All About Eve directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

 

 

 

found on en.wikipedia.org         

 

 

 

 

            After paying a slight tribute to Joan Crawford’s legacy, it is only fair that I next pay tribute to Bette Davis.  Actually, it isn’t just because I wrote a review pertaining to Bette’s other half in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, but more importantly because Bette Davis is my idol and one of the most talented women ever to come through Hollywood.  Her presence was enough to evoke strong emotions into her co-stars whether it be anger and disgust by Miriam Hopkins in Old Maid or fear and anxiety felt by Geraldine Fitzgerald in Dark Victory.  In the future, my blog readers may find quite a few film reviews starring the one and only Bette Davis.  For now, I will begin with, some may argue her most iconic role, All About Eve directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.  A renowned theatre actress welcomes a fan of hers into her life and that of her friends.  The aging actress doesn’t realize, though, that new talent is ready to take her place and it is closer than it may seem. 

            The film, much like Bette Davis’s career at the time, is based around the idea of an aging yet acclaimed actress trying to hold on to her profession.  Anne Baxter and Bette Davis stun the audience with a brilliant performance, Bette Davis in her strong, independent role she does so well and Anne Baxter in a more innocent role.  We also see Marilyn Monroe’s debut role in a short scene looking young and gorgeous as ever. Bette Davis plays wonderful stage actress Margo Channing and the part could not have been casted better.  Charming and ever so beautiful, the movie starts off with a confident Margo taking in a die-hard fan as her assistant.  Anne Baxter, Eve Harrington, is quiet and meek only wanting to be Margo’s loving and adoring assistant and friend.  Throughout the film, the audience has a hard time seeing what Margo sees in Eve, not an innocent girl but a conniving and vile creature.  Anne Baxter is wonderful at playing the shy and fragile girl, but her range far out reaches that and in the movie we see how talented the actress is.  Supporting roles George Sanders, Gary Merrill, and Celeste Holm play are crucial to the development and unraveling of this story as well.  This dangerously creative comedy and drama is sure to be a classic for generation after generation.  Fasten your blankets, because tonight we are watching All About Eve. 

Mommie Dearest directed by Frank Perry

Mommie Dearest, directed by Frank Perry and starring Faye Dunaway and Diana Scarwid, is a chilling and disturbing film.  The audience is shown how a much loved and admired actress Joan Crawford was so cruel and horrifying behind the scenes.  First written as a novel by adopted daughter of Joan Crawford, then turned motion picture, the movie Mommie Dearest depicts Joan Crawford in an ugly light, illustrating how the movie star abuses her daughter Christina mentally and physically throughout her life.                                                                                  nydailynews.com

         
           Before seeing this movie, it was easy to see Joan Crawford as a charming and poised actress through her acting.  From the movies I had previously seen of hers like What ever Happened to Baby Jane and Dance, Fools, Dance, I was painted a different picture of the actress then what I was given in Mommie Dearest.  There wasn’t a moment in the moving that I was not surprised at how intense and dysfunctional the home environment was for the children of Joan Crawford.  Intense all the way through, the movie never turned to a peaceful note.  Not once did I find myself feeling sorry for Joan Crawford; instead, I felt a taste of hatred that replaced the feeling of admiration I had once felt. Faye Dunaway delivered an impeccable performance.  Horrid yet believable, Faye Dunaway showed how versatile she can be as an actress from playing in Bonnie and Clyde to Network to this new performance.  Truly mesmerizing, everyone should see a once upon Hollywood queen be seen as the “dearest mommie” ever to be and the scariest mother to be seen since the movie Carrie.    

 
Joancrawfordbest.com

Yves Saint Laurent directed by Jalil Lespert

          While getting older, I have found myself becoming increasingly more in love with fashion.  I have always had my own style, but I mean couture, high fashion looks.  Unfortunately, my wallet does not allow for elaborate spends.  Now and then, though, my wallet and I splurge, that time buying Michael Kors shoes or this time purchasing a Fossil bag and perhaps next time YSL perfume.  My lack of green in the bank does not stop me from enjoying window shopping in the luxurious shops or watching films of the artists behind the name create some of their most memorable work like Yves Saint Laurent.  Watching the 2014 French movie Yves Saint Laurent directed by Jalil Lespert put a face to the images of YSL high fashion clothing I had seen in the bizarre magazines.  The movie starts Yves Saint Laurent’s life as a young man just beginning to expand on his creative eye under the tutelage of Christian Dior.  After Dior’s death, we see the true commencement of the French designer’s long and prosperous career.  However, it isn’t all bells and whistles, with love and self-destruction to the ultimate end the man behind the curtains but by no means the end of his company.                          

          The director takes a closer look at Yves Saint Laurent’s relationship with long time business and romantic partner Pierre Berge more than he goes into the creative process of the man.  Like so many fashion designer movies like that of the French film Coco before Chanel directed by Anne Fontaine, understanding the creative process of an artist, you have to understand the life events and inspirational people and things that were the meaning behind such genius works.  Showing how people and the world’s expectations swayed Yves Saint Laurent into a spiral of drugs and alcohol gave the audience a truer knowledge of the designer rather than the image they see most often, the image of a controlled and elegant man who creates such inventive and beautiful fashion.  Hiding nothing from his audience, director Jalil Lespert dives deep into Yves Saint Laurent’s life that gave me true realization of how his life might have been like.  I am not familiar with the work that actors Pierre Niney, Guillaume Guillienne, or Charlotte Le Bon have done previously, but in this film, they represent their characters great with anger and joy that accompanied the ride of visionary Yves Saint Laurent.  If you want to step out of your English movies and watch a foreign film that will keep you captured the whole time (not only because of the need to read the subtitles), then this biography will not disappoint. 

 

Splendor in the Grass directed by Elia Kazan

                                             Image found on the cite of dvdtalk.com

My passion is movies, but I first fell in love with older films specifically Shirley Temple that grew from there.  I remember first seeing Splendor in the Grass.  I had my brother watch it with me when we were ten or so.  Instantly, I adored Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty and their infuriating and once in a lifetime love.  The movie, directed by Elia Kazan, follows the struggles that follow a couple, a forbidden love that tragically allow for the young girl in the film to fall into a downward spiral.  While the man suffers difficulties from his family and father’s pressures, he does not forget his first love.  This movie highlights the mindsets of families in the later 1920s and illustrates reality of love. 

          I find myself gravitating to this film time and time again, and every time I watch it, I react the same as I did the first time I saw the picture.  A romantic drama that shows the highs and lows and the exhausting and intense feeling of love that young couples are all too familiar with.  Only wisdom that accompanies age can teach the young the lessons of love.  A wonderful tale of love and truth, this movie is a classic that ranks evenly with the big named films The Way We Were and Love Story.  This may be a well-liked film by older generations, but perhaps today’s generation has lost sight of classic films such as this one.  I recommend this film to all age groups as it will never grow old and will always be a splendid movie. 

Kingsman: The Secret Service directed by Matthew Vaughn

If you enjoy movies packed with action, sex appeal, and British humor, you will find that Kingsman: The Secret Service offers all that and more.  Director Matthew Vaughn ignites his own twist on action comedy with unique fighting scenes and witty humor.  When a young man becomes a trainee for a secret service organization, he is asked to compete against others in a series of unthinkable challenges.  However, it is nothing compared to the real test, the threat of world domination brought to the organization’s front door. 

An all-star cast, including Samuel L. Jackson, Collin Firth, and Michael Cane along with up and coming actor Taron Egerton, demonstrate a brilliant array of originality to a plot that seems to have been done time and time again.  With a crazed man consumed by the thought of world domination fought by strong, equipped, savvy agents, one would have thought that this is the same plot seen in all action movies.  Yet Matthew Vaughn does a remarkable job at introducing new ideas that separate this film from all other action films.  There is a touch of Quentin Tarantino like vibes throughout the film, especially in the individuality of the fight scenes.  It is understandable for that reason why not all would find this movie as great as I do, but if bloody great humor and bloody filled fights are your thing, I strongly recommend this terrific film.  Even if this movie does not sound like your cup of tea, the strong and sexy lead actors will change your mind with their charm and cool and collected looks, not to mention the incredible acting done by all of the cast in the movie. 

*R-rated film due to language and violence

Trainwreck directed by Judd Apatow

       I most recently saw the movie Trainwreck, directed by Judd Apatow and written by Amy Schumer who stars along side Bill Hader.  The comedy begins with two young girls taking a lesson in from their dad, subject matter being on the unnatural human tendency of monogamy.  Years later, Amy Schumer’s character, Amy, lives her ideal life by drinking and having casual sex with countless of men.  After meeting a sports doctor for an interview, new feelings emerge for Amy, and while experiencing these feelings with this new relationship, Amy realizes there could be much more to monogamy.

     The comedy brings hilarious moments while illustrating the dysfunction in Amy's life.  While delivering funny scenes to the audience, the movie dives into deeper issues without bringing in the drama that makes you or the person next to you uncomfortable.  After leaving the film, my friend and I turned to each other and both agreed that Amy Schumer was now our new role model.  She gives off an aura of confidence, femininity, strength, and humor that many women, including myself, strive to bring into their own lives.  The film's lead actor role is given to SNL and comedy man Bill Hader who adjusts perfectly into the rom-com man.  He is cute, funny, and charming, a change from the funny, interesting man we see from him in some of his other work like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and his varied SNL roles.  This movie could be the new Bridesmaids.  For a girl's night out or a romantic evening with the significant other, Trainwreck has proved to be everything but a wreck.

The Royal Tenenbaums directed by Wes Anderson

My reason for having two Wes Anderson films right off the bat is due to the fact that my uncle has a great amount of admiration for him, and while I am staying with him and my aunt in Glendale, I have been welcomed with these Wes Anderson films.  I am not opposed to watching his films, in fact I enjoy his clever and different movies, and this one is no exception.  Written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson and directed by Wes Anderson, The Royal Tenenbaums is about the Tenenbaum family who suffer from a father that is forced to leave the children's life early in their childhood.  Raised to be geniuses by their mother, the Tenenbaum children soon grow up, complete exceptional work, but later falter and resort to a life of a recluse.  They are all brought back together under one roof after discovering their father's terminal illness.  New discoveries are made and relationships are tested through this unique comedy.

Again, Wes Anderson demonstrates wonderfully how a movie can be funny but still presents serious problems into the film such as suicide, terminal cancer, and divorce.  We see familiar faces in the cast like Bill Murray, Luke Wilson, Seymour Cassel, Kumar Pallana, and Dipak Pallana who also were casted in Wes Anderson's film Rushmore.  All members, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, and Ben Stiller, brought serious tones to the movie, but one could not help to see the hilarity in the words and situation that we know all too well in a Wes Anderson film.  At times, however, the film lost its purpose and dragged on towards the end.  At the conclusion of the movie, though, I rather enjoyed it and would not put it pass oneself to see.

 

 

Between the two films Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore is my favorite.  It kept a fast pace with brilliant performance done by the entire cast especially that of Jason Schwartzman.  The writing along with the over serious note put on every line made for a ridiculous and entertaining film for me to watch.

Rushmore directed by Wes Anderson

     Rushmore, directed by Wes Anderson and written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson tells the story of the young student prodigy Max Fischer who attends the school of Rushmore.  As he involves himself in every extracurricular activity under the sun, he ignores his studies.  However, he cannot ignore Rushmore's newest teacher Miss Rosemary Cross.  Quickly tail spinning into a deep love, Max soon realizes love isn't all roses and blue skies and embarks on an adventure of revenge and finding himself among the muck.

     With stars Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams, and Brian Cox, the movie delivers revenge, love, friendship, and nerdy talk in humorous ways, all along maintaining a false serious overtone.  Wes Anderson does a splendid job of portraying the typical nerdy student in a new light. Not only is Max Fischer, the film's main character, failing classes, he is serious to the point where everything said by him, and all of the other cast members including Bill Murray's part, comes off as comic relief.  Jason Schwartzman could not have looked or acted the part better showing the wide range of intellect of Max.  The quirky tone shown in Wes Anderson pictures is true to form in this one as well.  This movie offers clever wit, unique charm and quirky humor that are to be enjoyed by older children to the old timers.  It is sure to be a classic hit!