My book list for the upcoming year is a long one, but then it always is. Coming off the holiday season, however, I am turning my attention away from literature to the wonderful world of cinema.
Holiday Movie Treat #1: Nine.
This movie stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren, and Judi Dench. Every one of them delivers.
It is a musical from the director of Chicago, but don't go expecting to see another Chicago. There are two musical numbers that are reminiscent of the other musicals. They are big, choreographed scenes, but for the most part Nine is a more intimate and introspective movie. Almost all the songs are sung by one person to another person, or one person to himself as the case may be. Even the songs with a larger chorus really only have the intended audience of a single person. It is a musical about the Italian director Guido Contini and the characters, settings, events, and songs almost literally revolve around him.
Contini is played by Daniel Day-Lewis, who continues to be unrecognizable to me. Every movie I see him in I have to look twice because he never looks the same or sounds the same or acts the same. He plays a conceited, self-centered jerk in the film, but the way he plays Contini, the audience doesn't end up judging him as much as they pity him.
All the women are wonderful. All of them. But the standout actress of the film: Cotillard. This is the first movie I have seen her in and I found her captivating. I can't wait to see her other roles.
Holiday Movie Treat #2: The Blind Side
What a sweet, heart-warming movie. Who new Hollywood could make such a family-friendly movie with a good story AND good acting. Sandra Bullock is totally believable in her role as a confident, pushy Southern belle, who takes in a struggling kid from "the other side of town." I know that it's based on a true story, and if the real Mrs. Tuohy is half the woman Bullock portrays (and I am sure that she is probably twice the woman) then she is a force to be reckoned with.
As a final note: Before I saw the movie I doubted there was any actress out there I believed would walk out on a football field and tell those football players how it's done. With Sandra Bullock, I totally bought it.
Holiday Movie Treat #3: Sherlock Holmes
At first I was apprehensive about the portrayal of Sherlock Holmes with so many explosions and fist fights, but then I re-read some of the stories, and decided that Holmes lends himself easily as an action hero. Plus, he really was a pugilist. So there's that.
Robert Downey Jr. has be a favorite of mine since I first saw American Air with Mel Gibson, so I am very excited about his recent "come back." He is as wonderful here as I expected he would be. The real surprise for me was Jude Law, whose performances have never particularly impressed me. He gave a depth and appeal to Watson that I had never considered.
The movie was enjoyable and entertaining and bears owning someday. Of course I have always been a sucker for stories about best friends, and despite the love interests for both Sherlock and Watson, this is at its core a story about SherlockandWatson. I have a friend who firmly believes that "soul mate" does not have to refer to a romantic love, but rather an enduring love in an enduring relationship, whether or not the two people involved are romantically involved. I have always been inclined to agree with her; this movie clinched it for me.
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