Will The Artist be this year's big winner?

The Artist is a bit of an outsider compared to all the other movies which participate in the race. Indeed, it is a silent black and white movie. Story about a famous silent movie star who sees his career going away bit-by-bit as the talkies that is to say movies with sound. At the same time, he falls in love with a rising actress.

 

 I have to admit I was a bit dubious before going to watch it. Since I have never watched a silent movie before, I was scared I would get bored. In fact, right from the minute the movie begins, you fall in love with the two characters and you want to know where their story is heading. Classical music is a great movie companion. Plus, it is quite surprising to see Dujardin pull off a silent role as he is usually a comedian.

I would advise you to see it: I promise you won't be disappointed ;)

Favorite Magazine

Today, I'm not going to talk about movies per se but rather a magazine that I like to read on a regular basis especially for their movie reviews.

It is an American magazine called Entertainment Weekly: it deals with many topics such as music, books, etc. However, what I prefer is their cover stories about movies: a few weeks ago, it featured a great one about the upcoming David Fincher movie The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. 

 Take a look at the website when you have the time! ;)

Feel-good movies

Hey everybody!
Sorry for not having posted anything these past few days: just been very busy with university. :(


Well, today I feel exhausted after having done two exams so when I feel stressed or down, I like to watch what I call feel-good movies. So here's a suggestion, of movies that will help cheer you up!


                                                       

Crazy Stupid Love

Hairspray

Mamma Mia

Confessions of a Shopaholic

There's Something about Mary

My Best Friend's Wedding

Upcoming movies to look out for

The Descendants: George Clooney plays a father of two whose life is shatered  when he learns that his wife who is in a coma had an affair.

My Week With Marilyn: Michelle Williams plays Marilyn Monroe when she goes to London to shoot The Prince and the Showgirl.

Carnage: Roman Polanski's depiction of an upscale couple vs a middle-class couple.

The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo: Director David Fincher's version of the Swedish author, Stieg Larsson's bestseller.

We Bought a Zoo: Matt Damon is a widower who purchases a zoo and moves in with his family there.

Haywire: Steven Soderbergh release an action thriller starring Michael Fassbender and a mixed-martial artist.

Shame's review

Today, I have decided to make my first movie review!


Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to the movie premiere of Shame directed by Steve McQueen. I wanted to see this movie only because I liked the actress Carey Mulligan whom I loved in An Education. The movie's male lead is Michael Fassbender who was last seen in X-Men : First Class.

The story is pretty simple but daring: Brandon Sullivan (Fassbender) is a 30-year old single man who has a problem of sex addiction. When his sister Sissie (Mulligan), a budding singer, comes live in his appartment for a while: his world is turned upside down.
We follow Brandon's through his everyday life that is to say going to work like everybody else but very quickly, we see his sex addiction is in fact guiding his life since at night he calls a prostitute otherwise, he spends his nights watching porn. Even when he goes out with his colleagues, he doesn't flirt with women unlike his colleagues but he ends up with the girl.

Then, Brandon's sister comes to New York for a performance so she comes live in his apartment unexpectedly. However, she did call him everyday but he ignored her. During the first night, he overheards his sister crying speaking on the phone because he wants to break up and you can understand from the look on his face that he finds that silly.
Sissie sings "New York, New York" at the show and for the first time, we see Brandon's humanity come through as he shed a tear watching his sister perform. However, the night is ruined because Sissie ends up sleeping with her brother's boss who also came to the show. Angry, he decides to go for a run. We here see a beautiful long shot of New York's streets which is just amazing to my mind.

At the same time, he attemps to have a normal date with a girl in his office but he becomes very quickly bored with a normal relationship and I believe he finds it too complicated. His humanity shines through again here. however, since it is a failed attempt at trying to be normal he quickly sinks heavily back into his addiction until he is faced with a shocking event. In a heartbreaking scene, we see Fassbender's character sobs as if he could get rid of all his problems so easily: it is the first time, I believe we can see Brandon realizing he has many issues that are negative in his life. Yet, at the end of the movie, we are left wondering whether he will change or not.

I remember after watching the movie: I felt baffled, didn't know what to think of it but now I think this movie is beautiful because it is so honest. Yes, it deals with a touchy subject but I believe it is great to be daring from time to time. Shame shows you how low human beings can sink too when they are addicts. In the end, the important thing to remember is whether you will come out of an addiction and if so, will the people who are closest to you still be there for you?

My top 10 favorite movies

The choice wasn't easy but here it is:

1. Breakfast On Pluto
2. Blue Valentine
3. Black Swan
4. Gran Torino
5. Crash
6. 500 Days of Summer
7. An Education
8. Revolutionary Road
9. Up in the Air
10. Shame

What are your favorite movies?

The year 2006

Ever since I was little, I have always gone to the movies because my mother is a cinema enthusiast. However, I just enjoyed the time when I was in the movie theater and didn't really pay much thought about it afterwards.
However, I can pretty much say the year 2006 changed the way I watched movies. Indeed, after seeing the movie Truman Capote by Bennett Miller: I was in awe of Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance for which he won an Oscar by the way. If you don't know this movie: let me summarize the story a bit for you.
It is a biographical film about Truman Capote: it follows him during the writing of his famous non-fiction book entitled In Cold Blood. After reading the sad news of a family killed during a robbery gone wrong, Capote is fascinated by this story so he begins an investigation of his own. I really enjoyed this movie because not only some shots were beautifully taken but Hoffman's performance was incredible. If you compare videos of the real Capote and Hoffman's impersonation, you can see how much Hoffman had to work on his voice in order to sound like the author himself. It's almost as if he lost himself in the process in order to speak, feel, live like Capote.


Take a look at the trailer in case you haven't watched it yet.

The other movie I want to talk about is Crash directed by Paul Haggis which won the Oscar for Best Picture. It is a dramatic movie following the lives of several characters who don't know each other but whose lives get intertwined for different reasons.It takes place in LA and shows with perfection the problems arising from the cohabitation of different ethnic groups such as African Americans, Hispanics...
I talk about the movie in quite a mysterious way on purpose because if I reveal any storylines, I think it'll spoil the movie for people who haven't seen it yet.


Here's the trailer in case you're interested.

And action!

Hello everybody!
Let me introduce myself: I am a 21 year-old student and I can say I became a movie buff during the year of 2006 after watching many great movies that I will talk to you about later in my blog.
I am of mixed race: half-French and half-Chinese. I mostly enjoy watching American movies but from time to time, I watch Chinese and French movies.
I decided to create this blog because I always like to read movie reviews but I don't always agree with the critics and I'm sure it must be your case too. That way, I can share with all of you my personal thoughts and please feel free to leave comments so that I can have your advice too.
Hope you will enjoy my blog! :)