that historical aspect, which Sofia Coppola helps with by putting history in the backseat for most of the movie. There's some in the beginning, but the moment you fully realize that she is a historical figure in the movie is at the end. It's really more a story about growing up, trying to find your place, feeling trapped and how to deal with that, and Kirsten Dunst portrays perfectly all those feelings, and she's very reacheable, and I identified so much with her, because you don't see her as royalty, just as a lost teenager. Some might not like the movie because of its pace. Yes, just as a warning, most of the movie is people sitting around, reading, listening to soft music, peacefully "frolicking" and rolling in high grass, waiting, and then comes sudden bursts of retro bubbly music that fits perfectly with the tone of the movie along with the parties and getting dressed up. Personally, I wasn't bored once, I never looked at my watch, it's a movie that if you like this sort of movie (You could possibly find similarities with "Pride and Prejudice" from last year), then you'll be completely captivated. The whole film is cast perfectly, and the soundtrack is just amazing, and if you got into the spirit of the movie, then the end, when you realize that she was actually a real person, and that she might not have been that heartless, just lost and too young, along with the hauntingly beautiful music ("Opus 36" on the soundtrack), will pull at your heart strings. It's definitely a movie that made me think about Marie Antoinette, and shows a different side of the story. But you can't regard it as a historical piece, because that's not the focus of the movie. I also thought that it completely surpassed "Lost In Translation". It has become one of my favorite films, and I'll regard it as a masterpiece. I fell in love with it as well as with its music. It's a movie I whole-heartedly recommend."
Sorry for the low quality of some of these still photos from "Marie Antoinette". I captioned them from a copy a friend lent me. The film was just screened in my country's theatres last Friday, on 5th January and we'll have to wait until the DVD release.
LET THEM EAT GANACHE, October 22, 2006 "Booed at its Cannes premiere this year (as Anthony Lane in the "New Yorker" states: "Who was in the audience, Robespierre?"), "Marie Antoinette" is that rare bird: a film that is beautiful on the outside (everything about the physical movie is eye-poppingly gorgeous: Costumes, Food, Pastries, Shoes {yes shoes...in fact I can't remember a film in recent memory of which almost every reviewer mentions that Manolo Blahnik did the shoes}) as it is on the inside: studiously, exhaustively researched, thoughtfully written and impeccably directed by Sofia Coppola who gives us a revisionist portrait of M. Antoinette that is humane, heartfelt and above all measured and compassionate. There is no doubt who is in charge of this huge production and Coppola's obvious tender touch is evident everywhere throughout this film. At the center of this film is the tragic, sad and revelatory Marie of Kirsten Dunst. Dunst's Marie is the outsider, reviled by the French court (called "L'Autrichienne" by most...the Austrian *itch), lost and 14 when she first arrives in France, literally stripped of everything Austrian, Dunst navigates this difficult role with ease. But this is not a surface performance...not at all. Dunst digs deep and reveals all the nuances, all the insecurities, all the strengths of one of the most hated women in all of history. Dunst plays Marie from her gut and she leaves her blood as well as her tears on the celluloid. Do not be swayed or fooled by the naysayers: this is a towering performance of the first order. Coppola is getting a lot of bad press or her use of 80's music on the soundtrack (Bow Wow Wow, Gang of 4, The Cure) but she has so far in her two previous films ("The Virgin Suicides" and "Lost in Translation") proven to be nothing if not a populist, a product of her environment, a lover of popular culture. In "M.A." the music serves the story effectively by blasting away and preventing any cobwebs from growing on what could have been a stodgy Historical drama. This "Marie Antoinette" is told from a Marie as a girl perspective: she is very young, she is giddy, very much impatient of the French Court and it's customs, very much into clothes and shoes yet she matures, has children, takes a lover grows wise, becomes the subject of gossip, learns to love Louis and becomes a loving and doting mother. This is a fully fleshed out role of a victim, really: a victim of politics, of circumstances beyond her control. Though Coppola will not be beheaded for making this wonderful film, it is apparent that most people just don't get "it." With all that said the fact remains: "Marie Antoinette" contains one of the most beautiful images ever committed to film: Marie in a carriage, having been forced out of Versailles, deep sadness in her face, clutching her children and holding Louis's hand, the camera pointed out at the grounds of Versailles, she poignantly says "Goodbye" to the only place she can claim as home...as the carriage takes her family to Oblivion." Reviewer: MICHAEL ACUNA (Glendale, California United States)
"There's more than one way to lose your life to a killer.
During the 1960s and 1970s, a serial killer known only as “the Zodiac” has the San Francisco bay area in a clutch of terror, killing innocent people uncontrollably and taunting police and journalists with letters, clues, and cryptograms. Several jurisdictions become involved in the sensational mystery, but the culprit continues to evade the authorities. Two journalists and two police officers become obsessively involved in the case. Highly intelligent editorial cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) and self-destructive ace reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr) are among the primary recipients of the killer's many messages to their newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle." Pictures from Iheartjake.com
"The two begin to gather as much information about the case as possible. Meanwhile, skilful homicide detective David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and his partner Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) are equally consumed by the harrowing circumstances as they delve deeper into the investigation. The four men will become dangerously immersed in the puzzling case, which will either build or destroy their careers in the process." Source: Thecia.com.au Reviews
In consonance with the recent JAKE WATCH's "Important Announcement", it's a good moment to forget all the forced smiles and wry faces we make when we are flooded by incessant rumours/therories/snafu sex schemes around Jake's privacy.
Jake on 2th January on Beverley Hills wrapped in his cozy grey cardigan and with a baseball cap. Pics by IHJ. Below, Kirsten got a head "tocado" a little more sophisticated in past November.
Jake shopping with his chef friend Chris 3rd January in Hollywood. Pics by Iheartjake.com. In the pic above, Jake as Donnie Darko. I love how he keeps being faithful to his hoodie. Hollywood hasn't become him a puppet yet!
