quiet paws.

I have loved many movie men over the years, with many of these early screen affairs igniting and extinguishing themselves during the eighties, the decade of my childhood. However some of the most special of actors have stayed with me beyond the pesky boundaries of the decades. As it turns out Robert Downey Jr is one such person who still manages to charm me today.

That’s not to say that our twenty year relationship hasn’t had its ups and downs. Like any affair of the heart or mind, often those artists we love the most are those who disappoint us the most when they fall below our expectations. This is true for me even if the nature of that relationship is as indirect as that between actor and audience member.

Before this year is over and in honour of my twenty year appreciation of Robert Downey Jr. I thought I’d share a quick timeline of scattered memories…

• In 1989 I remember falling in love with RDJ in ‘Chances Are’ a movie about true love, soulmates and destiny. I don’t remember too much at all of the film, but no doubt its quality has not held up all that well.
• In 1991 I drew a black & white portrait of RDJ for a high school art project (though admittedly I chose him because I had an easy picture to reproduce my drawing from… I was ever the lazy artist). I remember having a lot of trouble getting his nose right.
• In 2000 I started watching Ally McBeal based purely on his addition to the cast; he was just too charming to resist. Sometime after this he was arrested (again) and I remember feeling frustrated at him for wasting the opportunity because I adored his character.

So that brings me to relatively recent times where Robert Downey Jr. is once again doing good in life and in the land of movies with his recent efforts in Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes… happy times indeed! Here’s to the next 20 years!!

I’ve been a keen follower of the cinematic works of Spike Jonze for many years now. While I haven’t caught up on his complete back catalogue of films, I absolutely love ‘Being John Malkovich’ and ‘Adaptation’. He is also responsible for many of the film clips that visually stand out in my mind – ‘Buddy Holly’ by Weezer, ‘Sabotage’ by the Beastie Boys, ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ by Bjork and ‘Praise You’ by Fatboy Slim.

Now I can add to the list his magical, fantastical and beautiful film ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. When I heard that Jonze was working on this film I knew that it would not just be a must-see, but a creation which would live up to (and possibly excel) the weighty expectations of many former children like me who grew up with Maurice Sendak’s classic book.

The film is told from the perspective of Max and through his eyes it explores concepts of family, friendship, trust, loyalty, responsibility and dreams. The thing that most struck me about the film is the way that Jonze has cleverly depicted how BIG even the smallest of problems can seem to a child; I know I remember feeling just that way when I was much, much younger.

Part live action, part animatronics, part furry costumed performers and part CGI means that the sum total of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ looks and feels absolutely amazing. The story is a wonderful reflection of childhood, the nature of ‘wildness’ and the incredible power (and importance) of the imagination. I don’t want to give any details away at risk of spoiling some of the emotional intensity and fantasy of the film. All I can really say is that I would highly recommend it. While it is based on a children’s story, I would suggest that this is more a movie for adults to reflect on childhood rather than a movie for children themselves.

I think perhaps we all need to indulge in a little ‘wild rumpus’ from time to time…it is good and cleansing for the soul.

The imagination is a wonderful and precious gift with which each one of us is bestowed. Terry Gilliam gets it. He understands how important is is for us to protect and nurture the delicate nature of our imaginations; for without it all creativity would be lost.

I wish I did more to encourage the ongoing development of all that is magical, surreal, beyond belief and ‘almost’ impossible. In the structure and rigidity of much of my world, I sometimes think that these more fanciful and fantastical ideals become lost between the cracks. Perhaps then, it is the way that the ethereal world of the imagination is able to overcome practical realities that makes it all the more special.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is many things – thoughtful, mad, fun, intricate, wonderful, odd and awe-inspiring. It is therefore quite sublime.

The film follows the story of Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) and his travelling ‘Imaginarium’ show where audience members are able to travel through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations. Of course nothing is as simple as it seems; there are some dark devilish deals in the good Doctor’s past which are threatening the future fate of his daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole). Thus begins a desperate (and often hilariously cheeky) race against time to save Valentina from a fate worse than death, but just who will be her saviour?

Will it be her father, the thousand-year-old Doctor Parnassus? Or will it be one of her theatre troupe compatriots Anton or Percy? Or will it be the mysterious newcomer Tony (played perfectly in turn by Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell)? … But what of the devil himself (Tom Waits) in all this? Surely he also has a part to play and a hand to play?   … and so the adventure between parallel worlds, life and death, good and evil, begins…

This is a story that sparkles. If you already enjoy the surreal experience that can be a Terry Gilliam film, you’ll like this movie. If you are a fan of beautifully delivered performances and precisely depicted characters, you’ll like this movie. If you appreciate whimsical, decadent and dream-like settings, you’ll like this movie. But perhaps it is for those who want to indulge in a visual treat that will unshackle your imagination and take the both of you on an amazing journey, who will like this movie most of all.

Moon is set at a point ‘in the future’, but combines new technology with old-school science fiction movie styling to make it a movie which could almost be set in ‘any time’. Astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is due to complete his three year contract with Lunar Industries, a job which has seen him living on the far side of the moon to harvest Helium-3, the Earth’s current primary source of energy. As you’d expect, being the solitary astronaut responsible for the mining base is lonely work, a fact not helped by the lack of ‘live communications’ to and from earth (there is a significant delay in the sending and receipt of recorded messages). Aside from these sporadic messages received from home, Sam’s main source of companionship is ‘Gerty’, the base’s computer (which features the cool, calm voice of Kevin Spacey) who is fully equipped with a wide range of mood-relevant emoticons.

With only three weeks left at the mining base, Sam is understandably excited about returning to normal life on earth with his family. However with the deadline fast approaching, Sam unfortunately begins to feel unwell, a side-effect of which seems to be random hallucinations. Beyond saying that Sam Rockwell is an absolute GENIUS in this role, I don’t want to reveal any more of the story-line, as the suprising twists and turns of the plot are what help make this film so refreshing… Perhaps I can just say, ‘expect the unexpected’, or as the awesome tag-line for this film suggests, ‘the last place you’d ever expect to find yourself’…

While Moon builds the same sharp, edgy tension reminiscent of that other space great, 2001: A Space Odyssey, the two are very different films. Moon reinforces a similar idea of the regimented structure you’d expect from life on a remote space station. However rather than present a quiet, ‘epic’ vision of space, the visuals of Moon fill the screen more with buzzing activity than implied serenity. While Moon still evokes a sense of grandeur, the ‘busy’ action-filled setting complements perfectly the confusion and drama which slowly surrounds the main character of Sam, thus creating the perfect suspenseful environment.

Anna Wintour, as the editor-in-chief of Vogue for over 20 years, has become a one-woman legend in the fashion world. Like many incredibly successful fashion ‘legends’, Wintour tends to polarise people’s opinions of her. Some see her as a hard-nosed, uncompromising businesswoman who wields her incredible power to wrongly influence and shape the entire fashion industry. Others see her as an incredibly talented saviour of fashion, a strong supporter of up-and-coming new talent, a trend-spotter, or in other words, nothing less than a fashion institution.

The September Issue is a fascinating documentary which covers the lead-up to the production of the September 2007, 840 page, record-breaking, fall-preview issue of Vogue. While the film centres on Wintour, we gain a much wider perspective of who she is as a person through the eyes of her family and her work colleagues – in particular the insights provided by Grace Coddington, Vogue’s creative director, whose relationship with Wintour is filled with a very healthy dose of conflict and criticisim. Coddington is the creative genius to match Wintour’s tough business focus.

Aside from the influence she wields within the fashion industry, Wintour is almost instantly recognisable as a visual icon as well – with her sharp bob haircut and trademark oversized sunglasses (which she pretty much wears all the time), she is hard to miss. While Wintour is strongly rumoured to have been the inspiration for The Devil Wears Prada, the view of Wintour contained within The September Issue is one thousand times more complex, more impressive and quite simply just ‘more’ than the fictionalised account ever presented.

Throughout the film, Wintour shares her thoughts about other people’s views of the fashion industry, we see how she operates in meetings with legendary designers, photographers and new fashion talent, we watch how she interacts with her colleagues and family, and perhaps most importantly of all we see how much work is involved in editing and re-editing one of the most important issues of Vogue for the year. In one of those ironic contrasts, it often seems that most of the people working behind the scenes at magazines are far from being stylish themselves, and there are plenty of examples of this phenomenon within the Vogue offices. As for Wintour…well, she is the epitome of feminine style and classical elegance, though suprisingly she certainly isn’t one to simply opt for black at every occasion.

In watching The September Issue I feel that I’ve come to appreciate the ‘business of fashion’ a little more, as well as having a clearer picture of who Wintour is, and an understanding of the huge workload that the production of a magazine involves. The secondary story of this documentary for me was really watching the other side of the magazine’s production unfold from Coddington’s point of view. She leaves me with no doubt of her talent as a styling master and in awe of her gifted eye for creating inspired, jaw-droppingly beautiful fashion spreads. I feel privileged to have been let into the secretive world of Vogue and the lives of Wintour and Coddington, even if it was for just a short amount of time.

The September Issue is a great documentary on many levels, but for me the highlight was seeing the somewhat tempestuous and complex marriage of Wintour’s business focus and Coddington’s idealistic creative eye, which has come to represent what Vogue – and I suppose ultimately, what fashion – is all about.

Black Dynamite is a former CIA agent who is called back into service when ‘the man’ attacks his family, gets children addicted to drugs and takes the fight to African-American men in a very personal way. Set in the 1970’s, Black Dynamite is partly spoof, partly a homage to the blackploitation films of the time. As you’d expect much of the film and much of the plot is set in the ghetto, and focusses on drug dealers, pimps and general kung-fu treachery. Black Dynamite is the one man willing to take the fight from the blood-soaked city streets all the way to The White House.

Michael Jai White is amazing as Black Dynamite and never once breaks character, playing it straight so well that is just makes things even funnier. Black Dynamite is a martial arts warrior, has a second sense about bad guys, has an amazing gift for fashion and is of course an absolute hit with the ladies, all the ladies. It’s safe to say that this film is hilarious – there is some awesomely deliberate over-acting, bad choregraphy, great use and reference to cinematic cliches, and flawed scene continuity throughout. The storyline is ridiculous and ridiculously funny, as is the accompanying musical soundtrack.

This movie is just so fun and so enjoyable – the oneliners are great, but the overall story is also fantastically funny. I certainly hope it secures a wide release later in the year. What more can I say? You’ll laugh, you’ll cry (because of all the laughing), and then you’ll laugh some more.

Tragedy has a way of defining portions of our lives, almost in reverse. First comes the end of something – how things were before something terrible happened, and secondly comes the beginning – the start of something after that terrible thing. Truly tragic events split and fragment our previous life until we find a new way to move forward. Just as great love can humble and ground us, great loss can cause us to lose our footing in the world, so that we can no longer know who we are or who we were. In other words we can become a ‘missing person’.

Michael Shannon is John Rosow, a private dectective who is hired to tail a man on a train from Chicago to Los Angeles. Given very little information to work with at the start of the case, Rosow gradually comes to discover more information about the man he is following (Harold Fullmer), and at the same time more of Rosow’s character is revealed. Without spoiling any of the plot, I will say that the past experiences of Rosow and Fullmer intersect in a shared event that left me reflecting on who the title of the movie is actually referring to as ‘The Missing Person’.

The Missing Person explores the ways in which people can react in response to a personal tragedy. It is a film which takes a very human and real view of the emotional impacts of love and loss. At a broader level The Missing Person is a well-paced mystery story presented with a firm nod to the classic film noir style. Visually, the film is a wonderful mix of black and white, washed-out grainy textures and full colour reflecting the situation of our main character at that particular moment in time. The narrative doesn’t unfold freely from beginning to end, there is also very clever and tasteful use of flashbacks to add new dimensions to this already fascinatingly layered film. The cast is exceptionally strong, though the standout performances have to go to Michael Shannon and Amy Ryan.

The film seamlessly blends and contrasts the past and the present – old school detective work vs new technology, travelling by train vs travelling by plane, smoking and drinking excessively vs modern rules and acceptable social behaviour, tired femme fatales vs old-fashioned flirtation and romance…and the list goes on. Michael Shannon is the perfect ‘noir hero’ of this film, he is flawed, his humour is dry, he often seems out of place, and he knows how to charm. While the plot is built around tragedy and mystery, the film isn’t gloomy and miserable, it is a genuniely rewarding story with some really funny moments, and the jazz soundtrack is fabulous.

I watched The Missing Person at the Brisbane International Film Festival, so I’m not sure what kind of release the movie will be given in Australia once the film festival season is finished. With any luck it will be given wide release and more appreciators of fine film will be given the chance to see this wonderful, wonderful movie.

A few weeks back I finished reading ‘The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl‘ by Belle de Jour. Amongst a variety of other things, the book had me reflecting on the nature of friendship and on the type of friend that I am (or think that I am). Belle has a very close group of friends and she ponders the social danger that comes from knowing your friends almost as well as you know yourself. In her own words…

‘There is always a danger that by knowing too much about each other, all useful conversational skills will be lost. Only with people you’ve known since puberty can you be entertained by:

‘Remember the…’ Vague hand gesture.
‘Yes, just like in the movie.’
‘Oh god! And the arm thing B used to do.’
Random Star Wars quote.
Reference to mid-1990s politics.
Satisfied silence, or fits of inexplicable giggles for half an hour.‘

I’ve also enjoyed many conversations with close friends which run along similar lines to this – as I’m sure everyone has. That wonderful feeling of warmth and security offered by friendship and its shared experiences had me thinking about what I’d be prepared to do for a friend. To give myself some sort of benchmark for self-analysis, I thought that it would be useful to reflect on the range and depth of different types of friendship in a random subset of movies.

For some reason ‘The Big Chill‘ was the first movie that sprang to mind. If you’re not familiar with the story, basically a whole bunch of college friends reunite many years later for a funeral and end up spending a weekend together at the house of Harold (Kevin Kline) and Sarah (Glenn Close). They spend their time catching up and discussing where ‘it all went wrong or right’. Anyway, one of the characters (Meg) is desperate for a child and she decides to ask one of the men in the group to ‘help her out’. Pick of the crop is apparently Harold, and Sarah consents to them sleeping together. Now that’s a really lovely way for Sarah to help her friend, but I’m sorry I just could not be THAT good a friend. I’d be happy to offer support and talk through the range of options with Meg, but allowing her to sleep with my husband…no I’m sorry, I don’t think that would be happening.

In ‘Thelma & Lousie‘, what starts out as a fun road trip quickly gets out of hand after Thelma (Geena Davis) is attacked, with Louise (Susan Sarandon) killing the man involved. The two women are then officially ‘on the run’. Evading police and committing further crimes along the way, the two women learn a lot about themselves, the nature of freedom and their relationships with men. They eventually find themselves the target of a high speed police chase which forces them to the very brink of an uncrossable canyon. Staying true to their vow of ’sticking together’, the women decide to ‘keep going’, and with that they drive off the edge of the cliff. Look I’m all for finding independence and standing by your decisions (and your friends), but faced with the choice of driving off a cliff to certain death, or taking my chances with the law, I’ll choose the law thank you very much as I’m quite fond of living.

Andy’s (Anne Hathaway’s) friends in ‘The Devil Wears Prada‘ feel that they no longer get the attention that they’re used to ever since Andy started her new (and in the long-term, completely fabulous) job. Yeah, what a way to be supportive guys! As far as I can tell Andy still manages to catch up with her friends as often as she can, and she generously provides them with awesome goodies from her work. If Andy was my friend, I’d spend less time whinging about never seeing her and instead make the most of the time that she was able to spare (or perhaps this sentiment could be stated more eloquently – You go girl!!). Life is about priorities, and sometimes in life career comes first, especially if it can lead to something even more amazing. (On a side note, I wonder whether the end of the book would bother me as much as the end of the movie did?).

‘Bridget Jones‘ (Renee Zellweger) is supported by her surrogate ‘urban family’ of friends (a concept that I really, really love). These are the type of friends that are there when you need them, who are happy to share a drink or two, with which you can share and obsess over every minute detail of your life, but who also know exactly when they should give you time alone (after all no one likes people that over-stay their welcome). This kind of arrangement sounds pretty good to me. 

I’ve been fortunate to have met and known some really wonderful people throughout my life so far, a handful of which I’ve been proud to name as friends. Given that life is all about balance, I’ve also had some bad experiences with people that are no longer friends. The major downside to these former friendships is that I am now more reluctant to bond with new people and openly trust that someone else may in fact be interested in all the boring and innane details of my life. This has meant that I tend to keep people at a distance – perhaps at too great a distance to form meaningful connections. I know this will change with time, and I’m sure that recognising what has come before is an important step in looking forward to what is yet to be.

In any event I won’t be letting any current or future friends sleep with my husband or happily allow them to drive me off a cliff. I will however stand by their career choices if it’s working for them and makes them happy, and I will be there when I’m needed with an attentive ear (and maybe a bottle of wine)…With any luck they’ll be prepared to do the same.

In the movie of the same name, Jerry Maguire becomes increasingly disillusioned with the changing business focus of his employer, Sports Management International. Once being a sports agent was all about the heart, it was important to care for your client and ensure that regardless of the business deals being signed and sealed, that fans were always respected. Jerry eventually comes to realise that the heart has been lost from the business, and the driving force behind the agency has become the head, or more specifically, the dollar value. Money had overtaken the pure love of sport, and personal consideration for the players and fans had been lost.

In response to this evolving business model, Jerry takes it upon himself to get his thoughts down on paper. The result is a ‘mission statement’ entitled, ‘The Things We Think and Do Not Say‘. This is a wonderful, wonderful piece of writing that was actually penned by the film’s director (and writer), Cameron Crowe. You can find a copy of the full text here. Crowe writes eloquently, and his words drip with passion and hope for the future. He speaks with honesty and inspires in so many ways:

‘I have broken even with my life. I have a nice home, a nice car, a fiancee who makes my heart race. But I have not taken that step, or risk, that makes the air I have breathed for 35 years worthwhile. I once had a yellow couch. I got rid of it because it was neutral. My life is now like that yellow couch…

I have never been a writer, but I can see how this great lost art will never truly die. Putting words to paper is a sacred thing. It’s more than a phone conversation, it is a document. It is something you are putting on paper. The relationship between a phone call and a letter is the difference between a magazine and a phone book. One you leave on a plane, the other you save…

We cannot sleepwalk. We cannot just survive, anything goes. We can take control of our lives, we can quit sleepwalking, we can say – right now, these are our lives, it is time to start living it. It is time to not second guess, to move forward, to make mistakes if we have to, but to do it with a greater good in mind…‘

In a burst of late night / early morning inspiration, Jerry distributes copies of his mission statement throughout his office. Unfortunately for him, the honest thoughts and feelings he documented are not embraced by the business, given that he is virtually advocating a change in emphasis from more clients (and more money) to fewer clients (and more personal attention). In the end though, things work out for Jerry in a completely unexpected and deeply fulfilling way. Anyway I digress…(there is a link here somewhere).

After a long time, I finally purchased and read ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’ by Carson McCullers. This is an incredible book that moves the reader at almost languorous pace through the experiences of several characters who are all touched in some way by John Singer, a deaf-mute. There is fourteen-year-old Mick Kelly who hears music in her heart and dreams of an amazingly big life, cafe owner Biff Brannon who observes his customers with quiet reflection, hard working doctor Benedict Copeland who struggles with his family situation, the drunken outcast Jake Blount who rages against the world, and the lazy Spiros Antonapoulos who is Singer’s best friend. Each character in their own way feels out of place in the world and longs for a way or a person who will help them feel less alone.

In John Singer each individual feels that they have finally found someone that really listens and understands them for who they really are. For them it doesn’t matter that he can’t speak to them directly, with Singer a conversation goes far beyond the need to talk. Without being aware of their dependency on him, Singer becomes critical to the existence of those around him. When people speak to him they say the things ‘they think and do not (normally) say’. With Singer, people share their feelings, thoughts and secrets in complete openness and honesty. Even those things that cannot normally be admitted to one’s self, suddenly with Singer, it seems right to divulge them.

‘Singer was bewildered. Always each of them had so much to say. Yet now that they were together they were silent. When they came in he had expected an outburst of some kind. In a vague way he had expected this to be the end of something. But in the room there was only a feeling of strain. His hands worked nervously as though they were pulling things unseen from the air and binding them together.’

But what of Singer? The person chosen to be the confidant of so many. Singer desperately misses the friendship of Antonapoulos who has been hospitalised in another town. He is bewildered by the attention he receives from the people around him and perhaps feels more starkly confronted by his loneliness when he is with them.

And so through ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’, Carson McCullers shares a commonality with Jerry Maguire by exploring the things that more often than not go unsaid. As with much in life, everything comes down to communication, and perhaps more importantly it is the things that are left unsaid that leave the most indelible mark on the heart.

Happiness is an elusive friend that we can spend our whole life chasing. If the world looks favourably upon us we may be fortunate enough to catch it and then hope to grasp it firmly by hand for the rest of our lives. As with any great friend that we walk with on our life’s journey, there are those jealous and decidedly unscrupulous types who wish to steal our friend for their own.

For a short time Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) would have been considered a happy man. He had a successful profession, a beautiful wife and a gorgeous baby daughter. The happily-ever-after fairytale could almost be considered complete. But (and there is always a but), powerful man-about-town Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) catches a glimpse of this almost perfect picture and desires to possess it for himself. With the help of his greasy henchman Beadle Bamford (Timothy Spall), Turpin has Barker wrongfully arrested and shipped off to prison in Australia. With Barker out of the picture, Turpin is now able to step into his space and take what was never freely offered.

During the fifteen years of Barker’s imprisonment he is seduced by that other most powerful of friends who often springs to our defence in the darkest and most desperate times of need. Sometimes the only way to retain a semblance of sanity and protect ourselves from complete obliteration is to rest in the clutches of revenge. Thus Benjamin Barker is reborn as Sweeney Todd.

The film contains a trifecta of irresistible treats in the form of Tim Burton as Director, Johnny Depp as Barker / Sweeney, and Helena Bonham-Carter as Sweeney’s scheming accomplice, Mrs Nellie Lovett. Firstly, Burton always guarantees a true visual spectacle, and with his careful and considered eye for the beauty and wonder of contrasts, we can trust that his films will provide a sensory experience. Secondly, Helena Bonham Carter is wonderfully surreal, and utterly captivating. Whatever character she is portraying on screen she manages to add some unique part of herself into the role, resulting in an entertaining and radiant performance. And then finally there’s Johnny Depp…well for many reasons he is an absolute joy to watch. In Sweeney Todd he handles the difficult score with ease and once again delivers a heartbreakingly true embodiment of the character he inhabits. He is a master of conveying subtle underlying emotions, so that through his performance we come to understand why Barker had to become Todd, even though we never stop hoping that Barker will once more return to the surface.

While ordinarily even the hint of a musical chills me to my core, there is enough story and substance to be found in Sweeney Todd that I am captured regardless. And yes while there is music, there is also plenty of blood, but at least here it has a place as a vital part of the story. The red, red blood and the vividness of the music combine in glorious fashion to showcase the operatic drama of the story and highlight the dramatic evolution of Barker to Todd. Ultimately at its heart Sweeney Todd is a tragic love story which explores both the sweetness and insistent passion of first love and the consuming bitterness which arises from a love interrupted. It is a story which offers both a visual and emotional transformation that is well worth the experience.