Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain is a mountain achievment.

                Cold Mountain is a bold and transforming movie.  Directed by Anthony Minghella and winning multiple awards including Renée Zellweger for Best Actress in a supporting Role, the movie encompasses both passion and anguish, warmth and coldness, hatred and yet love.  The film is developed in a southern town of Cold Mountain, where we see the beginning of the civil war take its toll to the end.  The audience is shown the hardships of the war through a long lost love of a woman and of a man who is sent off to the war.  The most renowned southern war movie I would argue is Gone with the Wind directed by Victor Fleming.  In that production, we feel remorse for the southern states and the plantations in which we see the slaves work on.  In Cold Mountain, I relived some of those same feelings that I were evoked in me while watching Scarlett and Rhett’s tragic love.  I would never say that Cold Mountain was just as well done as Gone with the Wind.  However, stars Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, and Philip Seymour Hoffman add a depth to the film that takes on a similar yet strangely different turn than Gone with the Wind did.  The film jumps back and forth through time, showing the audience the blooming love between Nicole Kidman and Jude Law and traveling forward to where we see Jude Law deserting the military in hopes of reaching his love; neither know what became of the other due to lost correspondence and lapse in time by three years.  Both go through unmanageable hardships that we see unravel during the film. 

           

     At first, the film did not catch my attention.  If I am being honest, I turned the movie off after ten minutes and decided to watch something else.  However, I gave another shot at the movie, due to the fact that Renée Zellweger was supposedly Oscar worthy of the role she played.  The second time I watched it, I not only loved it, but I thought that Ms. Zellweger made the movie.  All actors were wonderful in the movie and all added something to the film that couldn’t be picked up by another star in the film, but when I watched Renée Zellweger, I didn’t see Brigit Jones or Roxie Hart.  I didn’t even see the quiet girl that I witnessed in Jerry Maguire.  I actually saw the opposite; I saw a strong, independent, witty, “one of the boys” kind of girl.  She was rugged and tough and southern. 

                The movie surprised me to say the least.  A movie I found full of tragedy, darkness, and murder was a contradiction, holding also hope, lightness, and purity.  I gave the movie four stars and would gladly watch it again.  Now, though, I want to watch Gone with the Wind, so maybe after. 

True Story directed by Rupert Goold

In the independent film True Story starring Jonah Hill, James Franco, and Felicity Jones and directed by Rupert Goold, the drama filled thriller was interesting, mysterious, and kept me guessing until the end.  A man is arrested for killing his three children and wife and steals the identity of a journalist Mike Finkel.  Mike, Jonah Hill, is dealing with issues of his own, but when he hears of this unknown killer taking his identity, he is curious to find out why.  In search of the real truth of the accused murderer Christian Longo, James Franco, he is caught in between fact and fiction. 

I was pleased with this movie.  The idea of a sociopath manipulating the mind of a vulnerable writer was a different movie that I had not seen in this way before. I found myself wrestling whether to believe Christian Longo’s story alongside Mike Finkel.  The movie did not provide the action or plot twists as much as I thought necessary to give it my highest esteem in the genre but I was thoroughly enjoyed none the less, maybe due to the new way in which I saw James Franco’s acting ability.  Playing a psychotic man is no easy feat, but James Franco was able to deliver a chilling performance while still finding some way to make the audience feel sympathy for his situation or question the fact if he killed his family completely.  Jonah Hill was easily casted as the intelligent yet gullible writer who falls prey to a murderers words.  True Story may not be on the intellectual level that Inception brought to the screen, but it is a version of that sort that is easier to grasp and follow which is a nice change of be pace.  To actually sit down and be able to take a handful of popcorn without feeling like it might distract you from getting the movie in the end is nice, rather than being afraid to peel your eyes away from the movie like I often found myself in the film Inception but still managed to end up lost at the end my first time around watching it.  I would recommend this movie for family night (with your older children), a date night, or if you are looking for a good movie to watch.  It is a quick movie that allows for you keep up without being out of breath at the end. 

Monkey Business directed by Howard Hawks

We have all heard of the phrase “monkey business” or “hey, no monkey business here”, and in the classic film Monkey Business, it means exactly that.  Directed by Howard Hawks and including a cast made of Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, and Hugh Marlowe, the movie is about a scientist looking for a formula for humans to stay younger longer.  When Cary Grant, the scientist, and Ginger Rogers, his wife, experiment and test the potion, they are surprised to find what effects it actually entails.  Through their mischievous trouble and through all their monkey business, they must find what is really important in life, happiness or eternal youth. 

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          The comedy is a fun and light tale of love and goofy that lacks an elaborate plot, but manages to keep the audience engaged by the amazing performance by the actors in the movie.  Ginger Rogers did a marvelous job at performing all the symptoms of the formula.  From manic to serious to childlike to adult again, it seems that there was no challenge too tough for her to tackle.  Her costar Cary Grant was great in his role also, from acting like a college student to taking care of his kooky wife to joining her in youthful games.  Marilyn Monroe does her role of the naïve, young, beautiful blond very well and effortlessly that no man could resist even the scientist Cary Grant.  Even though this film was not my favorite from either Cary Grant or Ginger Rogers, it was a fun film that I could clean my room to or manage other tasks while understanding what was going on and having a laugh or two.  Not a real mind-blowing movie but it was a well enough movie where I would watch it again while tackling other house chores. 

Sabrina directed by Billy Wilder

picture from www.doctormacro.com

 

Sabrina directed by Billy Wilder and starring the ever so classy Audrey Hepburn, forever dapper Humphrey Bogart, and always charming William Holden is the tale of a young daughter of a servant to the wealthy Larrabee household.  Sabrina, played by Audrey Hepburn, is sick in love with the David Larrabee, William Holden, who has a playboy reputation.  Sent away to culinary school in France, Sabrina leaves a discouraged child but she returns as a confident and beautiful young lady.  David takes notice in Sabrina, ready to ignore any family wishes; yet, Linus Larrabee is ready to protect the family in any means necessary even if it means breaking up young love in replace of another. 

          Another idol of min, Audrey Hepburn is never without poise and grace.  Her style alone is enough to grab the attention of the public, but her presence on screen is enchanting.  My favorite of her roles, Sabrina, is one of her best and with the help of her co-stars, all give a mesmerizing performance.  Audrey Hepburn could not have been more perfect for the role in this romantic comedy.  Paired with the older yet very sophisticated Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn was perfection having the audience root for the hopelessly romantic Sabrina to find love in the end; it isn’t until the end that we find out which brother she finds love with.  The energy and liveliness that William Holden brings to the movie makes me swoon and smile every time I see him on the screen.  Humphrey Bogart’s character could not have been more different, but Billy Wilder does a remarkable job presenting him to the audience making it no problem to equally fall in love with him also. Not only do I love the actors, the comedy, and the romance that is so brilliantly done in the film, but I love the props and the costumes, and the scenery that make the movie what it is.  The dress, or more like a gown, that Audrey Hepburn wears to the Larrabee party was beyond eloquent and is alone a reason for my constant replays of the film.  An instant classic then and a remembered classic now, Sabrina takes the cake for grace, humor, and romance.

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