how to lose a guy in 10 days (2003). directed by donald petrie

those women always seemed to work at women's magazines, don't they?

the marriage of figaro, k492 (1786). written by wolfgang amadeus mozart.

IL CONTE:                        

[s'inginocchia ai piedi             

della Contessa]                                       

Contessa, perdono!

LA CONTESSA:                        

Più docile io sono,                 

e dico di sì.

translation in english:

ALMAVIVA:

[kneeling at the Countess's feet]

Countess, pardon me!

ROSINA:

I am gentler,

and I grant it you.

if i have a picture that could go with this divine music - i must be in heaven, by then.

mulholland drive (2001). directed by david lynch.

whenever i listened to the red hot chilli peppers' ninth studio album stadium arcadium (2006) - one of the songs that would stand out is the one entitled "tell me baby". it goes something like this:

they come from every state to find

some dreams were meant to be declined

tell the man what did you have in mind

what have you come to do

this town was made of many things

just look at what the current brings

so high it's only promising

this place was made on you

and this song would remind me of this film - mulholland drive. at that time naomi watts was still relatively unknown, though she had been acting for years but yet was still not recognized as a major acting talent. and that's what the story is about - like the song - it is about broken dreams. david lynch takes us into the complicated labyrinth of dreams that acts as a metaphor of how hard it is to be successful in the hollywood entertainment factory. he literally takes us into the dreams - as in dreams occured during one's sleep - of a young woman called diane selwyn who dreams of making it big in hollywood. the story is an intricate web of multiple personalities, projected desires, unfulfilled wishes, reality and fantasy, and ultimately - the horror of broken dreams. this is not an easy movie to watch - but i love its clever execution. i love it that the dreams we have in our sleep are the misplaced visions we have in our waking hours is finely interwoven in this movie. it is not mechanically executed like in inception (2010), rather lynch sought to imitate the mechanism of dreaming.

do we ever think, how we dream?

this movie came to my mind when i was reading about the lesbian sex scene in the black swan (2010). the author of the site (i can't remember who) contends that the hype surrounding the scene is generating negative limelight towards the movie because it is obviously more than just lesbian sex. i often hold the same opinion about sex scenes in general - i find it distracting. sure i get the point that they are having sex and indicate sexuality - but that's as much information as i can gather. in most cases such scene doesn't drive the movie forward. thus scenes that extend more than 1 minute is really not necessary no matter how tastefully it is done. mulholland drive has one of such scene involving naomi watts and the beautiful laura harring - i am not singling this out - but their relationship is a prime mover of this story.

give it a view, which i think will be a roller coaster ride for you. you will come out with more questions than answers. perhaps later on, when you feel like contemplating about this movie - the following links can help you out with the clues.

Everything you were afraid to ask about "Mulholland Drive"

"No hay banda." A Long, Strange Trip Down David Lynch's Mulholland Drive

de battre mon coeur s'est arrêté (original title) (2005) (english: the beat that my heart skipped). directed by jacques audiard.

i used to have a blog with the same title. some time ago it was. i deleted it, to delete memories and experiences. physically, that is much harder to do. this story is one of the major hollywood movies that was remade in french. it was based on an earlier movie, fingers (1978) directed by james toback with the lead played by harvey keitel.

i usually watch movies several times - but the rule doesn't apply with this one. not that it is not good - on the contrary - it is very good. but french movies - being french - suck you right into their misery, or whatever it is on screen. this movie is no exception.

it is about a man torn between two worlds - his day job as a criminal, beating up people for money - but his dream job, his passion - is to be a concert pianist. he hires a chinese piano teacher who doesn't speak any french, thus their only mode of communication is via music - it is painful to watch this man fighting so hard for something that seemingly isn't natural for him, and yet so dear to him. i haven't seen romain duris a lot - and in this movie, he gave one powerful performance.

i watched this film several years ago, and haven't watched it again since. my memory failed me on the details - but i remember how painful it was to watch him struggle. he didn't get to be a pianist right till the end, but he went on to achieve something bigger. he left his thuggish profession behind. his struggle to be something that at his age is impossible to do is but a facade of the hunger of how much he wants to leave his old life for good.

i apologize, i do not do justice of a review to this film. it is beautiful beyond words. i think i will give it a second viewing, when i get back in april.

the piano teacher (2001). directed by micheal haneke.

perhaps the black swan will win tonight. it will be shown on tv at 2am, sudan time, which is 7am malaysia time. i am not staying up for that. i have a review with my seniors, yawn really, but necessary for me to attend. so i need my beauty sleep.

in a way these two movies are similar - a tale of sacrifice for art and how far does one willing to enslave oneself for it, that it changes you into someone else. the demands art makes on them physically and emotionally is combustible - it is a world rife with competition, jealousy and intrigues. no one is ever good enough. and everyone is always on the verge of a mental breakdown. perhaps we've never seen a real life example - but what kind of an environment could have produced such destructive forces in otherwise creative individuals?

the protagonist in the piano teacher is a music teacher who teaches schumann and schubert and is very strict in her methods, punishing students to spare them from feeling "not good enough". she is unfriendly, as if she had been wronged in the past. her mother is a creature of constant criticism, as if demanding her to achieve an ideal that is not human. despite the facade of propriety,  she visits sex shops and watches couples having sex to get sexual pleasure. the neat division in her life crumbles with the arrival of a male student who openly flirts with her, as if challenging her authority. the relationship tilts the power balance she holds dearly all this while - the virgin vs. the human needs - as if not sure how to react - she fights the demons of sexual fantasy and reality with equal fierceness. this is a person who has no outlet, but under constant pressure to be perfect - professionally and personally. she is bound to crack, someday, some way. the story ends with her sticking a knife to herself - signifying the pain she felt when the student walks away from their liaison.

needless to say, the movie has many shocking scenes that involve sadomasochistic acts that does not pass NC-17 rating. in my mind, french films is often shot in such a way that involved the audience more closely than hollywood films - and thus, i often feel too close for comfort with the characters. it is an uneasy feeling when you start to feel - you are them, and can be them.

i wonder how the black swan would fare with the piano teacher in mind.

the secret lives of dentists (2002). directed by alan rudolph.

we imagine crazy things in moments of anger, jealousy; emotions, just to name a few. when angry at a spouse, we imagine not talking to them for days in the hope that they would notice and ask us first, what is wrong. we do that to friends, to family, to parents. we want to be noticed, to be acknowledged. it is part of being loved.

this is one of my favorite stories. it is obvious now that i have too many favorites. it's a story of a family man who suspects his wife of infidelity, while he has no credible proof of it, he is haunted by immense jealousy. both of them are dentists who work at a thriving practice. he sways between wanting to believe that nothing really happened, at the same time the feeling of rage is eating him alive - and made worse by a mysterious alter ego who is determined to feed his suspicions.

i like it that the movie is shot in a domestic setting - such that - this person who is experiencing tumultuous emotions of a possible betrayal - had to deal with bringing up three little girls and all the issues associated with making a family and a marriage work. he has no luxury of time and space to speak to his wife about his suspicions which is fast turning into an obsession - with both of them working, the children sick, and the youngest girl being overly attached to him. he has no choice but hide his anger when around the family. he wants her to talk to him about it - dropping hints here and there - but no reaction whatsoever.

the point is - if you have something in your mind, spill it out, now.

i like the nuanced performance by campbell scott and hope davis - watching this movie is like having a camera in front of a family facing family challenges - like all families out there do, everyday. there is one scene in which the family falls sick one by one, the parents were at their wits end trying to hold everything together. when the children finally recover, it's their turn to get sick. a more recent film that explores the same theme, blue valentine (2010) arrives to a bleaker conclusion - that a struggling relationship can not work against a mountain of difficulties in the face of domestic demands.

i prefer to think, that despite anything, if we work hard enough, and still want the same things at the end of the day, we can work it out. i like this story - it's about two people who want the same things, despite everything. i find that comforting.

my sister's keeper (2009). directed by nick cassavetes.

i stay clear of jodi picoult's books whenever i visit bookstores. i am not a fan of lengthy tearjerker novels - at one point of my reading, i would like the book to end. and novels like that - seemed endless. you really need a lot of patience to finish them.

saturday is a sunday here. i woke up late, and called my sisters who were out shopping for a mobile phone. earlier this month i gave her some money for her birthday to get a new phone. she sounded different, her voice is. they went to tesco in shah alam - even that sounds like loads of fun. i had a shower, and watched some tv. there were the curious case of benjamin button (2008) and my sister's keeper (2009). i've watched the former, so i decided for the latter. the former is philosophical about loss, grief and living - i watched it last year. it was a bad move watching the latter. i became a fire hydrant. tears flowed like there is no tomorrow.

i guess i just missed my sisters.

pro-life vs pro-choice? right now i would say pro-choice, but then i don't have a child with cancer. perhaps i will turn into sara and do just about anything to save my child's life. we see the effect of sickness and grief on a family - attention is unfairly divided to the sick child than the healthy siblings and the spouse. the cast is great - good performance from cameron diaz, joan cusack and alec baldwin. the story is well paced and does not trap itself in over melodrama. i wouldn't have cried if it's obviously toying with my waterworks - because it doesn't - it is merely asking a question - what will you do in times like this?

the professional (1994). directed by luc besson.

i haven't watch the (in)famous black swan (2010). why infamous? i avoid watching movies when they sound too big for their own good. takes away the mystery about them. i like not knowing what is in store - the less hype, the better. perhaps i will watch it next year, after the oscar fever has blown over.

natalie portman made her acting debut in this film, she was only 13 playing the 12 years old mathilda, opposite jean reno as leon, a hit man who lived next to her family's apartment. he's a child in a grown man's body, while killing people for money is a day job; he is child-like, has a penchant for gene kelly and excruciatingly lonely. mathilda is a grown woman in a teenager's body, responsible far beyond her years. she does the family shopping and takes care of her little brother. her family is a wreck; her father beats her and deals in drugs for the family's income. they are the epitome of middle income city folks and their unseen poverty - a large family stuck in a run down apartment constantly tight for money, temper and tension holding the background. this film is graced by the chameleon actor gary oldman, who plays the maniacally sadistic stansfield, a dirty cop who rampages mathilda's home, killing everybody in pursuit of the drugs held by her father. she narrowly missed being killed, and swears to avenge her family. hence began the uneasy relationship between mathilda and leon.

this film was heavily criticized by US audience due to the pedophilia element suggested by mathilda and leon's relationship. there is no sex scene between them, should anyone wonder. personally i think they missed the point. this is a story of two people who gets to live their life as they supposed to be - a lonely man who gets to grow up, be responsible and feel love when a child enters his life - in short, he gets to be an adult; and a child who gets to be a child because she is free from having to shoulder adult responsibilities in her young life. watch out for the scene in which both of them were playing a guessing game - it is like watching two children playing - though only one of them is a child, the other is a grown up who had not lived his childhood fully (or relieving his childhood?). i love the soundtrack, it is sad like a premonition that all is going to end badly, but it is hopeful at the same time. i love the camera work, and the acting is top notch. a less capable child actor than portman would not live up to the maturity demanded by this role.

it is not a surprise that portman is well on her way to win an oscar.

dead ringers (1988). directed by david cronenberg.

i watched this movie once a year. it's a ritual thing. i like the nonsensical things about people, and in this film, about a pair of identical twin gynecologist brothers (both men played by jeremy irons) who were co-dependent like they were attached to one body. one of them became involved with an actress and as the relationship grows, he tried to get away from his brother - to be on his own and be his own man. despite wanting independence, he grew restless at the prospect of being away from his brother, both of them degrade into limbo because breaking up is so hard to do. i know all of this is perhaps a bit too dramatic - but it is a metaphor of co-dependency - when you are too attached to something or someone, and perhaps it is no longer good for you, but you just can't leave. this film explores the complex psychology behind unhealthy co-dependency in any relationship - why they are in it, why they can't leave and how identities tend to dissolve in a relationship. are we still our own person?

count on cronenberg to make it as graphic and nightmarish as possible, but it is worth the horror. one of the most outstanding role played perfectly by jeremy irons. one man - two persons - regal, broken, in love, fear. all into one. 

creepy fact - this film is loosely based on actual events, the double death by barbiturate withdrawal of identical twin gynecologist brothers stewart and cyril marcus in new york city, 1975. read here.

400th post! ay yay yay!

eastern promises (2007). directed by david cronenberg.

one of my favorite actors has got to be viggo mortensen. i like his quiet every man quality, seen in many other films, notably in the lord of rings trilogy (2001-2003). eastern promises explores the meaning behind the word "human trafficking". for every crimes and shady deals, they are all done under the veneer of respectability that lulls everyone into thinking anything less than fishy. i like the pace of this story, the character development and yeah, there are gay gangsters out there! this is not a political thriller - thank goodness, i am overwhelmed with the amount of political films hollywood had been churning out these past couple of years. i am less convinced of how convicted they are which makes the issue at hand seemed - trivial.