paul rudd and judy greer

paul rudd, first seen as dave paris in lurhmann's romeo and juliet, spectacularly embarrassing, and just as handsome... then as the hapless david in the forty year old virgin, and everything in between, rudd is daring, bold, all thos things a beautiful male actor does not have to be

judy greer, loved in a film otherwise hated - What Women Want, and now recently as trish (?) in 27 dresses

which in it's own right is a very successful little romantic comedy. heigl is excellent, and marsden is as good as he was in enchanted, which while she deserves her own separate entry, also features my beloved amy adams

so much to love

~ h

death at a funeral

i'm writing this because i follow, with interest, the films of actor peter dinklage.

he was utterly wonderful in a small part (proving there are no small parts, only small actors) in tom di cillo's living in oblivion (with catherine keener and steve buscemi), and lovely, lovely, lovely in the station agent

it seems dinklage is the kind of actor who inspires people to write great parts for him, or to adapt a character to best use what he brings to the screen.

the problem for directors is that what peter brings to the screen is a capable actor who happens to be a dwarf. a handsome, thirty/forty year old dwarf.

and although dinklage seems happy to smash the dwarf stereotypes on screen, the combination of 'dwarf' plus whatever other attribute his character may possess, is thus rendered amazingly potent in the context of the film's greater narrative.

the two choices for the director appear to be - revel, explore and reveal the character as a dwarf, with all the internal dialogue it would incur in the character, or use the comic wrongness of the lowest common denominator's perspective on dwarves (that they are irresistably provocative of a response)

if there is a third option, i'm not sure it was looked for here, but i did find things to laugh at



though - the over-sweet palliatives to the film's core of offensiveness indicated that the film required redeeming in some way

which maybe it didn't, and never did




think of the horror death of the hooker in very bad things

we laughed because it was a hilariously awful situation for the other characters to be in, pushing their relationships' dynamics to ever more shrill and tense places... but the hooker character was never allowed time to connect to the audience. kept simple, kept shallow, the black comedy laughs were liberated

in a way dinklage's worst characteristic as an actor is his emotional sympathy. he is an actor to love, and when he isn't meant to be, much like kate winslet, he can't be any less than he really is on screen.

wonderful

handsome

funny

and a dwarf


... so did it work?

that, in all cases, is the fundamental question

my honest answer?

sort of



it could have been blacker.

it would have been funnier if it had been more, not less, uncomfortable.

ballet russes dvd review

ballet russes documentary - dvd review

screentime 6th november 2006

dana goldfine and dan geller's lovely film about one of the most significant ballet companies to have ever existed, is an exquisite combination of archival footage, history and interviews.

securing a selection of personalities whose skills as raconteurs match theirs as ballet superstars, the film moves at a brisk pace, covering decades of the ballet russes company's activity and shedding light on the lives of it's members.

several standout characters lingered in my mind long after viewing the film, including the coquettish romantic nathalie krassovska and the charmingly entertaining freddy franklin.

this is a film which, in the style of the best documentaries, overflows with life and vitality, the stories of these amazing lives unfolding in a clever balance of a wealth of archival material with new footage and interviews with the surviving dancers.

the story itself is the stuff of legends: revolution and exile, dancers barely more than children discovered and taken on tours of every major city in the civilised world.

as well as being hugely successful commercially, the ballet russes company was artistically groundbreaking, this leading to huge differences of opinion between one manager and a star choreographer that divided the group into two factions, each with a different destiny, and each claiming to be 'the original ballet russes'.

i was not knowledgable about ballet or the history of this company, but i left this film refreshed and amazed, charmed and enlightened, touched and smiling.

the newly released dvd of Ballet Russes features several additional sequences as well as some of the astounding archival footage and a photo gallery featuring candid and publicity stills of many of the stars.

presented very tastefully by hopscotch films, this dvd is a delightful edition of a truly wonderful documentary, which amply deserves an encore.

charlotte and harry

in a previous episode of yartz i reviewed, favourably, the movie of sex and the city

and i just read an article, beautifully written by Stephanie Zacharek for Salon.com in which praise is applied lovingly to the character of charlotte york goldenblatt



it won't link because salon scotches that somehow, but i highly recommend following the link from google by searching for "charlotte york goldenblatt"

i was watching that moment where charlotte is proposed to at the synagogue's 'single and mingle' night (...in fact, i watched it twice today) and enjoying the sublime use of badly drawn boy's I Love N.Y.E.

(info for that reference comes from a superbly elegant music fact site - carrie's diary)

thank you to both of those sites

for the opposite of dereliction of duty in regard to promoting and critiquing the art of television

god i love harry

played by evan handler :)

who turned up in californication

and isn't it shocking about uh, never mind... i mustn't gossip

nice art

found while searching for "vince noir"


:)


marc mccabe

best fights and best ads

well, because i've just seen it

mr incredible vs the omnidroid, take 1

a beautiful fight

jackie chan and owen wilson in shanghai noon, especially the fight with the horseshoe

amazing

thinking how a good fight *can* be so beautiful, lyrical, like a dance

river tam vs the bar in serenity
and again vs the reavers later, but especially the bar fight

introduction

because i do actually have an infant, (and though she may presently be rocking quietly in her mini sideshow ride of a swinging chair, i know, like any mother knows, that at any moment this tranquility could be interrupted and postponed until tomorrow or the next day) i will keep this first blog to a minimum

there will be no fancy links, no clever formatting, and possibly only half of what i came here to write

motherhood entered my life like a trojan horse. a massive thing with the sense of a gift i could not possibly, at the time, fully understand

and in the most wonderful way, it besieged, transformed and kind of ended what i was



still, once a week i put her in the car seat and trundle off to be part of yartz for channel 31 in melbourne

i review films mostly, and i love being part of it. ralph mclean is a total blessing to me. funny and unfailingly supportive of my being involved in his program.

so, with his encouragement, here is my blog.

it'll be about the media that i love, arts and films and music. whatever seems worth mentioning out of what i am able to absorb during my motherly week

i'll also chuck in someof my older written reviews, because i like the wording of them and they may as well not go to waste

with any luck, i'll keep it up and post regularly(ish)