Priceless / Hors de prix (2006, France)

This movie could not be more French. A professional mistress mistakes a hotel boy/bartender for a rich man, and all hell breaks loose. Before you know it. he's a professional "kept boy" (for lack of a better term). It is an absolutely charming combination of funny, sexy, and awkward. It was très fun.

Of course, I adore Audrey Tautou. This film gave her the opportunity to look downright sexy, as opposed to her usual adorable. Actually, the adorableness peeked through occasionally, and it worked perfectly for the film. The chemistry between her and Gad Elmaleh, who I really liked.

This is a great movie. If it was an American movie, it would be silly and trashy. As a French movie, it was frothy and fun. Great stuff.

Rating: 4.0

Lars and the Real Girl (2007, U.S.)

Morbid curiosity and an appreciation for the talent of Ryan Gosling made me watch this movie, and I was pleasantly surprised. Gosling is a fantastic, fantastic actor. His portrayal of a man in his late 20s with slight mental illness was brilliant. He used this squinting/blinking thing that somehow made his whole character and conveyed his imbalance very simply. (It reminded me of someone, but I can't think who.) Also, as a random note: I wish I could meet Ryan Gosling and have him read aloud to me. No matter his character, whenever he reads aloud, it is beautiful.

One other strange note. It seems like Emily Mortimer is pregnant in every movie she's ever in! She's often passionately arguing with her voice cracking. Though it's always the same, it is very convincing.

I really don't know how to describe the music. With its disjointed but lovely quality, it somehow conveys a childlike confusion and fear, but also an element hinting at struggling with very adult problems.

Should I give a brief synopsis? Basically, a lonely and maladjusted man orders a sex doll on the internet. Not for sex, but to create an ideal woman who he has a pure and loving relationship with. It is really remarkably original. Although it was marketed as such, it is not a comedy. It's actually a very moving portrait of mental illness, what our minds do to protect themselves, and how a family and community can band together to support someone who needs it.

I never thought I'd agree with Roger Ebert, and as much as it stuns me to say this, I can't say it better myself: "The film...wisely never goes for even one moment that could be interpreted as smutty or mocking...There are so many ways [it] could have gone wrong that one of the film's fascinations is how adroitly it sidesteps them. Its weapon is absolute sincerity...It has a kind of purity to it."

Rating: 3.5

The Time Traveler's Wife (2009, U.S.)

I say it every time, but it's impossible not to compare the movie to the book. I loved Audrey Niffenegger's book. A huge part of the book was character development, flashbacks, and overall complexity. The film was just a Cliffs Notes version.

Still, if taken alone, the movie was not bad. Firstly, the casting was perfect. Rachel McAdams was made to play parts like this. Beautiful, artistic, romantic. (Think Allie in The Notebook.) I was hesitant about Eric Bana, but he wasn't bad either. Even their chemistry was pretty good.

Although this was very, very abbreviated from the novel (which I think is destined to become a classic), I think I would have liked it a lot if I hadn't read the book. The acting was perfect, the concept was fascinating, the music was beautiful. One thing I did like more in the movie was the "watered down" ending. It was really the same, but with enough change to make it easier to stomach and more romantic.

I've essentially said a whole lot of nothing here. Basically, it wasn't the book, but it was good enough to make me sob a bit.

Rating: 3.5

(500) Days of Summer (2009, U.S.)

I have never been more wrong about how much I'll like a movie based on the preview. It was pretty awful. A sweet, adorable, wonderful guy falls in love with a stupid, horrible, shallow bitch. Errr, girl. This was reinforced by the fact that I've always loved JGL and disliked Zooey Deschanel.

There are some interesting elements, such as when JGL busts out into a cheerful song and dance in the middle of the street and everyone dances like it's Bollywood and cartoon birds fly around the air. It's priceless. They also attempted to use flashbacks to illustrate how Summer was never interested in Tom, and he was misreading the situation. The only problem was that it was already painfully obvious the first time the scene was played.

This is a case of a great idea with terrible execution.

Rating: 2.0

Julie & Julia (2009, U.S.)

Nora Ephron is the queen of women's interest classy comedy. Truly. Julia Child is a loud, opinionated, unusual American in France who wants to cook. And 50 years later, Julie Powell is a depressed, unfulfilled woman living in New York who decides to cook through Child's cookbook in a year. The only thing that makes this story better is the fact that it's true. Fascinating.

Meryl Streep and Amy Adams both have a comedic gift. Combined, it was almost too much. Hilarious. Their screen spouses also had great chemistry with them.

I also liked the way the two stories were blended together. They paralleled and complemented each other, but they could also stand alone quite easily.

Good comedy plus unique and engaging history is a neat combination. Combined with good acting, good sets, a good score (by Alexandre Desplat, one of my favorites!), and good scripting, it was really worth watching.

One little thing that bothered me was Julie finding out that Julia didn't like her blog. However, she drops that bomb and then it's never mentioned again. I just don't understand it, and it nearly ruined the ending for me. Still, I thought the last shot closed the movie exactly right.

Rating: 3.5

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, U.S.)

I'm ashamed to say this, but I had absolutely no idea what A Streetcar Named Desire was about. And I have to take this opportunity to say how shameful it is the way all the DVD cases show a sexy looking Marlon Brando smoldering away. Aside from the fact that Brando is the complete opposite of sexy in this movie, he is also not the star.

Vivien Leigh as Blache DuBois was overwhelming. She was Blanch DuBois, that fragile, fading Southern lady/slightly loose/desperately lonely/mentally ill woman. Incredible. You can just feel yourself struggling to understand what's going on in her head, even though it was perfectly clear on her face—if your own mind was complex enough to comprehend. I really don't think anyone but Vivien Leigh could have played it. To be fair to Brando, he would have looked brilliant next to anyone else, but Leigh stole the show. However, he was also incredible as the scummy, crude, cruel, animalistic Stanley. The two together... Words cannot describe.

And really, that's all there is to say about it. A dark, well-written, literary play brought to the screen by the greatest director of the 1950s and two unparalleled actors with perfect photography. No wonder it's a classic.

Rating: 4.0

Anna Karenina (1948, UK)

I've heard that this is perhaps the worst version of Anna Karenina ever filmed, and I can perhaps see why. A lot of the dialogue was rather stilted and badly written. Karenin didn't really seem concerned with his wife's affair. The chemistry between Anna and Count Vronsky was so nonexistent that you couldn't understand what they even saw in each other.

I don't think it will surprise anyone to know what I thought was the key redeeming element in this film—Vivien Leigh. I loved her since the first time I saw her in Gone with the Wind. It is still one of my favorites, as is Waterloo Bridge (a very under-recognized film). Even though her chemistry with Moore was terrible, she acted brilliantly and dragged the film along on the hem of her elegant wardrobe. (She did, of course, look stunning.) While you never see why she loves Vronsky, her acting lets you see how torn up she becomes because of their relationship. You also see her deep and abiding love for her son, which is an especial feat of acting, in my opinion, considering that Leigh was not the best mother by all accounts.

It is really unfortunate that we can't go back in time and refilm this, keeping the leading lady and giving her the costars and direction she deserved.

Rating: 3.0

Bride and Prejudice (2004, UK)

I never felt the urge to watch this movie, but sometimes you have to do things that make your friends happy. Well, this film did not make me very happy. To be fair, I have to say that I will never see anyone but Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. (I even refuse to see the 2005 version, much to many people's consternation.)

I will say a few good things about it. Mostly, I loved the Bollywood aspect. When people just randomly broke into choreographed song and dance in the middle of the street or a party, it was awesome. Especially when Naveen Andrews was involved, and looking so sexy.

Otherwise, it was pretty dumb. There was no chemistry between the actors, bad acting (I know one of my friends loves Martin Henderson, but please), bad writing... Miss Austen would not be pleased. Just say no.

Rating: 2.5

The Business of Fancydancing (2002, U.S.)

I really liked The Business of Fancydancing more than Smoke Signals. To begin with, I thought the theme was much more complex. It was about belonging and identity—tribal, racial, sexual, and family- and employment-related. It was about life and death. It was about how hard it can be to come home.

Perhaps the best part of the film was how multiple styles and viewpoints and time frames were woven together so uniquely. Alexie also incorporated snippets of his poetry (masquerading as the main character's poetry, of course) in between scenes, which I found very effective.

The acting was also incredible. Evan Adams, who played Thomas Builds-the-Fire in Smoke Signals, played a very, very different character in this film. His range is amazing. All of the supporting players were also great, especially Gene Tagaban, who played Aristotle. Strangely, this is his only film, although he is a storyteller and performer by trade. He conveys raw emotion as if it truly belongs to him, and not to the character written on the page. And if I may interject an irrelevant comment, he has beautiful hair.

And of course, the shots of eastern Washington, the reservation, and Seattle were all beautiful.

Rating: 4.0